by Lucy Lambert
***
“So what happened?” I said.
I wanted to snuggle in against Drake’s body, but kept myself on the other side of the couch. The ache of our loving still infused my bones and muscles, but now that that was over I really needed some answers.
“I saw you at the concert, and I couldn’t believe it,” he began, “At first, I was mad. Really angry. It hurt so much to leave you, and seeing you reopened that wound. Then it just got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore, the hurt I mean. So I had to call the show… Then I told the bouncers to keep you away. I didn’t think I could take speaking to you again.”
I nodded. It had hurt a lot for me, too. But I’d managed the hurt with my hope. That hurt still existed inside me, and I soothed it with the knowledge that Drake was back now, and this time I didn’t intend to lose him again.
He continued, “But then I couldn’t stop thinking about the song, and the last words in it. I wrote it to try to cleanse and heal myself, to get rid of those feelings. But the words kept coming back to me. I just knew, deep inside, that I needed to find you again, no matter how much it hurt…”
“And that’s when you decided to follow me?” I said. He’d gone over this part in the elevator.
This time, he nodded.
“I need you in my life, Jenn. More than I thought. You make me a better person.”
I thought of how empty I’d felt these last few months, how hollow and incomplete I’d been. Drake had gone through the same thing, I saw.
It was my turn now. I reached out for his hand and he accepted. His skin felt hot and dry against mine, and I let myself examine his strong and graceful fingers.
“I was trying so hard to quit you, to get past you,” I said, “Just after it happened, I went down to your place and found you gone. And that hurt so much. I thought I hated you, for a while there. But you never really left my thoughts. I followed the band online…” I smiled, “I even know the words to most of your songs! Then I heard Remembering You over the radio yesterday and I thought… I thought…”
He squeezed my hand, then waited for me to look into his eyes, “I love you, Jenn. From the very first day I saw you I did.”
I licked my lips, hoping he couldn’t see my heart trying to climb up my throat. I’d waited so long to hear those words. It was like a triumphal symphony played within me.
“I love you, too,” I said.
He pulled me close and kissed me. Our kiss deepened, and then we began tearing at each other’s clothes again.
He was hard for me again in moments. Drake took me there on my couch, his body holding mine down. I loved the weight of him on me. I held onto him tightly, my fingers gripping his shoulder blades as he thrust into me.
I breathed in the smell of him and it made me feel heady. The taste of his lips on mine left me tingling, and the sounds of his pleasure drove my desire to greater heights.
It was sensory overload, and I wanted more.
“Drake…” I moaned, crying out from the strength of his loving, the hardness and heat of it inside me.
***
The next morning, Drake kept wanting to talk about something with me. But my mind was on fire with ideas and plans.
I needed to go stick it to Bud once and for all. The previous night, lying on my couch, my body pressed against Drake’s, I’d come to the realization that I could make it without my job at Styrex.
I had enough experience to apply to other positions, and the large pay raise and bonuses Bud paid me turned out to be just the cushion of time I needed to start a new job.
In his hubris, Bud had given me the means to get out of his sleazy grasp.
“Jenn, we really need to talk about something,” Drake said, opening the cab door for me.
It was a beautiful sunny day in New York, the snow a brilliant, blinding white and even the grey slush on the roads and sidewalks not looking quite as bad as before.
The tall buildings of Manhattan’s skyline shone proudly in the light, and the crispness to the air left everything sharp and in focus.
There was no way I was going to deny myself the visual beauty of the city in order to save a few dollars by taking the subway!
“Can we talk after? I really need you in on this,” I said, sliding across the back seat of the cab so that Drake could climb in beside me.
He gave his customary wry laugh and shaking of the head, throwing up his hands in submission. “Okay. We’ll talk after.”
I’d told him about my plans to quit when we’d woken. And Drake hadn’t disagreed, not in the slightest. In fact, he seemed extremely pleased with the whole thing, and I couldn’t quite figure out why.
I gave the driver the intersection and we pulled out into traffic. Just as we did, Remembering You started playing over the radio.
It was perfect, just perfect.
A bit before 9 AM, we stood in the elevator climbing to Styrex’s floor. There were a couple other people in there with us, a guy with a real Don Draper vibe and an older Asian woman wearing a deep purple dress.
They kept shooting us looks when I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. I kept thinking about last night’s elevator adventure. Drake winked at me.
Muscles I didn’t even know I had ached, and I felt a little drained, but those minor irritations couldn’t dampen my spirit.
My heart started racing when we got out of the elevator and walked down the hall. I gripped Drake’s hand, and he squeezed mine reassuringly. When we went into the office, I didn’t let go of him.
We marched straight over to Bud’s office. I was so focused I barely noticed the rest of the cubicle farms, or the drones looking over their walls at us.
“Hey, Luci!” I said, coming to a stop in front of her desk.
“How was last night…” Lucinda began. She did a double take, “Is that Drake?”
Then she saw us holding hands and her eyes widened. She didn’t seem to know whether to look happy or horrified. She shot a glance back at Bud’s door to make sure it was closed.
“Yeah, this is Drake. Oh! You know what, I forgot to get him to autograph something for you. Drake, can you give your autograph to Luci? She’s a big fan,” I said.
So much manic energy filled it. It coursed hotly through my veins, and I practically quivered with it. Lucinda looked at me like I was crazy. Drake just gave us his signature grin.
“Jenn, are you sure about this? Bud’s in his office right now. If he sees… this,” Linda said, looking pointedly at Drake’s hand clutching mine, “You know how he’ll react.”
“Oh, he’s in right now? Great! Just the man I wanted to see. Do you think you could squeeze me into his schedule?”
Bud’s schedule was always very open. Most of Lucinda’s job was keeping him out of as many meetings and appointments as possible. The hardest part about squeezing into Bud’s schedule was finding a place to stand around his enormous desk.
“Are you sure about this, Jenn?” Lucinda said, leaning closer to us and whispering.
By then, pretty much everyone in the office was standing up and watching us over their cubicles. I guess I was talking pretty loudly.
I reached out and took Jenn’s hand. It was cold, and a bit clammy. It touched me that she felt so much concern for me. Her friendship was the most valuable and important thing from my brief tenure at Styrex, and I meant to maintain in.
“I’m more sure of this than just about anything before in my life,” I said.
I let Lucinda’s hand slip out of mine.
“I’ll buzz you in,” she said.
This was it. The real top of the rollercoaster. All that tension had been building on our way over here. Bud’s door was that point on the ride when we started down the steep hill. It felt a little like the tracks might lead to a dead end, but I just told myself that at least it would be one hell of a ride.
“What is it?” Bud’s voice crackled through the speaker.
“Jennifer Snow here to see you,” Lucinda said.
>
A pause, then finally, “Send her in.”
I winked at Lucinda when we went past her desk. Drake opened the door for me and followed me in.
Bud had most of his curtains closed against the glaring winter sun. Sharp bars of light poked through the cracks, though. It was still hot in there. And a stale smell lingered in the air.
Bud’s smile fell when he saw Drake come in and close the door. He looked nervous, and a fat bead of sweat ran down from his temple. He was pulled in so close to his desk that part of his stomach rested on the polished surface.
“What is it, sweetie… Jenn, I mean?”
“I just realized that I never formally introduced you to my boyfriend. Bud, this is Drake. Drake, this is my boss, Bud.”
“Uh, nice to meet you, son,” Bud said. His jaw worked, and that big vein on his forehead popped out against his skin.
“I’m not your son,” Drake replied.
Bud just sighed. “Jennifer, didn’t I explain how our little arrangement worked? I’ll do it again if you want, this time without so many numbers to confuse you, dear.”
“Oh, I know just how it works, Bud. The thing is, I’m not doing it anymore.”
Bud let out a little laugh. Then the tip of his tongue poked out and wet his lips. “Well then, I guess I’m sorry to say that you’re fired, then. And good luck finding any more jobs in this line of work in New York.”
He seemed pleased with himself, leaning back in his chair and grinning. He pulled a pocket square from his jacket and dabbed delicately at the various beads of sweat rolling down his jowls.
So when I stepped forward and planted my hands on his desk, his eyes widened in a very satisfying way. He jammed one fat finger against the intercom button.
“Lucinda, can you please call security up to remove Miss Snow from the building.”
“I’m sorry Mr Loughery, I didn’t quite catch that. I think there’s something wrong with the intercom…” Lucinda’s voice cut out. I smiled. I was going to have to buy that woman supper.
All the satisfaction leaked from Bud’s face along with his coloring. He looked deathly pale.
“You know, Bud, I look back and I feel ashamed at how much this used to matter to me. But then I realized that it really doesn’t. I don’t need you, Bud. I don’t need this job, and I certainly don’t need any job where they might care what you think about me.”
The intensity of it was really getting to me. My fingers gripped the edge of Bud’s desk tightly so that I wouldn’t accidentally fall over. My whole body trembled, and I could taste copper at the back of my mouth thanks to my racing heart. I couldn’t quite believe what I was doing or saying.
“What? Nothing to say?” I said.
Bud’s pudgy face quivered, his lips worming against each other. Then he looked down. I knew then that I’d won. I’d beaten Bud! He had no hold over me whatsoever. I was free to do what I want, and be with the man I wanted to be with.
“Oh, and before I go, I just wanted to tell you that HR will be receiving a large and detailed complaint from me. Because I know you love dealing with HR so much.”
No reply came, so I took Drake’s hand and left Bud’s office.
“What is it? What’s happened?” Lucinda said, standing up from her desk.
“I quit, that’s what. We’ll grab lunch, okay? And Luci, thanks for your help,” I said.
“Of course!” Lucinda replied.
I felt cocky and drunk on victory all the way down the elevator and into the cab.
Then the realization hit me that I was jobless, and certainly wouldn’t be getting any sort of reference from Styrex.
“Feel good?” Drake said.
“I thought I did. But now I don’t have a job, and I’m not really sure what to do…”
It felt like everything should have ended with my triumph in Bud’s office. Fade to black, roll credits, that sort of thing. Happily Ever After. But life continues on. There are no fades to black or credits. The thought sent a cold thread up through my body.
But Drake kept smiling. It annoyed me.
“Didn’t you hear me? I just quit my job! What am I supposed to do?” I left out asking how I was supposed to find the money to keep helping my parents out.
“You really should have let me talk to you before we left,” Drake said, “Because I have a great idea.”
He explained it, and my fear disappeared, replaced by excitement and anticipation.
***
It turned out that The Icons had negotiated a great contract with their record company.
Although, with their rising popularity, it would have been difficult to say no to them.
Drake and the band recognized the need for a strong internet and marketing presence in this ever more interconnected world of ours.
I got the job as their internet and social media manager, in charge of their official site and their presence on social media hubs like Facebook and Twitter.
It paid well, even better than my salary at Styrex with my raise and bonuses. So much that I could afford to send my parents even more every month. And I loved the job. I got to tell people why Drake and the band were so awesome, and convince them to go to shows, or to buy up their newest album so much that it shot all the way to the top of the iTunes chart.
I kept my friendship with Lucinda. At the moment, she’s dating Don from GeneTech. Yeah, the guy she wanted to set me up with. She told me that Bud got fired from his job, thanks largely to my lengthy and detailed report on him. I can’t say that I feel bad for the guy.
But even better than all that, I get to be around Drake. I went with him on tour all around the country.
It still feels unreal to me that such a great and amazing guy could love me so much. And to think it all started with me getting off on the wrong floor all those months ago. Love comes from the strangest of places and situations, and it doesn’t care whether or not you���re ready for it. Because it’s ready for you.
THE END
Lucy Lambert
Published by Lucy Lambert
Copyright 2013 Lucy Lambert
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