The Vampire's Mistress Ch. 03

Chapter 3: Distraction

————

It'd been two weeks since Sebastian had kissed her in the elevator and Ariana still found herself thinking about the stupid thing.

She was beginning to get frustrated with herself, disappointed that she'd allowed something so little to impact her so much.

She thought about it constantly; while working, while in class, while talking to others...the list was endless. The memory of his lips on hers had practically been burnt in her brain.

The only thing on her mind was the feeling of his mouth on hers, his scent, the way his chest had felt under her hands, the way his touch had sent her reeling...

Another classic example of her distraction?

Here she was, standing in front of the pantry stocking it. Or she was supposed to be stocking it, but she kept dropping things, fumbling, and staring into space. By the time she had finished, she realised she'd taken 30 whole minutes to stock it. It was like that with everything, she hadn't been the same since Sebastian had kissed her.

It wasn't just the kiss she was distracted by, it was everything else that had become complicated since then.

She hadn't really seen much of Sebastian lately - although when she did see him, he gave her such looks like he was going to maul her, which was both exhilarating and terrifying. She'd made it her mission to ensure that she wasn't in a space alone again with him. She wasn't sure what she'd do or let happen if that was the case.

She'd avoided Sabine too, terrified that she would find out what had happened between her and Sebastian. Sabine was easily pissed off at the best of times, Ariana didn't want to imagine what she'd be like if she found out that they had kissed.

No, Ariana resolved to try and get over it, move on and keep her head down. The last thing she needed was any other complications.

————

Ariana made her way to change the sheets in Sebastian's bedroom. It was one of her last activities before her shift ended and she prayed it would go by uneventfully.

Evidently it was not to be, because as soon as she entered, sheets in hand, she came face to face with Sabine. Ariana wasn't sure who she didn't want to see more; the model or her boss.

"Hello," Sabine said, eyes narrowed, watching Ariana walk into the room, "What are you doing in here?"

"Changing the sheets," Ariana replied, gesturing to the sheets in her arms.

"A likely story," Sabine huffed, flouncing to sit on the large bed.

"I can come back and do it later if you'd prefer," Ariana smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. It seemed to have the opposite effect though, because as soon as the words left her mouth, Sabine stood up angrily, hands on hips.

"Listen here," Sabine hissed, "Get that big ass of yours out of here and keep a low profile. Do you understand?"

Oh god.

Sabine knew, she must've somehow known that Sebastian had kissed her in the elevator. It wasn't Ariana's fault, he had looked so handsome, felt so incredible... and when he had grabbed her? She had felt helpless, weak with need.

"I'm just here to change the sheets, I haven't done anything-" Ariana said softly, wondering whether she ought to just leave, whether she was right in lying. But surely lying had to be better than the truth. The model was infamous for her tantrums and Ariana did not want to be in the line of fire. So much for keeping out of trouble.

"Of course you haven't done anything, i just don't want your fat ass in here when Sebby wakes. You understand?"

Ariana almost felt her body sag in relief. It seemed she didn't know about the kiss after all. She was just being temperamental like normal.

"Ok, I'll get someone else to change the sheets later."

"You do that. Oh, and little mouse?" Sabine called. Ariana frowned at the nickname, but took a deep breath and turned to look at the model, "Men like Sebby will eat you up and spit you out."

"I assure you I'm just here to do my job, and pay for-"

"University. Yeah, yeah, you're smart. Who cares? Keep your head down and do your job and there won't be any problems."

"Of course."

"Good." Sabine smiled wide, and Ariana briefly wondered what on earth was going on in the woman's head. "You'd look really pretty if you lost some weight," Sabine added, her gaze lingering on Ariana's thighs.

Ariana was startled at the change in conversation again. She felt like she was have 5 different conversations at the same time with the woman.

"Thank you?" She wasn't sure if it was an insult exactly.

It was probably Sabine being nice. Or as nice as she could be anyway. Although she could hardly blame her.

On the inside, Ariana felt like maybe she deserved the bad treatment, because if Sabine had known what had happened between her and Sebastian she probably would have been heart-broken. For all her faults, Sabine did seem madly in love with the vampire.

"You're welcome," she smiled, "Now off with you. Sebby will be up soon and I'm going to surprise him," she was giggling now like a school girl, stretching out on the bed. An ugly thread of guilt slammed into her chest.

Ariana got out of the room as quickly as manners would allow. She'd let one of the other staff members know to change the sheets. There was no way she was going back in there for the rest of the night.

————

Ariana placed the clothes in the laundry, reaching down to fill the washing machine.

"Love, It's time for you to hop to bed," It was Mary, bustling into the laundry, "I can take over now."

"Thanks, I'll be done in a moment."

"Ari, is everything ok?" the woman paused in the doorway, scrutinising her face. Ariana wasn't sure what she saw, but Mary seemed to have an eerie ability to read her face.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" She hoped she sounded convincing.

"Oh, I don't know," Mary sighed, "Maybe because you look like you're carrying a huuuge secret."

Was she psychic? Did she know about the kiss?

"I had to change the sheets in Sebastian's room," Ariana shrugged, trying to keep her face neutral, "Sabine was not too impressed."

Mary laughed, "Don't mind Sabine. She gets mean when she's scared."

"Why would she be scared?"

"I have two theories really, the first being they haven't been using those sheets much lately, if you catch my drift."

"Mary that is so gross," The last thing Ariana wanted to think about was Sabine and Sebastian having sex. She didn't even want to think about what was usually on those sheets that Mary could so easily tell whether they'd been at it or not.

"Just an observation. And the second theory is that you're beautiful, Ari. Women like Sabine can't stand women who look like you."

"Thanks Mary, but I'm hardly a model," Ariana rolled her eyes.

Mary looked like she wanted to just about smack her, "Models are just thin toothpicks who wear size zero clothes. She's got a face like a giraffe."

Ariana just laughed, relieved that Mary seemed to have no idea about her altercation with Sebastian.

"Ok. Well, you have a great shift. I think it's time for me to go get some rest."

"Good night, dahhhling," Mary trilled, mimicking Sabine's high pitched english drawl.

Ariana smiled, grateful to have someone like Mary in her life. She'd never worked with so many lovely, strong and kind people in her life. Her time at the Marche complex was starting to feel more and more like a home.

Ariana left her shift, smile plastered onto her face, more relaxed than she'd been for the last few weeks. The feeling that maybe things would be okay bloomed in her chest.

————

The next day Ariana spent her free time studying, trying to catch up on assessments she had gotten behind on while working. She popped by the library in the complex, hoping to find an English translation of the book she was attempting to read for her language class.

She eventually managed to locate it and set herself at the little desk in the corner of the room and had a read. Evidently the weeks events were more tiring than she'd released though, because she felt her eyes begin to droop and before long, Ariana had closed her eyes, losing herself to sleep...

"Hey nerd."

Ariana awoke to the sensation of a magazine hitting her head with surprising force.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up to find Sabine sitting on one of the lounges in a silk robe, with a glass of champagne perilously being held by a lovely, manicured hand. Ariana observed there was another magazine in the model's other hand hand, poised and ready for another attack.

"Wake up and stop drooling over the books."

Whack. The magazine hit her squarely on the side of her head. That shook her right out of her sleepy daze.

"Sorry," Ariana murmured, getting up, "I guess I fell asleep while studying."

"Whatever," Sabine hissed, "I don't care. Just get out of here. Sebby likes to come in here after his meeting at the club and I don't need you in here ruining things."

"Meeting?" Ariana rubbed her head, trying to gather her things, "what time is it?"

She was supposed to have studied, not fallen asleep!

"Nine. So go somewhere else, mouse." Sabine huffed.

Shit, Ariana really had spent her break sleeping.

Ariana grabbed the books and walked out in the hallway. She made her way towards her room, but as soon as she walked out the door, she felt a kick to the back of her knee and fell straight to the ground, books flying out.

The door slammed behind her with a resounding echo.

Sabine, she wanted to curse the stupid woman's name. Ariana pulled herself off the ground and knelt to pick up all the pieces of paper and books. She realised with frustration that one of her textbooks had split open.

Of course it had to be one of the ones she's borrowed from the University library.

"Damn it," she heard herself whisper.

Ariana just about wanted to cry in frustration. Now one the books was damaged, how was she supposed to return this to the Uni library now? They would surely make her pay for a new one, which she could scarcely afford.

She tried to stuff the pages back in as neatly as possible. A pair of polished shoes stopped before her, hands reaching down to get some of the books off the ground.

Ariana looked up, but she knew who it was before she even saw him. She would know Sebastian's cologne anywhere. She hadn't properly seen him since he'd kissed her a few weeks back. But the distance had done nothing to change her attraction to him. He was still the same gorgeous man, except today he was dressed in a navy business suit, which seemed to highlight his naturally olive skin and dark hair.

"Had a bit of a tumble?" He leaned to hand her the book and they made eye contact. He had been smiling, but it seemed to falter, "Are you ok?" he asked.

Ariana blinked, could he tell she'd been about to cry? The last thing she needed was to look like a tearful mess in front of him. She took a deep breath and tried to come up with an excuse.

"It's passed my bedtime," she mumbled, standing up and taking the books off him, "I get a bit clumsy when I'm tired. I hope you enjoy your evening," she added the last part quickly, wanting to end the awkward encounter and get out of there without any further notice.

"That looks heavy, Plato sends me to sleep too," he nodded towards the book.

Ariana smiled briefly, "He's not so bad," she shrugged, "But definitely not my favourite read. I hope you don't mind I've borrowed your English translation for tonight."

"Of course, someone might as well read that thing." he laughed, his voice almost touchable, like silk rubbing down her back.

His gaze swept over her and Ariana couldn't stop the flush from spreading throughout her body. Just one look from him as she was practically ready to throw herself at him. Clearly he was too dangerous for her to be around. She'd never had a problem keeping away from men throughout her life, but evidently Sebastian had some kind of pull which even she couldn't resist.

Sebastian spoke again, "What are you doing for the rest of tonight? Would you like to join-"

The library door slid open before he could finish the sentence. It was Sabine, evidently tired of waiting for her lover. Ariana wondered if she'd heard her and Sebastian talking.

"Hi Sebby," Sabine smiled sweetly, as if she hadn't kicked Ariana to the ground before, "Hi Ariana," she raised an eyebrow to Ariana, "Oh my goodness, did you have a fall?"

The model punctuated the question by leaning forward to Ariana and pulling her dress strap up with deliberate care. It must have slid down when she fell, she hadn't noticed.

"Just a bit clumsy," Ariana replied, "Good night then." she added quickly. Ariana turned on her heel and tried to get out of there as fast as possible.

That had been close.

She wasn't sure what would have happened if Sabine hadn't interrupted because she was fairly certain she would have said 'yes' to whatever Sebastian was going to ask her.

He was dangerous, she knew that, had warned herself over and over again. Evidently to no avail because it had taken all of two minutes alone with the man for her to completely forget her resolve and instead think about kissing him again.

Ariana tried to steel herself, reminding herself that she needed to get a grip. Gorgeous or not, Sebastian was so very clearly bad news. It wouldn't just be her job at stake if she got entangled with him.

Still...why did he have to be so damned magnetic?