by Jamie Knight
“Well, it’s for the NGO,” Lila said, putting the empty bowl that had the mac and cheese down by her feet.
“Right, makes sense. What sort of thing are you looking for?”
We spent the next hour going over her ideas as I worked around with various ideas on how best to present them. We were close. Both physically and intellectually, everything we said instantly understood. Our odd sort of telepathy, developed over the years together, still holding after two years apart. It was almost a sensual experience, and I had to fight the urge to kiss her. I kept my hands to myself, and we came up with some excellent ideas for the ad copy.
“How did you come to be a copywriter?” she asked, leaning back into the couch.
“It was kind of roundabout actually. I was desperate for a job at the time and had an answered an ad looking for someone to work at the front desk. I got it and would write in my notebook when I got the chance. Nothing too fancy. Just concepts for projects I wanted to get going.”
“What kind of projects?”
“Film scripts mostly. A lot of them are sold by what is called an elevator pitch. Basically, a description of an idea that can be presented in the time it takes for an elevator to go up one floor.”
“Interesting.”
“Beau, who was the owner at the time, caught me at it and discovered, at about the same time I did, that I had a talent for breaking a concept down into it’s most vital elements and presenting them the most effective way. He helped me get through a certificate course to refine my presentation and technique and gave me a job as the junior copywriter. The head copywriter quit about six months ago, and I became the copywriter.”
As the ping-pong tournament geared up, we made our excuses and slipped out, heading down to my car. It was still early, and I remembered that there was a petting zoo nearby. Billy seemed to really like animals, so it seemed like a good idea.
“Are you sure you have the time?” Lila asked.
“Oh, sure, I’m well ahead of Lucky’s schedule. I’m all yours.”
“Okay.”
Bundling Billy into the car seat I had bought especially so he could come with us, heavy metal on the stereo, we drove to a park that had a by-donation petting zoo. The place was surprisingly crowded. There was actually a line to get in. I dropped a fifty into the donation bucket as we shuffled past, getting closer to the cute and cuddlies with every step.
I had called it right. Billy loved the place. Contenting himself with chasing baby goats, first by crawling, then on foot, before feeding them with pellets from the dispenser. The toddler was so excited that it wasn’t too long before he started yawning. This also happened to be bout the time that the sunlight began to wane on the horizon.
“How about dinner at my place?” I asked, the filter between my brain and my mouth shorting out for a moment.
“Sure,” Lila said.
Surprised but far too pleased to say anything that might make her change her mind, we headed straight for my car and drove back to my apartment. The goats not being the last rambunctious animals Billy would encounter that day.
Leaving Lucky chasing his tail around the living room, we went to the kitchen to start dinner. Lila even let Billy break the snap peas, something that amused him no end — particularly the sound. Lucky soon found his way into the kitchen, and the majority of the peas went to him rather than in the bowl.
The food done; we all went to the oversized dining room table, putting a cushion on the chair in place of a booster seat. It worked pretty well until about half-way through dinner when Billy started to nod off. I made a lucky catch and took him into the bedroom, laying him gently on the bed. No sooner did I get him down that Lucky jumped up beside him onto the bed, curling up beside Billy.
“He’s in good hands,” I said to Lila as we left the room.
We went back to the table to finish eating before the food got cold and all our work was for nothing. I thought I’d noticed Lila scoot her chair over closer to me but figured it must have been my imagination. My insane love for her playing silly games with my perception.
“Would you like some wine?” I asked.
“Are you having some?” Lila asked.
“No.”
“Oh, I didn’t think —”
I smiled at her. “It’s been aging for a while. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.”
“This is a special occasion, is it?” Lila teased.
“I would say so, yes,” I replied thoughtfully, “or if you prefer, we could say we are celebrating our sterling success with regards to the ad for the NGO if you’d like to keep things more impersonal.”
She smiled and raised one eyebrow. “It’s not done yet, though.”
“The text is. I know exactly what I’m going to do with it and will be giving the copy to Chris to hand off to the illustration guys by the end of the day tomorrow.”
“That’s really fast!”
“You know me,” I blurted.
Lila blushed bright enough for me to see it. I hadn’t expected it to come out quite that way. “Yeah, I do,” she whispered.
I was hard-pressed to think of anyone who knew me better than Lila. Even my dad was barely around, and I mostly took him as an example of what not to do. My mom had died a few years ago, Conrad quick to get a replacement — one of the dancers at one of his casinos. She was nice enough, but she wasn’t my mom. For starters, she was five years younger than me.
“I know you, too,” I said, going to get the wine.
“Oh really,” Lila said like it was a challenge.
“Sure,” I said, popping the bottle of ‘99.
“Like what?”
“You prefer trucks to blocks and Lego to tinker toys. You are always the first one everywhere because your brother convinced you that you would turn into a pumpkin if you were late. You also still check under the bed for the monsters he convinced you were down there.”
“Even when I’m sleeping on a futon,” Lila said with a slight shudder.
“You love grapes and are allergic to oranges and coconuts.
“What else, Mr. Holmes?” she teased.
“You do drink but not to excess, using it mostly as a way to calm yourself,” I explained, putting the glass down on the table, fighting the overwhelming urge to caress her hand.
“I also have a scar,” Lila prompted.
“On your inner thigh. You got it when you fell off a fence when you were fifteen. I remember. I carried you to the hospital. You were screaming bloody murder, and I was trying my best to calm you.”
“You said to think happy thoughts,” she said, trying not to laugh.
“It seemed like good advice at the time,” I protested.
“No, no, it was good. It just put me in mind of Peter Pan, which in itself was a happy thought, so I guess it worked out.”
“Yeah, I have a habit of that,” I said.
“And just look at us now,” Lila said, leaning in close.
I could smell her. She smelled the same she always had. Honey and raspberries. I wanted her so much it hurt. When she kissed me, my defenses dropped, and I kissed her hungrily. All the passion that had built up was coming out at once.
Chapter Thirteen - Lila
There were times I wondered if it was possible to have more than one brain or at least more than one mind. My common sense was screaming to stop. What we were doing was an epically bad idea. I still had a lot of hurt from when Jinx left me. Though, even stronger was my desire for him now that he was back. Particularly this new version of him I had never seen before. Combining aspects of his old self I instantly recognized as him, with a new maturity and balance, that was wonderful.
Before I really knew what was happening, I was on my knees in front of Carl as he sat on his chair, fumbling to undo his pants. He helped me out, his cock springing at me hard and ready. I had forgotten how big he was. Recovering quickly, I got one
hand most of the way around his warm, hard shaft, gently cupping his balls and sucked him off like my life depended on it, desperate to get his thick, sweet cum in my mouth. He was quiet as I sucked, probably so he wouldn’t wake Billy. The soft smack on my mouth on Carl’s cock the only sound that could be heard.
Finally he came, unloading a torrent of cum into my mouth. Carl had told me he hadn’t had sex since he went into rehab, but I still didn’t quite expect that much cum. Still I got it all, swallowing it all down.
Getting to my feet, taking off my panties as I did so, I swept his mostly finished plate from the table and lay down where it had been so Carl could have my sweet pussy for dessert. He dug in with gusto, licking and sucking my wet cunt, introducing first one finger and then two just when they were needed most. I started shaking with an intense orgasm, Carl putting one hand on my hip and the other over my mouth to keep me quiet as I came.
Pulling me down to the end, so we were lined up. Carl stroked the head of his cock against my pussy, making me gasp with pleasure. I opened my legs wider to facilitate the process.
When he thought I was ready, he pushed in, slowly easing his entire cock inside me. Giving me a second to relax and for my pussy adjust to being filled so completely, he started to pump. Driving his hard cock even deeper into me, and then back out, going a little faster with each pass. Building up to a steady rhythm, Carl fucked me with his huge cock until I screamed, a sound muffled by a quick and useful placement of his hand gently over my mouth.
Pulling out in the nick of time, Carl delivered his load into my waiting mouth, giving me a second helping of his delicious cum. Taking his cock in my hand, I sucked his shaft until it was clean before continuing on until he gave me a third beautiful load. I had gone without it far too long and was trying to make up for lost time.
Suddenly I could barely move. Most of my muscles relaxing at once. Gentleman that he was, Carl scooped me up and carried me over to the giant couch, both of us able to fit comfortably on it. I was snuggled against him my head on his chest when my doubts came back with a vengeance. I could hardly think straight for all the rage going on in my head.
“Stop thinking so loud and go to sleep,” he murmured.
“If only it were that simple,” I said.
“It is,” Carl replied, holding me tighter.
I was asleep a short time later. The dream was lovely. I couldn’t remember the details too clearly, but I was overcome with a sense of calm. Maybe I had found the happy place Carl had talked about. Too bad I couldn’t remember where it was.
My eyes opened slowly, and it took me a moment to remember where I was. I was at Carl’s apartment. Something I never thought would happen again. I thought about Aria thinking she would be worried. But then again, she knew I was meeting Carl and might well have figured out what happened.
Billy stirred beside me on the bed I had ended up in. I gently stroked his head, putting him back to sleep. Narrowly beating Lucky, who had come up from his guard station near my feet to check on his charge. I gave him a scratch behind the ear, which he seemed to love.
The door opened, making us both look as Carl came in with a breakfast tray, Lucky running back to the foot of the bed in hopes of bacon.
“Okay, okay, here,” Carl said, giving the dog a bit of bacon, before laying the tray out on my lap.
“I could get used to this,” I said, surveying the spread he had managed to fit onto the tray.
“Me, too,” he said, kissing me on the cheek, making me blush.
“You’re up early,” I said.
“Just finishing off the copy for your advertisement,” he said, picking up one of the two glasses of apple juice from the tray.
“Do you ever sleep?”
“Oh, yeah, a good six hours,” he explained.
“You are supposed to sleep seven to eight hours a night,” I argued.
“According to whom?”
“Sleep experts,” I said.
“That’s just like for toddlers or something,” he said, taking another sip.
I was too sleepy and happy to argue with him about it and decided to just let it go. It wasn’t like he was wasting the extra time. Going by what I knew by Carl’s general philosophy, it made sense to me that he would see sleep as a necessary nuisance at best.
I still wasn’t quite sure what was happening with us or where we were going in the future, but it did seem like we were back together, despite my initial resistance, and back on the path we were always meant to take.
“Ba’kin,” Billy said, waking up.
Chapter Fourteen - Jinx
I’d never been really religious. Not like my parents professed to be, my mom doing a much more convincing job than my dad, who was two steps down from a mobster. Two steps from hell, as I liked to think about it.
Despite my general lack of spiritual conviction, I couldn’t help but feel that my soul, if there was such a thing, had been refreshed. I was being a proper dad to Billy and had more or less reconciled with Lila. I wasn’t sure how things would go after we had fucked, but the desire was undeniable on both sides. I didn’t know if we were back together, but it sure felt like it. Which also felt like how things should be.
The sense of healing and reconciliation started to influence my thinking more than I might have anticipated, and still on the high of having Lila accept me back into her arms, I wondered if it might be possible to reconcile with my dad. We had long been at odds and not for no reason. Conrad left a lot to be desired in terms of personal morals and hadn’t done much to make my childhood any easier, though it could be time to put that aside. I wasn’t a child anymore, and it was just possible that we could meet on the field of adulthood, a much more even plain, and find some common ground.
It would have been best to do it in person, though he would only insist that I meet him in his office, and there was no way I was going down to the strip. There was just far too much attention to everything I was trying to leave behind. I had already broken my celibacy with Lila. Though that had been mostly self-imposed for the purpose of focus and I was also determined to be faithful to her. She was the last woman I had fucked, in both senses of the word, and the last I ever planned to fuck. I was confident that I loved her.
The gambling and the booze were still waiting at the casinos for me, though, like panthers crouched to pounce, and there was no way that I was giving them the satisfaction. I had left all that behind me two years ago.
In addition to the temptation of vice, there was also a chance, small as it might be, that I might just punch my dad as soon as I saw him. I didn’t think so, but human psychology is a strange and volatile thing, and I might just lay him out before either of us knew what was happening. I had no doubt I could, with little risk of recourse except by his goons. The fact was I had been physically capable of kicking his ass since I finished my growth spurt at about sixteen. I just didn’t. Most likely out of a sense of respect for my mother, who still loved him for some as yet unexplained reason.
The phone was definitely the safest way. Lucky jumped up onto the couch beside me as I got my phone out to make the call. The pup was likely sensing my distress. He put his little head on my lap, and I scratched him behind the ear as I dialed.
I was on the fifth ring and about to hang up when suddenly my ear was filled with Dad’s deep, aggressive voice that could make someone wet their pants in terror just by saying ‘happy birthday.’ I know, it happened when I was five.
“Conrad Willcox,” Dad boomed, making my ears ring.
“Hey, Dad,” I said.
“Who is this?” Conrad asked in confusion.
“You’re son.”
“Jimmy?”
“No, the one you don’t like,” I clarified.
“Oh, Eric.”
“You accidentally pushed me off the roof while we were putting new shingles down.”
“Oh! Jinx! Where have you been, my boy?”
“Here, I mean,
I’m in Vegas. I moved over into advertising.”
“Advertising! Sounds like a real conman,” he said with a chuckle.
Dad was always the sort to laugh at his own jokes. Though to be fair, if he didn’t, no one would.
“So, I’m told. Though you would know about that better than me.”
“That and everything else, Sonny boy. What are you doing back in my town, anyway?”
I sighed. “Just couldn’t stay away.”
“Try harder,” Dad said, the line going dead.
Coming from anyone else, I might have thought it was a threat. Coming from Dad, I had a strong suspicion that it was more of a polite suggestion. His version of one anyway.
So much for that idea.
Getting Lucky set up for the day, I got dressed and headed to work, stopping off at Lila’s office on the way. It was probably going overboard, but something in me just kept telling me to go talk to her, to make sure everything was okay. We’d had a perfectly pleasant morning after the day before. I just wanted to make sure my love didn’t have any regrets. I could almost hear the doubts hitting her after we had finished fucking.
“Hey,” she said, as I walked through the door at Desert Protect.
“Hey,” I replied, and we shared a soft peck on the lips.
“Everything okay? With everything?”
“Everything is fine,” she said, gently squeezing my hand.
“Billy is with Irene, that’s Aria’s grandma, as usual. How are you?”
I nearly told her about my moment of madness and calling my dad but decided better of it, not wanting to ruin her relatively good mood. I also wasn’t quite sure where we stood or if we were back together enough to burden her with such family drama.
The role of the advisor was filled by Cooper during the customary lull following lunch. We never really plan it, it just always seems to work out that way, the busiest hours always seeming to come in the three-hour block between nine and eleven. Then again, I was such a freak I tended to have the main bulk of my actual work done before going into the office in the morning. I really was that good at what I did, and there were advantages to only sleeping six hours a night. Like if I was asleep by ten, I managed to be awake and working by five.