Taken (Dark Desires 1)

Veronica looked up at Frank, who gave her a smile and a short shrug. Veronica smiled back, and then turned to head across the kitchen and out onto the pool area. Once outside, she collapsed into a pool chair and ran a hand over her face.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. For a moment, she merely held it in her hand and looked down at it. Finally, she was able to find Calvin’s contact information and hit the call button.

The phone only rang once before he answered.

“Hey!” his voice sounded eager, and Veronica was more than a little surprised by his tone.

“Hey,” she said back, her own voice not quite matching his enthusiasm.

“I didn’t ever hear from you yesterday,” Calvin pointed out. “I figured you were probably just busy taking care of things over there.”

“Yeah it was a pretty wild day,” Veronica said, feeling a cold pang of guilt as she remembered just what had transpired the previous day.

“Oh yeah?” Calvin asked, and Veronica closed her eyes at the eagerness in his voice. “Tell me about it? What’s it like?”

“Well the house is incredible and the girls are great,” Veronica said, and she certainly wasn’t lying.

“What about Davenport?” Calvin asked, his voice full of innocent curiosity. “Is he very cold and distant?”

“I don’t know,” Veronica let the lie slide off her tongue. “I haven’t really seen him all that much.”

“Well I guess that’s to be expected,” Calvin said, and in her mind’s eye Veronica could see him nodding. She couldn’t be sure, buts he could have sworn she heard a note of relief in his voice, and it only served to compound her guilt.

“So what about you?” Veronica asked, eager to steer the conversation away from herself. “I know the movers came by today.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Calvin said. “They got the whole place cleared out. I’m getting set up in one of the apartments that Davenport owns. Really classy place. And he’ matching what I paid in rent on the other one, can you believe that?”

“Wow,” Veronica said, trying her best to sound even remotely surprised. “That sounds too good to be true.”

“Well,” Calvin said, his voice a little deflated. “Not quite too good. I’m missing the one thing that would really make it all perfect.”

Veronica sighed, knowing that he was referring to their separation.

“I know it’s a lot different,” Veronica tried to reassure him. “It’s a lot different for both of us.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Calvin said, and she could tell that there was something else on his mind.

A long silence stretched between them, and Veronica began to feel uncomfortable.

“Well I’d better get back to work,” Veronica said lamely, kicking at the wood of the deck.

“Oh yeah of course,” Calvin said, a soft laugh on his voice. “Well good night! I love you!”

“I love you too,” Veronica said, maybe a little too softly. “Goodnight.”

With that, she hung up the phone. She let out a long breath through her nose and closed her eyes. She had no idea how she was ever going to manage to tell him the truth.

After taking a moment to collect her thoughts and straighten out her emotions, Veronica stood up and made her way back into the house to while away the rest of the evening with the girls, as well as with Frank.

Veronica returned quietly to the den, escaping notice as Frank and the girls played their game. She was content to watch them play, and when they had worn themselves out she helped Frank get them up to their rooms. Veronica made sure that extraneous toys were picked up off the ground.

When there was nothing else to keep her occupied, the only thing left for her to do was face Frank, who lingered in the upstairs open area.

“Hey,” Frank said softly.

“Hey,” Veronica replied.

Another long silence passed, and Veronica looked at the front pocket of Frank’s shirt.