Page 37 of Beautiful Deceit
Beau takes my hand and leads me from the room.
"I can't be in there right now," he says quietly, almost to himself. Louder he tells me, "Brian will be here tomorrow. He's someone I trust with my life. I'd like to tell him everything that's happened, but I'll keep some of it to myself if that's what you want." I know he's offering to keep the abuse a secret, but I don't think I care anymore.
"Are you going to tell him, or do I need to?"
"If you're okay with it, I can talk to him. I think him knowing everything is for the best." My eyes dart to the ground guiltily because Beau doesn't even know everything.
"Yeah, I'm okay with you telling him anything you think he needs to know."
I break away from him and walk over to the kitchen to find something to do. I don’t want him to see that there are things that I'm still keeping from him.
I make a late lunch of simple deli sandwiches for us. I sit down on the sofa with our food laid out on the tray hoping to direct the conversation elsewhere.
I want to learn more about this man who looks so good with his feet on my ottoman.
Chapter 10
Beau is devouring a grilled turkey sandwich quickly.
"So, where'd you grow up?" I ask before shoving a pickle in my mouth to stop the rapid-fire string of questions that I want to ask.
He doesn't even hesitate in answering, "Lake Tahoe." I sigh, already feeling better in the tiny bit of knowledge I learn about him.
I continue, "Is your family still there?"
"It's just my mom and dad, but yes, they won't ever leave," He smiles fondly.
With no pickle to stop me, out comes a series of questions, "What made you chose New York? When did you decide to start over? Wait do you even live here, or are you just visiting?" I continue on, silently asking myself, what if he's not staying? Could he be just trying to get work? What will happen if he leaves?
Beau wipes his mouth with a napkin, "I'm here for now." My heart drops a little, but he keeps going. "I wanted the anonymity of the city. I was hoping to get lost in the crowd." His reply sounds mostly honest, but a little vague. The vagueness of it has me questioning.
"What kind of work did you do?" He looks over at me and grins.
"Are we playing twenty questions?" He seemed bothered by it, so I tell him the truth.
"You know pretty much everything there is to know about me, so I’m just trying to balance the scales." I say.
He doesn't say anything else but reaches over me to snatch my other pickle.
“Hey!” I cry. He chuckles as he crunches down on it, juice dribbling down his chin. I throw my napkin at him, and snark, “Such a gentleman.”
The afternoon goes by quietly.I don't know what to do with him still here. My music is still playing softly in the background. He's looked at his phone a few times but doesn’t seem too urgent to leave anytime soon. What to do?
I move back to the sofa and sit, "So did you want to watch a movie or something? I have the last couple episodes ofTop ShotDVRed. I don't really watch much TV."
He looks leery when he asks, "What'sTop Shot?"
"It's a marksmen reality show. They bring a bunch of snipers and competitive shooters together and test their skills in crazy cool ways."
"And that's something you enjoy watching, my little librarian?" He grins.
I scrunch up my nose, "I kinda love it. Total guilty pleasure. I found it by accident. I’m more of a reader, ya know?” I acknowledge the little pet name, “I turn the TV on sometimes for the noise.” He nods along following, “One day I look up and see these guys riding down a zip line with guns and shooting at exploding targets. I've been hooked ever since." I end the description with a shrug of my shoulders.
Beau laughs and shakes his head, "Unbelievable."
"What? It's awesome. I totally want to be like them when I grow up." I fold my arms across my chest in a childish gesture.
He eyes me mischievously, "I'm pretty sure you're all grown up." His eyes lock onto my chest. I unfold my arms, wondering if he would do more than look.
