by Breah Elise
“Hey, Daniel, it’s Olivia,” she said and then nearly smacked herself in the head at how stupid she must sound.
“Hey, Liv, what’s up?” He didn’t sound surprised to hear on the phone but he did seem distracted.
“Listen I was wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner?” she asked and then had to swallow a wave of nausea at the thought of him saying no.
“Dinner?”
“Um…yes, dinner. I know that you’ve been crazy with court all week and just thought that it might be nice to have a home-cooked meal. What do you think?” He was silent for what seemed like forever and Olivia wanted to find something heavy to throw at Tina for once again giving her bad advice.
“Sure, that sounds good,” he said finally. “I have some things to finish up here so how about eight?”
“Eight is good,” she said, breathing a mental heavy sigh of relief. “I’ll see you then.”
When she hung up, she raced out of her office and began scrounging around in the kitchen for something to make.
“What are you doing?” Tina asked.
“Following more of your stupid advice. He’s coming for dinner but I have no idea what to make on such short notice!”
“Okay, calm down. I knew you would get like this so I have it all ready for you.”
“You do? What did you make?”
“I didn’t make anything; I made you up a care package of sorts filled with everything you’ll need to make a great dinner.” She handed Olivia the hefty cooler bag and smiled as her friend opened it up and peeked inside. “First, there’s a nice bottle of wine. Then I got two steaks, two potatoes for you to bake, shrimp for some cocktails, all of the fixings for a salad and some New York Cheesecake for dessert. And, I even managed to get you some nice flowers for the table.”
Olivia looked up and smiled her apology. “I’m sorry I called your advice stupid.”
Tina waved her off. “It’s okay; you’ll be thanking me tomorrow.” The two hugged and Olivia grabbed her goody bag and her purse and headed out the door.
“Wish me luck!”
****
The scene was set. Olivia had gotten home and did everything she could to make her condo look as romantic as possible. The table was set with the beautiful bouquet of flowers Tina had provided along with long tapered candles. Tea light candles were lit along the mantle of the fireplace and she had soft jazz playing on the stereo.
She had minimal lighting on throughout the rest of the house and made sure that her bedroom – should they make it there – was decked out with its own array of romantic lighting.
Olivia herself hadn’t had a whole lot of time to pamper herself to calm her nerves but did manage to grab a quick shower and had moisturized her body from head to toe with the sweet vanilla scent she knew Daniel preferred.
At eight o’clock sharp the doorbell rang. “It’s now or never,” she whispered to herself. Dressed in silk lounging pants and a complimenting snug t-shirt, she padded barefoot to the door. There was a moment of brief disappointment when she opened it and realized that Daniel hadn’t brought flowers or wine. She knew this wasn’t really a ‘date’ but had hoped that her invitation to dinner might have given him a clue that this was a little more than their usual booty call.
“Hey,” she said as he walked in. “How was your day?”
Daniel stopped and stared at her. “How was my day? That’s mighty domestic of you, Liv,” he said with amusement but had turned away before he saw her look of utter devastation.
Olivia walked to the kitchen and saw that he was in the living room taking off his jacket and tie. She cringed and hoped that he wasn’t going to strip and think that ‘dinner’ had just been some sort of metaphor for sex.
“So I’ve got these great steaks that I’m going to grill. You like yours rare, right?”
“That sounds perfect, thanks.” He came into the kitchen and took the bottle of wine she had out breathing and poured them each a glass. “I have to admit, your invitation was quite a surprise.”
“A good one, I hope,” she said lightly, secretly praying that he wasn’t going to make fun of her.
“No, no…it was definitely a good one. I’ve been eating food out of Styrofoam containers all week so this is going to be great.”
“Oh,” she said and turned her back to get the plate that the steaks were on. Damn him. Here she was making an effort to engage him in something other than sex and all he seemed to care about was the food. This was so not going the way that she’d planned. “Make yourself at home while I go put these on the grill.”
“Can I help you with anything?” he asked, sensing that something was up.
“No, it’s fine; go have a seat on the couch and relax. These will be done in no time.” She rushed out to the deck and closed the sliding doors behind her and was thankful for the time alone. How was she supposed to talk to him about their awkward – yet sexually satisfying – relationship when even making small talk was this painful?
In less than ten minutes she was putting food on the table and sitting across from him. “Wow, Liv, this all looks great. Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure. I figured after a long week in court you might appreciate a nice relaxing dinner.”
“Believe me, I do. I just don’t expect you to go out of your way for me. You know, it’s not necessary.”
Here was her chance. Now was the perfect opening for her to introduce the subject of their relationship status. “Well, you know, I realize that it’s not necessary but I guess I just wanted to do something nice for you.”
Daniel stopped eating and put his fork down. There was definitely something up here. It was the way Olivia was talking. She clearly had something on her mind and he was a little scared to ask what it was.
The last month had been damn-near perfect. They had the perfect no-strings relationship where they both were free to come and go as they pleased and yet seemed more than happy to just keep coming. He smiled inwardly at his own wordplay. He enjoyed the time that they spent together, not just the time they spent in bed, and he found that the more he got to know Olivia, the more he wanted to know about her.
He wasn’t ready to admit to having deep feelings for her but he knew that eventually she was going to get tired of just meeting for sex. Maybe that’s what tonight was all about. Shit, why hadn’t he seen this coming? He wasn’t ready for the commitment talk just yet!
Olivia reached across the table and took hold of one of Daniel’s hands. She looked so beautiful, Daniel thought. In the soft candle light, she was just breathtaking. He turned his palm over and twined their fingers together and found that he liked the way that it felt. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.
“We’ve been meeting together for over a month now and while I really enjoy our time together, I don’t think it would be terrible if, once in a while, we did something other than jump into bed.” Olivia let that statement sink in before she felt safe to move on. She smiled at Daniel as if prompting him to say something. Anything.
She was about to start rambling on about dinners and movies when he finally said, “I agree” and Olivia nearly fell out of her chair with relief.
“I think that we don’t have to do anything major; it might just be nice to share a meal once in a while or maybe just go to a movie. What do you think?” she asked.
“I think that you are an amazing woman, Olivia.” He didn’t elaborate beyond that and they went back to enjoying their meal, quietly talking about the case he was working on and Olivia sharing her latest marketing plan for the business.
Once they were done eating, Olivia cleared the table and then joined Daniel on the couch. He had freshened their glasses of wine and when she sat down beside him, he gently pulled her into his arms and leaned in for the kiss he had been aching for days for.
Before long, Olivia was sprawled out beneath him, running her hands up and down his back as he continued to kiss her like he never had before. She was definite
ly going to have to thank Tina tomorrow; this had gone way better than she’d thought it would. Clearly if he was willing to take this relationship to the next step, he had to be over his obsession with forcing her to say who she was with in bed.
Tired of this lazy yet erotic make out session, Olivia found that she wanted more. It had been only a couple of days but she had missed him. “Let’s move this inside,” she whispered and let out a little squeak of surprise when Daniel stood and then scooped her up into his arms.
Daniel carried her into the bedroom and it was only lit with two candles on her dresser; the firelight reflected off of the mirror and it was the perfect amount of light, she felt, for them to make the transition from the bright lighting he’d been forcing on her to the need for darkness that she wanted. He placed her gently on the bed and instantly reached for the bedside lamp.
“No,” she whispered and reached out a hand to stop him. “Not tonight. I want to make love to you by candlelight.”
“I want to see you, Liv,” he said huskily. “I love to see you.”
She laughed quietly, seductively. “You’ve seen me plenty of times. Tonight I want you to just feel me. Use your hands, Daniel. Please.” She could tell that he wasn’t one hundred percent on board but he moved away from the lamp and came down beside her to kiss her again. He worked her shirt over her head and peeled her bra away before lowering his head to taste her.
Olivia was in heaven. This was the first time she felt as if they were connecting on a more personal level; this wasn’t about sex, now there was emotion. His hands were gently caressing her from shoulder to knee and then he was working the silky pants down her legs. He tossed them aside and ran a hand over the smooth skin of her legs and growled his approval.
“You’re so soft, Liv,” he whispered, “always so soft.”
It was as close to a compliment as he’d ever given and Olivia felt herself glowing from it. It shouldn’t matter so much, these little things, but she was finding that they did. She had allowed this relationship to get to this point and it was no one’s fault but her own if she wasn’t happy with it. Thankfully Daniel seemed open to changing things and she was actually beginning to feel hopeful.
He began to peel her panties away when he stopped and straddled her. Daniel unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, staring intently down at her. He ran a hand up her rib cage and came around to cup her breast and play with her nipple. “You’re so responsive to me,” he said gruffly. “I love the way your body responds to mine.”
Olivia purred at the touch of his hands and the caress of his words.
“Does it feel good?” he asked and when she merely nodded, he demanded, “Tell me. Tell me how much you crave my touch, Olivia.”
The words were the same she’d heard dozens of times before and for the first time ever, they were a complete turn off. “Get off,” she said and when he didn’t move she said it with more force and shoved at him. “I said get off!”
Daniel moved and then reached for the light. “If you turn on that light I swear to god I’ll kill you with it,” she threatened.
“What the hell’s gotten into you, Olivia? What’s going on?”
Olivia scrambled off of the bed and found her shirt and pulled it on and then her pants. “What’s going on? What’s going on?” she shrieked. “After a month of sleeping with you, you still don’t trust me!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded, standing up and towering over her.
“You will never let me forget how this started between us; you’ll forever be asking me who I’m thinking of, whose touch I want…I don’t want David! I’m here with you, dammit! It’s you that I want but you’ll make me say it, force me to look at you the entire time we’re doing it because you need to make sure that it’s you that I’m thinking of and not David! Well you know what? I’m tired of having to prove myself!”
“You’re being ridiculous,” he said, desperately trying to calm her down even though he knew every word she spoke was the truth.
“Am I? It nearly threw you into a panic tonight to be in here with me with the lights out. Why?”
“I like to watch you when we…”
“When we what? When we fuck?” she spat.
“It’s not like that, Liv. I just happen to enjoy seeing you.”
“You know what, I could understand that if it was once in a while, but it’s not. It’s every damn time. Have you ever once considered what it is that I like in the bedroom?”
“You seem to like what we do just fine,” he spat. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“The big deal is that the only one thinking of someone else while we’re in bed is you. Not once since that first night has there been any other man on my mind but you’ll never let me forget it; you’ll never let me forget that I did something so stupid. Well I’m tired of it, Daniel,” she spat his name. “I want you to leave. This…this whatever it was between us is done. I don’t want you, I don’t want your brother, I just want to be left he hell alone.”
Daniel wanted to argue with her but he heard the tremble in her voice. “Liv, please, let’s just talk about this.”
“No, I don’t want to talk about this,” she said wearily. “We aren’t good at talking. I thought that we could be but apparently we’re not.”
“That’s not true!” he countered. “You’re just not giving it a chance.”
“I think a month is a pretty long chance. If I hadn’t invited you here tonight you might have shown up at some point and we would have had sex for a few hours but then you would’ve left. Before I woke up. You never stay, you never tell me when you’ll be back and like an idiot, I’m here waiting for you. I thought it would be enough. I thought that maybe you’d realize that I’m here waiting for you and then I wouldn’t have to prove it to you repeatedly that it was you that I see, feel and want.”
“I don’t understand how we went from a nice dinner and agreeing to start seeing each other outside of here to right now! I mean, I can’t keep up with you, Olivia! What am I supposed to do here?”
“You’re supposed to leave,” she said sadly. “We’re not as compatible as I thought we were. I can’t be the woman that you want and you certainly can’t be the man that I need.”
“You’re not being fair; you just changed the rules here tonight and then got mad when I didn’t understand them.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “I didn’t understand them either until just a few minutes ago.”
“We’ll turn the lights out! I won’t ask you a damn thing; hell, I won’t say a fucking word! Can we please just go back to about ten minutes ago and forget all about this?”
Olivia wanted to say yes; she wanted to believe that it could be that simple but she was done being a fool. “You don’t forget,” she said simply. “It’s who you are. It’s the lawyer in you; you are a stickler for details. I can’t change what I did a month ago; I wish that I could, but I can’t. I’d like to forget how we started and just focus on the fact that we did, in fact, start. But you can’t forget and in turn, won’t let me, either.”
As much as it pained him, he knew she was right. Slowly, he reached for his shirt and put it back on. He straightened his clothes and headed out of the bedroom, stopping in the doorway with his back to her. “I thought I could move on from it,” he admitted quietly. “I thought that eventually it would stop taunting me. I don’t even realize that I’m doing it most of the time.”
And with that, he left.
Chapter Seven
Olivia felt like crap. It had been a week since she’d asked Daniel to leave her home and she ached all over with the loss. It wasn’t just the sex, she missed him. She was sitting in her office when she heard a knock at the door. Assuming it was Tina, she let out a weary “Come in” and was surprised at who walked through the door.
It was David.
“David, what are you doing here?” she asked, forcing the cheery tone that she completely didn’t feel. She stood an
d walked around her desk to give him a hug.
“I came to see how my favorite girl is doing,” he said simply and sat down in the chair she motioned him to.
“Oh, really?”
“Well, actually that’s only part of the reason I’m here,” he began cautiously.
“Uh-oh,” she said. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Anna quit.”
“What? Why?”
David sighed and slouched down further into his chair. “Because I’m a prick, that’s why.”
Olivia looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I don’t understand. I thought she was doing great. Daniel said…”
“When did you talk to Daniel?” he asked, confusion written all over his face. “You and Daniel barely spoke while you worked for us.”
“Oh, um…I ran into him at one of our events and I asked how Anna was doing. So what happened? What went wrong?”
David squirmed in his chair a bit, refusing to meet Olivia’s gaze. “Well, we sort of…you know…hooked up.”
“Hooked up?” she asked stupidly and then could have cursed herself for her naïveté.
“Remember when I told you that I had company at the retreat?” Olivia nodded. “Well, it was Anna.”
Now Olivia was mad. “At the freaking retreat?” she cried out. “She had barely been with the company for two weeks and you slept with her? What is the matter with you? You’ve never done something so stupid before!”
He looked up and gave Olivia a sad smile. “Then I’m really good at hiding it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Liv, honestly, you never knew about the others?”
She paled. “What others?”
David scrubbed a hand over his face, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. “This isn’t the first time; it’s just the first time that it happened with my own assistant.”