Hard to Love

by S M Mala

  Again, and again she did it until she started to feel his thighs become taut, while her fingers rubbed his groin.

  ‘You’re making up so well,’ he said, looking like he was holding back. ‘If you continue to do that, I’m going to come. May Day, I want to make love to you.’

  Pulling away, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as he watched her, his eyes full of lust and excitement. Reaching out forward to grab a condom, he sucked on her nipple as she then put the rubber on his cock.

  She straddled him and felt him go inside as she groaned out loudly.

  Then she worked her arse off like she had never before.

  Grinding, and moving and humping him hard.

  Their skin slapped together, and he opened his eyes and looked down.

  Getting her hand, she placed it between her legs and started to rub herself off, knowing this was the only way she could reach an orgasm in this position.

  ‘Open your lips so I can see,’ he groaned.

  And she did as he put a finger there as well, and they both worked on her engorged nub, as his hips moved with hers.

  ‘I’m going to come,’ she groaned, feeling the pulling sensation that was burning her hole. ‘Oh yes.’

  He pinched her nipples, and she shook so hard, trying not to fall backwards, feeling his finger rub her off quite firmly.

  Opening her eyes when feeling the last orgasm shoot through her body, she watched him come at the same time. Alex was looking at her, his torso covered in a layer of perspiration.

  She didn’t know what to say.

  But she knew what she was feeling.

  It was love.

  He put his hands on her shoulders and slowly stroked down over her breasts until he got to her backside, then he jolted his hips up, flinging her forward and catching her.

  Her hair fell into his face, and she looked into the warm eyes, staring up.

  ‘You made up for it,’ he whispered. ‘Any more secrets?’

  ‘Not that I know of,’ she said kissing him gently on the lips. Mabel squeezed her fanny and watched him smile. ‘Other than I always practice that a few times a day on the bus journey.’

  He turned her over and kissed her face, his hands going up and down before leaning on his arms.

  ‘I knew a long time ago sex would be good with you,’ he said, pushing back her hair.

  ‘Can I remind you of a few things? You didn’t want to speak to me. At the Christmas party, when I tried to strike up a conversation, you grunted and walked away. And you never invited me to your birthday party in January.’

  Pulling out gently, he flopped on top of her, nestling his head between her breasts.

  ‘I got the impression that you were untouchable.’

  ‘Why’s that?’

  ‘Ice knickers,’ he whispered, looking up at her. ‘And I was told to keep you at arm’s length.’

  ‘That’s not very friendly.’

  ‘I’m saying that because of how you operate. People tend to get hurt in the cross fire when you’re on a quest to find out about costings.’

  ‘Months you never said a word.’ Then she grinned. ‘But you were making friends left, right and centre.’

  ‘And by friends, you mean?’

  ‘Women. A new one every five to six weeks based on what I observed at the bus stop.’

  Gently pushing him off, she stood up and stretched as he stroked her arse.

  ‘Turn around so I can look at you.’

  She did as she was told. He frowned.

  ‘Don’t give me your observations,’ she grumbled. ‘I know I have stretch marks on my tummy and cellulite on my thighs. I have spent a fortune on creams that simply don’t work.’

  ‘I never want another man to see you like that, ever,’ he whispered, starting to look upset. ‘Just me.’

  ‘I had a male doctor stick his fingers up my bum when they were examining my piles,’ she said, watching him smile. ‘Shocking and made me want to poo.’ Then Mabel sat down on the bed next to him. ‘Mum gave me a share of the agency because she wanted me to have some sort of focus other than the girls. When Wes left, she was adamant I step up.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said, stroking her arm.

  ‘And I was really angry after the split. I took it out on people around me, but mainly the ones I didn’t like at work. Rodney and Keith have upset me because they said mean things about you and my family.’

  ‘You sweet thing,’ he whispered. ‘From now on, just be nice to me and not to anyone else.’

  ‘Plus, it’s my company they’re messing with, so they can fuck right off!’

  ‘I want to see the actual invoices.’

  Mabel sat in a meeting with Calum, Bruce, Keith, John and Anya.

  Alex sat opposite.

  ‘Why?’ asked Anya, flicking her newly dyed black hair that enhanced her scarily white face and red lipstick. ‘You only need to see the production quotes and estimates. We marry it all up and if there’s a problem we make a note.’

  ‘You’ll find accounts reconcile the invoices, and then tell you if it’s wrong. You sign them off to be paid.’ Mabel crossed her arms and glared at the woman. ‘We have to change the processes and become more stringent in our procedures. What’s the point of us being told costs at the start to see that they are way off the mark at the finish? How would we ever know what the true value was?’

  ‘We do tally the quote versus the actual cost,’ Bruce said, looking at Mabel. ‘We can see if something is far off.’

  ‘But what if it is within or just over budget, but the proportion of costing is incorrect. Who sees that information?’

  Everyone looked blankly at her

  ‘We have a record of all that,’ Bruce said, getting agitated.

  ‘What’s it got to do you with you?’ Keith asked, as Mabel saw Alex’s eyes widen while rolling an orange backwards and forwards on the table.

  ‘Everything,’ she said, pulling a fake smile. ‘If it’s an error on my team’s side, then the quotes we receive are incorrect. Or if the specifications are changing while the project continues. Information is then not being clearly communicated, is it?’

  ‘Bruce, if you’ve got a record, how come I haven’t seen it?’ asked Calum frowning. ‘I do need to know things like this as I have to tell Joanna. Remember she is the majority shareholder.’

  That’s when she noticed Alex smile at her.

  ‘Joanna would only want to see where things were going wrong, and chop anyone’s head off who was playing with the figures,’ Mabel said, a matter of fact. ‘And she’s a business woman, so money, loyalty, and trust go hand in hand. I remember years ago when someone tried to double deal her. Oh, she got him into lots of trouble.’

  ‘Who was that?’ asked Alex looking up.

  ‘Bob Jones,’ replied Calum as Alex tried not to laugh.

  ‘I’ll check all the creative side,’ said Alex. ‘Heidi is pretty diligent. We’ll review the companies we’re currently working with and take it from there.’

  ‘I never liked Bob Jones,’ continued Calum. ‘Deceitful bastard.’

  ‘Well, there are loads about,’ she replied, flicking a glance at Keith.

  ‘You guys can go,’ Calum said, sitting back in his chair. ‘Alex and Mabel, can you stay, please?’

  As soon as the door was closed Mabel turned to Calum.

  ‘This is serious and when Joanna finds out we’re dead,’ hissed her brother.

  ‘You’re dead,’ she corrected, leaning forward. ‘Not I.’

  Then she grinned, knowing it would wind him up.

  ‘You’re such a…’ Calum bit his tongue. ‘Sorry Alex, I’ve known her for a long time and she still grates on my nerves.’

  ‘He knows you’re my bro and Joanna’s our ma,’ she said, sinking into her seat. ‘And I’m a shareholder.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I told him,’ she mumbled, watching her brother start to smile.

  ‘I bet you did.’

 
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘Nothing!’

  ‘I know you’re implying something and-.’

  ‘Calum, I’m seeing your sister,’ Alex said, making Mabel freeze in shock. ‘It’s early days and I asked her to tell me everything.’

  ‘Mabel?’ he said looking aghast. ‘Mabel?’

  ‘Yes, Mabel,’ smiled Alex. ‘And it hasn’t been long, but we’ve been acquaintances for a while.’

  ‘Mabel?’

  ‘Stop saying ‘Mabel?’ as if he’s mad!’ she said, folding her arms defiantly. ‘There’s nothing much wrong with me; I have you know.’

  ‘Okay,’ Calum said, standing up. ‘And I suppose mum knows about this?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘And she’s okay about it?’ Then he turned to Alex. ‘Are you sure?’

  Mabel stood up and punched Calum on the arm.

  ‘That’s not nice! There’s nothing wrong with me!’

  ‘I have to get some air,’ Calum replied, starting to laugh. ‘Well, I’m relieved. At least you weren’t screwing that arsehole, Bob Jones. God, if I ever found out you did, I’ll throttle you.’

  Mabel sat back down and looked at Alex as Calum walked out.

  He was now sucking on orange segments and looking at her.

  ‘You’re a wind-up merchant, do you know that? Everything you said was measured. When you’re on the other end of it, it’s not nice.’ He sat back in his chair and grinned. ‘You knew how to get their backs up from the first word, didn’t you?’

  ‘It’s a skill,’ she said, smiling sweetly at him. ‘I promise never to do it to you.’

  ‘I like it. It’s very sexy.’

  ‘You say the nicest things.’

  ‘I’m not showing you that!’

  Mabel was holding her mobile phone behind her back. She was in a meeting room with her mother, who seemed in a mischievous mood. It was the day before the ‘Love to Love’ pitch and everyone had gone a bit loopy.

  ‘Is he good? I think Alex Chambers looks like he’d be really good,’ she asked, smiling brightly. ‘Bet he looks hot naked. Does he? Have you got a picture?’

  Indeed, she had but he looked too darn sexy. Every time she looked at it, it made her want to have sex with him.

  It was causing great problems with her panty saturation.

  They seemed to be constantly wet.

  Joanna grabbed her phone and walked quickly out of the meeting room.

  ‘Come back!’ Mabel hissed, following her down the corridor, as Joanna started flicking through. ‘It’s personal!’

  ‘I know you’ve got a file where you keep these things.’

  ‘Joanna!’ Mabel said, trying hard no to shout. ‘Don’t do this.’

  But her mother was very fast on her feet and sped off down the corridor, laughing as she did it.

  ‘I was right!’ her mental mother laughed out. ‘He does look good!’

  ‘Come back!’

  Then Joanna suddenly stopped and turned to look at her, her face etched with shock.

  ‘Mabel! What have you done?’ Joanna said loudly as Mabel stood there stunned.

  ‘I told you not to look.’

  ‘I don’t believe it!’

  ‘You saw Bob, didn’t you? I can explain,’ Mabel said, not wanting anyone to overhear.

  ‘Bob?’ her mother said. ‘Bob Jones as well?’

  ‘As well as what?’

  ‘Calum!’ Joanna shouted out as he ran towards his mother. ‘Look at this!’

  ‘Don’t you dare!’ Mabel said, rushing forward to stop her showing Calum the photos.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Alex asked, walking down the corridor and looking at all three of them.

  A small crowd had begun to develop. Joanna grabbed Mabel and dragged her into her office while the other two followed. She changed the clarity of the windows so no one could see through.

  ‘Look!’ her mother said, holding out the phone to Alex.

  ‘No!’ Mabel screamed, trying to launch at her. ‘Don’t show him that!’

  It was when Alex’s face dropped, and Calum glared at Mabel.

  ‘You’re still not doing the naked picture thing, are you?’ her brother asked, shaking his head. ‘That’s so slack.’

  ‘She,’ Mabel said, looking at her mother. ‘Told me to take a picture to remember.’

  ‘You two are just… Alex, are you okay?’

  Alex was looking at the photo and nearly keeled backwards, sitting straight down on the sofa, then looked at Mabel totally aghast.

  ‘He is rather large,’ gulped Mabel.

  ‘Mabel,’ whispered Alex, looking at her. ‘Don’t you have any idea?’

  ‘Give me the phone,’ Calum said and his mouth dropped open, as his eyes narrowed towards her direction. ‘Is this who I think it is?’

  ‘I was lonely!’ Mabel groaned, knowing the sight of Bob Jones’s fully naked body was a bit alarming.

  Not only was he stunning naked, Bob could make most men shrivel based on what he had hanging between his thighs.

  But there was something rather odd about all their expressions.

  Mabel noticed they looked at each other and then at her. Joanna took the phone out of Calum’s hand and then seemed to be flicking through. The eyes widened in alarm.

  ‘That man could have split you in half!’ she screamed in horror. ‘That’s like half the size of you!’

  ‘Let me see,’ Calum asked as Joanna gave him one of her threatening looks.

  Then Alex started to laugh and put his face in his hands before looking up at her.

  ‘Mabel, my little treasure,’ he said, grimacing. ‘Do you know who you slept with since Wes?’

  ‘What sort of question is that?’ she asked, going bright red and flicking a glance at Calum.

  ‘Answer me.’

  ‘Bob Jones,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Bob Jones!’ said Calum angrily. ‘I knew you would and told you not to!’

  Now she was stumped and looked at Alex and Joanna in utter confusion.

  Alex stood up and took the phone from Joanna, who seemed to be trying to get her head around something. He held the phone out to Mabel.

  ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘It’s Lee,’ she said, looking guiltily at her feet.

  ‘The one that emailed you when no-one else did?’

  She nodded in response.

  ‘Why didn’t I click?’ Alex said, hitting his hand against his head. ‘Bloody hell!’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘He’s one of the owners of ‘Love to Love’. Lee Appleton.’

  ‘Breathe.’

  Mabel had a panic attack. Joanna was holding her and produced a paper bag out of her handbag. ‘Mabel, slow down.’ She turned to Alex. ‘I always carry one around. You never know when she’s going to need one. The patisserie shop down the road is very good at letting me have them for free.’

  This time Mabel started to get more upset.

  The fact that Lee owned ‘Love to Love’ was a shock.

  ‘I didn’t know! This is awful! I’ve ruined everything!’

  ‘Mabel, only you could do something like this!’ Calum shouted, upsetting her more.

  She slapped the bag away and then ran up to him, punching him very hard in the gut, winding the large man.

  ‘Children!’ said Joanna loudly, grabbing Mabel’s arm and pulling her back. ‘Just behave and stop being nasty to your sister, Calum. How was she to know?’

  ‘You can breathe now, can’t you?’ hissed Calum to Mabel as she tried to catch her breath.

  Then all she could hear was Alex groaning in the background, shaking his head in disbelief.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Mabel asked. Alex walked up to her. ‘I’ve ruined it all now, haven’t I?’

  ‘Does he know you work here?’

  ‘All he knows is what was on the profile. I didn’t want him to track me down,’ she said sheepishly.

  ‘I taught you well,’ sighed Joanna in relief, walki
ng to her desk and sitting in her chair.

  ‘We’re doing the pitch at their offices. We’ll just have to sack Mabel if we win. No-one will be the wiser,’ growled Calum, sitting on the sofa, massaging his stomach.

  ‘That’s not fair,’ Alex said. ‘She wasn’t to know and…’ He frowned. ‘Some of her responses got lost.’

  ‘Lost?’ asked Joanna looking up. ‘What do you mean lost?’

  ‘Technical hitch,’ he shrugged.

  ‘Look, just spit it out Alex,’ said Joanna wearily. ‘The pitch is tomorrow.’

  ‘I deleted them.’ Alex looked at Mabel as she did a double take. ‘I didn’t think any of them were good, so they got rejected.’

  ‘You did what?’ Mabel crashed down onto the sofa, nearly squashing Calum, who pushed her away.

  ‘Don’t touch me!’ he hissed.

  ‘Annette told me how to do it,’ she glared back. ‘Punch you where it hurts.’

  ‘Bob Jones! How could you?’

  ‘Quite easily,’ she whispered, seeing Joanna shake her head from side to side.

  ‘Not easily with the size of that cock, darling,’ her mother said, rolling her eyes.

  ‘You two are just-.’ Calum got up and stormed out. ‘I’m going to think.’

  ‘I did have responses,’ she said, feeling puzzled. ‘But you said-.’

  ‘I say a lot.’

  ‘Look we have a big problem, do you know that?’ asked Joanna, walking up to Mabel. ‘You slept with the owner of a lucrative account we are pitching for. And far worse, he’s married.’

  ‘Joanna doesn’t mind?’

  Alex was standing in his kitchen, making something for them to eat that evening. ‘It’s very good of her.’

  ‘She probably wants me to take photos of you if she knows I’m staying the night,’ Mabel replied, still reeling from the shock of finding out who Lee was.

  ‘What has she told Jess and Lottie?’

  ‘That I’m preparing to help for a new business pitch.’ Mabel sighed slowly. ‘Do you think it’s odd I never asked his surname?’

  ‘Would you have put two and two together?’ he smiled over his shoulder.

  ‘Not really.’ Mabel walked up to Alex and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his back. ‘I’m sorry.’