Off The Cretan Track Chapter 39

Jen's games

"Err, I've got to go," Sal said, backing her way up the outer steps of the building. "I've got work tomorrow evening, and I've got to sort stuff out. Oh, and I've got to ring Adam to let Nick know about work, and then I'll stay up as long as I can so I'm not too tired. Then I've got to go to bed and get up in time...got to set my alarm and make sure I'm up and..." she rambled, finally running out of things to say, ..."umm, well, yes, that's about it. Got to go. Bye," she finished, turning around and rushing up the last few steps before disappearing through the door.

 

Jen watched her suspiciously before turning to Nick. "I take it that you did book a room at the Apollo hotel?" she questioned him, folding her arms and looking a lot like a school headmistress in her immaculate dark suit and straight dark hair falling down her back, with not so much as a tress out of place. That was Jen alright, organized beyond belief, neat, straight to the point and suspicious, with her dark wary eyes glittering like coal.

 

"Yes."

 

"What room number?" she asked abruptly.

 

"Umm." He had to think quickly to remember it, considering that he'd only actually spent one night in there. "Thirty two."

 

She stared at him, unimpressed at the uncertainty of his response.

 

"Meet me back there in ten minutes. We need to talk," she said, abruptly turning on her heel, striding to a car parked on the side of the road, getting into it and driving away.

 

"Oh crap!"

 

He jumped onto his motorbike and raced after her.

 

By the time Nick had reached room thirty two, Jen had beaten him to it. He knew she would get given the key from Maria at the reception. She shouldn't really have given Jen the key to his room, but Maria knew they were together, and besides, no one refused Jen anything she wanted, particularly when she was in that kind of mood. He couldn't help but wonder if Jen had intentionally got to the room before him; maybe to check it out first, hoping to find some incriminating evidence in there. Why did he feel guilty anyway? He hadn't done anything wrong. Not really.

 

The door was ajar. He knocked and cautiously inched it open, peering around it. Silly really; he'd paid for the damn room.

 

"Jen," he called out meekly.

 

"What?" She appeared suddenly from around the door and nearly gave him a heart attack. After a quick recovery, he stepped bravely into the room.

 

"So, where have you been Nick?" she asked in an accusatory tone, emphasizing the question by slamming the door loudly behind them. He was trapped!

 

"How did you know to wait outside Sal's?" he countered.

 

"I'm asking the questions here!" she replied angrily, her voice raising by several decibels.

 

Nick had had a few minutes to consider all his options. He had decided to answer as few of her questions as possible before he found out what she'd already been told.

 

"You must have spoken to Ruth," he replied, making sure to phrase that as a statement, rather than ask it as a question.

 

"I had to ask around," she answered, quietly and seemingly calmly at first, before her voice gradually rose to nothing less than a screech, "because my so called boyfriend had pissed off half way across the island with some other woman and I had no idea where he was!"

 

It took every ounce of Nick's willpower not to wince at the ear piercing sound of Jen's furious voice. He suddenly felt slightly nauseous.

 

"It was just Sal," he replied, hating himself for appearing to undervalue her.

 

"'Just Sal,'" Jen mimicked. "Well, Sal's another woman, isn't she? What were you two doing in Matala anyway?"

 

She made it sound so sordid.

 

There was no way he was even going to try telling her about the quest; she wouldn't believe him anyway.

 

"I heard from Phil and Sandra again," he began, casually, strolling over to a table by the window and emptying his pockets onto it. "You remember them; they ran an ice cream parlour by the lake and moved to the west a few years ago. Anyway, they invited me to Matala and Sal had nothing else going on so she came along." Well, there was a small element of truth in that, albeit miniscule.

 

Nick was holding something back; Jen was sure of it. Well, she wasn't going to lose Nick now, not after everything she'd been through back at home, and not considering that she'd just moved back to Crete to be with him. She would do anything she could to hold on to this bit of security in her life. Besides, she'd look like a complete and utter fool if he left her. She'd never particularly liked the way that Sal had hung around Nick so much last year. Nick had insisted that they were just friends, but Jen was sure that Sal wanted to steal Nick from her. The way she always obsessed about men, eyeing up every guy in sight and dressing in next to nothing in the hope that one would be interested, it was pitiful. But she hadn't got a guy yet; no wonder she was after Nick.

 

"Well thanks a lot Nick. While you were enjoying yourself in Matala, I was being called every name under the sun by my family," she said with genuine pain in her eyes.

 

"What? But they seemed to be fine with you when I was there. I thought you'd be okay," Nick replied.

 

"I told you," she cried out angrily, "I told you what they'd do if you left, but you just went and left anyway!"

 

Nick felt the panic rise. What had he done? "But...but I thought I'd give you some time to make up with them."

 

"We're never going to make up Nick," she wept, "Not until I move back there for more torture. Well, I won't do it; I can't do it! It's not enough that I send every bit of extra money I can afford back to them, that I've always held the whole family together, looked after the kids, put food on the table, played mum while mum was too bloody depressed to even move out of bed day after day..."

 

"I know all of that," Nick cut in with frustration. "I'm not asking you to go back; I don't think you should at all. You could have come back with me," he pointed out.

 

"You know I couldn't do that; I had to go to Grandpa's funeral."

 

"Well, you could have if you'd wanted to," he replied rather lamely.

 

"And you could have stayed with me," she countered. "You always promised we would be there for each other. You said you understood; you'd been through it too..." she cried, laying on the guilt.

 

He raked a hand through his hair and growled with frustration, pacing the room.

 

"Why did you leave me to deal with it on my own, why Nick, why?" she pushed.

 

"Because," he swung around, pushed to breaking point, "I went through s**t too you know Jen! I couldn't handle it, least of all a funeral!"

 

That made Jen stop and think. Maybe she had been pushing him too far. She should ease up on him or he really would leave her.

 

"I'm sorry babe, I didn't think," she said, changing tact by moving to him and winding her arms around his neck. "We have both suffered, like you always said, but we need to look after each other. I'm sorry," she repeated, catching him off guard when he suddenly found her lips on his.

 

He froze at first, not knowing what to do, but that was a big mistake because it gave her time to take away his reasoning with her mouth and hands. Soon he was aroused and she'd got him in the palm of her hands. Then the games began. Abruptly she moved away from him, saying,

 

"Sorry darling but I've got to go meet Nikos from Cretatours at the airport soon. He's got some work for me. The pay should be great."

 

Nick could hear the words she was speaking but they seemed so out of place and irrelevant as he watched her lean back against the dressing table and hitch one leg up to place her foot onto the chair in front of her. She leant back onto her hands and waited to see his reaction, moving her bent leg to and fro slightly. His eyes homed in on the gap her skirt was revealing; he knew she was doing it on purpose, but he couldn't help himself, she always left him feeling so damn frustrated. It was probably part of her plan to keep him under her control, along with all the other schemes she'd thought up. Well, okay, he was horny at that moment, how could he not be after spending so much time in close quarters with Sal? But couldn't she see that all these games were just tearing their relationship even further apart.

 

She was just about the most cunning woman he'd ever known and God, she was good at her games. He never knew when she would actually let him bed her. Recently, she'd been teasing him so damn much, but she always came up with a reason why they couldn't continue. Sometimes she didn't even really have a good reason, but there was no way he was going to beg her. So he'd been left lying awake, night after night, feeling alone and aching badly for physical relief. Why did he allow her to tease him so much? It was the not knowing; the thought that maybe she'd let him go all the way. Even now, when all he could think about was another woman, he still couldn't stop being drawn into her games. In fact, now was even worse in some ways because he'd been holding back so hard for Sal. With Sal anything that ever happened between them had to be perfect, not tainted, either that, or he'd rather nothing at all. But he hated himself for the realization that he didn't love Jen enough to hold back any longer and he wanted her to give in this time. It was so ironic because he knew that if she did let him close tonight, both of them would be wishing it was someone else. She didn't want him anymore than he wanted her. It was just sex. How had it all turned so wrong?

 

But he had to admit nonetheless, as far as sex was concerned, she was good, probably the best he'd had yet when she wanted to be. It was still just sex though, a release for both of them. It was enjoyable, even exciting at times, but there was no magic in it, no jitters, no heat in the pit of his stomach that burned right the way up through his body. He'd only ever known that feeling once with a woman, and he'd been astounded that he'd felt it just from a mere kiss.

 

As her leg swayed to and fro, it allowed him quick glances of the strip of black lacy underwear. He pictured pulling them off her and it made him hornier. God, she knew how to play these games! As if she'd read his mind, she stood suddenly, eased up her skirt slightly and removed her underwear, saying,

 

"Of course, I'll have to change out of these clothes first before I go."

 

Then she stood, straightened her skirt and approached him, turning and glancing at him over her shoulder. "Could you undo the zip please Nick?"

 

He obliged her and was left with a tantalizing view of her nakedness through the gap, which just got twice as tantalizing when she went to her suitcase on the floor and bent to unzip it. She was playing a dangerous game; any more of this and he'd find it hard to hold back even if she wanted him to.

 

Pulling out some fresh clothes from her suitcase, she threw them on the bed, turned in his direction and began unbuttoning her blouse.

 

Was she really going back to the airport tonight for a meeting? Good God, she'd only just got back! Knowing her though, she probably was. But then again, she was also suspicious of Sal and so she'd be thinking Sal was competition. What's more, they hadn't had sex for a long time. Would she want him before she left, or even better, would she change her mind and not go?

 

Soon the blouse was dispensed with and a strange stillness settled over the room whilst she simply stared at him, her dark eyes glittering mysteriously in the dim light.

 

"I'll just get changed," she said finally, her eyes flitting to the bathroom door. He felt disappointment and frustration threaten, but then, even on the times when she had instigated sex, she'd left him waiting until the very last minute. Was this still part of her game? He didn't care; he wanted sex enough now to not worry about his pride.

 

"Or maybe you have enough time to stay a while and I'll help you out of the rest of those clothes," he suggested.

 

She smiled knowingly. She was pleased. He was hopeful...really hopeful. His pulse rate quickened.

 

"Well, that would be very...helpful," she smiled.

 

He laughed. "I'm always keen to please."

 

"Well, thank you very much Nick but...I'm really not sure if I have the time." Damn, there was the refusal. "It will be quicker if I do it myself," she said, unclipping her bra and letting it fall to the floor.

 

The sight of bare breasts never failed to arouse him, it didn't matter whose they were, there was always some amount of arousal involved. He noted that she was also aroused, so there was still hope. Maybe, just maybe, she was still toying with him. She began to dart around the room, doing very little apart from moving items of clothing, bags and other personal items around...and of course bending in the process, and pretending to rush, thereby giving him an eyeful of jiggling flesh. She knew he liked that, bloody tease! Was she going to let him or not? He wasn't sure he could take any more strain!

 

"I guess you'll be wanting a shower first," she said suddenly.

 

That threw him for a moment; he was too busy watching her display. On instinct, he followed her lead and agreed, stripping off his t shirt. She stilled and watched him as he went on to unzip his jeans and step out of them, revealing the obvious arousal underneath his boxers. She looked so damn smug on seeing it.

 

"Hurry up then Nick," she said in a patronizing tone, finally stripping off the rest of her clothes and turning away towards her suitcase again.

 

That was it! He'd had enough. If she turned him down now he'd bloody well dump her.

 

In three quick strides then he was across the room, where he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back against him.

 

"Enough teasing Jen!" he barked into her ear, making her jump. She smiled though, a smile of triumph, and pressed her lower body back against him.

 

"Ooh, so masterful," she taunted.

 

"I'll show you masterful," he growled, moving a leg between hers.

 

"Oh Nick, yes," she cried out, this time with all the joking gone from her voice. "It's been so long. Yes Nick, I want it!"

 

He made love to her with such desperation, it was unlike any time before for them, and it thrilled her more than any time before, making her return his passion. He lost himself in his body's demands and refused to entertain any feelings of guilt, but despite the intensity of their lovemaking, he was unable to fully dismiss the feeling that something was very wrong with their whole relationship, and not just because she loved someone else, but because seconds after he'd began to take her, in his head, he was back in Matala, on the beach or in the bed, making love to the only woman who excited him more than he could ever have imagined.

 

Half an hour later and unbelievably, Jen had kissed him goodbye and actually left for the damn meeting. He felt numb. He'd been so damn stupid that he'd actually thought their lovemaking had been good enough to make her want to stay with him that night. He would have stayed with her, held her afterwards and made her feel loved. Lying in the silent darkness of the room, his distraught mind wouldn't let him sleep and so he just lay alone in the bed, curled up and aching with loneliness and self-disgust.

 

Across town, Sal was sitting curled up on her sofa with an array of objects covering the coffee table in front of her. There was a huge bar of chocolate, a bottle of wine, a bag of jelly babies, a large packet of cheesy puffs, her IPod, and a magazine with the front page description of 'Ten sexiest men alive, uncovered.' In her hand, she held the remote control for her DVD player, which had been set up to play one of her favourite TV shows, 'Desperate Housewives.' Reaching out her hand, just about to press the button, she looked down at everything she had placed in front of her, ready to comfort the strange emptiness inside that she was feeling that night. Dropping her hand suddenly, she burst into tears. None of it was enough.