This is a complete work of fiction and any resemblance to real people or events are just coincidence.
This is the first part of a much longer story. This part itself, is rather long and starts off slow, to give some necessary background. For those of you who'd like to skip straight to the "good" parts, scroll down to the second set of *stars*.
Any thoughts and comments are welcome at the bottom, or feel free to contact me through the website.
Thanks in advance for reading.
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Serena slammed the laptop closed with a growl of disgust, just as her friend and employee Harry sauntered into her office.
"What, no email from loverboy today? Or did another fish get off the hook?" Harry said with a smirk as he sat down in the vistor's chair.
"First off, Harry he's a dear friend, not a lover boy as you call him. You know he's somone special. Secondly, they aren't fish on my hook. You know I hate it when you say things like that." She swiveled her desk chair around to stare out the window. It also gave her a chance to wipe away the single tear of frustration that managed to escape, and take a few calming breaths.
Once again composed, she sent the chair spinning to face off for the argument that she knew was coming... in three ... two...
"What I don't understand is why you refuse to leave this self-made prison, and actually meet people. Real live people, sweetheart, not some skeezy internet hook-up."
"You don't understand? YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND?" Serena yelled and stood to pace away. On her next pass in front of the desk, she stopped directly in front of her only real-life friend and confidant. "What's to understand Harry? Look at me! Who would want me like this?"
Harry stood and took Serena by the shoulders, so she'd be forced to look at him. "A real man would. A real man would look past the scars and see you." Harry brushed back the auburn hair she kept long enough to shroud her face, and cupped her scarred cheek. "A man with enough sense to get to know you would see you for who you truly are." He used the hand gripping her cheek to tilt her head down and kiss her forehead.
Upset by the same tired argument, Serena wrenched herself out of his arms. "Don't you mean any man who saw my bank balance? They'd be lining up at the door then wouldn't they?" Once again moving to the window, she tried to shut out the memories. "We've been down that road before. I don't have it in me to do it again." With a sarcastic laugh she spun and crossed her arms and stared at Harry. "Why did you have to be gay Harry? You're the only man I can trust."
Harry laughed, as she knew he would. Some of the tension leaked out of the room. "That same line Seri? You know we'd never work. It'd be like kissing my sister, yuck!"
Harry was the only thing Serena held onto from her old life. The life before the fire stole her family, and everything she held dear. The fire that tore through their home and ravaged her body and soul. Taking her parents and little sister, and leaving her scarred on her right side from head to toe. Sometimes she wished she'd been allowed to go with them. Sometimes the pain of living like this was too much to bear. If it wasn't for Harry, she knew she'd never have made it this long. He's the one who pushed her through physical therapy and held her all the times she cried for what was lost. Harry was the one who came up with the idea for their business, when the depression became too deep.
Although technically Harry was an employee. His part in the "Wayside Inn and Cottages" was essential. Without him, the face of the company, there would be no business. They owned and operated a beachfront resort of sorts. Catering specifically to couples, and groups. While the Inn was a purely "vanilla" hotel. The cottages each had a theme relating to fantasies, kinks, and most sexual pleasures. The room's themes ranged from castle boudoir, and dungeon, to science fiction space fantasies. Some of the rooms were BDSM play rooms, and each could be modified to a client's request, with notice of course. The cottages were quite lucrative and required some creativity in their design, because some of them looked like regular cottages to the naked eye, yet held plenty of secrets and surprises.
She lived in secrecy, in one of the modified cottages along the beachfront. Her self-made prison, as he'd called it. Here, she was safe from prying eyes and men who would claim to love her for her fortune. Here was known, and where she could conduct her clandestine meetings, with the guys Harry referred to as her "fish". Men she'd met online, who after a quite lengthy vetting process, agreed to meet. They never knew her real name, and never actually saw her face. If they passed her on the street, they'd never know her. For obvious reasons, Serena held onto her anonymity with a fierce hand. After everything she'd been through, she couldn't handle the rejection, if one were to see her, or the duplicity, if they knew exactly who she was.
As these thoughts ran through her head, Serena remembered she had a "date" for tonight actually. This one seemed promising, and maybe would even garner a repeat performance. "Mr. Temptation", as she called him should be arriving soon and she needed to get ready.
'Yes, I see you've finally remembered your date for the evening." Harry commented with a chuckle. "He arrived early actually, and that was what I was coming to tell you before we got sidetracked."
"He's here already? Wow okay, maybe I should just change him from Mr. Temptation, to Mr. Eager."
"See, you can't even call them by their names! What kind of life is this Seri?" He strode towards her again, trying to get her to see the wisdom in his words. "Someone could and would love you, if given half a chance. Why must you be so cynical?" He took her in his arms again to try and ease the sting of his words. It hurt him to see her living like this. The once vibrant life of the party. Now a hollow shell existing on crumbs of what he wouldn't even call affection, from random men met in sleezy online chat rooms. He tried again, this time with a different approach. "What had you so upset when I came in Seri?"
This time she snuggled into his warm, overly large embrace instead of pushing him away. "Just the same thing as always Harry. Wanting what I can't have and shouldn't want to begin with."
Harry again tilted her face up to meet his. "What do you mean, shouldn't want? You can have anything you want. Just tell Old Harry what it is, and I'll go and get it for you. I'll drag it back kicking and screaming if I must."
