The Other Side of Love

Chapter 1

Annabel

I step off the airplane and my fans go crazy. There is a decent crowd bearing all manner of flowers and gifts. Three of the airport security await me at the end of the stairs, shouldering and steering back the more zealous fans that'll happily crowd every available inch of space to be nearer to me.

I am dressed casually in designer jeans and a baggy sweater which hangs off a shoulder. My hair falls loose over my shoulder, the faint wind teasing the ends as I survey the crowd behind large shades. I take my time moving down the stairs and my fans grow wild with adoration. The flash of lights is less bearable at the bottom of the stairs but I take a moment to throw a confident smile a journalist's way before making my way down the path the security clear up for me, giving a dazzling smile every now and then. Some fans thrust their gifts into my face, eager to see me appreciate them but I smile and ignore them tactfully. The gifts might be collected later or might not, but I leave such details to my assistant.

A sleek black SUV waits right at the end of the tarmac, held open by the driver and my guides usher me into it, my assistant right behind me.

"Would you like some refreshment?" the driver asks from behind the dark screen.

"Very much thank you." My assistant says, taking a bottle of chilled champagne from the cooling console that draws out. She uncorks it, takes out two glasses and pours generous amounts into them.

"That never gets old. So much love, I could take a bite out of it." She mock shudders. Lissa is a stauch anti-love loyalist. She hates love, affections, sentiments. Anything with a hint of gooey.

"No it doesn't." I grin at her, opting to keep the shades for now.

I take a sip of the champagne, rolling the complex drink on my tongue, savouring the burst of flavor and the fizzy lightness before swallowing it. It must be ancient.

I take out my phone and check my messages. One from Julian asking if I've landed yet and another from my housekeeper. I check the time, 12:46, Kimberly must still be in the courtroom. I text Julian to inform him I'm on my way to the hotel and send a text to my housekeeper, directing her to where I kept my new keys. Lissa is talking.

"You have nothing pressing to do all afternoon. In the evening we have the spa."

"Cancel it, that sounds like a waste of time." I say, pressing the send button to deliver my message.

"Of course not!" Lissa shrieks, indignant. "You need it. It's my job to make sure you deliver and you have to look your best."

I arch an eyebrow at her, pretending to be puzzled. "I am sure you're not saying I look terrible---"

"I am not! You are---"

"---because that you would the greatest lie ever."

"---okay but we need to up your scale to gorgeous."

I glare at her but the spitfire doesn't budge an inch and I sigh. It's too bad I have a soft spot for her and she knows it. It doesn't help that she's a damn efficient assistant, the best I've ever had and is definitely right about the spa. I sigh again, pick up my phone and thumb through it.

"Whatever." I mutter, trying to look like I had the last say but I know I'm just saving face. I rap on the driver's screen and he winds it down. "Speakers please."

Celine Dion floats into the space and I settle into the plush seat and close my eyes, humming along. The rapid tap of Lissa's keyboard as she works furiously to ensure my day runs smoothly and we encounter no surprises is familiar and comforting.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I know, we are pulling into Maitre Dias hotel parking lot. Lissa is still typing energetically and looks up as I straighten.

"You work too hard. I can't have that much activity going on in my life that needs organising." I say. She closes her tab and drains her cup of champagne.

"You pay me to work hard. You can't turn around and tell me I'm working too hard."

I don't argue, she takes pride in her work and she should. The driver holds out the door and I climb out, Lissa already walking around the car to my side.

"Which room, ma'am?" The driver motions to our luggage but the hotel stewards are already there, lugging them out.

"19H." I call out to them and Lissa and I stride to the door. The hotel lobby is elegant and spacious and Lissa rushes forward to collect the key cards and sign in. We move to the elevator. I press the button for our level and we ascend.

The elevator opens to a beautiful hallway. The hall is wide, the floor covered with a thick Persian rug and the walls are adorned by famous art by different artists. I am not much of an art person, I know almost nothing about them but the feeling as we make our way down the hall to our door is much like walking down a red carpet. We approach a door distinctly marked by a decorative '19' and Lissa pushes my key into the slot. There is a click and it slides open.

The room is extravagant. The carpet is white and without my shoes I would definitely sink into it up to my ankles. The king-sized bed is covered with pearl white covers, nearly every inch of it is taken by pillows. The canopy is high and regal, made of oak with little figures carved into it. The drape of the canopy is a ruby red and it has been arched and folded aesthetically. Opposite the bed is a large mirror that takes up nearly the whole wall, a smaller heavily ornamental mirror directly above it. The vanity is wide and piled with all sorts of skincare and nail care paints and lotions. Beyond the bed is a large resting area with brown comfortable-looking cushions and a glass center table. The entire wall is reinforced glass and I can't wait to see what it overlooks.

"My room is right beside yours if you need anything." Lissa says, motioning to a door adorned with the number '20'.

"You're a workaholic. I'm going to pass out for a long time and I order you to go do whatever it is assistants do in their free time."

She flashes a grin, and salutes me mockingly. "See ya. I'll be back by 5. Catch your beauty sleep."

I blink. "Why do you have to be so happy about abandoning me." I mutter as I close the door.

I kick off my heels, flexing my toes as they sink into the thick furry carpet. I move towards the far wall and gaze down at the resplendent view. The blue sea expands as far as I can see, the surface deceptively still with the occasional gentle ripple. I stretch and throw my shades on the table. Without removing my clothes, I swipe my hand across the bed, half of the pillows falling to the ground and promptly fall asleep.

...........................................................

I look into the full length mirror and have to acknowledge the success of the evening. The spa might very well have been totally worth it. My skin glows iridescently. Every inch of my skin has been tended to and pampered, from my face to my hair to my nails, with a full body massage and full body treatment.

I am tall with legs that I like to think go on for miles, my grey eyes currently reflect the rosy glow of the room, complemented by my high straight nose and soft full lips. My heart shaped face is framed by strawberry blonde hair that cascades to my waist in a full luscious fall. I look fresh as a daisy. I tug my robe free as Lissa comes up behind me.

I'd convinced her to get a full body treatment too and she is currently in a short purple gown that highlights the beauty she works so hard to conceal while at work. She is a modestly curvy woman, her height giving her a touch of elegance. Her brown hair is cut short so it falls to her shoulder in waves. She has an oval face, wide green eyes and firm lips. She hands me my gown as I drop the robe on the floor. Mine is a sleeveless midnight blue gown with a thigh high slit.

The spa attendants are there to help me shimmy into it and I grab my black Givenchy purse and make for the door, Lissa at my side.

"Where should we hit first?" I begin to badger her. "The mall? The park? Or should we grab dinner first? Oh I know, a pub!"

She stops walking and the two attendants nearly bump into her. The look on her face is scandalized.

"What? A pub? Surely you mean a restaurant, I already booked a reservation at Donald's Cuisine. Excuse me ladies." She directs the last part at the attendants.

"No, I mean a pub." I say, warming to the prospect. I pull her arm and we exit the establishment.

"Have a good evening. We hope to see you again soon." One of the attendants say with a smile.

"Thank you." I say before they turn and walk back inside. I turn back to Lissa as we stride to our waiting car. "Think on it, how many times have you ever gone to one? That's right, never. That's why we are going to one, what if you die without ever having been to a measly little pub."

She looks cynical. " And I'm sure there is a very good reason why respectable people haven't been to one."

"Bah! Who wants to be respectable. Sounds like laundry to me." I jiggle my brows at her, "I hear that's where to pick rough men types, cowboys, you name it. And I happen to know someone in need of a good tumble."

The driver holds open the door for me and I slide into the seat. Lissa walks to the other side and climbs in.

"To the pub!" I call out to the driver enthusiasticly before she has a chance to protest.

The screen lowers.

"Which pub ma'am?"

Lissa settles down and arches a fine brow at me. I shrug a shoulder and grin sheepishly.

"To the nearest one."

And she laughs. "You've never been to a pub either, have you?"

"An outrage. Which we are going to correct tonight." I rap on the screen and it lowers. "Speakers, please."

The music filters out and I launch into my karaoke version, Lissa joining me a moment later and together we screech and wail along.

A few minutes later, the car stops and my door is pulled open. I step down and look around to be sure we are actually in front of the establishment.

The 'establishment' is a squat ugly building. There is only one fluorescent and the light it casts has an obvious limit. The door is old, rusted and manned by a burly bouncer. There is not an inch of it that screams glamorous. I glance around again, surely there is a more... accommodating pub than this? Somewhere I won't fear being robbed for one.

"You look like you're two seconds from jumping back in the car. Change your mind so easily?" Lissa is gleeful as she smirks at me, eyeing the drab building pointedly.

I square my shoulders with a haughty sniff, pushing my even larger shades up my nose.

"Nothing like an old decrepit building will stop me." And I march resolutely forward.

The bouncer checks our ID cards and ushers us in. I am immediately assailed by the noise. And the smell. The lights are low with bright multicolours flashing in time to the beat. On a stage in the middle, men and women sweat with their efforts, dancing and gyrating enthusiasticly. A band plays a noisy jangling music, not particularly talented for their skill but for their catchy beat. The smell of cheap perfume and sweat is nearly overpowering and the many overhead fans spin furiously to distribute it. Around the stage are many seats and tables, almost fully taken. The seated patrons are not watching the performance so much as getting wasted themselves.

I head over to a table as close to the bar as I can get and plop myself down dramatically. I guffaw at the horror and revulsion on Lissa's face. It is priceless. She daintily picks her way to our table, reluctantly perching on the seat. She looks like she's two seconds from bolting for the door. I grin at her, the entire evening redeemed.

"Alright you made your point. I lost. It's not worth it. Can we please go back now? We can order room service and watch a movie." She says, glancing around with a disapproving frown.

"Oh no, we did not make it all this way to turn back." I raise my hands and consider yelling across my order but my voice would just be swallowed by the cacophony of music. A waiter sees me anyway and quickly makes her way to our table.

"Today's special, gin and tonic." I order.

The waiter glances at Lissa, tapping her foot impatiently.

"May I take your order, ma'am?"

Lissa sighs. "Same." She says reluctantly and the waiter makes a note and quickly clacks away. "This might be one of your most outrageous decisions yet."

"Oh but it's not. I see a guy to your 5'O clock. He hasn't been able to take his eyes off you since you came in. And he looks goood. I say you should give it a try." I tell her eagerly.

"Nuh-uh. I feel like my work hours just spilled into the night cos I'm here to make sure you don't get accosted by any creeps." She says, flashing me her pointy pen.

I laugh.

"I'm here incognito, you foolish goose." I point to my overlarge shades. "Mind the glasses."

She eyes me critically and shrugs, looking totally unconvinced.

"I don't think you cut it."

Our waiter arrives with our orders and I dig in. It is pasta and seafood curry. It tastes homey and delicious. Lissa moves pieces of crab around and sighs dramatically.

"I think I lost my appetite. Sure I left it just on the other side of that door."

I laugh again, fascinated by this side of her I've never had the chance to see behind her rigid work ethic.

"Never knew you to complain so much." I say with a snicker.

She throws her arms up and huffs in annoyance, then tentatively tastes the crab. I see the flicker of surprise before she relaxes, digging into her food fully.

There is a movement that catches my eye as the man that has been eyeing Lissa since she came in stands and makes his way over to our table but my attention drifts to another man, deeper in the shadows to a table of three and I jerk with a start. His two companions are talking and he sits languidly, the picture of boredom but his eyes are trained on me. His face is cast into shadow but the light catches his eye, giving it an almost feral glint. A shiver of anticipation shudders through me. I slowly take a sip of my gin and I am sure he can feel my eyes boring into his. I hope he recognises it for the challenge it is. The corner of his mouth quirks up and I feel slightly overheated.

Lissa is looking at me perplexed, and I motion towards the hunk in the shadows. She swivels her head and whistles appreciatively and I smile to myself.

And then the first guy is at our table. He is tall and lean. His eyes are a liquid brown and his beard is close-cropped. His dark suit looks well tailored. He is quite handsome and I'm instantly cheering for his side.

"Ladies, will you do me the honour of letting me pick your tab?" He asks, eyes devouring Lissa.

Before she has a chance to open her mouth and send him running, I cut in.

"Of course you can. My friend here is totally single and desperately searching, and was just mentioning how handsome she thinks you are."

Lissa glares at me and spears her fork into her food.

"If I had known you would get back at me for the spa like this, I might have totally scrapped it. And no thank you, I like to pick my own tab." She directs at the man looking down at us, amused.

"Why, what ever are you talking about." I fan myself innocently and busy myself rolling some more pasta into my mouth.

"Oh don't pretend. I promise, I'll take your... opinions more seriously next time I work hard to ensure your day runs as smoothly as a well oiled train." She says. "So can you stop making this poor soul linger pointlessly?"

"I think he very much wants to be here. Please take a seat." I say, looking up at him with what I hope is my best encouraging smile.

"Thank you very much," he is saying but I'm no longer listening to him. My eyes are drawn to the other corner of the room. He doesn't seem to have moved. His eyes bore into me unapologetically and I smile widely, relishing the heat and challenge he throws back at me. I drain my drink and rise, pausing to murmur an "I'll be right back" to Lissa who looks slightly alarmed to be left alone with her admirer before making my way towards him.

I put an extra roll in my hips and saunter directly to him. He straightens in his seat, a brief flash of surprise on his face before it becomes unreadable. I plop myself on his table, the slit on my dress widening just so, and my leg is artfully displayed. His eye catches the movement and kindles with a low simmering heat. An answering heat simmers low in my belly.

He is a large man, thick with muscle, more of an athletic structure than that of a weight lifter. His face is masculine and very appealing, his coal black eyes framed by thick black lashes. His brows are thick, giving him a perpetually broody expression, his nose straight and his lips full and firm. His hair is close-cropped and his square jaw is framed by a well cultured beard. He is perfection and I, am very interested.

I grab his drink and down the glass. It burns straight down and I begin coughing spontaneously. Way to ruin this spectacular display I have taken such great care to enact.

The conversation on the table had died down as I approached and now the two companions are laughing at me. The man is also thoroughly amused. With a sigh of disgust, I grab the glass that one of the companions has so helpfully refilled and take a gentler sip, eyeing him over the rim.

He stares right back at me, not saying a word and my lips curl against the glass. I'm going to enjoy this one. The tension between us is alive and crackling and his two friends clear their throat and find one excuse or the other to move from the table, leaving us alone.

"I felt your eyes first." I reach forward and rake a nail down his cheek to his neck and his nostrils flare. "Before I looked, I could feel you boring holes into me." I lean forward, making sure to flash a bit of cleavage, cross my legs, and rest my chin on my hand. "So I have one question for you. You want me, but do you have the balls to get what you want?"

He studies me, from the little he can see of my face, to my neck arched invitingly, my hint of cleavage and my legs purposely on display.

"So you assumed, like every self-important brat that I was looking at you, and I had to want you?"

His voice is deep and gravelly and I almost close my eyes to better feel the vibrations before his words catch up to me. I drain my glass, annoyed.

"The long way then? This is going to end one way but you want to beat around the bush first?" I drop the glass and rise, moving around him to occupy the vacant seat of his companion. I draw it closer to him and pour myself a new glass.

"Careful there. That's strong spirits." He says.

"Concerned? Don't fret. I can hold my liquor." I say, demonstrating by taking a large sip. He looks amused and shrugs one great shoulder.

"Didn't say you couldn't." He says.

"Let's start all over. I'm ---" he cuts me off.

"Annabel Smith, I know". He looks amused again.

I stare at him, more in irritation now than anything and finger my shades.

"Are you a creep now? How did you recognise me?" I ask.

He laughs silently and I am pleased by how the sound rubs my nerve endings. Glad to see I might not have wasted my time chasing him, I renew my determination to get him in and out of bed and not let him derail me any further.

"Did you really think a pair of glasses is enough to transform you into James Bond female? Anyone with two eyes can see through that." His expression is patronising. And just like that, I am irritated once again. This is going to be a long night.

..........................................................

I watch her as she enters, takes a seat and orders. Even after studying her for so long she still manages to surprise me.

I watch her eat and talk and laugh.

And I watch her as she saunters towards the man in the dark, a wild siren that calls to every man she passes.

Jealousy, hot and ugly, scalds my veins. Rage too. She gives herself so freely to this man and yet has scorned and rejected every letter and gift I have ever sent to her.

The man opposite me glances at me uneasily and I realise my glass is clenched tightly in my fist, on the verge of shattering. With a deep breath, I release my fingers one by one.  

I focus on her again and immediately feel sick. She is blatantly seducing the man. She rakes a nail down the man's face and I double over in pain. The man opposite me is saying something, glancing at me curiously and another patron glances at me uneasily but I don't spare either of them a glance. I straighten up and a calm descends over me.

I have stayed in the shadows for too long. It is time to make sure she can't forget me. To make sure that her every waking moment is consumed by thoughts of me.

Unable to bear the sight of her and the man, I rise and make my way to the restroom, sticking to the shadows.

I has always wondered how it would feel to kill a person.