AN: Hey,
I’m back with a story. I won’t say it’s a new story ‘cause it isn’t. I wrote
this more than two years ago. Don’t have a title and I don’t know when/if I’ll
continue it. I always wanted to take belly dancing classes, but I never worked
so I couldn’t pay for them, but now I do take classes and they’re so fun! And
they’re free! And my teacher is a professional dancer, isn’t that cool? And I
know the title is a little weird, I don’t know why I named it that…
Disclaimer:
The song Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Asi) does not belong to me. It belongs to
Shakira and… whoever… she sings it and it doesn’t belong to me. Isn’t that
enough for you people?
Claire
heard the sound of the gong and knew it was her cue. She took a deep breath and
let it go, making the thin blue veil covering half of her face rise up,
and walked out onto the stage in bare feet. Claire was followed by four large,
muscular men in all colors. She had butterflies in her stomach, she was
nervous. It always happened, though it was far from the first time she’d
stepped onto that stage to perform.
She gyrated her hips in rhythm to the drums. She raised her arms above her, her
hands moving seductively, fluidly. She made sure she moved her shoulders just
right to make her body all the more seductive. When the other cue came she
began to sing.
Oh, you know I have seen
A sky without sun
A man with no nation
Saints, captive in chains
A song with no name
For lack of imagination
Ya he ya he ya la he
And I have seen
Darker than ebony
Ya he ya he ya la he
And now it seems, that I
Without your eyes could never be
Her dancers surrounded her and began to touch their hands to her body. She
raised her hands and shook her wrists to make the bells tied around them ring.
She raised one of her legs high, her foot high above her head and began to
shake her hips, shoulders, and head furiously while singing the song.
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over; the seven oceans
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t give
Came from Bahrein, go to Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, go to Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
The song slowed its tempo and she began to slow her seductive dancing. Her
wildly rotating hips slowed down, making all the men in the room stare at her,
entranced. Claire smiled under her veil. She began to roll her body forwards
and back, making her ribcage go forward and backwards in tune with the music
and her breathing.
The song’s tempo picked up again.
Oh, you know I have seen
A woman of means
In rags and begging for pleasure
Crossed a river of salt
Just after I rode
A ship that sunk in the desert
Ya he ya he ya la he
And I have seen
Darker than ebony
Ya he ya he ya la he
And now it seems, that I
Without your eyes could never be
Claire began to dance all around the room, stopping once in a while at a table
or near the bar. She danced in front of the men making their dates jealous for
more than one reason. She stopped and moved her hips in circles. When the music
changed once more, Claire moved her hips from side to side, faster and faster,
her web of seduction growing and weaving more and more men into it.
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over; the seven oceans
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t give
Came from Bahrein, go to Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, go to Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Shaking her hips and doing shimmies with her shoulders, Claire noticed two
young men entering the high class night club. One she recognized as Ray, her
friend and owner of the night club she currently worked at, but the other was a
mystery. The song slowed down and Claire took it as an opportunity to get
closer to the table the young men had sat in. There was something strangely
familiar about him.
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Men bahrein ila Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Claire reached the table quickly and danced in front of the unknown male. Her
heart fluttered, but she thought nothing of it. She was already breathing hard
from her workout. She moved her hips and danced in front of the young man, only
losing eye contact with him while she finished turning. She wanted him to
notice her because she knew exactly who the man was now.
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over; the seven oceans
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t give
Came from Bahrein, go to Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Oooh
Claire looked at the young man more closely before she finished her act. He did
indeed have the most peculiar eyes. She had never seen a man with gray blue
eyes like his. She stopped dancing, took a bow and ran backstage. The young man
sat in his seat, stupefied.
He’d found her on the first night. He was surprised he’d found her so quickly,
and doing this for a living.
Ray motioned for him to get up and follow him, the deafening applause making it
impossible to hear. They walked across the stage and into the back part of it.
There was a hallway full of doors, which were all labeled. They stopped in
front of a door with the word “CLAIRE” in intricate gold lettering. Without
knocking, Ray opened the door and went inside, motioning for Jeremy to follow.
Inside, they found the woman, Claire, drinking, or chugging, a bottle of water.
She was still breathing hard but she smiled at them. “Ray,” she said, “long
time no see.” Claire gave Ray a kiss on the cheek, then turned to look at the
other young man.
“Jeremy, let me introduce you to Club NighTime’s star,” Ray said.
“We’ve met,” she said before Jeremy could say anything.
Ray didn’t say anything. Instead looked from one to the other. Neither one said
anything.
The young man stared at her, taking in for the first time what she was wearing.
Claire was dressed from head to foot in blue. Her breasts were covered by a
minuscule, blue bra looking thing with little rhinestones. On her wrists there
were thick gold bracelets, like a genie’s, that had blue veils tied to them,
which matched the bracelets on her upper arms, except those were thinner. He
looked lower, at her “skirt”. She was wearing a light blue pair of panties that
showed through her veiled skirt she wore. The skirt was in two pieces, the back
one that reached the sides of her thighs and the front one that hung between
her legs. It was held together by an thin, intricate blue belt that had the
same rhinestones as her “shirt”. The whole “outfit” rode very low on her hips.
Claire rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, which were down by her hips,
where his eyes rested. This caused the young man’s head to snap up. “My eyes
are up here,” she said.
“I’m... I’m sorry Claire. It’s just that... well, you didn’t look like this the
last time I saw you,” he said. He shook his head and looked at her up and down
again.
“Well, since you guys already know each other I don’t think Claire will mind
going to dinner with us.” He turned puppy eyes to Claire and said, “Will you
come to dinner with us?”
Claire took a deep breath and looked at Jeremy again. He didn’t really seemed
surprised to see her anymore, he seemed more surprised at what she was wearing.
“Okay, just give me fifteen minutes to shower and change, okay?” she asked. She
was just stalling now. She knew she could walk out of there wearing her outfit
and no one would mind. They were just going to eat in the club’s restaurant,
but she knew why Jeremy had come. She mentally slapped herself for not
researching the owners of this high class night club before she started working
there.
Ray smiled at her. “All right, we’ll be outside waiting.”
Jeremy took one last look at Claire and stepped out of the room. He knew she
knew why he was there. He hoped it wouldn’t get violent when he finally got her
alone. He shook his head.
“So, how do you know Claire?” asked Ray.
“Why?” Jeremy asked his long-time friend. His father and Ray’s father were
friends, just like with Claire’s dad.
“Claire and I... were involved a couple of years ago. I’m still interested,” he
replied honestly.
Jeremy’s face hardened and his lips thinned. “She’s my fiancee,” he said
through gritted teeth.
Ray’s eyes bugged out slightly and his mouth hung open. “What? She’s the
fiancee that you always talk about in your letters and emails?” he asked
incredulously.
“Yeah,” Jeremy said sighing.
“But... but-- but,” Ray was speechless.
Their conversation was interrupted by Claire opening the door. She had showered
and washed away all the sweat and make-up. Now she had her bangs held to the
side by a little clip. She was wearing black eyeliner and a lip gloss called
pink pout. What she had on surprised Jeremy. Or rather the way she wore it
surprised him. The black, slinky, V neck dress she wore was made of silk.
Jeremy could tell that she wasn’t wearing a bra, something she never used to
do, and he would bet his life that she was wearing a thong.
“You guys are just going to stand there and stare at me or are we going to
eat?” she asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Ray cleared his throat and offered her his arm saying, “Of course, my lady.
Come.”
Jeremy followed, scowling at his best friend.
*~*~*~*
Dinner was uncomfortable, especially for Jeremy and Claire. Ray had no sense,
so he just kept talking and talking through it all, but Jeremy knew that he was
confused. Confused in his loyalties. On one hand there was his best friend
since birth, on the other was the woman he was interested in. They were
interrupted by a phone call for Ray. He got up and excused himself.
Claire got up her nerve and said, “I know why you’re here.”
“You do? Then tell me why,” Jeremy said, folding his hands and resting his chin
on them while looking at her.
“I’m not going back, Jeremy,” she said quietly.
“You have to! You have a duty--”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Jeremy! God knows I was willing to go through
with it, if it hadn’t been for your--”
“Don’t blame it on me, Claire! This is your doing, not mine!” he said sharply.
“You ran away, you shrugged off your duties and came here!”
“I--You... you lied to me. You lied to me in order to fulfill your duty to your
family; to uphold your honor!” she whispered hoarsely. Tears were stinging her
eyes. She didn’t care if he saw her cry, she had done what she thought was
right after he’d lied to her.
“But you still dragged my honor, and my family’s honor through the mud when you
ran away! You shamed us and now you have to make it up to us! And to your
family,” he said. He had to get her back. His honor and his pride were on the
line. Her running away had wounded his pride and had shamed his family.
Claire sighed, absently trying to wipe off the tears that threatened to fall.
“No, Jeremy. I am no longer part of that family, my father disowned me when I
left. I have no duties towards you or your family or Sean Gardiner’s family.”
Ray chose that moment to return. “It was my father. He...” he trailed off when
he noticed the tears in Claire’s eyes and the hot fury in Jeremy’s. “I take it
you guys talked while I was gone?” Ray asked.
“If you guys would excuse me, I have to go home. I--” she said but was
interrupted by Jeremy.
“I’ll drive you.”
“No.”
“We have things to talk about, and I won’t leave you alone until we talk!” he
said angrily. He wanted to get this done quickly. The sooner he could get
Claire back the sooner he could get back home.
“Fine, Jeremy, drive me home,” she said, agreeing with him. “Goodnight, Ray,”
she said and kissed his cheek, at which Jeremy frowned, wondering if there was
something romantic about their relationship. Something Ray had maybe forgotten
to tell him.
“Goodnight, Claire. Goodnight, Jeremy.”
“Goodnight,” he replied not looking at him, instead ushering Claire away from
the table.
*~*~*~*
Claire put her keys on the key holder on the wall and dropped her purse on the
counter in the little kitchen. “Won’t you come in?” she said when she saw that
Jeremy had already made himself comfortable on the sofa.
“Sit down Claire, we have to talk,” he ordered her.
Claire sighed and sat on the sofa opposite him. “What is it that we need to
talk about?” she asked.
“You are coming home with me,” he said plainly. “You need to--”
“No, I am not going anywhere. You can’t make me go.”
Jeremy got to his feet in a fury. “You will be coming back home with me! You
want to stay here? With Ray? Being a stripper for the rest of your life
when you can be the heir to one of the world’s most powerful families and
its money?” he said, almost shouting.
“Which one, Jeremy, mine or yours? Don’t think you fool me for one second. You
want my father’s money just as much as you want your father’s! Is that why you
were so willing to marry me all those years ago? Because you knew I would be my
father’s sole heir?” she shouted, getting to her feet too. She was much shorter
than Jeremy, but she could hold her own in a verbal battle like this one.
Jeremy smirked evilly. “Why else would I have accepted so easily? Who in their
right mind would want to--”
“Don’t go there Jeremy,” she said holding up her hand. “I had enough of that
when I heard you talking to your ‘Dearest’ Emma.”
Jeremy sighed. He’d been... upset when he’d found out that she’d heard his
conversation with Emma. The girl he loved at that point in his life. “You’re
still trippin’ off of that? That was years ago Claire, let it go,” he said.
“I’m supposed to let it go when you were just about to bring it up? You’re an
ass! I can’t believe how much I loved you! How in hell’s name did I ever fall
in love with you?” she yelled, the tears threatening to fall again.
“Shut up, Claire. There’s no sense in bringing up things that mean nothing,” he
said quietly.
“To you it meant nothing, but it meant lot to me, Jeremy. We have to bring it
up, though. Because that is what, essentially, brought me to my decision to
leave. The fact that I meant nothing to you and you meant everything to me!”
“You’re coming back with me and that’s that! So, there is no reason to bring it
up!” he shouted.
Claire shook her head. “I’m not coming back! I will not marry you and I will
not succumb to my father’s will! I hate both of you! Neither of you care about
me and you didn’t care about what I wanted, so tell me why the hell I should
care about you or what you want? I loved the both of you and you didn’t love
me!”
“Claire--”
“Both of you saw me as a means to an end! Well fuck you! I want nothing to do
with you! I hate you Jeremy, and I hate Sean Gardiner! So go back home and tell
my father I said that...” she said trailing off. Her head was beginning to
ache. She felt slightly light headed and her vision was blurring rapidly. “Damn
you,” she said as she realized that he’d slipped something in her drink. “I
don’t...” she started to say, but passed out.
Jeremy caught her in his arms and smirked. “Jeremy Diaz always gets what he
wants,” he mumbled. “And he wants you and all the money you’ll get him.”
*~*~*~*
Jeremy’s limo driver parked in front of the large doors that lead to the main
hall of the mansion. The Diaz mansion. The driver quickly climbed out of the
limo and helped Jeremy with the unconscious young woman in the back seat. She
would be out for at least four more hours, Jeremy had had to ‘tranquilize’ her
two more times before they arrived. He couldn’t have her screaming and ranting
on the plane. It was his private jet, but still.
He took Claire from the driver and signaled for him to open the front door. He
walked into the room, and ignoring the servants startled gasps walked upstairs
and place Claire on the bed in his bedroom. He smirked at the 23 year old
Claire, remembering her at the young age of 17, when he’d first met her. He
shook his head, not wanting to remember what had happened in the six months
their official engagement had lasted. As he’d told her, there was no point in
bringing it back.
He walked out of the room to call his father and his future father-in-law, but
not before locking the door. “Dad, is Mr. Gardiner with you? Great, tell him I
have good news. Claire decided to come home.” Jeremy smiled wickedly.
*~*~*~*
Claire opened her eyes only to shut them again. Her head hurt and she was
groggy. She managed to open her eyes and sit up on the bed. She surveyed her
surroundings and sighed heavily. The black and red room was all too familiar.
She was back in Jeremy’s house. Damn him.
Claire put her hands on her head and rubbed her temples. She groaned and fell
back on the pillows. She had hoped to never see this place again. She had hoped
she’d never be anywhere near Jeremy Diaz and Sean Gardiner.
“You’re awake!” Jeremy said cheerfully as he walked into the bedroom. He walked
to the bed and sat next to her.
“I hate you,” she mumbled while covering her arms. “Why, Jeremy?” she said
sighing. “You know my father would have made you his heir without you having
married me. He hates Andrea for marrying Nicholas and he hates Dayna for
marrying Joel, some one who’s rich but he didn’t choose for her!” Claire ran a
hand through her short hair. “There was no one left but you,” she whispered.
Jeremy looked away from her face. “It’s not your father’s money that I’ll get
when I marry you, Claire. I’ll have that in time,” he told her quietly. He
didn’t look at her again, there was too much emotion in her eyes. It brought
back things he’d rather stayed in the past; dead and buried.
“Then why in God’s name are you doing this?” she hissed. “Why hurt me like this
again? Why make me suffer this same pain twice?” She was crying now. She
couldn’t take the pain at seeing him again anymore. Nor the memories that came
flooding back when she’d seen his peculiar eyes.
He was quiet for a long time. He just sat there listening to her quiet sobs and
watcher her shaking shoulders. “Because my father will not make me his heir
unless I am married to his best friend’s daughter,” he finally told her.
Claire cried harder. “Jeremy why? Didn’t he see what you did to me? Didn’t he
know that you didn’t love me and that you--”
“Jeremy?” said a woman from the door, which she had opened without knocking.
There was a surprised gasp from the brown haired woman and an annoyed sigh from
Claire. “Jeremy... w-- what the hell is she doing here?” she asked
angrily, focusing accusing eyes on Claire.
‘Like I want to be here,’ she thought. Claire wiped the tears from her eyes and
looked at Jeremy disgustedly. “Ugh! You are such a pig!” she said closing her
eyes.
“Jeremy! I asked you a question! What the hell is this,” she fumbled for the
right word, “strumpet doing here? And in your room?”
“Shut up, Emma, and wait outside,” he ordered her. Just when he thought that
things couldn’t get any worse, stupid bimbo Emma had to show up. “Get out!” he
shouted when she didn’t move. The young woman complied and left the room,
closing the door behind her.
“Ugh!” Claire muttered disgustedly. “And you have the nerve to even mention the
word ‘marriage’ to me when your… mistress is living here with you?” Claire
laughed hysterically. She buried her face in her hands and laughed. “You sick
son of a bitch!” she exclaimed getting off the bed.
“She’s not my mistress, Claire. Emma and I broke things off a long time ago,
right after you left,” he explained, though he didn’t know why. He had Claire
right where he wanted her, ready to do his bidding.
“Yeah, whatever,” she said. Claire rubbed her forehead and temples. The
incessant pounding still there.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her.
“Everything, starting with you! What the hell did you give me, you asshole? My
head feels like shit,” she said closing her eyes.
“It’s the sleeping pills I gave you. All you need to do is eat something. I’ll
have--”
“No, I don’t want anything from you,” she said, waving off his reply.
“You’re so damn stubborn,” he mumbled.
“Wasn’t that what you said you liked about me? The fact that I didn’t give up.”
“You’re going to eat,” he said in a commanding voice.
“No, I am not,” she said stubbornly.
“You will.”
“I won’t.”
“You will!”
“I won’t.”
Jeremy
sighed. It was going to be a long few days.
Tbc…
AN: Mmm…I
don’t know when I’ll ever continue this…
this was originally a fanfiction, but I decided to do original
characters instead. I need to take some liberties and the original flavor of
the anime would have suffered too much…