**This portion of Damaged contains depictions of sex and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised.**

12 years ago...

Sophia MacKinnon stood in front of the mirrors as her mother primped and adjusted her dress and veil. It had taken six months of choking down celery and brown rice and putting herself through boot camp three days a week, but it all paid off as she zipped into that goddamn funnel of a wedding dress - the unforgiving material cinched around her trim waist, pinching against her ribs, and pushing up her curvy bosom.

"Oh, my God, Sophia," her mother cooed as she looked over her shoulder into the mirror. "You're positively gorgeous."

Ignoring her mother’s babbling, Sophia tilted her head slightly upward, looking over the tip of her sharp nose. Her skin was porcelain, her lips red and glossy like a ripe, luscious cherry, and her hair was fine strands of gold flowing around her like a radiant waterfall.

"Turner Locke is a very lucky man," her mother whispered, her toothy smile far too wide on her face.

"And I'm sure you feel like a very lucky mother-in-law to be," Sophia thought to herself, sneering inwardly. She knew her mother had long been hoping someone would just take the volatile Sophia off her hands, already. That Sophia was going to marry the man most likely to own the biggest house in the region was a bonus that made her, crassly, giddy with delight.

The most beautiful woman in town could only marry the richest man, of course. Or, it was more like the richest man had earned the privilege to marry the most beautiful woman. Sophia had no problem with being a "trophy wife". She didn't want to work and this way she could live comfortably. And Turner was too proud to have her by his side to care much about her notoriously icy nature. More importantly, he never questioned her actions, nor was he curious about delving into her past. She looked hot, and he got to screw her as often as he liked. That's all he cared about.

Sophia continued to stare into the mirrors, unmoving. Her mother sprayed her perfume on her, the scent of juniper and violet falling along her neck and chest. She blinked, brought out of her trance as the smell reached her nose. With a sigh, she walked away from the mirrors and looked out the window of the dressing room. As she gazed into the parking lot of the chapel, her eyes widened.

"I want a few minutes by myself," she said dismissively, as she continued to look out the window.

Her mother left the room without another word, closing the door behind her.

Sophia turned and faced the door. For the first time that day, including during all the preparations for the wedding, she actually felt a sense of nervous anticipation. After a couple of minutes, the door opened. A slim, handsome man stepped into the room, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, definitely not wedding attire. He was young, college age at most, but his demeanour and expression showed the weight of a man twice his age. That's what Sophia always found so appealing about him: A calculating maturity in such a fresh face. And those cool, unfazed blue eyes always sent a thrilling chill through her body.

"I'm glad you could come, Alan," Sophia said with a sharply angled smile. That was another thing: He always came, no matter how often she called him. She called him a lot.

The young man said nothing, closing the door behind him and locking it.

"Hope you didn't have any trouble getting away from... what's your little girlfriend's name again?" Sophia said mockingly. She never bothered to remember her name, because she could tell Alan really didn't care much for his silly plaything, either. "But I'm very happy you could be here to give me your best wishes on my wedding day."

Still silent, Alan reached into his pocket and pulled out a condom.

Sophia arched her brow and grinned as she hiked up the hem of her white dress, kicked off her shoes, and wriggled her hips to shimmy her panties down her long legs. She only thought momentarily about not messing up her make-up before she leaned back against the window sill, drawing the blinds as Alan approached her.

“Be a good boy, and mind the dress,” she said.

The organ in the chapel began to play as guests took their seats. They would have to wait a little longer for the bride.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was almost noon by the time Alan left Sophia’s bedroom.

“You know, I’m really embarrassed to say that you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger,” Sophia said as she followed Alan down the staircase of her home.

He finished buttoning his shirt as he reached the bottom. Sophia was tying up her robe.

“I think even more so than your playmate from the school,” she added. “I seriously doubt she could do any of things I’ve done for you - the things you’ve made me do for you - and I’m not just referring to the bedroom upstairs.”

She snickered to herself. Alan pulled on his jacket and made his way to the door.

Sophia suddenly grabbed him by the arm and said, “Alan, you’re done with her, right? You’ve taken what you wanted from her. There’s nothing else that she can do for you. You just needed to play out that little fantasy in your head and you’ve done so. You’re done with her.”

The man turned around and looked at her. The usual veneer on her cool, calculating face was showing signs of strain, her sharp features softening with concern. Alan leaned towards her and kissed her. Then he left the house.

Sophia stood by the door, watching him walk away. She didn’t feel reassured, at all.

* * * * * * * * * *

Miki stirred in her bed, an empty rumble from her stomach finally waking her from a deep slumber. She had slept right through the morning and into the better part of the afternoon. The sun was already slipping below the horizon when she sat up in bed. The days were getting shorter.

She wondered if she should call Alan. She was curious to know if he had done the same thing as she did… if he slept through the day, allowing his body to recover.

She gently rubbed the side of her neck as she stared out through the bedroom window, a hazy, yellow glow filtering back into the room. Her body still ached a little, but that wasn’t nagging her as much as the thoughts running through her head.

Every moment up until now played out slowly in reverse in her head. She tried to figure out when Alan had started planning to get her into that shack. When they swam at the pond and she had asked to see it, he was reluctant to show her.

She fell back onto her pillow and rolled to her side. She reached out to her nightstand and picked up the pendant he had given her. It shined from the ebbing sunlight as it dangled from her hand.

“He fixed up that shack,” she said softly to herself.

He had guided her, manoeuvred her there. He never intended to just show her the “Hobo Hut” that the kids were talking about, and then leave. His full intentions were realized from the moment of their first kiss, to his first assured thrust, to the last moment when he filled her completely, deeply, with his flowing, fluid warmth.

Her body was aquiver at the thought.

Yet, she didn’t feel wary of his manipulations. At some point, she had wanted it, as well. She may not have been as clearly conscious of her actions in the past… at the school, in her home, at the pond… but she had been undeniably drawn to him and at some point, wanted him to be with her. She hated the idea of him being with Sophia. So, when their passion flared in that little shack, she knew she had played her part in making that moment happen.

Her stomach rumbled again. Though she didn’t want to, she finally dragged her body out of the bed and went to the kitchen. She picked out a cup of yogurt from the fridge and sat down at the table, as she spooned the creamy sweetness into her dry mouth. Her cell phone beeped softly. A text message came through.

Picking it up from the table, she viewed the short message: “I won’t bother you again. Sorry. Edward.”

Her mouth froze as she read the message, before she slowly swallowed. She had forgotten about Edward… completely.

It took her forever to finish the small cup of yogurt as she tried to recover her drifting thoughts and feelings. Finally done, she stood up and walked slowly back to her bedroom and slipped under the sheets of her bed again.

* * * * * * * * *

It was dark by the time Miki woke up again. This time her body was really paying for her lazy day. She felt restless and her joints and muscles were begging for a good stretch.

She got up, dressed up in her jogging gear and went outside. Her body shivered as the cool night air hit her. She zipped up her track jacket. The late warm spell had lulled her into forgetting that colder weather was just around the corner.

As she listened to her MP3 player, she performed a few warm-up stretches at the end of her driveway. She squinted as a set of headlights from the street slowly approached her.

A large SUV pulled up close to her driveway, as the driver’s window slid down. Sophia leaned over the door smiling broadly at her.

Miki couldn’t quite reciprocate.

“Hi Miki… It’s okay to call you Miki, instead of Ms. Yi when we’re not in school, right?” she giggled.

“Hello Sophia,” she replied continuing to stretch her legs.

“Late night jog?”

Miki nodded.

“Might want to wear something brighter,” Sophia said looking up and down the street. “Not really that many cars that use these roads at this time of night, but you should probably play it safe.”

“You’re probably right,” Miki answered curtly. She wished the woman would just drive away, already.

Still grinning, Sophia asked, “You wouldn’t have happened to have seen Alan today? I can’t find the man anywhere.”

Miki stared at her. Even in the darkened streets she could see the woman’s prickly smile. She offered nothing but a nondescript shrug of her shoulders.

Sophia leaned back in her seat and sighed, “Ah those silent, brooding types. Always up to something, aren’t they. You sometimes wonder what he’s thinking behind that handsome face of his.”

“I’m going to go now,” Miki said with a cool deliberateness, and she turned and set off down the street.

“Okay, have a good run, Miki,” Sophia waved, “Be careful on these roads!”

Miki had already turned her MP3 player up to almost full volume the moment she had turned away from Sophia.

* * * * * * * * *

The following afternoon, after classes ended, the teachers gathered around the tables in the faculty lounge for a brief monthly meeting.

Miki was more than a little distracted; her eyes, along with her thoughts, drifting out the window. None of the words of the others reached her. She hadn’t seen Alan all day.

“So, onto community safety bulletins,” the principal, Mr. Helms announced. He looked up from the table, “Miki? Still with us?”

The young teacher’s chin slipped off of the hand that had been cradling it over the table. She blinked and shook her head quickly to the sounds of some stifled chuckles from the other teachers.

“Oh! I’m sorry! So sorry!” she said nodding her head apologetically around the room.

“That’s alright. Long day,” the jovial man waved at her. “But, as I was saying: community safety bulletins. The community council would like all teachers to remind their students not to play on or near the train tracks.”

There were some shaking of heads and clicking of tongues amongst the teachers.

“You’d think they learn,” one of the older female teachers sighed.

“Well, a lot of our kids probably aren’t old enough to remember what happened to that teacher and her boyfriend,” Mr. Helms replied.

“What happened?” Miki asked, sitting up in her chair.

“It was about 15 years ago or so, I think,” the principal spoke with a grim voice. “One of the teachers from the local high school and her boyfriend were hit by a train while they were walking on the train tracks one night.”

Miki winced and drew a sharp breath, “Oh, my God.”

“Yes, it was very disturbing,” Mr. Helms continued, frowning as his recollections of the night drew vivid images in his head. “They said their bodies were crushed beyond recognition.”

There was a despondent murmur in the room.

The older teacher who had spoken earlier shook her head slowly as she looked at the table in front of her, “I remember her. Sheryl Jennings. She was such a pretty, spirited teacher. A lovely woman.”

Miki’s eyes trailed off, thinking how tragic a story that was.

* * * * * * * * *

After the teachers’ meeting, Miki gathered her things and exited the school. As she walked to her car, she noticed one child still in the playground, climbing the little wooden fort.

She narrowed her eyes and called out to him, “Dean?”

The boy looked towards her and waved.

Miki waved back and asked, “Was your dad at school today?”

Dean shook his head.

She frowned, trying not to let any wild thoughts of where he could be flurry her mind. She called to Dean again, “It’s getting kind of late. Do you want a drive home?”

The boy immediately jumped down, grabbed his bag, and ran over to her.

As they drove to his house, Miki couldn’t help suddenly feeling a little guilty with Dean sitting beside her. He had been left alone in the house all night long while she and Alan were…

She couldn’t even think about it, with his son sitting there in her passenger seat.

“You did well in class today,” she said to him. “Did you enjoy it?”

He looked her and smiled genuinely. “Yeah,” he replied. “It was fun.’

“Good. I’m glad,” she said, returning his smile. She repeated, “I’m glad.”

They pulled up to his house. Both of them got out of the car and walked up the porch. Miki looked around. Alan’s truck wasn’t there.

“He’s not home?” she asked.

Dean shrugged and replied, “I don’t think so.”

She guessed that he didn’t know where his dad was.

“Well, will you be okay on your own?”

The boy nodded quickly. Somehow, she got the feeling he was used to this.

She noticed Dean staring at her, not at her face, but lower down. She realized he was looking intently at the pendant Alan had given her, hanging around her neck.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” She smiled.

Dean didn’t answer. He went into the house, waved to her and closed the door.

Miki was left on the porch alone, with an uneasy feeling wending its way through her gut.

* * * * * * * * *

Alan sat on the log in front of the Hobo Hut. He had brought his tools along with him, but as he stared at the shack, he realized that there was no more work to do. He was finished with it.

Yet, he didn’t feel complete.

The night he spent with Miki had helped relieve him of the memory from 17 years ago. Images from that time that swirled around in his head were replaced by the more visceral, tangible feelings and sensations from the previous night.

Now, new thoughts filled his mind and he didn’t know what to make of them. He recalled it all so vividly: Holding her, kissing her, sinking his swollen passion into her, over and over. He stored the sounds of her lovely, gentle voice gasping and crying out to him in the back of his mind. He still was gratified with how he had brought Miki to that moment, but it was the thought of being with her that excited him.

Yet, he was supposed to be done with her, just like the shack. That was the reason for everything. It was never about the emotions. It was about fulfilling every lustful thought that had tormented him for the last 17 years. Every thrust was a cleansing, a purging. This was about sealing an obsession away forever and becoming normal again.

He was not supposed to be wanting Miki even more. He was not supposed to be wanting anything more from her than just purging sex.

He was supposed to be finished with her… supposed to be.

At some point, he started to care about her… but he had no idea what that meant, to care for a woman.

What good would it be, for a person like her to be with a man like him? He was damaged, irrevocably damaged. Even Miki couldn’t cleanse him of that.

Moreover, to be involved with him would mean being involved with Sophia.

Sophia was the type who could do a lot more damage.

* * * * * * * * *

The next day, Miki was back in class. She still hadn’t heard from Alan.

She tried her best not to over-think this. She refused to believe that she had been manipulated like some toy, just so Alan could sleep with her. His planning had been so elaborate… it didn’t make any sense.

There was one other thing that reassured her that she hadn’t just been used and tossed away, once he had her. It was the kiss in the truck, when he had dropped her off. For a moment, when he had stopped the car in front of her house and seemed to be so distant and unmoving, she thought that maybe it was all a twisted sex game.

Then, as she moved to get out of the truck and he grabbed her arm and pressed his lips on hers in a desperate, impassioned kiss, she knew he was serious about her as she was about him. It was a silly, old-fashioned notion, but that kiss meant something. She felt the genuine longing and relief in his kiss, the type that couldn’t be planned, schemed or faked. She knew it.

As the kids continued working on a math test, Miki gazed out the window beside her desk. She heard a clatter outside, down below her window. There was Alan, dragging a couple of garbage cans towards the building. She sat up, leaned out the window and waved. She successfully flagged down his attention as he stopped and looked up at her.

She smiled and raised her finger to her lips, nodding towards the inside of her classroom.

Alan stood there looking up at her. She frowned and tilted her head. “What is it?“ was what she wanted to ask.

Then she looked more closely. The look in his deep blue eyes filled her with the same feeling as the kiss in the truck. It was a feeling of intense longing. Her heart raced as they continued to simply stare at one another in silence.

Finally Alan lowered his head. He hesitated, but then continued into the school dragging the garbage cans.

Miki realized she was breathing deeply. She blinked and looked at her watch. Ten minutes till lunch. The ten minutes couldn’t tick by fast enough for her.

To the sounds of some protests and some cheers, she ended the test right then, told the kids to hand in their sheets and go for lunch. Then she left the classroom and quickly made her way downstairs towards the custodian’s office.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alan leaned forward on his chair in the custodian’s office, his hands clasped together in front of him. The thrum of the boilers and systems in the room filled the air with white noise, allowing him to sink deeper into thought.

“Stay away,” he whispered. “Stay away.”

The words were meant for several people - Miki, Sophia, and himself - and for even more compounding reasons.

For now, he needed to stay away from Miki and she from him. It troubled him deeply to do so.

There was a knock on his door. He stood and walked up the short flight of metal steps and opened it.

Miki stood outside. There was desperate concern on her face, as she looked at him and said, “When you kissed me in your truck, were you telling me good-bye?”

Alan froze, not to buy some time or for any other calculating reason. As he looked at the anxiety on the woman’s pretty face, he really was at a loss.

“Alan? I need to know.”

He turned and walked down the stairs. He had to get away from her.

Miki caught the door before it closed and slipped in. She shut the door behind her and followed him down to the boiler area.

“I’m asking, because it didn’t feel to me as if you were saying good-bye,” she prodded.

Alan sat down at his desk, looking up at a bulletin board on the wall, his back to her.

Miki leveled her breaths and weighed her thoughts. She didn’t want her voice to crack or to waiver. “Alan?” she said as calmly as possible. “Tell me you didn’t just… fuck me as part of some game of yours.”

The harshness of the words from her lips actually rattled him. He closed his eyes and dropped his head, feeling the hurt in her voice.

“Did you go see Sophia after you were with me?”

Her voice was steady, but she was just tearing him to shreds like a sword in the gut.

Miki had a strong notion as to what his answer about Sophia was. She had an idea about Alan and Sophia from the moment she saw the woman back at Duffy’s lounge. She saw through their connection for the contrivance that it was, and for the shallowness of Sophia‘s interest in Alan. He was better than her. Miki believed that, and she wasn’t going to lose him to a woman like Sophia.

Miki took deep breaths, her chest rising and falling noticeably. She needed to look into his eyes. His words had always been chosen so carefully before he spoke them, but she had learned to read what he was feeling by just looking into his eyes and face.

Slowly, the man turned in his chair to face her. He stared towards the floor at her feet. He hadn’t been able to come up with any words, concoct any plan. He had to give her an answer, raw and from his gut.

Miki watched him look up at her. She saw a weariness in his eyes. As his gaze settled on hers, she finally saw the same man who kissed her so achingly in the truck that morning.

“You probably should go,” he said. There was no weight, nor truth at all behind his words.

Looking at him, Miki’s breath slowed as her mind focused. Her face set to a brazen determination, the young woman strode over to him, bent down, grabbed his face and pasted her mouth over his. The chair leaned and slid back slightly on its wheels with the force of her kiss.

Alan’s eyes actually widened for a second as his heart skipped. Miki’s actions were so sudden and overwhelming. It was like a blow across the face - not an indignant, scornful one, but rather an urgent wake-up call to his feelings for her. As she pressed her lips onto his, her kiss told him that she knew how much he actually cared for her and needed her.

Miki was swept away by her emboldened actions, her mouth moving rapidly around him as she wrapped her arms around his head and shoulders. She felt the man’s hands on her torso, steadying her body as she leaned harder down against him. The humming boiler systems couldn’t subvert the passionate gasps that escaped her lips. When she pulled her head away, her teeth pulled at his lower lip as if she were holding onto the kiss for as long as possible.

She stood back and, with Alan gazing up at her, quickly unbuttoned her blue blouse.

Alan looked at her, saw the reddish-black bobbed hair fall across her flushed-pink face. She didn’t bother to sweep it aside. Her blouse parted down the middle, he could see that she was wearing a black bra. She pushed her shoes off at the heels with her toes, as she undid her slacks and let them slide off her slender, creamy white legs to the floor. He realized his fingers were wrapped tightly around the armrests of the chair as he watched her.

Miki pushed her black panties down her legs and over and off her feet. As she walked back towards him, Alan had a clear glimpse of her neatly trimmed black bush.

The woman reached for the buttons of his shirt and undid them from the collar down, yanking it out of his pants to get the last two. She pushed her hands outward along his bare, hairy chest, spreading apart his shirt. As she bent down to kiss and nibble at the man’s nipples and chest, her hands rubbed across his stomach. She swiftly went to work on his belt.

Alan was already breathing through his mouth; the rush that was carrying him along came from deep within, and was coaxed to the surface by Miki’s exploring lips, tongue and teeth on his body. Even before she had unbuckled his belt and pulled down his fly, he was swollen and rigid. He lifted his butt off the seat slightly, helping her tug his pants and underwear down to his ankles.

Crouched between his legs, Miki didn’t even pause to think. She reached forward and gathered him in her hands, wrapping her fingers around him. Leaning in, she slipped her lips over and down his length.

Alan gritted his teeth and grunted as he entered her mouth. He was lost to Miki, unable to find his bearings, unable to predict what she was going to do. And somewhere in the back of his mind, it was a relief not to be so cool, so calculating with his actions.

Miki drove her mouth over and over Alan’s shaft, not even sure if her motions felt any good. She had never done anything like this before, but a primal determination swept her up and instilled a vigour and confidence in her actions. She pulled back, Alan slipping out of her mouth, swallowed and gasped.

Alan still hadn’t moved in the chair. Only his deep breaths betraying life, in his tense body and stunned face.

Still not allowing either of them time to think or speak, Miki rose up quickly and desperately worked her mouth and tongue with his again, driving herself onto him. She moved forward and shifted her body onto his lap and straddled him on the chair. She drifted her kisses along his cheek and neck. She nibbled his ear and breathed, “Tell me you want me, Alan.”

He wanted her so badly. He felt his tip nudge against her thighs and pelvis and belly as she wriggled around him.

“Say that you need me,” she sighed. She steadied her body, shifting only her hips as she held his face and looked down at him.

Alan felt himself positioned below her. She settled her body just enough, so he could feel the pressure of her tenderness. It took everything he had not to just thrust up into her. Instead he looked up at her, gazed into her soft dark eyes and waiting, small pink lips and said gently, “I want you, Miki… I need you.”

The woman smiled warmly. That smile began to quiver slightly as she slowly dropped her hips, and sank onto him. She licked her lips, closed her eyes, and listed her head back slightly as she felt his hard, hot shaft slip tightly into her. She settled completely onto him, her smooth, firm bum on his lap. They kissed as she began to roll her belly and gyrate her hips over him.

Alan held her body at her back and around her bum, feeling Miki undulate and sway rhythmically on him. His mouth moved down to her neck as she leaned back slightly, then further still to her chest. Her blouse had slipped off her smooth shoulders, her sleeves crumpling at the bend in her elbows. His nose and lips and teeth worked to lift the cups of her bra up over her breasts, bunching it below her collarbone. As she embraced him close, he sucked and licked at her supple flesh. He slicked his tongue and dragged his teeth around her pert nipples.

“Ah! Mmm!” Miki cooed her appreciation of his touch. He sampled her hungrily, sending waves of tantalizing shivers up her back. She pressed her cheek against the top of his head, her breathing increasingly less steady.

Alan was throbbing hard, feeling the warm, tight pressure around him. He bucked his hips gently, eliciting pleased cries from Miki.

Both of them were exhaling sharp, warm breaths now. Half of Miki’s face was completely shadowed by the hair that had fallen across it. The veins began to show in Alan’s next, as the immense pressure built within him.

“Ahn! I need you so much, Miki,” he groaned looking up at her. His words and voice drove her even harder on him. Her stomach felt like it was going to tear itself apart as she bucked and ground herself onto his crotch.

“Huhn! Oh, God! Alan! Uhn!” she gasped painfully. She felt him swell inside of her, and she covered his mouth again with a kiss.

Alan squeezed his eyes shut and froze, his fingers pressing tightly into her tender flesh. Moaning into Miki’s mouth, he fired a sudden, forceful stream into her as she settled onto his lap. He could feel it squirt and jet out of him relentlessly, as he surrendered himself completely to it. He felt all of his energy being sapped from his body, filling her.

Miki could feel the slippery warmth deep inside her, his length throbbing its release against her inner flesh. She broke away from the kiss, holding his face tightly. She pressed her forehead against his and shut her eyes as she trembled and groaned aloud, “Ahh-unn!”

She spilled over him like a slick flood. Her luscious, dripping dampness mingled with his viscous fire as she quivered against his body. She blinked, as if waking from some intense, passionate dream, a weary but warm, gratified look on her face. She looked down and saw the same expression on the man below her, in her.

Deliciously drained and spent, she slowly slumped her body against him. Alan drew his arms up around her back, under her shirt, caressing her skin, holding her gently.

With the sound of the boiler system regaining its presence in the room, they stayed that way, exchanging only breaths and heartbeats, wallowing in the ecstasy of their illicit encounter. They slowly recovered before the end of the lunch period.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Sophia was lying on her back in bed, golden hair splayed over her silk-covered pillow, as she stared up at the ceiling. Her sight was unsteady, unable to keep the ceiling lamp centred in her line of vision. It probably had something to do with the heavy man who was on her and in her, riding her like she was a hobby horse.

“Aw, gawd! Damn, baby! You’re such a good fuck,“ Turner Locke said as he heaved himself over her again and again. Her husband was never one for the delicate details of passion. “A great fuck! Yeah!

Turner’s idea of romance was stepping out of the office during lunch and driving home for a 20-minute quickie. She had to let her Pasta Florentine go cold for this.

Her eyes rolled around in her head, separating her mind from the rigorous shaking her body was experiencing, and lost herself to one very disturbing thought: Alan was with Miki again. She knew it. She felt it.

Turner groaned like a hoarse goat as he climaxed.

Her green eyes narrowing, Sophia figured it was time to interject herself directly between Alan and Miki.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was Saturday afternoon and Alan sat up in bed, his back propped up on a pillow as he gazed out the window. He never saw the point in regarding how it looked like outside, until now. It had been a bright, sunny day. It was beautiful.

He turned his head and looked at the woman lying on the bed beside him as she napped. She was beautiful.

Miki had drifted into slumber about an hour ago while Alan remained awake, watching over her.

He shifted to his side, leaning on an arm. He reached out with the back of his hand and gently caressed her bare shoulder with his knuckles. Her light, milky skin was so soft and smooth. He gently pulled at the blanket that covered her, slipping it down her body slowly towards her legs, exposing more of her delicate, nude flesh.

“Mmm… Alan, it’s cold,” Miki said, frowning and pulling her arms close to her body.

He slid the blanket past her bum, admiring the curve along her waist to her smooth, round buttocks.

“Alan,” she grumbled again and rolled over to her other side facing him. Her eyes closed, she smiled. “Give me back the blanket.”

He let go of the blanket and she quickly pulled it up back to her chest. Alan slipped back down onto the bed and the two shifted closely together, her head resting under his arm, against his shoulder. Opening her eyes, she skimmed her hand over the soft hairs of his chest.

“So much for this being just a brunch,” she scoffed playfully. “But I think I know now what sort of Miki Medal to give you.”

Alan actually smiled. It was slight, but it was a smile. He curled his arm around her, clasping his hand on her rounded shoulder. This all felt so… normal.

Miki sighed thoughtfully, “Poor Dean. We keep leaving him to fend for himself.”

“He’s fine,” Alan said, “Dean’s a good son.”

Miki chewed her upper lip as she thought. The she asked, “Whatever happened to his mother?”

“She left town,” he said, after a little hesitation.

“Just left? She didn’t want to take Dean with her?”

“No. She didn’t want Dean,” he said.

Miki frowned, “I can’t imagine what it would take for a mother to abandon her child like that.”

“We were both young,” he said, “Neither of us had any interest in staying together and being a family. I wanted Dean. She didn’t.”

She sensed his love for his son in his words and voice.

Miki nestled in closer to Alan, draping her slender leg over his. This felt so right.

They were content to continue to stay like that in bed for the rest of the day, but then Alan’s phone rang. He picked it up from the nightstand. “Yeah,” he said, “Hi, Kendall… Oh, yeah?... yeah… okay… sure… give me about 15 minutes.”

As he placed the phone down, Miki asked, “Going somewhere?”

“Problem at Kendall McIntyre’s place,” Alan replied. “Switchbox. He‘s got no power.”

He didn’t want to, but he moved away from Miki and stepped out of bed. He went to get dressed.

“Should I leave?” Miki asked.

“No, you can keep Dean company if you want,” he replied. “I’m not sure how long this will take.”

“Sure,” she nodded and stood up.

Alan watched her walk around the room, her lovely, petite, nude body lit up by the sunlight filtering through the shades, as she picked up her clothes from the dresser.

He moved towards her, coming up from behind. He wrapped his arms around her, as he pressed his chest and torso against her back. Miki dropped the clothes she had picked up back onto the floor, as she leaned back and craned her neck around to meet his lowering lips with her own. She felt his soft length twitch and slowly harden against the small of her back. After a moment, and with a little nudge from Alan, she leaned over and braced her arms on the dresser.

Kendall McIntyre would have to wait about 40 minutes.

* * * * * * * * * *

Miki sat on the sofa listening to Dean talk about a book he had read about fishing. She smiled. This was the most she had heard the boy speak in one sitting.

He talked enthusiastically about how he and his dad would go fishing in the nearby pond.

“Are there any fish in that pond?” Miki asked, “It’s so hard to see anything more than six feet deep.”

Dean didn’t answer as he looked at her. She noticed that he was focusing on the pendant-locket around her neck again.

“Do you like this?” she asked. “Would you like to see it?”

The boy shook his head and said, “It looks like the one dad has hanging in his closet.”

“He has a pendant like this in his closet?” She held it up and asked. “Did it belong to your mother?”

Again Dean shook his head. He stood and hurried off to his dad’s bedroom. A minute later, he came back and held out his hand to her.

Miki looked at the boy, blinked, and then took the silver locket-pendant from his hand. It was very similar to hers, a silver, oval shaped locket. It was engraved with the letters “S” and “J” with a treble clef in the middle. It had been well preserved, polished to a smooth shine. She opened it up. It was empty - the picture had been removed.

She stared hard at it, tilting her head, as her mind worked with the little information that she had. She was so lost in thought as she held it in her open palm, that she never even noticed when someone entered the room from the back door of the home.

“It’s so very pretty, isn’t it Miki?” Sophia said standing a few feet in front of her.

Miki shirked back and gasped, surprised.

“It belonged to a so very pretty woman, too,” the taller, blonde woman with the pointed face said. She dropped her purse on the coffee table and sank into the chair across from Miki. “She was so very pretty, not unlike yourself. In fact, almost identical to you… well, except she didn‘t have your exotic, Oriental looks.”

“What are you doing here?” Miki said, her small eyes narrowing on the woman. Dean sat close beside her. “What do you want?”

Sophia scoffed to herself. “The gall of this stupid girl!” she thought.

“We need to talk,” Sophia insisted, “Woman to school teacher.”

Her eyes set on the woman across from her, Miki patted the boy gently on his back. “Dean,” she said softly, “Can you go into the backyard and play for a bit?”

He got up and walked out the door to the back. Sophia’s cool green eyes followed him out and then just as smoothly returned their gaze upon Miki.

“Did Alan tell you that Dean‘s mother didn‘t want him?” she said, diving right in.

“He said that she left him with Alan,” Miki replied calmly.

“Yes, well it does make him the noble one, doesn’t it? Young man of 21 or 22 left to take care of his son on his own?” Sophia said whirling her hand in the air.

Miki noted how the woman wore a sharp smile, but there was nothing warm about it.

Sophia inhaled deeply then said, “He begged me to pay off that woman so she’d give him the kid and leave town.”

Miki’s frown deepened.

“Poor Alan,” Sophia continued. “All the little slut needed to say was that she wanted the boy, and it sent the man into a panic. She didn’t care about Dean. She just wanted some money. Not much at all, either, for the little mute.”

Miki looked out the sliding back door and saw Dean tossing a ball in the air. It was no small relief to her that he wasn’t in the room to hear this.

“I gave her the money, of course. I saved him from that woman!” Sophia sniffed. “Alan never knew that she had no intention of taking Dean. But he was deeply indebted to me… and we both know how well he can show his appreciation, don’t we, Miki?”

The younger woman glared back at her, the blood beginning to race through her veins.

“He certainly demonstrated that with you, didn’t he?” Sophia said, angling her head downward. Her lips curled at the edges. “Especially at the shack? That ‘Hobo Hut’ last Saturday night? My goodness! Tsk-tsk, Ms. Yi!”

Miki’s mouth fell open, her eyes widening. She was more than caught off-guard, as Sophia’s words skewered her.

“Oh, was that supposed to be a special, intimate moment you shared with Alan? Your little secret, hmm?” Sophia goaded, as she smelled blood in the water. She leaned forward in the chair and said, “I guess no one told him the rules of keeping a secret, because I know every dirty detail of your nasty little fuck-fest in that rotting shack.”

Miki’s fists were clenched. She wanted to scream and pummel the sniveling woman’s face in, until she didn’t have a mouth to speak with anymore. It was her thoughts about Alan, the twisting confusion in her mind about him that held her in place.

“And you actually thought he did that all for you?” Sophia laughed. “Fixed up that shit-hole just for you? Lured you with his cool, quiet charms because he has feelings for you? Alan? Ha! He has no feelings! He was playing out a sick, sordid fantasy, Miki! Just wanted to get his rocks off on any pretty young thing!”

Miki looked away, her upper lip curling under her lower one. Her vision blurred. She was ready to burst, but she didn't want to cry - not in front of this woman. “Why are you telling me this?” she eked, her voice cracking.

“Because I’m trying to help you, too,” Sophia replied without an air of irony.

Miki still couldn’t look at her, just shaking her head as she stared towards the corner.

“It’s sad, isn’t it? When you realize your prince is so tarnished,” Sophia settled back into her seat. “He’s a broken, damaged man, Miki. What’s even sadder is that you don’t even know half of how damaged he is. Do you think someone as naïve as you can save him? You don‘t even know when he‘s just using you for a good fuck!”

Miki stood and strode over to Sophia. With a flash of her hand, she slapped her hard across her cheek but the woman made no attempt to avoid the blow, accepting it like a medal of honour. She smiled and touched her cheek, as it seeped with a red hue from beneath her skin.

Miki dropped the locket on the table and hurried towards the front door.

“Maybe you should go for a jog,” Sophia called to her. “Clear your muddled little mind a bit.”

Miki slammed the door shut as she left.

* * * * * * * * *

Alan drove back to his house in the late afternoon. He allowed himself a twinge of excitement, anticipating Miki to be there waiting for him to return. It just as quickly dissipated the moment he realized Miki’s car was gone and Sophia’s big SUV was parked on the curb side. He stopped on his driveway, got out of the car, and ran into the house. He smelled the juniper-violet scent the moment he entered.

Sophia was still sitting in the easy chair, legs crossed, her head turned away, as she looked out the window.

“Where is she?” Alan scowled at her.

The woman turned her head slowly and glared back at him. She threw something at him. Alan caught it against his chest and looked at Sheryl Jennings’ pendant.

“Why do I always have to clean up your messes?” she said shaking her head.

“Where is she?” he repeated, a touch more remorsefully, as he stared at the small bauble. “What did you tell her?”

“I told her just enough to get her to leave and to distract her,” Sophia insisted. “Just something for her to chew on while you and I figure out what to do with her.”

‘What to do with her…’ Alan knew how Sophia’s mind worked. She already knew ‘what to do with her’.

Alan shook his head and said, “She doesn’t know anything. We can just let it go.”

“Oh, come off it, Alan!” Sophia stood from the chair. “She’ll figure it out eventually, because you’re going to get on your knees and confess to her like she’s some freaking angel! Isn’t that right? You were so obsessed to just fuck her, and now you think you care for her? She’s no one! You only screwed her because she reminded you of the pure and innocent Ms. Jennings! And you can’t keep away from her because you think she’s going to fix you somehow? Make you a better, normal man? Meanwhile, you keep piling your sins up, one on top of the other!”

The woman paced the floor like a gorilla striding back and forth in a cage, puffed up and angry. Alan continued to stare at the pendant.

“I paid the mother of Dean because you asked me to. She’s gone. That’s done with! I had my guys from the warehouse beat down that boyfriend of hers because you needed to live out your stupid obsession and be done with it. And you did it! You had your fun with the angelic Ms. Yi or Ms. Jennings or whoever the hell is in your messed-up head. I made it possible, and then I allowed you to fuck her! It’s done! She’s not an angel anymore! You’ve broken her wings. She’s a whore like every other woman, now. She can’t do anything for you!”

Alan looked up at her, a vicious gleam in his eye. “I’m not the one who started this,” he said. “Do you really want to discuss sins, Sophia?”

Sophia closed her eyes and calmed herself. Changing gears, she spoke with a low, slow voice, “Alan, we’ve taken care of each other for so long, now. You’ve always been such a good boy. Haven’t I been good to you? I’ve let you go with your little indiscretions because I know you’d always come back to me. We need each other, because we share in the same, dirty little secret. Do you really think that she’ll stay by your side if she finds out the truth about you? And when she does, what will happen to Dean?”

Alan grimaced. She always knew how to tangle her words and ideas into his mind.

“And she will find out, won’t she Alan?” Sophia said picking up her bag and walking towards him. “She already has a puzzle piece, that shiny thing in your hand. That woman seems like the type who can’t resist solving a good mystery… especially if it involves the man she’s in love with.”

“In love?” Alan thought.

They stood side-by-side, facing in opposite directions. He could end this now, stop Sophia in her tracks. It would be simple. He would be free. Miki would be safe… from both of them.

“You know that you‘ve already lost her, from what I just told her,” Sophia said. She nudged him and nodded towards the hallway. Dean was clutching at the corner, staring at them anxiously. “Now, are you willing to risk everything else for her?”

He let her continue to the door.

“Don’t worry, Alan. You’re still young. You’ve got drive,” she said with an indignant sneer. “There’s a lot more pretty, young school teachers where she came from to screw around with.”

Sophia exited the house and drove off. Alan stayed rooted on his spot as the sunlight slowly faded in the room.

“Dad?” Dean said softly from the hallway. “I like Ms. Yi.”

Alan quietly turned around and left the house.

* * * * * * * * *

Alan sat on the old log staring at the shack in the darkness. It was so quiet. He held the necklace and pendant in his fingers, rubbing it like it was a string of rosary beads.

After he had left the house, he had first gone to the pond, a place that had always comforted him. But now when he was there, the black pool of water offered him little solace. So he came to the shack.

He sat there for a long time, unaware of the creeping chill in the air. He figured if he sat there long enough, he would be isolated from Sophia’s plans. The woman seemed to drag the inevitable along with her, he couldn’t stop her. It was best to just stay out of her way.

He inhaled deeply, squeezing the pendant in his hands. Sophia was right: Miki would never forgive him. He was going to lose her, eventually. She had to be cut loose. He knew that once it was done, he could go back to the way he was.

The way he was…

Alan began to shake, but not from the cool night air. He frowned, squeezing his eyes tight, and hit his forehead with his fist, over and over, as he clenched the locket. A steady rumble growled up through his throat.

“GAHH!” he yelled and stood up. He flung the pendant at the shack then stumbled towards it.

As he screamed in a rage, he tore and clawed at the wooden structure, pulling off nailed in planks of wood and siding. He pounded it with his bare fists, bashed the windows in with his forearms and kicked in the door. He raged against the structure till his heart felt like it would burst.

His strength drained, he leaned back against the side of the shack and collapsed to the ground in a heap, trembling and groaning. He looked up towards the sky, but saw only darkness, clouds blocking out the stars above. He felt like he was drowning.

Alone in the middle of the woods, for the first time since he was a teenager, Alan cried.

To be concluded...