by Ava Hayworth
CHAPTER 10
I still haven’t forgiven Mark for cornering me in the bar on Monday night, but its Thursday, and he is still bombarding me with voicemails and texts. I need to contact him, if only to stop the deluge of messages. After deliberating for a few minutes, I decide on a phone call. He picks up after the first ring.
“Lainey?”
“Hi Mark.” I should have thought this through. Uncertain of what to say next, the silence grows and starts to become uncomfortable.Mark finally breaks the silence. “I’d like to see you.”
“Oh, Mark. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
Mark rushes to interrupt me. “I know I behaved badly on Monday. Can we please just meet so I can at least apologize in person? We could meet for lunch.”
Our history together makes it impossible for me to turn him down. “I guess I have time for lunch today. I have a business thing tomorrow.”
“Today is fine. I’ll pick you up in front of your building at twelve.”
As soon as I agree, he hangs up. He probably doesn’t want to give me time to change my mind.
Mark is punctual as usual, and I agree when he suggests and Italian restaurant on 39th Street. The atmosphere is a little more formal and date-like than I would have preferred, but I decide not to object. I can tell Mark is making an effort to respect my personal space. He hasn’t touched me once since I met him outside of my building. This relaxes me into a more laid back attitude in regards to the choice of restaurant.
Once we are seated we talk about our jobs until the waiter comes back to take our order. After our waiter leaves, Mark’s attitude turns pensive. “You’re with that guy now?”
Fighting the urge to fidget, I hold Mark’s gaze. “Yes, and his name is James.”
Mark looks away first. “How long have you been together?”
This is a tricky question and difficult to answer. “Not long. Does it matter?”
I am surprised when Mark becomes agitated. “Yes, it matters.” He overemphasizes each word. “When did you first start seeing him?”
A lightbulb goes off. He is worried that I was seeing James while I was still with him. “It was after we split.”
“He isn’t the reason you broke up with me?”
“No, I didn’t meet him until after we had already broken up. James had nothing to do with our break up.” We are interrupted by the waiter bringing us our food. I look at my salad and wonder how I am going to eat it. The charged emotional atmosphere has robbed me of my appetite. I notice that Mark makes no attempt to start in on his food either. “I’m sorry you thought that for even a minute. I would never have cheated on you.”
Mark nods his head in acceptance. “Where did you meet him?”
He doesn’t seem to want to let it go. “Mark, don’t do this to yourself.”
Mark looks at me impatiently. “Lainey, just answer me. You owe me that much at least.”
I close my eyes briefly. “Fine. I met him at the law symposium in Hempstead last April, but we’ve just been together for the last couple of weeks.” He doesn’t need to know about the one-night-stand in April.
“We broke up in March.”
“Yes, I know. The beginning of March.” I remind him.
He continues as if he hadn’t even heard me. “The entire time I have been trying to get you back, this other guy has been in the picture.”
I try not to wilt under his reproachful gaze. “It wasn’t like that.” I am not sure how to explain the ups and downs of my relationship with James, and it is not something I want to discuss with Mark. “I’m sorry that you ever had the impression that there was a chance that we could get back together. James never played a role in my decisions about us. I promise.”
“Then why? We were together for so long. We should be planning our wedding and thinking about kids. Weren’t you happy?”
I can’t repress a sigh. “Mark, you are a really great guy, but I just wasn’t in love with you like that anymore. You should want someone in your life who loves you with her whole heart. I am not that person.”
“Do you love him?”
I shy away from the question. “This isn’t about me and James. This is about you and me. You need to let me go and start looking for someone else.”
Mark seems to take hold of himself. “You’re right.”
“Yes, I am. Someday you will thank me.” I ignore the dubious look in his eyes. “Why don’t we get the food to go. I need to get back.”
“Yea, me too.” His eyes soften to affection, and I think it hasn’t gone that badly after all. “Thanks for coming Lainey. Listen, I don’t want to be that guy whose calls and texts you always ignore. I’ve been acting like a jerk for the past couple of months, and I don’t want that to overshadow the good times we had when we were together. Can we start over? As friends I mean.”
I smile at him. “I would like that.” Mark smiles back. I would like to think that we could make it through this as friends.
Sam and I walk into The Delancey on Thursday night for an impromptu birthday party for Nick. The Delancey is a club on the Lower East Side with an awesome rooftop bar. Although you can hear the music pounding from the floor below, the rooftop has a mellower vibe. Oceans of potted palm trees are tucked around comfortable seating areas. After the tense lunch with Mark, I feel the need to let go and enjoy myself.
We spot Nick, who has staked out a table with a magnificent view of the Williamsburg Bridge. He stands to give us air kisses. “You both look hot tonight. Lainey, you look so svelte in that dress. I love it. Sam, that red is hot.” He gushes.
I had changed into a gold sequined mini dress made out of a stretchy fabric. The gold sequins ran in a fine geometric pattern emphasizing all the right bits. Although the neckline was high, the back dipped down in a wide V to the middle my back precluding me from wearing a bra. The gold strappy stilettos that I am wearing are dangerously high, butSam had insisted that nothing else would do with this dress. Sam is wearing a short red halter dress that contrasts starkly with her pale skin. It is even more striking with the bright red lipstick that exactly matches the shade of her dress. Nick insists on spending a few minutes taking selfies with the three of us. Once Nick has poured us some Champaign I ask, “Where is everybody?”
“Brad is on a shoot, but he should be here soon. Actually,” Nick turns in his chair and pins me with a pointed stare. “I told Sam to bring you early because I want to hear all about this wild monkey sex you’ve been having.”
I turn to glare at Sam. “You didn’t… How could you?”
Sam makes no attempt to stifle her laughter. “I’m sorry Lainey, but it was just too funny. I had to tell.”
“You’ve broken the girl code, you know.”
Nick, who is practically bouncing in his chair, waves his arms cutting us off. “I don’t care about that. Just tell us the gory details.”
I roll my eyes. “There are no details… and there will be no details.” I quickly finish in a firm voice when I see he is about to object. “We were just kidding around, right Sam?” I implore her with my eyes.
Before Sam can respond, Nick bursts out. “I am sorry Lainey, but Sam described what she heard, and it sounds like wild monkey sex to me.”
Brad steps up behind Nick, “Wild monkey sex… this sounds interesting.”
“Agh,” I groan, and cover my face with my hands. I am one hundred percent certain that I will never live this down. I narrow my eyes at Sam, “I will never forgive you for this.”
Sam waves her hand in dismissal. “I can live with that. It was totally worth the look on your face when Nick asked you about the monkey sex.”
“Stop laughing.” I command her remembering the best thing about The Delancey is their Margarita machine.
I know that Nick is just happy for me. He and I had met at low points in both of our lives. We met our freshman year of college. I had been struggling to come to terms with a traumatic even that had happene
d my senior year of high school, and at the same time, Nick was facing the realities of coming out to an unaccepting family. We had helped each other out a lot in those years. Nick had made me come out of the shell that I had retreated into, and I had provided him with the unconditional acceptance that his family denied him. I was able to complete my undergraduate degree in three years and had moved to New York City for law school. When Nick graduated year later, he had followed me, met Brad, and the rest was history.
Once everyone stops teasing me I actually end up having a good time. Some more people come including Dylan and Sam’s sister Suzanne, who I have’nt seen for a while. She wants to hear all about James, but luckily, has not heard about the monkey sex. Davis also comes, but although he is friendly, we don’t have much of a chance to talk. He seems to be having a great time joking around with Brad and some of the other guys.
I find myself wishing for James. He had a client dinner tonight, but he had said he would stop by afterwards. Checking my phone to see what time it is, I see that I have a missed message from him. I step away so that I can listen to the message.
When I come back, Sam asks, “Was that James?”
I give her a mock pout. “Yea, he is stuck in his client dinner and won’t be able to make it.”
“Ahh, that’s too bad. Come on, you can hang out with me and Dylan. And…” she starts slyly. “I’ve noticed a couple of guys over there at the bar checking you out…” She finishes leadingly.
Sam laughs at my horrified expression and holds up her hands as if in surrender. “I’m joking. Jeesh, I swear you’ve lost your sense of humor… with all that monkey sex.”
Well, at least James will not be subjected to my friend’s twisted sense of humor.
With the thought of work the next morning hanging over my head, I make a move to leave. This is met with so much resistance from Nick that I agree to stay for one more Margarita. After Sam leaves with Dylan, I decide it is definitely time for me to go too. I wish the remaining party goers good-bye and head out to look for a cab.
“Lainey,” I hear someone calling my name behind me.
I turn, wobbling a little in my mile-high shoes, to see Davis. “Oh, hi Davis. Are you going too?”
Davis takes my elbow to steady me. “Yea, I have a pretty early shoot in the morning. Let’s share a cab. I would feel better getting you home safely in your condition.”
I step back to get a good look at him. “What do you mean in my condition?” Then it dawns on me. “Do you think I’m drunk?”
He must have heard the incredulity in my voice because he raises his hands up in a defensive gesture. “Whoa, I didn’t mean anything by it. You were slamming down those Margaritas pretty fast.”
Okay, he did have a point. “I might be the slightest bit tipsy.” I concede. “But I am fully capable of getting myself home. Thank you very much.”
Davis gives me his most charming smile, “Please, Lainey. I would feel like a complete jerk letting you leave on your own.”
I consider him for a moment before narrowing my eyes and waving my hand between the two of us. “Okay, but there will be no snogging or whatever you Aussies call it.”
Davis bursts out laughing. When he finally has himself under control, he shakes his head at me. “That dress may do incredible things to your ass, but I think I can manage to keep my hands off of it.”
Satisfied that we are on the same page, I step into the cab he has managed to flag down. I slide across the seat, and he gets in beside me. Davis gives my address to the cabbie, who takes off as if the bats of hell were after him. Ugh, it was going to be one of those cab rides, I think, as the margaritas and Champaign slosh around in my stomach.
“Pash,” Davis says out of the blue.
“What?” I ask in confusion.
“The Aussie expression for snogging is pashing.”
“Huh… So…you might say… for example… how many girls have you pashed?” I smile up at him coquettishly.
Davis gives me a sidelong glance. “Are you flirting with me?”
“No… absolutely not.” I attempt to keep a straight face, but can’t hold back my giggles. The look on Davis’s face makes me laugh even harder. I point at him with my index finger, “You should see your face. You look like you just ate a sour pickle.”
Davis shakes his head back and forth. “You are a goof when you are drunk… I mean tipsy.” He hurries to correct himself.
Arriving at my place, Davis steps out the cab and holds the door open. As I slide back across the seat and step out onto the pavement, I miss the curb. I lose my footing, and when Davis tries to catch me, his hand lands on my ass. I laugh up at him. “I guess you couldn’t keep your hands off of my ass after all.”
He gives my ass a light squeeze and winks at me. “It is one fantastic ass.”
Once again steady on my feet, we walk to my door. “Thanks for bringing me home."
“Yea, no problem, and see no pashing or snogging involved.”
Once inside I give a tiny wave to Davis, who turns and jogs back to the taxi. I fumble my keys out of the door and they fall to the ground. Well, fuckedy fuck fuck. I contemplate the keys wondering how I am going to bend down that low with my impaired balance, skin tight dress and mile high stilettos. Maybe I could hook them with my stiletto heel. I am just about to give this a try when I hear a tap at the door. I look up and see a jacketless and tieless James standing on the other side of the glass. Problem solved. James can pick up the keys. I make a move to pull open the door when I get a good look at his face, and I hesitate. The furious look on James’s face makes me pause and weigh my options. I can A) open the door to James, who is glaring at me in a most unpleasant way, or I can B) go up to my apartment leaving him outside. Plan B would entail somehow retrieving my keys, and now I had a spectator. Taking my courage in both hands, I opt for plan A and pull open the door.
James rakes his eyes up and down me before stepping over the threshold. My eyes grow wide, and I back up as he stalks toward me. I have to stop when my back hits the wall next to the mailboxes. “What. were. you. doing. with. him?”
I’m guessing he means Davis. I gulp. “He brought me home.” Who knew my voice could squeak like that?
“His hands were all over you.”
I cringe inwardly. He must have seen the ass incident. It had been funny at the time. James suddenly reaches out and grabs my ass pulling me up against him. Taken by surprise, I lean back so that only our groins are touching. His blue eyes bore into mine with a burning intensity. “This. is. mine.”
Possessive much? God, I am turned on, and I missed him. I twine my arms around his head and pull him down feathering kisses along his hardened jaw. He has the most perfect jaw, and he smells so good. When I reach his mouth, he slides his mouth over mine. He kisses me as if our lives depend on it. I gasp for breath as he pulls back to growl down at me. “I would love to fuck you up against this wall, but we need to go upstairs.”
He turns me toward the stairs. “My keys.” I turn back pointing to where they lie on the floor. James bends down and scoops them up before following behind me. At my apartment he unlocks the door before ushering me through and closing and locking the door behind him. Taking my hand, he pulls me toward the bedroom.
“Goddamit, Lainey, what are you doing to me?” He eyes me up and down. “That fucking dress. If am not in you within the next two seconds, I am going to fucking explode.”
A lightning bolt of desire shoots through me at his words. I turn around so that he can unzip my dress. I close my eyes with pleasure when his fingers touch the bare skin of my back. He helps me push the dress down over my hips, and I am left standing in a flesh colored thong and the gold stilettos. I hear the sound of the zipper on his dress pants, and my body goes on high alert wondering what he will do next. “Turn around.”
I turn around to see James holding his hard cock in his hand. He moves his hand up and down and watches me under half lidded eyes. “Does it turn you on to know that
every man that sees you wants to fuck you?”
“No, just you.” I answer honestly.
“Good. Because I will be the only one that you will be fucking from now on. Take off the thong, but leave the shoes on and sit down on the edge of the bed.”
I do as he says. James pushes me back so that I am lying back with my legs hanging over the side of the bed. “Put your hands over your head and keep them there.”
Once again I do as he says. He runs his hands down my body, pinching and stroking, and I cannot hold back my groans of pleasure. I grip the pillow behind me to keep my arms from reaching for him and pulling him over me. I feel the tip of his cock prodding my entrance. His hands keep a firm grip on my hips, and he rocks the very tip of his cock back and forth into me. I long for him to thrust fully inside of me, but he continues to deny me. “Is this what you want?”
“Yes. Please.” I am gasping in need.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I want your cock inside me. I want you to fuck me fast… and hard.”
“Your wish is my command.” With that he slams into me, and I cry out in pleasure, pain. He pounds into me fast and hard exactly as I had requested. My legs circle his back my stilettos knocking into him. “Does he make you feel like this?”
“No, only you.” I manage to gasp out.
“Damn right. This fucking tight little body is mine.” Then my mind goes blank as I feel a rush of ecstasy overtake me. James doesn’t stop. He thrusts into me over and over again until he lets out a shout and I find myself coming again.
James rolls over onto the bed. “Jesus… this is completely fucking out of control.”
He does not sound happy, and I am confused. “James, what’s the matter?”
He turns his head to look at me and says more gently. “Nothing baby. Everything’s fine.”
Everything does not seem fine. “What are you doing here anyway? Not that I am not glad to see you.” I rush to assure him.
“Lainey… baby, don’t you ever check your messages?”