Disclaimer: I do not know nor am I affiliated in any way with Billy Boyd. This story is a complete and utter fabrication of my mind.
Rating: R
Alright, this is my first short story. It's very different from anything I've ever written before, but it just popped into my head and refused to leave until I wrote it down. Let me know what you think.
This is a story written from Billy's point of view.
The Mask of the Enchantress
They say there is a peak moment in every person?s life. Sometimes you realize when yours happens, and sometimes you don?t. Well, I?ll tell you what, I certainly didn?t think mine was going to happen that night. I was desperate for money, and had taken a job as a waiter. Much to my disgust, my first night was serving food at a swanky party for a bunch of rich people. Like that?s whom I needed to be around. Those lucky bastards. I never would have thought that night would have meant anything, except a few lousy bucks for working my ass off. But, I was wrong. That night will always live in my memories. If I tried a million years, I could never forget it. It was that night that brought her into my life. My pleasure. My pain. My enchantress. My Delilah.
I had only been working for an hour. Standing there in my uniform, feeling low as dirt, as all the snobs peered down their noses at me. My patience was running thin, and I was about to walk out when I saw her. She entered the room, and everything seemed to freeze. It was like there was a spotlight shining down on her, revealing every inch of her beautiful face. My breath caught, and I know my mouth dropped. I had never seen a woman like her, with her wavy, long brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. And, her body, well let?s just say, I could talk about her body for the rest of my life and never convey exactly how sexy it was. I stood like a statue watching her move gracefully around the room on the arm of a much older, balding, but obviously rich man. She flirted shamelessly with the old man, and I began to wonder uneasily what kind of woman she was. A gold digger, perhaps? But, even as these thoughts whirled in my mind, I realized I didn?t care what she was. She had taken a hold of me, even then, before I had ever heard her utter a word. As more and more people arrived at the party, I lost sight of her in the crowd, and got no opportunity to find her again, as more and more of the annoyingly rich bothered me for glasses of champagne. When the crowd finally diminished, I realized I had lost her. Panic rose inside of my chest, as well as much disappointment. I figured I?d never see her again. But, fate had other plans.
The party was in full swing, when I finally managed to escape for a break. Not being in the mood to socialize with any of the other waiters, I made my way outside on a balcony, where I assumed I could be alone. However, I knew I was wrong when I saw the glow of a cigarette in the dark. And, then it happened. She stepped out of the shadows, and her eyes caught mine for the first time. Those deep brown wells scanned me critically for a moment, before saying hello. I sputtered out a greeting, sounding very stupid, I must admit. I think my nervousness must have amused her, though, for she tilted her head to the side and shot me a smile. She asked me if I was on a break, and I managed to murmur back that I was. Minutes of silence passed, as she stared at the night sky, and I stared at her. Always before, a girl that smoked had repulsed me, but watching her I suddenly found it to be the sexiest thing in the world. The way her lips curled around the cigarette, the way she slightly pursed them when blowing out the smoke. It was all doing things to me. I noticed she was nearing the end of her cigarette, and I began to panic. She would go back inside soon. Taking away all light, and leaving me in the darkness. I fumbled for something, anything to say. Just as an idea popped in my mind, the old man popped his head out of the door.
?Delilah,? he called, ?Come inside, you?ve got to meet the vice-president of my company.?
My heart soared. Her name, I knew her name! My eyes darted to her face, as she nodded with a forced grin. The man went back inside, and my Delilah moved to follow.
?Have a nice night, um?? she trailed off, searching my eyes.
?Billy,? I supplied, telling her my name.
Delilah stared at me for a moment more, before making her way back to the party.
The rest of the night, I was busy, but my eyes never strayed from Delilah. Her beauty and grace seemed to float across the room and overwhelm me. I began to wonder what was wrong with me, for I?d never felt anything like that before. As the night drew to an end, I knew I couldn?t just let her walk away. So, as she was waiting for her coat at the door, I walked up and casually handed her a slip of paper with my number written on it. Delilah gazed down at it in confusion. When she realized what it was, she arched one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows at me in disbelief. She turned away from me without a second glance and walked out of the door. At that moment, I felt as low as a human being could possibly feel. I just knew she was carelessly throwing my number away, as I stood there alone and cold.
See, this is why I was so surprised a week later, when I got her call. I fell out of my chair, literally, when I realized it was her voice on the other end of the line. I think she was surprised herself that she had called. That was when I began to believe that she had felt it, as well. The invisible cord that seemed to draw us together. The spark the first time our eyes had met. I had assumed it to be only on my side, but I began to hope that she had felt something, too. Anyhow, we agreed to meet for dinner, and that?s how it all started. Her eyes captivated me the whole night, making me forget to even breath at points. She took my behavior in stride. I think she was used to being the focus of attention. We talked, but she really kept most of herself hidden from me. The only personal detail I learned that night was that she preferred to be called Lilah, dropping the ?De? at the beginning of her name. After that night, I?d say her name all the time to myself, rolling it around in my mouth. She had become my obsession. There wasn?t a moment of the day when my thoughts weren?t with her. Several more times we went out, but never was there any physical contact between us. I began to forlornly think she only wanted me as a friend. That is, until the day she showed up at my rat hole of an apartment unannounced. I opened the door, and there she was. There was some nameless emotion burning in her eyes, and before I even had the chance to ask her what was wrong, she had pressed her body against my own and had begun kissing me with reckless abandon. Her nails raked through my hair, and before I knew it I was lying on my bed, gazing up into her blazing eyes. I roughly pulled her on top of my body. She was mine that night. I even told her so, over and over, as I made love to her. Lilah said no such endearments to me, and the next morning when I awoke she was gone. My feelings ranged from confusion to hurt disappointment over the way she had disappeared. I tried to get in touch with her, but to no avail. Two weeks straight with no word. Then, she was back in my life, as if nothing had happened. We slept together again, and again it was the most amazing thing ever. I had slept with plenty of women before her, but they were nothing in comparison. Lilah?s kisses were like a drug. No matter how many I got, I?d crawl back like a broken addict for more. She could tempt me with a mere glance. I was a slave at her beckon call. Whatever she wanted, she got. For a while, she wanted me. But, that?s not really true. You couldn?t call what we had a relationship. I never met a single one of her friends. I never went to her home, hell, I didn?t even know where she lived. Her life was a secret to me. I knew every sweet inch of her body, but I never got even a glimpse into her mind. Lilah was secretive. Lilah was a mystery. Some people might say what she and I had was sick and twisted. A relationship based solely on sex. That?s not how it was, though. Honestly! For, I loved her. My wild, passionate, yet cold woman. I remember the first time I told her that. We were in bed, the sheets twisted around our bodies. She was breathing heavily underneath me, and I just blurted out how much I loved her. Sure, it wasn?t the most romantic moment, but the words just tore forth from my throat. Lilah moaned my name, but never said she loved me back. I wondered if she had even heard me. Later, I watched her light up a cigarette. She sat on the end of the bed, wrapped up in the blanket. Lilah always moved away from me after we were done making love. She didn?t want to be held or cuddled close. She was too proud. Fool that I was, I confessed my love again, as she sat there smoking. I watched her back stiffen, as she turned her head to stare in my eyes. Then, she let out the bitterest laugh I?d ever heard. It was like a thousand tiny arrows to my heart. Lilah told me I didn?t mean it. That it was just something I had said when we ?were in the moment.? I tried to convince her it was true. She got angry and left. She always left, though. It wasn?t long after that, when I figured out she was cheating on me. Or maybe I was the one she was cheating with. I was never really sure. My impression of Lilah the first night I saw her had been right. The most important thing to her was money. Something I definitely didn?t have. She was used to the best in life, and if she had to be with a fifty year old man to get it, she?d do it. I had often wondered before why I had seen disgust in her eyes at times when she looked at me. It was because I had nothing. I drifted from job to job, and never had any money saved up. I could give her none of the things that she wanted, that she needed. Well, except maybe for one, and that was the only thing that kept her coming back to my apartment day after day. The attraction between us, the passion. The way our bodies melded together so perfectly. Just like me, she could never get enough. At times, I despised her, just as she did me. The cruelty and the condescending things she told me made me want to end the whole thing. But, then my enchantress would return, and there was no way I could deny her. For, no matter what she did to me, I loved her still. Fiercely, and with no end was my devotion to her.
Then, one day she came over with the rock on her left hand. She had finally done it, snagged herself some foolish rich man. And, she expected me to be fine with this. To pretend it didn?t matter to me, that she was marrying some disgusting excuse for a human being. Lilah wanted me to be comfortable with the fact that some sick pervert would have his hands all over her exquisite body. It belonged to me! I told her so, angrily. Lilah knew that it was I alone who loved her. No one could make her feel the way I did. I begged her to call off the wedding. I pleaded with her to be with me, instead. She looked around my small apartment and laughed mockingly. It was then that I knew I could never have her. She was an ice queen, soulless, with no conscious. It didn?t bother her, knowing that she left me that day a broken hearted empty shell of a man. I vowed that day I would hate her forever. And, I did hate her for a while, almost as much as I loved her. I ached for her touch, but every night I was alone. Months later, I saw her wedding photo in the paper. There was a huge smile on her face, but it didn?t reach her eyes. She wasn?t happy, not truly. I knew it. She couldn?t be happy unless she was with me. But, she had chosen money over love, and she had to deal with it. I realized it was her problem, not my own. After that, I began to finally heal. I started to date other women again. Nice women, who opened up to me. Told me about their lives and feelings. Those who were compassionate, warm and loving. But, none of them were Lilah. And for that reason, I kept drifting through life alone.
Six years passed since the day Lilah had left my life for good. I didn?t obsess over her, but she was always floating somewhere in the back of my mind. But, I pushed away her ghost as much as I could, for things were going well for me. I had finally landed a great job. I was pulling in more money than I knew what to do with. One day, I pulled an all-nighter at work. When I finally left, it was five in the morning. I was starving and stopped at the first roadside restaurant that was open. It was a dive of a place, but I was pretty desperate. I sat down at a booth, loosened my tie a bit, and began to scan the menu. My head darted up when I heard a tired voice ask if she could help me. And, there she was. My Lilah. In a dingy waitress?s outfit, dark circles under her eyes. Her once perfectly manicured nails were short and broken. Her smooth hands were calloused. Her bright, sparkling brown eyes were dull pools of defeat. I whispered her name in awe. Where was my proud, haughty woman? I saw no traces of her in the slip of a thing that stood before me. She breathed my name in a questioning tone, her lips trembling and her eyes wide with disbelief. She seemed flustered. She seemed ashamed. She seemed guilty? I wondered if that could be possible. The princess was feeling remorse? Lilah was saved from talking to me, when a large group of customers entered the restaurant. She was very busy, and seemed relieved. I wasn?t going to let her off that easy, though. I wanted to know what the hell she was doing working in a place like that. What had happened to her rich husband? So, I found out what time she got off, and went back to the café’ at that moment later in the day. I caught her in the parking lot. Lilah wasn?t surprised to see me. She must have figured I?d be back. I bluntly asked her what she was doing. Lilah then told me the story of the bitterness of her last six years. Her rich husband had lost all their money in the stock market. Then, he had promptly had a heart attack, leaving Lilah alone and in debt. She told me all of this matter-of-factly. She wanted no sympathy from me that I could tell. Lilah was enough of a woman to know she had gotten just what she deserved. But, then she surprised me. I heard words from her lips that I never, ever thought I?d hear. Lilah apologized. And, when I looked into her eyes I knew she meant it. She told me the way she had treated me was abominable. Something that?d she?d never forgive herself for. I watched her in amazement. Lilah was different. Something had changed her. We stood in the empty parking lot in silence for a while more. A car pulled into the drive. Lilah waved at the driver, and a tiny child of about five jumped out of the car. The little girl ran at full speed towards Lilah and lurched herself into Lilah?s arms, chanting ?Mommy? the whole while. So, that was it. Lilah was a mother. I watched Lilah cuddle the green-eyed child. I heard her tell the child she loved her. She gently pushed the child in the direction of her car, and then turned to me. Lilah told me she had to go, but then she did something unexpected. She moved forward and hugged me, and whispered a thank you in my ear. As she walked away, I couldn?t help but ask what the thanks was for. Lilah stared at me for a moment, before stating her reason. She thanked me for giving her love. With that, she joined the child in the car, and they drove away. I stood in the dark parking lot for a while longer, my heart pounding in my chest. She had just left me again; only this time she was the woman I really wanted. The woman I had wished her to be all those years ago. A woman capable of love. I had seen it when she looked at the child. I realized I was alone again. But, not for long. I wasn?t going to let her get away so easily this time. My Lilah. My enchantress. My one love.