Darren
I stand frozen in the bathroom, AJ kissed me. Why did he kiss me? I shouldn't have kissed him back. I know he's vulnerable right now. He only wants to kiss me when he's punishing himself. What was I thinking? I'm the one who dragged him into the bathroom, I'm the one who played along with his flirting. What did I think would happen? I miss him, like a knife in my side. Anytime he smiles, or laughs, or says something adorably cocky, even when he gets that faraway look in his eyes when his mind is anywhere but in the present, is like twisting that knife and I can't yank it out. I open the door and am abruptly greeted by Raven,
"You're the boss." She says factually, regarding me coolly.
I roll my eyes, "No, I'm the butler." I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe, matching her cool gaze with one of my own.
"Oh," she begins, tossing her hair to one side and crossing her arms to try and match my radiating authority, that tantalizing outfit makes it impossible.
"That explains why you just served me a steaming pile of bullshit."
I narrow my eyes at her, I look her top to bottom. She doesn't radiate authority, but she is oozing power. It seeps out of her every pore, I smile at her sideways, this girl thinks she can scare me. I've watched her every move from the time she was 8, I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe,
"Valerie. Raven. Sierra."
She looks startled at the fact that I know her name, I press on.
"Of course I know your name. In fact. I know everything about you, what schools you went to, all of your legal charges, your favorite places to go, I even know every guy and girl you've ever hooked up with. And that's a looong list. I know every move you've made since you were born. When your first steps were, the first time you cried, your first heartbreak, your first kiss, when you lost your virginity. I even know things about you that you don't know." At that she smiles at me. I understand why Jasper used to call her the viper, the way she can look at a man...absolutely dripping venom.
"Oh Darren, you think you can intimidate me? How cute. I've met people like you and I've always gotten what I wanted. What makes you think you're any different?" Her voice flows with a sultry lilt. I take a step towards her, towering over her like I do with most everyone. Any confliction in my mind from AJ vanishing as I realize I have two more agents to train, Raven is going to be a difficult project. I just have to make her think wholeheartedly that I know more than I pretend to. She tries her hardest not to show it, but she leans back, just a little. She's powerful, but she's nowhere near brave enough to act on it.
"You know Raven, for someone as smart as you're supposed to be. You really have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Your charm won't work on me. I bet you can't even guess why."
Her eyes sharpen, "Oh, you mean my charm won't work on you because you're in love with AJ? I spied it right away. You think you have some secret of mine? That doesn't scare me, I. am. not. one. of. your. puppets."
I shake my head and chuckle. "Oh Valerie. I act like I have a secret of yours because I do. I have every single one of your dirty little secrets. Also, no, me being immune to your manipulation has nothing to do with how I feel about AJ, I assumed you would figure it out. It's because I'm the reason you have those powers in the first place." I lean away from her, waiting for the words to sink in. Her eyes widen almost imperceptibly while carefully making sure her head stays held high.
She steps up to me this time and regards me carefully with her eyes. She is definitely built for destruction. The way she angles herself is allowing me to see all the right things. My eyes follow down the curve of her body lingering over her leg, Her thigh exposed from where the short red dress ends. Ren's jacket hangs loosely around her chest and stomach which only accentuates her curved figure.
"I can get you to do whatever. I. want." She looks me up and down, licking her lips and biting her bottom one. She gives me a sly smile and scrunches up her nose.
I roll my eyes "Keep telling yourself that Raven."
She glares, then chooses a different tactic"You're sexy." She says with humor, running one hand across my chest up and around my neck where she grabs my hair. "Too bad." She says, tempting me with the lull of her voice. "You're in love with someone else." She lets go of me and steps back. I stare at her, waiting for the grand finale of her dumb show,
"Was that your big power move?" I look her dead in the eyes, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms. "It was underwhelming. Fix that." She stares at me disobediently, "You underestimate me Raven." I say with a smile. "I know exactly how to control you. And you hate that. That's the real reason you're trying to wrap me around your finger. Use that anger. It'll help you uncover that secret that's driving you mad."
She narrows her eyes at me. "You think you know me? That you must know everything about me because you're the boss, is that what you think? That's at least what you want me to believe. I know you're trying to trick me Darren, I have one power that you have nothing to do with. I don't trust anyone, you can't trick me. What I don't understand is why you pretend to be this all knowing terror even as you watch the person you're in love with suffer because you don't know how to keep all your personalities intact without causing misery. He can't tell if you love him or hate him, and he's still in love with you no matter how much he hates himself for it."
I'm taken aback by her words, but I try not to let her know.
"Surprised? Don't worry, no one had to tell me that you're a cheater. Just like no one had to tell me that you and AJ have history. I could spot that sexual tension from a mile away. I'm not bluffing. He's in more pain than he's letting on. If you paid attention to him, you'd know that." She says it to get under my skin, she knows that AJ is my weakness. I can't think straight when it comes to him. I remember the bathroom. He had told me that he can't believe I love him. I know that's my fault. I can still feel his hands cupping my face. I haven't kissed him in so long. I would have stayed there forever.
" Don't insinuate that you know the first thing about AJ and I." I begin darkly, thinking about how I had wanted to kiss him in front of his granite carving. "You knew AJ for less than 48 hours and you were always more interested in Ren. You haven't even known me for 10 hours, you wouldn't even know my name if not for Ren telling you. I know you're smart enough to realize you can't possibly know everything about a person within that short amount of time. I pay attention, I lived in the relationship you were just guessing about. I know what happened. I can see that AJ is in pain, but what am I supposed to do? It's my fault, I regret what I did to him every time I see the ghostly look in his eyes or the smile that never looks genuine. I hate seeing that forced cockiness of his because I know that it's all made up to keep people away, he didn't used to act like that with me. You may know the right words to say but you really have no idea what you're talking about. So you can stop acting like you know more and that I don't love him and that I never notice when he needs help, you'd be lucky to know what love like that feels like."
Passion has burned the air around us, now she knows everything. She stares at me, "...You're right." she says quietly "I don't know what love like that feels like, I've only ever fallen in love once." She stares off behind me, imagining the one she loves with a painful fury. She glances back up at me "What you and AJ have is rare, don't waste it on insecurities." she points towards the direction of AJ's room before walking off, her head held high knowing that she got the information she needed.
I can't believe it.
She tricked me.