A Place Beyond The Horizon Ch. 17

[Aidan's marriage has been shattered by his wife's cheating. Unable to cope with the thing Rosa did, he boarded a plane and put as much distance between them as possible. From Australia, making new friends in Sydney, to meeting Kat and sharing her bed, he finds himself in Los Angeles as the personal trainer and lover to Mara Fey, Hollywood A-Lister and one of the most famous women on the planet. As he becomes more deeply entangled in Mara's life, Rosa becomes more distant, leaving Aidan more lonely than ever.

In the final chapter, Aidan sees his horizon at last. It's time to move on.

The background to Aidan's story can be found in Oxygen Games by oneagainst, continued here with permission.]

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THE WAR AGAINST LOVE

Aiden stirs groggily from his sleep with a foul taste in his mouth. It's early, the first light of dawn glinting off the skyscrapers through the wide floor-to-ceiling windows of the suite because he'd forgotten to close the curtains. Next to him, sprawled out in bed on her front, a woman slumbers. Aidan rubs his eyes slowly. Mara is lying on her front next to him in his bed, naked, the white sheets draped over her legs and the rounded curve of her bottom, her blonde hair in disarray around her beautiful, sleeping face.

Gently, Aidan slips out of bed. He's naked too, standing there watching her breathe, his back to the Tokyo skyline. He remembers how she had felt, how hard she had climaxed as he buried himself inside her with his hand covering her face, cutting off her air. He remembers how, in her moment of drug-fuelled ecstasy, she had called him Daddy. Aidan leaves her asleep and pads into the bathroom to take a shower.

Aidan stands under the steaming water for a long time, playing it all back in his head. The more he thinks about it, the more certain he becomes, and it's actually a relief. He's made his decision: it's the right choice. He needs to have a conversation now, and it's going to be hard.

When he's done, he comes back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped tightly around his waist. Being as quiet as he can, he unwraps himself and searches through his carryall bag for underwear. There is a sound behind him on the bed, and he turns.

"Morning."

Mara is lying on her side, watching him. She's topless, but makes no move to cover herself up.

"Morning," Aidan responds.

Mara smiles. "What a lovely sight to wake up to."

Aidan steps into his underwear, pulling his trunks up his muscled legs. Mara pouts.

"I was enjoying that."

Aidan doesn't answer her. Instead, he gathers up a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"How're you feeling after last night?" Mara asks.

"Uh, a little foggy."

"Did you have a good time?"

"What?"

Mara sits up, smiling at him, folding her arms under her breasts.

"You got to party with two women last night. Not bad, huh?"

"A lot of things happened last night."

"But you enjoyed yourself."

It's more of a statement than a question. Aidan pulls his jeans on.

"How was she?" Mara asks, "Indi?"

There's something in the way she keeps probing that's making Aidan bristle. The more she talks, the more he recalls of the previous night. The mention of Indi sets him on edge. He remembers Indi's admission while in his arms that she's part of the furniture, that she belongs to Andrew like she's a piece of property rather than a person. He can still recall the look on her face when she asked to stay with Aidan and not to go back to Andrew's bed.

"You were out of control last night," Aidan replies, changing subject.

Mara's smile flickers.

"When you came in," Aidan continues, "You were wild. The things you said."

He pulls his t-shirt on, standing with his hands on his hips looking at her.

"It's still early, Aidan. You got somewhere to be?"

Aidan purses his lips. Her eyes are on him, he can see her uncertainty. Mara pats the bed. Hesitantly, Aidan goes over to her and sits down.

"You're getting to know my history," Mara says, "My secrets. I'm sorry if I freaked you out."

"What was all that?" Aidan asks, "Last night, what you said to me?"

"Like you said, I got a little wild."

Aidan shakes his head. "No, Mara, that's the thing I just don't get. Last night, in the club, then back here after. I dunno, it's, uh, it's like you just switch."

"I'm still me. You make it sound like I'm messed up."

Aidan grimaces.

"What?" Mara asks, "What is it?"

"Last night. Was that you? I mean, the real you?" Aidan replies, his voice muted, "Or what about when we were sitting on the front of the car out in the middle of nowhere, in the Outback. Was that you instead?"

"Which one do you like?"

Aidan sighs. "Fuck, Mara, it's not about which one I like. It's about... which one are you? Really?"

Mara's face creases and she gathers up the sheets, wrapping them around her body, hugging herself.

"It's early, Aidan. Do we really need to get into this? Can't we just have a relaxed morning together, just the two of us?"

She watches him for a long time, her gorgeous blue eyes regarding him steadily. Finally, she speaks.

"You wanna know about the real me, Aidan? You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Mara straightens up in the sheets, raising her chin to meet his gaze.

"You know when I said you didn't need to use a condom if you didn't want to?" she begins, quieter now, "Remember that?"

"Yes."

"It's because I can't get pregnant. I had an abortion when I was eighteen, but it got messed up. We didn't go to a clinic."

Mara is speaking softly. Her eyes never leave his.

"We?"

"Yeah, that's the fucked-up part. Me and my stepdad. Turns out there's a downside to being so pretty and innocent."

Mara shrugs like it's nothing.

"So, yeah, the one time, the condom broke. Or he didn't use one," Mara says, "I forget. Anyway, he drove me halfway across the state to get rid of it, but the piece of shit wanted to keep it all below radar so we didn't go someplace official. The guy was operating out of his house, and he fucked the procedure up. I got so sick, but he still didn't say anything to Mom, so neither did I."

She pauses, looking down at her hands tangled up in the sheets.

"But at the end, I was fixed, alright. I was fixed for good."

He can see the hurt in her face, and it stirs an anguish in him as well. He thinks of Rosa, of the one last golden marble, the final embryo in deep freeze half a planet away. He understands the space inside her, the emptiness, and once again he realises how powerless he is to help in any way.

"I'm so sorry," he murmurs.

"Me too. Worked out okay for him though. He didn't need to use condoms anymore."

Aidan's phone buzzes, but he ignores it. Mara shifts in the bed, looking from Aidan to the unzipped carryall in the wardrobe.

"We're not due out until tonight," she observes, "You packing already?"

Aidan hangs his head. He has made his decision, and now he has to live with it. But, arriving at the moment of committing to it, he feels like a traitor. Mara is waiting patiently for an answer, but he doesn't give her one, letting the silence lengthen between them.

As he watches, her expression gradually crumples.

"You're not coming with me, are you?" she asks.

The tone of her voice wrenches his guts. He feels like he's betraying her. Slowly he shakes his head. She's staring at him now, eyes wide and bright. After everything they've done, after everything she's said to him, here at last was the real Mara, the woman finally stripped of her chameleon cloak and all her masks. He watches her collapsing in slow motion, the mountain crumbling into the sea.

"Why?" she whispers, her voice choked.

"I need to go home."

"I see."

"It's nothing to do with you. I have things I need to fix."

Mara sits up. He can see the betrayal in her face, and it twists his insides.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs.

Mara sighs. She straightens up in bed, her lips parted as if she has things to say, but the look in her eyes tells him everything anyway.

"I guess you didn't like the plan after all," she says quietly, shrugging her shoulders.

Aidan meets her stare, bracing himself for a Mara Fey broadside, but it doesn't come. Instead, he sees what he's done to her. Mara has offered him a life with her, has opened up to him, finding with him those quiet moments she desperately needed between the tempests in her life. Even with Andrew and Indi, she has worked it all out, to avoid the wagging tongues, creating a public face that would give them all what they want, except for one thing: Aidan had never wanted it. She is offering him a life beyond his wildest dreams and he's throwing it back in her face.

"I'm really sorry," he mumbles.

It seems to shake Mara out of her reverie and she tosses her hair, suddenly animated.

"I'm not. Fuck, Aidan, we've had a wild time, haven't we? You have to admit, I'm one hell of a rebound fuck," she says with a brittle smile, "It's been a fun ride."

"Mara, I...."

Mara cuts him off. "It's not as if I couldn't see this moment coming from all the way over the horizon, but you know what? I just said fuck it and I went along with it anyway."

She shrugs again, her blonde hair tumbling over her bare shoulders.

"I guess I was pretending that things could work out, that I could make this into something it wasn't."

"I didn't mean to lead you...," Aidan replies, but Mara interjects again, gathering momentum now.

"No, it's all on me. I led you, really, didn't I? You just got pulled along in the wake of the indomitable Mara Fey."

Mara flops back onto the pillows. Her mouth turns up into a knowing half-smile as she looks up at him, curling her hands into fists.

"Fuck, man," she rasps, driving her fists violently against the bed, "Tell me something, Aidan, 'cos I really want to get a grip on this. What the fuck is the point of all the money and the fame and all the influence if I can't find someone to love? I suckered myself into this."

"You suckered us both," Aidan replies, "I felt it too. I'm sorry it didn't work out."

Mara laughs. After a few moments, her fists uncurl and she seems to force the tension in her body to dissipate.

"Thank you for at least being honest with me, Aidan," she says, and she laughs again, "Yeah, fuck, I know this, I'm fully across this storyline. The fucking war against love."

Aidan reaches out to her and she takes his hand, holding it against her cheek. He can feel how soft her skin is, and finds himself lost for a moment in her wide blue eyes.

Slowly, Aidan gets up off the bed. He begins to gather up his things and pack them, feeling Mara watching him all the while from the bed. At last, he's done, and he zips up the carryall. Mara slips on a robe and passes by him, heading out into the living space. Once she's gone, Aidan takes out his phone and replies to the message waiting there.

She's making herself a coffee in the kitchenette when he emerges from the bedroom, her hair gathered back in a loose ponytail, the gown tied around her waist. The machine hisses and spits and then falls silent. Mara takes her cup and wanders over to the windows, looking out across Tokyo as it wakes up to a new day. There is a knock on the door, and she turns, surprised.

Aidan goes to the door and opens it, letting Indi in. She's dressed in a t-shirt and a blue skirt that stops above her knees. Over her shoulder, she has a tote bag on a gold chain. Her blonde bob is neat, but she's not wearing any make-up. There is no luggage. Her eyes scan the room and when they settle on Mara, Indi freezes.

"Ah," Mara says.

Indi glances nervously at Aidan, before her attention returns to the elegant woman standing at the windows.

"You all packed?" Aidan asks.

Indi nods, indicating the tote bag on her shoulder. No-one speaks.

"So, you're taking Indi, are you?" Mara observes, breaking the silence.

"I'm not taking her. She asked to come with me."

"Andrew's gonna be real pissed."

"I know."

"He's going to be beside himself when he discovers that you've stolen her."

Mara's expression is unreadable, but Aidan bristles at the implication.

"I haven't stolen her, Mara."

"Haven't you? Really?"

Aidan regards her levelly, fully aware of the trouble Mara could cause. All she would have to do is pick up the phone; heknows he's standing on very thin ice. Slowly, Mara walks over to him. She stops at the kitchen counter to pick up her handbag and reaches inside. Aidan tenses.

"You sure, babe?" she asks, "You wanna do this?"

"Why?"

"Andrew's not gonna take this lying down. He has connections. If I was you, I'd just leave everything as you found it."

Aidan searches her face, intensely aware of Indi's presence just behind him. Mara's warning seems genuine. Her hand is still inside her handbag, and Aidan desperately needs to know what she's going to do. He's already torn up her carefully constructed plans, spurning the life she's offered him. He knows how fickle she can be, and how much she likes to win.She smiles back at him, but there's no warmth there. Aidan's blood runs cold.

"Here," Mara says.

Aidan looks down at her hand. She's holding a credit card.

"What's this, Mara?"

The beautiful blue eyes are wide.

"The only thing I can give you," she replies, "A head start."

She presses the plastic card into his hand.

"I'll cancel it in twenty-four hours."

Aidan's hand closes around hers, the credit card pressed into his palm.

"The only reason I can bear this is that it's for love," Mara says, looking up at him.

"Thank you," Aidan replies, "Really, thank you."

He strokes her cheek and gives her a small kiss.

"See you around," he murmurs.

Mara smiles, but it's strained, melancholy. Her eyes are suddenly bright with tears. He's never seen her cry before.

"No," she says, "You know you won't."

Her expression is forlorn. She opens her mouth as if to say something else, but she pauses. Finally, her lips curve into a crooked smile.

"See you in the movies, Aidan."

---

Down on the street in the cool of the early morning, Aidan hails a cab. Indi is standing next to him, her bag clutched protectively under her arm. When the car stops, Aidan opens the door and Indi gets in without a word. Aidan can feel tension in the base of his skull at the thought of Andrew waking up any moment to find his prize possession gone. A head start, Mara had said, and Aidan knows what she meant. He packs his bag into the back of the cab and slides in next to Indi.

"Airport, please."

The cab pulls away from the curb and Aidan feels a surge of relief. It's done, they are finally in motion. He turns to Indi.

"You travel light," he says.

"I guess."

Indi turns away, watching the view as they roll through the streets. The early sun flashes between the tall buildings. Aidan pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens his messages, scrolling back to yesterday evening. He hesitates and then taps on the screen.

The message opens and Aidan reads it again. It's from Hardy:

Aido, mate, how are ya? No need to reply back, I'm not here anymore to read it.

Have you patched it up with your missus? Has that ship really sailed or is there still a way back home? I know you went through shit with her, but if there's still love there's still hope, so I'm just saying you might want to give it another crack. We are only given a finite number of sunsets, mate. It's important who you choose to spend them all with because that's who you spend your last one with.

Don't waste a day, take that from me. Life is wild, it's arbitrary and it's just so fucking brief.

There you go, a little bit of perspective for you from where I stand, from my high vantage point.

From a place beyond the horizon.

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[What next for Aidan, Indi and Rosa? Aidan returns to oneagainst's main storyline in Only Consenting Adults.

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