Full Figured 3: Carl Weber Presents

by Hampton, Brenda

  Chapter 6

  What was left of October went by at a speed that I couldn’t keep up with. Between me and Aric having sex, at the drop of a dime, anywhere at any time, my body was becoming addicted to him. I had gotten cocky and decided that I wanted to have my first oral sex session and I’d like to think I got an A plus being that I made him come the first time around. He could look at me and my boy shorts or thong would drop in an instant. At work we had little conversations here and there. He would leave me notes telling me how much he wanted to be inside of me and how much he missed me.

  We had been at each other’s houses quite a lot too. His house could sit ten of mine in it and still have room to comfortably live. His home was in a private Buckhead Estate. I remember listening as he told me about the whole house including the layered stucco and custom cut limestone finishes. He told me about the imported mahogany doors and windows, elevator, smart home, wine cellar, media room, custom master closets and outside had an incredible 2.95 plus acre lot overlooking a lake. The landscaping was immaculate. I had become accustomed to his California king sized bed.

  He had become accustomed to my cooking. I would find myself shopping and filling my fridge and his with the stuff he liked most. Chicken, salmon, steaks, fresh veggies, and lots of apple juice, just to name a few. Was there a title on what we had? No. Why? Because Aric said it would be better this way. No title. No drama was what he said. I guess. And to be honest it was all good at first because he was being receptive to me and we both liked the same things. He was easy to talk to but as of late he had been distant. Not that it was a big deal because he was known to get very quiet when work was stressing him. So I was trying not to make a big deal of nothing, but you know that feeling you get when you just know something . . . something just doesn’t feel right? Well . . . yeah, I was feeling that way.

  I hadn’t talked to Justin in a while and he called me up today, filling me in on the happenings down on the first floor. Lola was still busy slandering my name. Justin said she was pissed about being down there, especially seeing how Aric was making progress with the company, but whatever. Right now I had other things to worry about, like why in the hell April kept calling for Aric. Each time she called she seemed more impatient than before. She never spoke to me at all.

  The phone ringing was what snapped me out of my thoughts. “Good afternoon. Aric McHale’s office,” I answered with the energetic tone that Gabriel had started to tease me about every time he called.

  “I need to speak to Aric again please and thank you.” It was April.

  “Hey, April,” I spoke. I was trying to keep it together. We hadn’t spoken to each other since she showed her tail at that business function.

  “Chyanne, may I speak with Aric, please? Thank you.”

  I put her on hold and transferred her call to Aric. His office door was open and although I couldn’t quite hear what he was saying to her, I knew it was brief. When he was off the phone I walked into his office and closed the door behind me. I knew April didn’t know the first thing about marketing or advertising and I wanted to know what she wanted. He looked up at me from behind his desk before taking his glasses off. I gave a semi-curt smile and stood at the door with my arms folded.

  “So why is April calling you?”

  He put the paper down and his right eyebrow arched a bit.

  “So April can’t call me now?”

  That struck a nerve since I didn’t know they had become close enough for her to be calling him at all. I unfolded my arms and moved toward his desk. The sun was shining but I knew for a fact that it was cold outside. It was about as cold out there as it had turned in here.

  “I know it’s not about business being that she doesn’t know a thing about what we do. . . .”

  “Oh, so the only time I can talk to somebody is when it’s business?”

  His face frowned and he stood up. He moved past me and toward his file cabinet. I felt like I had just been brushed off.

  “When it’s April, yes,” I answered. My anger meter was through the roof.

  He stopped messing with the file cabinet and turned to me. The look on his face said he was either annoyed or pissed or both.

  “Chyanne, I am a grown ass man. You don’t get to tell me who I can talk to and who I can’t. Get that?”

  I don’t know. I guess I was just expecting some type of common courtesy or something. I mean knowing that April is . . . was my friend and he saw the mess she had done. We stared at each other for a while before I turned and walked back out to my desk. I wanted to cry I was so mad, but what would I be crying for? I plopped back down at my desk and I could hear my phone vibrating in my purse. I didn’t bother to answer it though. I had let my mind drift off, until I saw April strut around the corner. She had on tighter than tight denim skinny jeans, a red sweater so tight it showed the complete outline of her nipples, and red Chanel caged booties. Her makeup was flawless as was her spiked pixie hair cut. She walked right past me and into Aric’s office. She didn’t even acknowledge me. My leg started to shake and I could feel my blood pressure rise. It didn’t help me any when I turned to see her give him a tight hug and he embraced her back. It really hurt when he walked out of his office with her.

  “Hold my calls for me,” he said to me as he slid his arms into his leather jacket. “I’ll be right back.”

  He looked at me and I didn’t nod or acknowledge that I had even heard him. I rolled my eyes and looked away. I didn’t even bother to look at April. When they rounded the corner and I heard the elevator chime, I blew out a breath like it was steam. No more than ten minutes later the elevator chimed again and I was hoping it was Aric, but no such luck. It was Gabriel. I must admit even though my feelings were hurt, Gabriel’s sexiness wasn’t lost on me.

  Hello, Ms. Chy,” he said, greeting me with a gentle, yet magnetic smile. “Your boss around here anywhere?”

  His teeth were the same size and perfectly white. Those dark coffee colored eyes beckoned to me.

  “No, he stepped out for a second,” I answered him back with a smile.

  He nodded “Must have been a woman. Only a woman can take Aric away from work. Any idea when he will be back? We were supposed to do lunch. Had some things we were supposed to discuss.”

  Part of his statement bothered me, but I answered anyway. “Nope. No idea when he will return.”

  He sat down in the chair across from my desk as I answered the ringing phone and sent someone to Aric’s voicemail. I looked up to find Gabriel watching me. He was casually dressed in tailored black dress slacks and a royal blue long sleeved crisp dress shirt. No tie. Black square toed dress shoes that set off his whole attire.

  “What,” I asked when he kept staring. “Is my fro lopsided or something?”

  He chuckled. “No not at all. In fact, it really looks good on you. Matches your personality perfectly. Wild and untamed yet innocent and got it all together. You look good too. Black suits you. It’s just that you have this new glow about you is all. I’ve noticed you had that extra something in your voice lately as well and whoever has put that smile on your face has to be one hell of a lucky man!”

  I blushed. “Thank you.”

  I had on an all black skirt suit with white accessories and black and white spiked Gucci heels.

  “Have you had lunch today?” He asked as he crossed one leg over the other.

  “No. Aric and I usually . . .” I caught myself. “Mr. McHale and I usually... well I usually go and get lunch for the both of us.”

  I could tell he had already caught on to my mistake. He only smiled a knowing smile. He didn’t say anything though.

  “Well, can I take you to lunch? After all, seems like you will be doing it alone today anyway right?”

  I thought about it and I know I made the decision out of spite, but I said yes. Aric must be out of his mind if he thought I was about to sit there and cry and brood over him. I grabbed my purse and my jacket after setting the phone to office “out mode”
and we left for lunch. We ended up at Maggiano’s. It was an authentic Italian restaurant. I had been to a lot of places, but never here before. We sat silently as I looked over the menu. It was apparent that he had been here plenty of times because it didn’t take him long to look at the menu and decide what he wanted. I finally made up my mind and ordered the spinach and chicken manicotti, a small glass of Moscato D’asti and a glass of water.

  “So Chy, tell me something about you,” Gabriel asked of me.

  I shrugged. “Nothing to tell. I am twenty four with three degrees. Graduated high school when I was seventeen. Don’t have much family and no friends at all it seems.”

  “Where’s your family?”

  I looked up at him and stared before answering him. “Long story and if you don’t mind, I would rather not talk about that.”

  He chuckled and nodded. “I can respect that. Why no friends?”

  I shrugged again and watched him take a swallow of water before answering. “It is what it is you know? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and it seems I do a bang up job on that last part.”

  I could tell by his amused facial expression that he knew I was referring to the incident with April.

  “By the way, thank you for making sure she made it home safely,” I added after taking a sip of my wine.

  He nodded and took a piece of the bread the waiter had sat on the table.

  “No problem at all. All I had to do was drop her off and keep it moving.”

  The bottom of my stomach fell out at that. Did that mean that the man Jo-Jo saw April talking to was Aric? Did he leave my house and go to April’s? As if Gabriel had read my mind. . . .

  “Aric told me he stopped by her place to make sure she had gotten in as well,” he told me.

  I didn’t respond. Just turned and look at the ongoing traffic on Peachtree Road and listened to the noise of the old Italian music and the muttering of the patrons at the restaurant.

  “Did I say something wrong,” he spoke up and asked after a while.

  I shook my head. “No. I just have a lot on my mind is all.”

  Gabriel exhaled. “I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Aric. If that’s the case, then I wouldn’t worry. I wouldn’t let him get to me. Aric will be Aric and he has been since I have known him.”

  “Who said it had anything to do with him?”

  He leaned forward and clasped his hands together, looking me in my eyes. “Chyanne, sometimes we have to listen to what’s not being said.”

  His eyes studied mine and it was like he could see past the whole facade I was putting up. I was so thankful that the food came at that moment. I don’t understand how I let these unseen feelings for Aric sneak up on me, but this man had embedded himself into my DNA in more ways than one. Over the last month or so, everything he had done had deepened my feelings for him. The trips to the movies, the shopping, the sneaking away for lunch at work together, the spending the night at each other’s places, and the sex! Lord the sex! Thinking about it right now had me squeezing my legs together and silently moaning.

  This was something that I wasn’t used to. I wasn’t used to getting lost in a man. I never wanted to be there. I never wanted to be the woman who couldn’t see past a man’s smile. Yet, here I was. I barely touched my food. My appetite had been lost. I was tempted to sneak to the restroom and call to see if Aric had made it back to the office, but there was no need. Aric was texting me in the middle of lunch asking me where I was.

  Gabriel and I made small talk for what time I had left of lunch. I liked talking to Gabriel. He was fun and his deep baritone and Southern accent sent chills through me especially when he called my name. I asked him questions about his LX 11 truck just to keep the conversation flowing until we made it back to the office. Gabriel was a comedian too. He kept me laughing, almost making me forget that Aric had left with April . . . almost.

  Gabriel was a gentleman through and through. I hadn’t had to open a door for myself this entire time with him. It was funny to see chicks gawking at him as he passed with me. He opened the door for me when we made it back to the office and hugged me. There was something in his hug. Something I didn’t care to dwell on because that would require me to admit that I was sexually attracted to him. I didn’t want to go there so when he leaned in for a kiss, I politely moved my head to the side and declined.

  “I . . . I can’t. . . . Not right now,” I said to him as we stood hidden from the cameras in the parking deck.

  “I understand,” was all he said. He kissed me on my cheek, handed me my doggy bag from lunch, and walked me to the elevator. I stepped onto the elevator a little embarrassed.

  “Chyanne,” he called out to me and I had to rush to stop the elevator doors from closing.

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “I’m always around.”

  I watched as he walked off towards his truck. I let the elevator doors close and finally let the breath I had been holding out. Lord what had I gotten myself into? I stepped off the elevator and made my way to my desk. Aric was in his office and I hated to admit it but I was glad he was there. I was still pissed. However, he was not with April so I was good. I dropped my purse in the bottom drawer of my desk and switched the phone back on. I left my doggy bag on the desk. It was no more than five minutes later before Aric’s office door swung open.

  “Where have you been?” He asked me.

  Something about the tone of his voice startled me.

  “I went to lunch.” I said sarcastically pointing at the bag on my desk.

  “With who? Your car was still in the parking deck.”

  I wasn’t so sure I wanted to answer that question. So I tried not to.

  “Look I went to lunch. Is that a problem?”

  I was sitting in my chair looking up at him in the doorway of his office with his arms folded across his broad chest.

  “Don’t play with me Chyanne!” he said through gritted teeth. “Who did you go to lunch with? Don’t think I won’t fu . . . mess you up because we are in this office.”

  My brows furrowed and I looked at him like he had lost his mind!

  “I am a grown woman and I go to lunch with whomever I choose. Get that?”

  The way he was looking at me had me feeling some type of way and I don’t mean anything good about that either. He had bit down on his bottom lip and was nodding his head like he was keeping from saying what he really wanted to say. He turned and went back into his office, slamming the door so hard other assistants were sticking their heads around the corner to see what was going on. I put on a fake smile whenever someone asked if everything was okay and hyperventilated when no one could see me. I picked up the phone and pressed one.

  Aric picked up. “What?”

  “I went to lunch with Gabriel.”

  “Who?”

  I could hear something akin to disbelief and anger in his voice.

  “Your friend Gabriel who was at the. . . .”

  Before I could get the last part out I heard a click in my ear. I heard when he moved into his hide-a-way office a few minutes later. A few minutes after that, he called me to meet him in there. I slowly stood and walked into his office, locking the door behind me. I was not in the mood to fight with this man, especially when he was the one who didn’t want to put a “title” on our relationship. I pushed the button on the wall to his hide-a-way office and stepped in. He was sitting on the couch, arms wide, legs spread with a mean mug on his face.

  “So you fucking Gabriel?” he asked.

  I answered with my face bunched in disbelief. “What? No!” I chuckled a bit. “I only went to lunch with the man. Since you decided that you wanted to go do “whatever” with April. . . .”

  He stood and walked over to me cutting me off and making me back up against the desk that was on the wall by the door.

  “You think I’m stupid, Chyanne?”

  He was right up on me and had cupped my chin to make me look up at him.

 
“No.”

  “Are you fucking Gabriel?”

  He asked that with clenched teeth.

  “No. How am I having sex with Gabriel when I have been with you every day all day until today? Are sleeping with April?”

  His grip tightened on my face and his eyes watered, becoming red. “Don’t play with me Chyanne! Tell me the truth.”

  “Who’s playing? I’m telling you the truth.” The attitude I had copped was laced in my voice.

  I tensed because he snatched my face closer to his and his grip tightened causing pain in my jaw. He picked me up and sat me on top of the desk. Snatching me close to him, his right hand found its way under my skirt and his lips roughly enclosed around mine. I felt my thong rip on one side and he used his knee to push my legs further apart. He kept kissing me and pushing his tongue in and out of my mouth. I felt the split in the back of my skirt rip. It was all going in slow motion. I heard his zipper come down, and seconds later, I screamed inside of his mouth when he shoved his way inside of me. I was scratching and clawing at his back. I tried to push him off of me, but he grabbed both wrists and slammed them into the wall before removing his mouth from mine.

  Looking me dead in my teary eyes he said, “Your pussy had better always feel like this. I’ll know if somebody has touched my pussy,” he said before pushing hard and so deep inside of me that my legs started to shake uncontrollably.

  I bit down on my lips to keep from screaming. His mood, the tension in the room, the way he was treating me, all caused tears to fall from my eyes. I tried calling his name to get his attention to let him know he was hurting me.