Painful Pleasures

Bloodline relations

“s**t!” I swear as I accidentally run the knife on my finger. My brother had “accidently” bumped into me while I was chopping onions. 

“Oops, sorry.” he apologized with a smirk. “Didn’t see you there.” he was such a prick. He was 4 years younger than me, yet he’d sprouted like a weed since puberty. He’s so happy to be taller than me that he constantly pretends I’m too small to see. I glared at him, holding my finger up to my lips to stop the bleeding. He didn’t even look up from his switch. 

“Can’t you play that stupid thing somewhere else?” I say as I go to wash my hands. 

“Then how would I bug you?” he teases as he bumps into me again, making me drop the soap. 

“Leave me alone, asshole.” he makes a fake pout and begins to walk toward the exit. Before he gets too far he yanks at my hair, pulling out my hair tie. I turn to grab at him, but wind up knocking over the bowl of potatoes I’d just cut. I make a frustrated groan as I bend down to clean it. As I do, I hear keys jingling outside the front door and my mother walks in. She’s drenched in rain water. 

“I goddamn forgot my umbrella” she says as she begins to take off her coat. She looks into the kitchen and sees the potatoes on the floor. “Damn it Aida, what did you do?” 

“I didn’t do anything, you’re brain absent son was playing too much and made me knock this over. He’s lucky I didn’t chase him down and wring his scrawny little neck.”

“Don’t talk that way about your brother.” she warns me. “You know how he is, he likely didn’t mean it. And you talking about scrawny, maybe you should take some notes on what he’s doing. I almost thought you were pregnant.”

“Mom!” I argue. “All he does is sit in his room, eat cereal, and play videogames. He doesn’t help clean, cook, walk the dog or any-” she hushed me.

“You’re a woman Aida, he’s a man, that’s not his job. How do you plan to keep a man if you complain about the little s**t you’re supposed to do?”

“If this isn’t his job, why isn’t he working?” I ask. “Isn’t that what real men are supposed to do? He just turned 18, he should be getting a job.” 

“You know just as well as I do that it’s hard getting your first job. He’s trying his best and picking on him like that isn’t going to hurry the process. You should be nicer to him, he’s the one going to Harvard in the fall. You’ll wish you treated him better when he’s making over six figures a year.” I roll my eyes. How an immature, braindead man-child like him got in is beyond me. My mother walks in and takes notice of what I’m making. “Why did you put so much seasoning on this meat?” she asks. “You know my cholesterol is high.”

“It’s a thicker steak, a lot of the salt will get fried off anyway.”

“Why didn’t you cut the steak in half then, make it smaller so you can use less salt?” 

“Because you didn’t ask me to do that.” I say. She huffs and looks at me.

“It’s common sense Aida, do I have to tell you everything?” She scoffs and begins to dust off some of the salt. “Your father should be coming back tomorrow, make sure you’re at the airport when he arrives.”

“I have to work, I can’t.”

“Don’t tell me what you can’t do. I’m not missing work, we have a big project to work on. That little coffee shop won’t miss you that much.”

“No, I need that money.” I protest.  

“Maybe you wouldn’t if you had stayed in school.” she shot back. “You’re so ungrateful. Me and your father give you everything, the least you can do is pick him up from the airport. I’m sure if your brother had his license-” I slam the knife down on the cutting board. I felt myself trembling.

“Well I’m sorry I’m not as perfect as your precious son.” I say without looking at her. If she saw me cry, it’d only be something else she’d nag me about. Without another word I stormed out of the kitchen and headed to my room, slamming the door behind me. I’d expected her to come after me, yelling at me for walking off, but she didn’t. I guess that’s a good thing. I flopped on my bed, massaging my temples. I just have to hold on for a little while longer. Once I save enough money, I’ll leave. I’d be free to live without living up to someone else’s expectations. If I miss tomorrow, I’ll pick up even more hours over the weekend. I’ll be fine. Once I’m finally cooled off, I go to take a shower. I’m instantly annoyed to see Elijah in the bathroom brushing his teeth. “Get out, I want to shower.” I say.

“Rude, I was here first.” he argued, not moving. At this point, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him, so I pushed him to the side and went to check the shower. I was disgusted to see how much hair coated the walls of the shower as well as a used razor on the floor. “Oh yeah, I meant to clean that after I was done.”

“Whatever, I’ll just do it.” I dismissed him as I reached for the bathroom cleaner and a sponge. 

“I was really gonna clean it Aida.” he said again, more serious.

“It’s fine!” I say, obviously irritated. “You never clean it properly anyway. I’ll just do it. Wouldn’t want to get those delicate and perfect hands of yours dirty.” he was quiet for a moment. 

“I, uh, heard what you guys were arguing about down stairs.” 

“And?” I waited for a response. I heard him take in a breath as if he wanted to say something, but instead he rinsed his mouth and left. Once I was done showering, I returned to my room. Our black lab was lying on my bed. “No, off, you know I don’t like you on my bed.” I said to him, he ignores me and lets out a yawn. I sigh, even the dog doesn’t listen to me. I shoo him away and grab my laptop and log on to my author's page. I’ve always liked reading and recently I’ve started writing a story of my own, posting chapters on a site called Phantasm. It was relatively popular where normal people could write novels and receive money depending on how many people like your work. I’d been posting on it for several months now and I was amazed to see how quickly I was gaining followers. At first it was for fun, but after getting featured I now see writing as a second job for me. I earn a pretty good wage and receive tips as well. I make sure to upload regularly, so I don’t upset my viewers, but it gets hard to manage my schedule living here where I’m always interrupted. Not to mention, I work a lot outside of writing as well. I try to save up as much as I can, but my parents always come up with some reason for me to owe them money. It’s ridiculous, they brag day in and day out about how successful they are, yet they continue to pry money out of someone who works for 14.50 an hour, disguising it as a lesson of responsibility. What a joke. I started off checking my wallet balance and was happy to see several people had left me a tip overnight. After I was done looking over the comments, I started on a new chapter. 

After the bell rang Milana let out a sigh of relief as she watched her students charge out of the classroom. Normally, she would go after them or yell at them for running in the halls, but today she didn’t care. They weren’t her problem after 3pm. She definitely wasn’t getting paid enough to deal with them as it is. As she began cleaning up her classroom, she heard a knock. She turned toward the door to see Ronin standing in her doorway. He was carrying a brown bag and a cup. 

“Thank God, I thought you were a child for a second.” she said as she placed down the stack of books she’d collected from around the room. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” He gave her a smile and her heart skipped a beat. He’d had the whitest set of teeth she’d ever seen. All 32 perfectly placed between a pair of delicious looking lips. 

“I noticed you didn’t eat with us earlier.” Ronin said. “I was worried you were starving yourself.” 

“Not intentionally. These damn kids erased my notes for my lesson. I’d spent my break going over my lesson plan again.” Milana looked down at the bag. “You bring me something?”

“Carlos brought some pastries for everyone, figured I’d bring you some since you’re too busy to eat. Might not be the most nutritious meal, but it’s better than nothing.” he handed her the bag and she opened it, pulling out a warm strawberry scone. Her eyes lit up and she took a bite. Ronin chuckled as her eyes fluttered. 

“Oh, God…” she moaned as she took another bite. “I really, really needed this.”  

“Careful..” he warned her. “You don’t want others hearing you make noises like that in the workplace.” he smirked teasingly. Milana blushed, but didn’t take her eyes off him as she went in for another bite. A bit of cream leaked out and dripped on her finger. She licked it away. Before she could react, he’d lifted his hand and wiped the access cream from her mouth. He was close to her now, staring down at her. “You missed a spot,” he whispered. 

Milana bit her lip as she watched him lick the cream from his finger. It was a harmless gesture, but why was she growing jealous of the cream? If she were bolder, she’d have kissed him to steal it back. Or better yet, she’d seek out his cream as revenge, taking in as much of him as she could manage, swallowing all he’d uncontrollably give her. Instead she cleared her throat and looked away. He held the cup up to her. 

“Coffee, to wash it down,” he said. She thanked him and he started to walk toward the door. “I see you’re still busy, so I won’t hold you. I’ll be helping Nickos clean the gym until 5 if you need me.” with that he left. Milana leaned against her desk as she tried to calm herself. She thought she’d grown accustomed to his constant teasing, immune to his charms, but here she was, blushing like a teenage virgin. This wasn’t fair. She needed a distraction so she went back to her cleaning. Once the floors were cleaned and the books were organized she returned to her desk to start grading. An hour goes by and she still finds it hard to concentrate. His scent still lingered, making it harder to forget him. She wondered if it would seem weird to go see him. What would she say? Should she have insisted that he stayed? No, he likely had his own work to do. As she went to take another sip of her coffee, she noticed it was empty. This was perfect. She had to pass the gym to get to the break room anyway. It wouldn’t be weird. She deserved a small break after all. As she walked through the halls, she greeted her colleagues, most of whom classed after school programs. When she made it to the gym, she peeked inside. They looked to be cleaning out the storage closet. There were several students there as well, the boys who often stayed behind to play basketball. Ronin was playing with them. He laughed as one of the boys tried to steal the ball from him. He took a shot and was surprised to see the tallest one knock the ball down before it could hit the ring. 

“Alright Bash, I see you. Don’t get cocky though.” he teased. 

“Hey Ms. Robbins~” One of the boys swooned, waving flirtatiously. The other boys looked over and greeted her similarly. “You look nice.”

“Ms. Robbins, did you see how I got the ball?” the tall one asked.

“Yes, I actually did.” Milana said, slightly embarrassed to be caught peeking. “Don’t mind me, just passing through.” Her eyes went to Ronin, who only grinned. His eyes pierced through her, like he knew why she was actually there. He’d changed his clothes, wearing a black tank top and sweatpants. She pinched the bridge of her nose, of course they were gray. 

“You trying to join, Ms. Robbins?” one of the boys asked. She shook her head. 

“I’ll pass, I can't really run in heels.” she said, “It’s better this way, I wouldn’t want to hurt your pride.” the young boys snickered.

“Stop, you don’t want the smoke.” the boys taunted. Milana  raised a brow and waltzed over, taking the ball out of the boy's hand. She stood on the midline and took the shot. It was a straight shot and fell through the net. The boys awed her, jumping around excited. 

“And that’s wearing heels.” she tapped the young boy’s chin tauntingly. Ronin smiled and nodded approvingly. She blushed and her eyes fell to his chest. He was very well built and the top only emphasized his muscles. She had to pull her eyes away.

“Yo, gonna play another game Mr. J?” one boy asked. Ronin pulled out his phone to check the time. 

She’d almost forgotten why she’d left her classroom. “Oh, I was gonna stay a bit longer, you know, grading.” she said.

“It’ll get dark soon, you have a ride?” 

“I usually just call an uber.” she said. He leaned against the door.

“You sure? I can drive you, I don’t mind” he asked.

“I couldn’t burden you like that.” 

“Who said it was a burden?” he stared down at her. She seemed to fidget uncomfortably. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s not that,” Milana corrected him. “I’d love a ride,  I guess I can just take some work home with me. Would you mind waiting in the lobby while I go grab some things from my class?” 

“Sure, need any help?” 

Milana’s thoughts instantly went south. If he were to be in her class alone again, she might really seduce him. “No, I got it.” 

My alarm went off, signally I’ve been up too long and it was time for me to go to sleep. I try to get a decent amount of sleep every night so I’m not exhausted at work. I grew disappointed, I was getting to a really good part. But I needed to rest so I saved my work and logged off for the night. I’ll finish tomorrow night and upload it.

It’s 10 in the morning and I’m already pissed off. I’d been sitting in this hot ass lobby for an hour already. You’d think they’d have better A.C at such a large airport. My dad’s plane was scheduled to arrive at 9, but got delayed. It completely f****d up my plan to try to get to work an hour late at most. 30 more minutes passed and I was starting to sweat, making me incredibly uncomfortable. I texted my dad to see when he’d arrive, he didn’t reply. I noticed people walking around with milkshakes and frozen lemonade. My dad hated waiting for people, ironically, so I knew he’d be upset if I left the spot I told him I’d be. However, he’s already an hour and a half late. I wasn’t gonna die of a heat stroke waiting for him. I’ll just have to be quick. I start walking, stopping someone to ask where they’d gotten the lemonade. They gave me brief directions and tried my best to follow them. I arrived at a small ice cream store after 5 minutes of wandering around. It smelled delicious inside and I started contemplating whether I should just get ice cream instead. When it was my turn, to order, I ordered a butter pecan milkshake with extra pecans. They gave me my total and I searched for my phone to apple pay them. For some reason, it wasn’t in my back pocket. Had I dropped it somewhere? I didn’t carry my wallet around unless I knew I would need my ID. I’d often just pay for things with my phone. I felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I don’t have my phone on me.” I apologize as I begin to walk away. 

“I got it.” said the man behind me. I turned to look at him. He was tall with broad shoulders. I hadn’t realized how close he’d gotten until I got a whiff of his cologne. It was so light, but smelled amazing nonetheless. His eyes met mine and I was left starstruck by how beautifully hazel they were with a black ring around the edge. He gave me a friendly smile as he added his own drink to my order and paid for both. I found myself feeling slightly uncomfortable next to him. He was so well dressed, yet I was standing beside him wearing my work uniform, my unbrushed hair pulled into a high ponytail and no makeup. Not saying I was feeling particularly ugly, but I definitely wasn’t looking my best. Not to mention I was sweating all morning so my face probably looked kind of dewy. After she was done, the cashier handed me my drink and I thanked her. We both stepped out of line and I thanked him. 

“I of all people know that feeling of misplacing your wallet when you’re ordering something,” he said. “Hell, this is the 3rd card I’ve had replaced this month. It usually happens when I’m traveling.”  

“Oh, are you returning home?’ I ask.

“No, I'm actually out here on business. I live in Manhattan.” It always feels amazing to find people outside of Illinois. I’ve lived here all my life, other states seem so foreign. “Are you traveling out?”

“Oh, no, I live here. I’m just here to pick up my dad.” I say before I realize that I still didn’t have my phone. “s**t, I dropped my phone somewhere. I’ve been gone too long as it is. 

“Would you like to use my phone to call it?” he asked me. Gladly, I took the phone and dialed my number. I waited to hear the ring. When it did, I was confused to hear my ringtone really closeby. I turned back around and saw that the man was holding my phone. He gave a sly smile. As handsome as he was, this only annoyed me. “Why the hell do you have my phone?” I ask angrily. 

“You dropped it before heading into the store,” he explained. “I tried to call out to you, but I guess you couldn’t hear me. I suppose it was rather rude of me to not say anything once I was behind you, but after seeing you upclose, I felt speechless. I wanted a chance to talk to you.”

“Dude, that is not how this s**t works.” I say, folding my arms. “I don’t know how they flirt in Manhattan, but here, we usually start with introductions and ASK the person to give them their number.” his eyes drooped before looking back at me and holding his hand out. 

“Nathaniel Perez,” he introduced himself. “But my friends call me Nate.” I rolled my eyes, not too thrilled about him trying to turn things around so easily. 

“Aidana Kirkwood,” I say, not looking at him directly. 

“No nickname?”

“That’s for friends.” He smiles despite my obvious glaring. My phone starts ringing and I see that it’s my dad. “Damn it,” I swear as I run off, not bothering to say goodbye. When I answer the phone he’s yelling, asking me where I am. I made it back thankfully, but he didn’t look happy.

“I knew I should have made your mother come instead.” He begins ”You’re so irresponsible. You had one job Aida, one. As if my morning hadn’t been tiring enough as it is; Had to deal with an unknown transaction at the hotel, my flight got delayed, someone’s kid threw up on me on the plane,” he gestured to the brownish gray stain on his pants. “I’m tired, hungry, and I couldn’t even depend on you being here on time. Like what the hell Aida?”

“With all due respect, dad, it’s not my fault you had a bad morning. And I was here on time, you weren’t. There’s not even any A.C here. I was hot and wanted to cool off a bit. Hell, I had to miss work for this.” I winced as he grabbed my arm, squeezing a bit too tightly. 

“Don’t forget who you’re talking to, Aida. You’re not too grown to get knocked down a peg.” He glared at me as he continued to hold on to my arm. Someone came up behind us.

“What seems to be the problem?” Nathaniel asked. 

“Who the hell are you?” My dad asked.

“Travel manager, this is my station. You do know you’re broadcasting acts of violence in a public place, right? I’m gonna need you to release the girl before I call security.” Nate glanced at me. My eyes asked questions I didn’t dare to speak. Annoyed, my dad released my arm. 

“This is my daughter, prick.” My dad said.

“Even more reason for you to treat her with a bit more respect.” My dad grumbled and pulled his luggage toward the exit. Nathaniel gave me a slight smile as I rushed off after him. I didn’t know if I should feel thankful or pissed, but that didn’t matter. I needed to hurry and get to work.