The Poison in Your Blood

We don’t bother with court papers and whatever for Josh. The police found his mother dead in the house and evidence that Scott was planning to make a get away to Mexico so they are investigating that and because Josh is nearly 18 they let him decide to stay with us if he wanted rather than force him into foster care.

We set some rules for the kids since they are now going to be living together, but they are pretty basic rules. No babies and no underage alcohol. I got Anna on the pill a couple months before because she’s only 16 and that’s too young by far to have a baby. Besides, I hate babies.

Blair’s doctors have determined how bad her brain damage is and it doesn’t look good. They also found some problems with her heart probably from years of bad eating. She’s being moved next month to an assisted living home and she’s probably going to stay there for the rest of her life. It’s too bad and it breaks my heart.

I’m lying on my bed in my bra and panties. It’s been a long day and I’m exhausted. I spent most of the day running errands and made a quick stop to visit Blair and tell her all about what’s going on in my life, of course omitting certain details. She does a lot of smiling and nodding and she says “that’s great” at the appropriate moments but it’s nothing like it used to be and it just makes me feel bad.

I also made a stop at my parents’ gravesite to fill them in on my engagement and my newly acquired children. Then I had to stop in at the supermarket for some food and to put in an order for my birthday cake. I’m unfortunately going to be 29 on April 30th, which is tomorrow.

Austin is lying next to me playing with his iPhone. I love him so much when he can just lie next to me and be there without really trying to talk about it or anything. He puts the phone down a minute later and looks at me.

“What’s up?” he asks.

“I’m just tired,” I say and smile a little. I roll onto him so that I’m straddling him and press my chest against his. He runs one hand up my back and I smile. It feels really nice to lay with him and just be a part of him. “I ordered myself a cake for my birthday.”

“Oh yea?” he asks and pulls the little elastic tie out of my hair. My hair falls onto his chest and he runs his fingers through it. He gives me a kiss when I look up at him.

“I figured since it was my birthday I should go ahead and order a cake rather than bake one.”

“What if Anna was going to bake you one? You know Anna is quite the cook.”

“She is good at what she does,” I say and take a deep breath. I close my eyes for a minute. “But she’s not going to make me a cake.”

“Oh,” he says and unclips my bra.

“Austin,” I say and give him a look.

He grins at me. “It’s easier to rub your back if the clasp isn’t in the way.”

“Sure,” I say with an eyebrow raised.

He laughs.

I close my eyes again as he rubs my back gently and smoothly. It feels like heaven really and I can’t tell him to stop even though I’m sure in a minute his hand will be on my ass and he’ll be hard as a rock. This has happened before.

“I don’t want to have sex,” I say in a sleepy voice.

“That’s okay,” he says.

“Come take a bath with me?” I ask.

“That’s just cruel,” he says.

“Maybe after a hot bath I’ll change my mind.”

“Or you’ll go to sleep,” he says.

“Please,” I whine.

“Alright,” he laughs. I get up and take my bra off my shoulders and stroll to the bathroom in just my green lace panties. I turn on the water and the huge bathtub starts filling up. It’s really a beautiful bathtub and it’s so big and deep and we both fit in it well. He probably spent more money on it than I’ve ever had in my life combined. I asked him once why he had a huge bathtub and he didn’t have much of an answer.

I poor some bubbles and some smelly bath salts into the water and watch as he comes into the bathroom and takes off his clothes. I put my hair up in a clip so it won’t get wet in the bath and I watch him get into the bath tub before I get in with him, my back pressed against his chest. The water is so hot and heavenly.

I hear some loud music start playing from Anna’s room and I frown. Loud music coming from her room usually means she’s doing her homework, but every once in a while it means she and Josh are trying to cover up some other loud noises.

“What do you want for your birthday?” he asks me as he kisses my neck.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I’m basically happy.”

“I’m happy you are happy,” he says. I feel his hand on my stomach and it moves up towards my breast. I don’t protest. I pretty much knew if I invited him to have a bath with me I’d be fondled. “That being said, I got you a present anyways.”

“I don’t want any presents,” I say.

“Too bad,” he says. “I’ve got another one for you right now.”

I can feel that present poking into my ass. “Men,” I say under my breath.

He laughs and adjusts under me a little and Mr. Happy comes a little closer to my hot spot. I’m pretty sure I said I didn’t want to have sex. Oh well, no point in trying to tell him no now.

I wake up in the morning feeling good and tired. Like I could just lie on these pillows all day and be perfectly content. Unfortunately I have a feeling that isn’t going to happen. I open my eyes and roll onto my back and take a breath. My body is sore from all the vigorous activity that went on last night. But it’s sore in a good way.

I sit up and stretch and see a little note stuck to a little bell on my night table. I pick it up and unfold it.

Ring the bell when you wake up

Fuck this. I give the bell a ring and fall back into my pillows with my blankets pulled up over my chest. I hear footsteps on the stairs and I start humming to myself. The bedroom door opens and Austin comes in carrying a silver tray. The tray is beautifully designed and polished and has pretty claw feet on each corner. There is a plate of French toast and bacon in the center and a little pretty tea pot in the corner, I’m sure it’s full of coffee since I’m not much of a tea drinker.

“Did you cook this?” I ask as he puts it over my legs and takes a seat on the edge of the bed.

“Anna cooked it,” he says. “But I gave her the instructions.”

“Figured,” I say. I pour the coffee out of the little pot into the matching cup and add some cream.

“I would have cooked it, but I thought you might want to actually eat it.”

I laugh and use my fork and knife to cut off a piece of toast. I put it in my mouth and smile as I chew it. “It tastes amazing. At least Anna is a good cook.”

I notice a beautiful red rose sitting on the side of the tray and I pick it up and put it to my nose. It smells amazing. “Is this my birthday present?”

“No,” he says with a fanged grin.

I swat at his shoulder and he laughs at me.

“What is it?” I ask.

He produces a card and hands it to me. I take it and open the envelope after taking a sip of coffee. Inside is a pretty card with some kind of lame poem on it which I read quickly, and he seems to expect me to find the card a little cliché. It’s the smaller envelope that falls from the card that gets my attention. I give him a look.

“Open it, Lana,” he says.

“What is it?”

“If you open it you will know.”

I frown a little and open the small envelope. There is a credit card with my name printed on it and two small paper cards. I pull the paper cards out and examine them. They have some fancy silver lettering on them and the name of an expensive spa in Hollywood.

“What the hell is this?” I ask.

“It’s your own personal credit card and two day passes to a spa. You’ve had a stressful couple of months you could use a break. I’m not taking no for an answer so don’t try it. You and Madison are going to spend the day doing whatever you want in the spa and then you are going shopping.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be here. I’ll take you to dinner,” he says.

I frown. “I wanted to spend the day with you.”

“You’ll have all night with me,” he says. His eyes are black and I get a feeling I know why he’s getting rid of me.

“When was the last time you fed?” I ask.

“Don’t worry about me, Lana,” he says in a dark voice.

“Austin…” I say firmly.

“Last week,” he says. “I’ll take care of it today I promise,” he adds.

I look at him suspiciously.

“I’m kicking you out of the house in an hour, so finish up and get dressed,” he says with a grin. I could smack him. He leans forward and kisses me hard on my mouth and then he leaves the room.

I finish breakfast and jump in the shower before dressing in jeans and a t-shirt and some flip flops. I figure I’ll get my toes done while I’m at the spa of the stars today. Austin comes into the room and gives me a wide grin.

“Time to go, my dear,” he says. He hands me my purse and my new credit card.

“What’s the limit on this thing?”

“Not sure,” he says. “Somewhere around $15,000.”

My heart stops beating for a second.

“Happy birthday,” he says. He walks me down the stairs and outside. There is a Lincoln town car sitting in the drive way with a nice looking man wearing a chauffeur’s uniform.

I turn to look at Austin and I give him a dirty look.

“The car is all yours until 7 pm when you and your friend will be dropped off here,” he says. He puts his arm around me and pulls me hard against his body before kissing me hard and rough on my lips. “Come back pretty and relaxed.”

“You’re an ass,” I say.

“That’s why you love me,” he says and opens the back door of the car for me. I slip in and see that Madison has already been picked up. She gives me a big shit eating grin like she was a part of this all along.

“How long did you know?” I ask her.

“A couple weeks,” she says. “But Austin wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I’m sure,” I say. “Probably because he knew if he told me ahead of time I’d say no.”

“Hey, it’s going to be fun,” she says.

An hour later we are dressed in bathing suits and bathrobes. We are lounging in some amazingly comfortable chairs with avocado masks spread over our faces and a couple glasses of champagne. I can’t complain, it’s pretty nice.

“So, you still seeing Doug?” I ask Madison.

“He comes to my place once in a while and we do what we need to do,” she says and laughs.

I laugh with her. “Is he good?”

“Amazing,” she says. “But it’s just sex. Not into the whole commitment thing right now. He’s a good guy though.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I haven’t seen him since the show where you two hooked up.”

“He likes you,” she says. “He thinks you’re good for Austin.”

“Of course I’m good for Austin,” I say in a cocky voice.

We both laugh. After our facials we move on to massages and pedicures and after a good several hours all my muscles are feeling relaxed and I’ve been waxed rubbed oiled and polished and I’m feeling like a new woman. I even got my hair trimmed and colored. It’s basically black but has red undertones so it looks basically beautiful and I love it.

Madison had her roots bleached so she’s back to completely platinum. I can’t explain how beautiful she is with her white blond hair. I tried the platinum look once but it didn’t look good on me at all. Aside from the fact that it took three visits to the salon to get it that color.

The chauffeur takes us to where we can really get the star experience and spend obscene amounts of money on shoes and clothes and handbags. Otherwise known as Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I feel a little strange spending hundreds of dollars on handbags but at the same time I’m not about to give up the experience.

“What do you think about these sunglasses?” I ask as I put them over my eyes.

“They are nice,” she says. She’s tried on a couple pairs. She’s got a sunglasses problem. Currently she is looking at herself in the mirror to see how she feels about a pair of Raybans.

I take a breath and decide you only live once and make the choice to purchase the sunglasses, even though they cost several hundred dollars. By 5:30 I’ve bought a new dress and shoes two pairs of sunglasses and a new purse, along with the same amount of items for Madison. I’ve seen a couple “famous” people in a few of the shops but I made no attempt to talk to any of them. It’s not really worth it in the end and I found myself feeling annoyed by the amount of paparazzi hanging around the few shops they were in.

I find another new dress, something to change into for dinner tonight. I spend some time in the dressing room turning around and wondering if the dress is worth the money. I’ve had fun on Rodeo Drive, but I think from now on I’ll be happy to shop at the mall. The dress is metallic silver and skin tight. It makes my ass look good and worn with the gorgeous push up bra I bought at Fredrick’s of Hollywood it makes my breasts look amazing. I found a pair of gorgeous sparkly rhinestone encrusted shoes to go with it and I think I really love it. Madison is sitting on the little bench in the dressing room looking me over.

“I think it looks good,” she says.

“Think Austin will like it?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “I don’t know him that well. But I like it, and you like it, and the sexiest thing a woman can wear is confidence,” she says in a kind of dramatic voice.

I laugh. “I guess you’re right.” I decide to go ahead and get the dress along with a little glittery silver clutch bag and the shoes and the two of us head back to our car. The chauffeur drops Madison off first and then he takes me back to my house. Austin is standing in the driveway smoking a cigarette when we pull up.

The chauffeur opens the door for me and I step out, feeling beautiful. That feeling intensifies when I notice Austin drop his cigarette and stare at me. He comes to help with my shopping bags a few seconds later and I stroll into the house with him following me.

“You look perfect,” he says once we are inside.

“Thank you,” I say and give him a kiss. “Where are we going for dinner?”

“It’s a surprise,” he says with an evil grin.

“Oh no, not more surprises,” I say.

“I should probably change my clothes, I didn’t expect you to come home looking like you were ready to walk the red carpet.”

“Do you like the dress?” I ask.

He leans down a little and kisses me. “It’s beautiful,” he says and pulls me against himself. “But I’m going to like it more when it’s on the floor tonight,” he says in my ear in a deep animal voice.

This sends a jolt of electricity straight down to my hot spot and I squirm in his arms a little. He laughs before letting go of me and he’s up the stairs in a flash. I count down from ten in my head and he’s back and changed into something a little nicer by the time I get to three.

“Did I beat my record?” he asks in a teasing voice.

“Nope,” I say and grin. “Where are the kids? I haven’t seen them all day.”

“I’m not sure,” he says. He walks me out to the corvette and opens the passenger door for me.

I slide into the car feeling a little bad. Annalise should have at least stuck around long enough this morning to say happy birthday. I am her sister after all. I push some of my hair behind my ear and wait as Austin starts the car.

“You changed your hair again,” he says.

“I change it a lot, you should get used to it,” I say.

“I am,” he says and laughs. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I say.

We ride in silence until he pulls up in front of an obscenely expensive steakhouse. “Why are you spoiling me like this?” I ask.

“It’s your birthday,” he says. “A woman deserves to be spoiled on her birthday.”

“Where does the money come from?”

“Don’t worry about that,” he says in a far away voice.

“I want to know.”

“Lana,” he whines. “Let’s talk about it later, okay?”

“Fine,” I mumble. I get out of the corvette and walk into the restaurant with him, my arm linked in his. I love walking into places with him, it makes me feel special.

He gives the host his name for our reservation and she gives me a little grin before leading us through the restaurant. We pass empty table after empty table and I’m beginning to wonder why why can’t just sit at one of them. Then she opens up a door and leads us through there and I about die when I see the room full of people shouting “surprise!”

Madison is standing in the front with a cake and Doug is close by her, looking hot as hell. I scan the room and see that Anna and Josh are here, but the one who surprises me the most is Jon. He’s standing to the side of the room, dressed in black pants and a blazer over a white t-shirt, looking perfect as always. It’s not a huge party, but it’s all the people I love most.

Austin leans down and whispers in my ear, “Happy birthday, baby.”

“Oh my god I hate you,” I laugh and kiss him once before going to give everybody hugs. “Madison! You whore you knew all damn day!” I say.

“Of course I did,” she says and gives me a tight hug. “And I’m hoping somebody got a picture of your face when you walked in.”

I laugh and give her a kiss on the cheek before throwing myself at Annalise.

“Happy birthday, Lana,” she says.

“Thank you, babe, for being part of the surprise,” I say. I hug Josh quickly too but we don’t exchange much in the way of conversation. Then after I’ve hugged and thanked everybody in the room I make my way to Jon and give him a tight lingering hug. “Thank you for being here.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it,” he says.

“Who invited you?” I ask curiously.

“You’re fiancé,” he says and gives a little nod towards Austin. “He called me from your phone and asked if I could make it.”

I feel my heart do a little dance and I look over my shoulder at Austin and give him a big smile. I catch his eye and I mouth a thank you. He gives a little nod in my direction and I feel so amazing. The very fact that he would go out of his way to invite my ex to my birthday party because he knows how much said ex means to me is mind blowing. It feels good to have somebody be that confident in me and our relationship.

After a little while mingling and then dinner they sit me down at a table behind my cake and light up 29 candles. The cake looks delicious and says “Happy Birthday Lana” in purple letters.

“Make a wish,” Austin says after they’ve all sang me the happy birthday song.

“I’ve already got everything I want,” I say. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, searching for something to wish for, and I blow out all the candles to a round of applause and hugs before I cut into the cake with excitement. It turned out to be a pretty good birthday after all.