Authors note: Hello, everyone. I started this story thinking to include it in the Halloween contest, but as usual, my inability to keep my stories succinct meant it became too big and long-winded to manage. To try and keep it manageable for me, I needed to split it into parts. I hope you enjoy the next instalment of the Patchwork Princess. As always, if you enjoy it, please comment and vote. If you hate it, please do neither, ~ellie.
Patchwork Princess Ch. 2
Holly had spent the afternoon alternately avoiding conversations about Teddy and hiding from her friends until they forcibly trapped her in a corner and made her talk. Still, she said nothing, but they knew enough of her early life to fill in the blanks. Arranged marriages were rare amongst MCs who, as a rule, treated women as collectibles to be swapped and traded as needed rather than kept and adored. No, their arrangement was not part of the MC but rather the older and more powerful underworld families. These families used their MCs as military muscle, couriers, and, at worst, assassins.
With new players from the eastern bloc countries demanding bigger and bigger slices of the action, the older families had learned to play nice together and solidify their pacts. Holly had been a sacrifice on that altar until a member from a rival MC had taken an interest in her and decided to drug and abduct her as the war engulfed her family. She was fortunate in that she had very little memory of the reality of her abduction and the days spent with the man who did it. Instead, her memories of that time revolved around pain and torment before waking up in the hospital and the long road to recovery she had travelled with only Carter from her former life for company.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, Magda, my mind wandered for a moment," Holly apologised. "If this street party we are trying to get permits for comes off, we'll be ordering a big shipment, but until we know for sure, I don't think we can squeeze much more out of this budget," Holly sighed and looked up from where she sat with Carter and Magda at her desk, only to find Teddy watching her. She checked her watch, noting that he had returned at five, just like she had asked.
"That's okay, my darlings. I will take this small order for now, and you can call me if your plans work out," Magda said. "I will bring in some more samples in a few weeks when I come in to deliver this order," she promised and farewelled the two young women, who stood to shake her hand and let Nicky show her to the front door after looking curiously at Teddy.
"So tomorrow, we come up with a plan to approach the other businesses in our street and see if we can get to someone on the council who can authorise having one lane of the road cordoned off," Carter said brightly. "Look, I know you don't want to talk about Teddy, but for what it's worth, I think you should hear him out. If nothing else, he's pretty to look at," she grinned as Holly's face fell. "Anyone who's been wanting you as long as he has isn't going to be concerned with your scars Holly. Besides, he's asking to date you, not throw you into his bed, unless you're planning to wear a bikini on the date; how would he see them," Carter asked. She should have known better than to call the guy pretty to look at, but Holly had to overcome the fact that her scars didn't detract from her beauty.
"Fine," she sighed, "But only so you will all leave me alone when he realises the girl he knew is just a figment of his imagination and that this fucked up version of her is not as likable," Holly said with a look of determination. "You can lock up since I have a date," she smirked and picked up her handbag, shoving her phone and daily journal inside. "Don't even try to pretend you weren't listening, Teddy," she accused the man standing in her doorway. "I'm going home to change. You can pick me up at six. Is dress casual, okay?" Holly asked, holding her hand out for the keys.
"Sure," he grinned and grabbed her hand as he handed over her keys. "But, if this is your attempt to dodge me, believe that I will hunt you down and find you," he warned.
"Your men have a key to my building and have messed with the security here. So I know you can find me and get to me. That threat only makes me surer that you have no idea how different the grown-up Holly is from the girl you knew," she muttered and snatched her hand back. "I need at least an hour to get home, shower, and change. If I don't, I will feel even more uncomfortable than I do now."
"There is no need to feel awkward with me," Teddy tilted his head and smiled softly. "I will give you whatever time you need as long as you agree to give me a chance to prove that we can still have what we were promised."
"We were kids, Teddy. We aren't the same people, and you can't expect me to be the silly girl who believed everything she was told. Give me 'til six-thirty then," her voice rose in frustration. With that final concession, she spun on her heel and left. He'd backed her car into the car park behind the costume shop, and as she slid into the driver's seat and started the car, she wondered why she never backed in herself.
As she drove out into the traffic, the scent of cinnamon cookies assailed her, bringing back childhood memories of being in Nan's kitchen. "Well, played, Teddy," she thought to herself, finding the scented cardboard cookie hanging from her rear vision mirror. It wasn't fair that the man had only gotten better looking over the last decade or so while she had nursed injuries that scarred her torso like patchwork and left her with a limp when she was tired. Her mind was on automatic pilot as she considered the conversation she'd had with Teddy earlier. He knew what had happened to her but had been told she'd died from the injuries. If only he'd known how much she wished for that death during her painful rehabilitation. She sighed and pushed those memories away, forcing her concentration back to the road as she manoeuvred into the heavy traffic of the inner-city suburb to her building.
She went through the motions of swiping her card at the garage entrance and parking in her allotted space in a bit of a daze because Teddy had truly messed with her head. He said that what had been between them so long ago was more than a crush or puppy love. After thinking of her as dead for so long, he now wanted the life they were meant to have together. He'd said he'd tried to walk away and leave her alone but couldn't especially knowing that she might have a stalker.
She walked into her apartment, threw her keys into the kitchen peninsula's silver bowl, and went to the bathroom. There were no full-length mirrors in her bathroom, and she was generally able to ignore her scars as she undressed and showered. They were part of her now, but it had taken years of surgery and skin grafts to deal with the damage she would never recover fully from. While she was proud of how strong she had been through the process, she hated the scars because they represented the loss of the life and people she had loved.
As usual, she showered and dressed quickly before facing the mirror to see that her outfit worked and brush her hair. She'd chosen skinny black jeans and one of her favourite steel blue and white tops. The top looked like the material had been watermarked, and she smiled, feeling good as she brushed out her hair. It was one of the few tops she owned that totally hid her scars while still allowing her to look like an ordinary girl rather than an uptight ice princess. She knew she should get Carter to help her make a pattern and sew a few in different materials. The only problem was that her friends would tell her that no one noticed the scars anymore and she shouldn't worry so much.
Her thoughts kept looping around her earlier conversation with Teddy and why giving in to the feelings his words elicited in her was not a good idea. That was not the life she wanted anymore. She was happy and healthy. She had a business and close friends. She didn't need Teddy and his security team and had no plans to pretend otherwise. Despite letting him and his friends beef up the security at her home and work, she had no intention of letting him into her private life any more than that.
She was reminded she hadn't checked out the secondary lock, so she turned off her straightener and put the hairbrush down before padding out to the dining room to find the information Kris said he had left for her. No sooner than she had picked up the printed information than she heard a chuckle from behind her,
"You know, if you had engaged that lock, I couldn't have gotten in here even with a key," Teddy chuckled in a low soft voice.
