The All or Nothing Game

"Mmmm..."he replied and took the nipple in his mouth, eliciting a little cry from her. Yet in the end he was too exhausted to pursue any further lovemaking for the moment and eventually they drifted off to sleep, their bodies entwined around each other.

**********

The next day Eva went to Brooklyn to pick a few of her personal things. There was no question of spending a long and tedious time on the official means of transport any longer. She was taken there in one of Julian's cars, driven by a chauffeur. She had learned by now that he had several cars in the garage beneath the Tribeca house. Eva was happy with that she didn't have to arrive in her old street and to her old home in the black limousine though. That would have created too much of a sensation no doubt. This was a more anonymous Mercedes.

She had had a discussion with Julian over morning tea concerning the Brooklyn flat.

"Could we please keep it..."she had asked. "Just for a little while at least?"

"You mean so that you have a place to retreat to when you want to run away from here?" he had added with a grin but also a small grimace, showing that he wasn't joking entirely.

"Oh, Julian!" she had exclaimed. "Don't be paranoid!"

In the end he had seen the good in the idea though. There was no rush to be rid of this flat. If they wanted to sell it later it would be no problem, and they could finish the deal with a good price.

She packed clothes she needed, books, records, DVDs she hadn't watched, and on top of it all she put the Black Sheep toy. Then she took a long look at the place which had once been home, and she left it hesitantly.

Back in Manhattan, she found Julian engaged in an urgent telephone call. She understood after a while that it was Maryka at the other end. When he was finished, he turned around towards her.

"Tomorrow, on New Year's Eve, I have to attend a formal occasion. It's one of these award things. I'm not to receive any prices myself, but it's evidently expected that I'm to hand over a price to an aspiring young artist. It won't be a long occasion. It'll take place in the afternoon and last for a couple of hours, and there will be no seated meal; just some snacks and champagne, I believe. I want you to accompany me there. You'll find it terribly boring. I'm totally convinced of that, but nonetheless I want to go there together with you. I want us to be seen together officially before the tour starts again. It'll make things easier once we are on the road again."

"Of course I will." She accepted his wish without debate. She knew that when it came to ushering her into to the unreal world he lived in most of the time, she would have to let him set the pace. However, she had also made up her mind that it was her mission to bring some reality back into his life. If he were a slave to the artificial, she would bring the human dimension back to him. So, she added:

"I'll accept on one condition." To which he lifted his eyebrows in expectancy and perhaps apprehension.

"That when THIS occasion is dealt with and we are "free" to go, we shall go home here, make a most wonderful meal together in the kitchen and celebrate a glorious New Year, all by ourselves."

He laughed and hugged her. "You're a witch!! I should have known!"

**********

It was one thing to make a dash for it in an airport, but a totally different one to arrive on a formal occasion, step out of a car on the red carpet, wait to be photographed, smile, answer endless questions and to be ushered into a big hall where yet a hoard of media people was just waiting to chew you up alive. Eva was very nervous, there was no denying that, and she had poured endlessly over how to dress for this reception. In the end she decided on something strict to match the mood. She chose a black silk suit with a lace blouse with a very high collar. She looked demurely alluring she concluded when watching herself in one of the tall mirrors in the bedroom. She made a very careful and stunning hairdo to match and an exquisite makeup to go with the impression she wanted to create.

When she was nearly finished, she heard Julian enter the room and he slipped up behind her, almost furtively.

"God! You look sexy!" He encircled her waist with his arms and drew her body close. She smiled then and nodded. That was a good start. Why not woo them? That media lot. She'd show them that she could dictate some rules too.

"I have a belated Christmas gift for you," he whispered in her ear and slipped a massive, yet delicate gold chain around her neck. It was in white and yellow gold, studded with small diamonds. She gasped and put her hand to it, hardly believing that she was to wear something so beautiful. "Only the best will do for my Queen," he murmured.

They arrived in style. The big black car slowly slid up towards the canopy which provided shelter from the snow, gently falling now. Holding on to her hand, Julian stepped out of the car bringing her along, and he motioned to her, just pressing her fingers slightly, to remain standing for a minute or two while the flashes from the cameras beamed towards them. They smiled and Julian waived to the fans which clamored for his attention behind the fences, set up along the red carpet. Then they moved into the reception room.

The one who greeted them was Maryka. Eva hadn't been prepared for that, but she soon submitted to the situation, although she stiffened. Julian still held her hand in his and his grip tightened. Maryka was all smiles. She looked as if she were the matchmaker who had created this perfect and heavenly couple. She was all over them, feathering kisses over Eva, as if they had known each other from childhood. Eva wasn't fooled though. She watched and acknowledged that the smile never reached Maryka's eyes and that the cold calculation within the other was at a raging pace now. It was a question of saving what was there to save. If Maryka had intended to intimidate Eva, she didn't succeed though. Just as Julian had once perceived when he first met her, she stood her ground in defiance; ready to fight for what she believed in.

'Maryka is going to be trouble,' Eva thought briefly. 'Thank God that my work with Julian isn't one that she can dominate or lay down the rules for. Once she could decide whether I should stay or leave, but that option is no longer available. Julian had neutralized her in that matter. It won't be easy to have her around though. I wonder for how long it'll work... I'll not think about that now. I'll deal with it later...'

Julian sensed her discomfort and perhaps it was his discomfort too, because with an engaging smile — all for the benefit of the photographers — he disengaged them from the overpowering presence of Maryka. He made excuses by saying that an old friend signaled to him from across the room, and they managed to leave. Eva heard behind her how Maryka turned to the waiting reporters to pour out her happiness over the new turn Julian's life had taken and how HAPPY she was over the choice he had made...Eva shuddered within.

The rest of the afternoon was — as Julian had predicted — a rather boring affair. There were a lot of speeches, awards were handed out, photos were taken and one mingled endlessly. Julian saw to though that Eva was never left alone to be approached by any reporter. Apart from when he was on stage to make his speech and give away the price — and at that moment they were all seated — he never budged from her side. The photographers loved her though. They didn't seem to get enough of her. Finally, it was all over and time to leave. They bid farewell, and now the smile in Maryka's face was a bit more constrained although she maintained her cheerful countenance. They wished each other a Happy New Year. Then they let the black limousine swallow them up. Julian waved yet again to the fans. Then he ordered the opaque windows to be elevated, closing the view from outside. When they were shielded from preying eyes and the glass-pane separating the front from the back was closed too, he took her into his arms and kissed her, caressing her lips with his, long and leisurely, tracing the contours of her mouth, darting his tongue in between her teeth, teasing her, seducing her, igniting her. She yielded to him, savoring his hunger and fire and melting into his body.

He continued to kiss her in the elevator when they had reached home. He pressed her up against the wall of the cage and purred in her ear, murmuring sweet nothings in her hair. Well up on their landing he carried her to the door and stumbled inside, falling with her to the floor and rolling around with her there, laughing and kissing her. She was totally out of breath now, and she gasped for air in between his assaults. At last they sat up and looked at each other. The air vibrated between them, and they couldn't keep from smiling and touching each other.

"I'm ravenously hungry!" she cried out. "Come on now, let us make this totally wonderful dinner and then..."

"...then I'll have you for dessert!" he filled in and chased her into the bedroom.

They changed into jeans and T-shirts and went out into the kitchen which was a wonder of modern facilities and started to roam the refrigerator. Eva switched on the TV and let it play a traditional New Year celebration, singing and all, while they had drinks and messed up the stove, the sink and the table with their preparations and their exquisite dinner. Julian opened a bottle of the best French champagne, and when the countdown started on the TV screen, which was presently tuned into Time Square, he threw his overcoat over her shoulders and put on his old leather jacket. They went out on the terrace, and Eva was for loss of words at the panorama which unfolded around her. The skyline was ablaze with the fireworks which had already started. The whole city vibrated of sound and rejoicing and the church bells mingled into the sound palette. He turned towards her and raised his glass.

"Happy New Year!" they called out, almost in unison, and toasted each other, emptying the glasses to the bottom. Then he took hold of her and his expression became one of great emotion.

"I love you!" he whispered.

"I love you too!" she answered and she moved into his embrace, letting her lips brush over his cheek.

"I love you, I love you, I love you..."he went on as if conjuring the future, and he pressed her body into his as if he couldn't get enough of her.

They stood like this, tightly locked into each other's arms, for an eternity in the chilly night while the sky was ablaze with lights and the streets beneath them were filling up with dancing people. Eva let the expectations of what was to come seep into her and become a reality in her mind, something to believe in at last. It was true. It wasn't a dream. It was the truth. It wasn't going to be easy, but she had made a decision, and now she was prepared to fulfill her destiny.

************************************

Excerpts from Julian's discography:

Standing Alone

Slaughterhouse

Finding You

Rosary Mornings

Pretending To Love You

Love Is Bondage

Let It Come

You Have Taught Me A Lesson

Fire In My Heart

Happy You, Happy Me

When Will You Stop Running?

************************************

With many thanks to Liz T for her help, support and inspiration.

DISCLAIMER:

Text Copyright © from 2007 and onwards by Thomcats AKA VoyaMariner. All rights reserved. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited.

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.