Whiskey and Orange Slices Read online

  “Oh. Ethan, you are here. And Bethany…” He smiled.

  I handed him the folder. “I was just talking to Mr. Buckley about Stanford. Anyways, have a good meeting.”

  I turned on my heels and walked back to Allison who was still working on the project we were discussing when Ethan walked in.

  “What was all that about?” she asked.

  “Oh uh, I know the senator donates money to his university, I just wanted to thank him for his support of the senator and all.”

  She nodded. “Sure you did.”

  “What?” I shrugged.

  “Everyone knows the senator donates to the university because he went there. Plus he still participates in some of their activities from his old frat house or something.”

  I cocked my head to the side, “Wait what?”

  She sighed. “Didn’t you read any of those documents I gave you?”

  “I must have missed some. Do you have this?”

  “Yep.”

  “Great.” I rushed back to my office and dug through the filing cabinet. I had shoved all the files she gave me in the bottom drawer. I didn’t read any of them because I figured it was all bullcrap. Clearly there was a lot of important information in there.

  I dropped the pile onto my desk and flipped open the top folder. This was definitely going to take a while. I would need coffee and probably even wine.

  Chapter Eight

  Matthew

  I led Ethan into my office and shut the door behind us.

  “Is it safe to talk in here?” he questioned as I sat down on the couch in my office.

  “Yes.”

  Ethan nodded and sat in a chair on the other side of the small coffee table.

  “You do know that Bethany suspects something right?”

  “We crushed that.”

  Ethan shook his head. “No you didn’t. She was asking me questions about Stanford, and you donating money, and what we use it for.”

  I sighed, rubbing the bridge between my eyes.

  “I’ll have to try again…”

  “She’s in love with you.”

  I nearly choked on the air I was breathing. “No she isn’t.”

  “Remember when Alexis started snooping around? I brought her to Hideaway for the weekend. The moment I told her who I really was I knew she loved me because she didn’t run away. If Bethany is putting in this much effort to figure out your deep dark secret, then maybe she feels the same way.”

  Ethan smiled.

  “You feel it don’t you?”

  I reluctantly nodded. “I do. I have for a while. Especially since the other night during dinner.”

  “Which by the way, bravo! Nice photo in pretty much every article online.”

  I laughed, “Yeah, it went a little too viral for my liking. I try not to draw too much attention to myself since--” I cocked my head to the side. “Well you know.”

  He nodded, “I do, and while we all appreciate you trying to keep us safe, you shouldn’t neglect your own desires for it. I mean hell, you let me bring Alexis to Hideaway and then her human friend. I'm pretty sure if we were going to be found out, it would have been then.”

  “Is it hard to tell them?”

  “Hard as shit. And scary too. I honestly thought I was going to puke. Oh and then you should have seen her face when we gave her red wine! That was gut wrenching.”

  “Well thanks.”

  Ethan laughed. “But it’s also relieving. The weight is off your shoulders and you can breathe because the person you care about knows your secret. Then it’s up to them to decide what they want. Just tell her. Take her to Hideaway. I mean the annual party is coming up and it seems like an appropriate time to tell her. Maybe that weekend is good luck.”

  “Or it turns into a shit show.”

  “Doubtful. You will have Alexis, Jess and Christina there to help you.”

  I nodded. “Alright. I think I will. Will you let the group know that I’ll be bringing someone? We will need to do what we did when Alexis came.”

  “Might I suggest you tell her the first night? It might make the weekend easier for everyone.”

  “Good idea.”

  We talked for another hour. Mostly about the weekend in Hideaway and the security detail we had. Ethan was my main person when it came to that world and I would trust him with my life.

  After he left, I walked down to Bethany’s office.

  “Got a minute?” I asked, knocking on the door frame to her office.

  She shut the files in front of her and looked up.

  “Of course.” She motioned for the chair in front of her desk.

  I shut the door and took a seat.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Oh yeah, I just have a rather personal question to ask and I don’t need the entire office to overhear. I know you’ve been doing some hardcore research on me.”

  She opened her mouth to protest.

  “It’s okay. I’m flattered. Actually that leads to my question. There is an event happening next weekend. Would you like to go with me?”

  She fumbled around on her desk and pulled up something on her computer.

  “I have you scheduled for a private event all weekend.”

  I nodded, “Yes. This would be that. Look, I know you have questions, and I think I can give you some answers.”

  She turned her attention to me. “Okay. What do I need to bring?”

  “Just yourself, a couple pairs of clothes and anything else you normally bring when you travel. There’s internet and electricity so you can bring a phone, but you probably won’t need it.”

  “Do I need to make any hotel reservations?”

  “Nope. We’ve got that covered. We’ll pick you up at your place on Friday night. So we will take a half day that day from work.”

  She nodded, “Okay.”

  I stood up and walked out of her office. My body tensed and I don’t think I’ve ever felt this nervous.

  My feet moved quickly down the hallway and back into my office. I nearly tripped over myself reaching for an orange slice. I usually can control myself better than this, but ever since Bethany came to work for me, I’ve been going through orange slices like crazy.

  ***

  Each day for the following week I got more and more nervous. Ethan and Alexis were constantly coming in my office, confirming plans, making sure that Hideaway was ready for the event and for Bethany.

  “Senator, you ready to head out of here?” Alexis questioned, walking into my office.

  I shoved another orange slice into my mouth as I gathered my stuff from my desk.

  “Relax, it’s going to be fine. Jess got her a dress, and we will make sure she doesn’t freak out too much.”

  I nodded, swallowed and walked over to her.

  “Thank you for this.”

  “I have the easy part.” She smirked.

  I rolled my eyes, flipped the lights off and walked down the hall.

  “Allison, make sure everyone is out of here in one hour! I don’t want anyone staying late.”

  “No problem.”

  Bethany walked out of her office and met us at the elevator.

  The three of us stepped in.

  “Ready?” Alexis asked.

  “Yeah I think so. I just have to pack a few essentials.”

  “Good. We’ll be there at four to get you.” Alexis replied.

  She nodded and her eyes met mine.

  “Are you okay, Senator?” she questioned.

  I nodded. “Also, will you please call me Matthew or Matt?”

  She laughed. “Of course, Matthew. I’ll have to remember that.”

  The elevator dinged on the first floor and she stepped out. “See you soon.” She waved as the elevator doors closed again.

  My eyes turned to red and I leaned back against the wall.

  “Wow, you really do have it bad.” Alexis laughed.

  “Yep. I’m crazy.”

  “Not crazy. Well, maybe a litt
le.”

  I forced my eyes to relax and go back to their hazel color.

  We stepped off the elevator in the parking garage and walked up to the SUV that awaited us. Glen drove with Ethan in the front and Jess sitting in the back.

  We headed back to my house. Everyone was quiet during the ride, but I knew someone was itching to say something.

  “Jess, her dress…”

  “Is perfect. I gave it to Christina who put it in her room already with a nice pair of shoes.”

  “Boy that sounds familiar!” Alexis laughed.

  “And if she decides she can’t stay the weekend?” I questioned.

  “We will take her home. Don’t worry Matt, we’ve got this covered. Remember we went through this once already with this one.” Jess motioned to Alexis.

  “And look how well that turned out,” Glen spoke.

  I nodded, “You’re right. This will be okay. Bethany seems like she can handle crazy situations.”

  “You offered her a job in the middle of the grocery store after meeting over cereal. I’m sure she can handle crazy,” Alexis replied.

  We pulled up to her place later that afternoon. She was standing outside with a bag slung over her shoulders and her face was buried in a book.

  I looked around at everyone, Alexis and Jess nodded and Alexis climbed into the back with Jess.

  “We meet again,” Ethan said to Bethany as he got out and opened the back door.

  “That we do.”

  She climbed into the car and then Ethan handed her bag to me to put by our legs.

  “Ready?” I asked her.

  She nodded and looked around at all of the people in the car.

  “Let me introduce you. Our wonderful driver is Glen. You know Ethan. Behind you is Jess and you know Alexis.”

  “Nice to meet you all.”

  Glen put the SUV back in drive and headed off toward Hideaway. I reached for another orange slice, but Ethan shook his head.

  The drive was quiet again. No one really had much to say. When we pulled up to the garage, I heard Bethany gasp.

  “What is this?”

  “This is just where we store the car for the weekend. It’s completely secure,” Glen replied as he pulled in.

  We walked together to the edge of town.

  “What is this place?” Bethany smiled looking at me.

  “Welcome to Hideaway. It’s a town that we own. It’s not on a map or anything because everyone was led to believe that the buildings were destroyed centuries ago. There is a hotel, a bank, a city building, and a bar. It’s all right here on the main road,” I explained to her.

  “Seems pretty interesting.”

  “Why don’t we leave you two to talk? I’ll take your stuff to the hotel and put it in your room,” Ethan said taking our bags.

  I nodded as the four of them walked off.

  “Want to walk down to the river?” I asked.

  “Sure. Are you feeling alright?”

  “I’m actually nervous.”

  She laughed, “Nervous about what?”

  “This weekend. What I want to tell you. How you’ll react to it,” I whispered.

  “Hey Matt!” someone yelled and waved as we passed the buildings.

  I waved back, and smiled.

  “You seem very popular here,” Bethany noted.

  We reached the river’s edge and took a seat on the bench.

  “Well that’s because I kind of run this thing.”

  She turned and looked at me.

  “Whatever it is you need to tell me, spit it out. I can’t keep waiting.”

  I sucked in a breath. “Alright, well this group isn’t exactly normal.”

  “Is anyone normal these days?” she questioned.

  I turned away from her.

  “Look there is something that I’m trusting you with, but you can’t tell anyone.” I turned back to her.

  By the look of her face, my eyes had changed to a deep shade of red.

  “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you speechless before,” I joked.

  She rose from the bench. “What the hell is going on?”

  I stood in front of her. “I think you know but you don’t want to admit it to yourself.”

  She shook her head, “It’s not possible.”

  “Why? Because everyone you know says it’s a myth? How do you know you haven’t come across more of us? You wouldn’t even know I was one, but because you work so closely with my schedule we knew you were bound to find out.”

  “We?”

  “Well, you saw who else is here. Alexis, Ethan.”

  “So did you bring me here to sacrifice me for snooping?” she scoffed.

  “Of course not! I brought you here to tell you my deepest darkest secret. To show you that I’m not the great evil they’ve made us out to be. I brought you here so you can understand the private side of me.”

  “What if I didn’t want to know this?”

  I cocked my head to the side.

  She sighed. “What is going on here?”

  “This is our annual gathering weekend. We gather here in Hideaway and we are ourselves. We have games, and shows. The last day we have a fancy gathering with food and drinks.”

  “And what if I decide I can’t handle this?”

  “Then Jess and Alexis will take you home anytime you want.”

  “What about after? What if I can’t work for you anymore?”

  I sucked in a breath and moved closer to her.

  “Is that really what you think you may want?”

  “I’m not sure there is anything you can say or do that will make this better.”

  I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. I could feel the blood running through her body as I pulled her against me.

  She didn’t pull back, but instead, her arms wrapped around my neck.

  When we finally separated she was silent.

  “And furthermore.” I smiled kissing her again. I’ve wanted to kiss her since the first day I saw her in the cereal aisle.

  Cheers erupting from the bar in Hideaway pulled us apart the second time.

  “We should probably join the festivities,” I whispered.

  She nodded, following me back to the main part of town.

  “All good?” Ethan questioned walking over to us.

  I nodded glancing back at Bethany who was taking in the town.

  Chapter Nine

  Bethany

  I woke early the next morning, the town was still quiet. I quietly slipped out of my room and down to what they called ‘the town’. It wasn’t much of a town. It reminded me of an old western movie, where their town was just a couple of buildings within walking distance of each other.

  The morning air was still cool before the California heat hit. I walked down to the river, to the same spot where just yesterday Matthew told me he was a vampire. I shook my head at the memory. How in the hell could this even be possible? How could he even exist? I asked myself as I pulled my black jacket tighter around my body.

  Then there was the kiss. I’d been waiting and wanting it to happen for so long that when it finally did happen I wasn’t sure what to think.

  Did I have strong feelings for him? Of course I did. Could I really think that it would work out? I shrugged to myself. He was making this complicated, and I hate complicated.

  “Taking in the morning?” a woman’s voice came from behind me.

  I jumped, startled, and spun around to see Jess standing a few feet from me.

  I nodded.

  “It’s always peaceful in the mornings. A lot of these guys are still in college so they tend to sleep in unless we have a morning event.”

  “Well it is nice to have a minute to think about all of this.”

  She laughed, “I figured. You remind me of Alexis when she first found out.” She motioned for me to sit with her on the bench.

  “She was terrified. I mean like I’m surprised she didn’t go running for the hills the moment Ethan told her. Instead,
she joined the festivities like a champ. Drank her red wine and proved to us that people can handle the truth.” She tilted her head to the side.

  “That was of course before she found out she was a witch.”

  I shook my head. “Witches too? Next you’ll tell me the boogeyman is real!” I sighed.

  “Well...I’m sure some version of him is real. Point is, things go bump in the night. You never knew before because there are people like us who make sure it stays that way.”

  “And what if I can’t handle this?”

  “I believe if that were true, you wouldn’t still be here. Is it different? Sure is. But I will tell you that you won’t find a group of people who can protect you better. You won’t find a group of people like us.”

  “The senator, he runs this?”

  “Sorta. He’s on the paranormal council and he’s the senator of California. Him being on both makes it easier for us to control who knows and who doesn’t. It makes it easier for us to keep this world a secret from others. No one in his office knows who he truly is except for Alexis and now you.”

  I sighed and looked out to the water.

  “I’ve been around for a while, I’ve been around Matt for a while. I’ve never known him to have such a connection with anyone before. Whatever connection you two have, it’s real. Don’t let this ruin that.”

  She stood up and brushed off her butt before she walked back toward the town.

  I stood after her and looked at the men and women coming out of the hotel. The hotel was the biggest building they had.

  “Good morning,” Matthew said to me when I reached the hotel doors.

  “Morning.”

  “Did you sleep okay?” he questioned.

  I nodded.

  “Good,. So um, this morning is a free-for-all. We will change around noon and spend the rest of the day and night having fun.” He explained.

  “Sounds good.”

  “So I assume you’ll be sticking around?” he questioned.

  “I had planned to.”

  “Good. Let’s go grab some breakfast, I’m starving.”

  “So you eat normal food then?” I asked as we walked over to another building.

  He laughed, “Of course I do. You’ve seen me eat before.”