by Kayt Miller
Once my office stuff is thrown my living room, I drag the chair to a prominent place near my television. I run into my bedroom to change into jeans, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes then I grab my purse, and I’m back out the door. I jump in a cab and head to the hotel.
I jog in the entrance and head straight to the banquet manager’s office. She’s inside searching through piles of paper. “Hello?” I mutter, not wanted to startle her.
“Oh, hey. It’s you, from Saturday night.”
“Yep. It’s me. Listen, I need your help.”
“You do?” she looks nervous. She knows what this is about.
“Do you remember the three projectors we had hanging from the ceiling?”
“Yeah.”
“What about the large crystal vases I had on each table?”
“I think so.”
“Good, now, can you tell me where they are?”
“Someone already called about it,” she says way too quickly.
“Look. I just quit my job over all of this. I was suspended, and I’m going to have to pay for each of those items out of my own pocket because…”
“What? Why would you have to pay? That jerk and the girl should pay.”
“Chris and Trisha? Yeah. No.” They don’t have to pay. I do. “I was suspended for two weeks over it all, but I quit instead.”
“Good for you!”
She seems to be taking an interest in my plight. “That’s where you come in.”
“Me?”
“I know you’re new here, but can you think of any place the banquet staff could have put that stuff? I know there were like fifty people in here putting stuff away. There’s no way you could have known if they grabbed that stuff on accident. Right?” I know she knows where the stuff is. I just gave her an out.
“Oh, yeah, maybe,” she’s getting it. “Let me think. Maybe they put some of the stuff in one of the thousand storage closets we have here,” she says exaggerating the word ‘thousand.'
“Oh, God, I hope so. If I can get the stuff back, I can return the projectors to the rental company and get the vases to the party planner.”
“Wait here,” she says standing.
I’ll wait forever if it means I’ll get everything back.
It’s not long, though, and she’s back. “You’re in luck! I found everything.”
I jump up and screech, “You’re kidding?!” I hug her and repeatedly say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Show me. Then, I’ll put them in a taxi and be out of your hair.”
She touches my arm, “I’m sorry about your job. That guy and the skinny woman. They were really mean. They made one of my servers cry.”
“I’m sorry they did that. Just remember Karma’s a bitch,” I say with a giggle. “Now, can you take me to the stuff?”
She takes me to the closet that housed the ladder and the boxes. Everything is there. It’s even packaged up ready to go. It was all there for him to find.
I grab a luggage trolley and move everything to the valet. My first stop is to the equipment rental place. I get a receipt to show that it was all returned in good working order. My next stop is the party-planning place that’s owned by Martha’s partner. She let us use them for free because of her relationship with Martha. I open up her shop door and see Kim sitting on a stool typing on her computer. “Kim?”
She turns to look at me. I thought she’d be angry with me, but instead, she stands up and opens her arms to me, “Oh, baby doll. Martha told me everything. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks, Kim. Okay. Well, I’ve got a little good news.”
“What’s that?” she asks, smiling.
“I’ve got thirty of your crystal vases.”
“What? How?”
“They were still at the hotel; in the boxes. The banquet staff must have packaged them all up.”
“But Bill said they were gone.”
“Apparently Chris and Trisha were real assholes to everyone so I think they may have hidden them from them out of spite. Once I explained everything, they miraculously re-appeared. So, wait here, and I’ll get them out of the taxi.”
“I’ll help.”
We bring in all thirty boxes. We open a few just to check on the glass. I ask her for a receipt to take to Bill and Martha so I won’t be docked pay on my final paycheck. I’m going to need that money.
Jumping back into the cab, I head to the office. The security desk is shocked to see me. I hope they don’t think I came back to cause trouble.
“Can we help you?”
“Yeah, can you please call Martha in Human Resources and ask her to come down? I have some documents she needs.”
“You can just leave them here. I’ll make sure she gets them.”
“No. These are confidential documents. For her eyes only.” Come on. Call you her little twit.
She lets out a heavy sigh, “Fine.”
In minutes, Martha is hopping out of an elevator and making her way toward me. “Kim called. I’ve been expecting you. What’ve you got?”
I hand her both receipts and ask her to make copies for my records. She says she’ll do that and mail them to me today. I hug her and thank her for understanding and not being upset with me.
“Never. I’m so sorry about everything. Deb feels terrible. It was her idea, and you didn’t tell Bill. You could have thrown her under the bus, but you didn’t.”
“I don’t do that to my friends, Martha.”
“I know, sweetie. I know. Now, if you need anything. A recommendation. Anything. Call me. Okay?”
“I’ll do that. Thanks!”
We hug again, and I'm out the door. I decide to walk for a while. Clear my head. That’s when I remember my babysitting gig tonight. A chill of excitement runs down my back. I get to see Mick tonight. It’s something to look forward to after a shit storm of a day.
Chapter 21: Mick
I watch, as Katie lies are her back kicking at the noisy objects hanging from her floor gym toy. This one has a monkey, an elephant, a giraffe, and a parrot hanging down from the padded cross bars above her. I press the flower on the mat that plays music and we’re happy as a clam. Wait… are clams really that happy?
As I contemplate one of life’s many mysteries––clams and their ability or inability to be happy, I hear a tapping on the front door. I place pillows around Katie’s area quickly and jog to the front door. When I pull it open, I smile at the sight before me. “Roni! You made it. Come on in!”
She steps into the front room, and I watch as she looks around quickly. She’s nervous. She shouldn’t be but this is someone else’s home, and this situation is a bit more personal than we’re used to. “Come on in and meet Miss Katie.”
She walks in further and looks down, “Oh, my goodness. She’s even prettier in person than she is in the picture you sent to me,” She kneels down on the floor to coo at the baby. “Hi, Katie. I’m Roni,” she whispers. “My goodness, what a neat toy you have here. My nieces had something like this too. I bet it makes some fun noises.”
She looks up and smiles at me. What is it about seeing women with babies that make men 1) nervous as fuck and 2) happy? I use this time to really look at Roni. I take a moment to check her out––because I’m a guy.
She’s wearing black yoga pants and one of those big, slouchy gray sweatshirts. One side has slipped off her shoulder revealing a lot of smooth, porcelain skin. She’s got on a black bra or a tank top underneath because I can see a strap. She’s wearing white Keds and no socks. In summary, she looks good. Hot.
“Will you stay with her while I get her bottle?” I ask Roni.
“Sure,” she says smiling.
She lays down resting on her side, next to the mat. As she reaches for one of the swinging toys on the gym, her shirt slides up from her hip to her waist. She’s got a curvy body, and this only reinforces my need to get my dick in check. Jesus, what is wrong with me? Friends. We’re just friends.
I grab a bottle from the fridge and set it in
the bottle warmer. It only takes ten minutes to warm, so I yell out to Roni to see if she wants something to drink.
“Just water, if you have it,” she replies.
I pull out two bottles of water and a plate of cheese and crackers I made while Kate was napping earlier. I bring it all out and set it on the coffee table. “I’ll be back. The bottle just needed to warm up a bit.”
I walk back out to the kitchen and stand near the door so I can eavesdrop on Roni and Katie.
“You really are just as lovely as Uncle Mick said you were. You look a lot like your uncle. You’ve been blessed with some great genes.”
I peek around the corner just as Roni reaches out and touches Kate’s little hand. Katie grabs her finger and squeezes. “My goodness, you’ve got quite a grip on you, sweet Katie. I bet that means you’ll be a strong, confident young lady when you grow up.”
The bottle warmer beeps letting me know it’s ready. I grab it, check the temp on my wrist and take it out to my girls. “Do you want to feed her?” I ask Roni.
“Yeah, I’d love to.” Roni stands as I pick up Katie.
Roni steps over to the rocker and sits down. I hand her Katie first then the bottle. I don’t need to tell her what to do. I’m sure she’s fed her nieces before. Katie immediately starts to suckle the bottle voraciously.
Veronica looks up at smiles, “She was hungry.”
I’m trying not to look at Roni and Katie as anything more than my friend and my niece, but it’s hard. They look similar. They both have blonde hair and beautiful faces. They’ve both got plump little mouths and turned up noses. It’s uncanny, really. I could picture Roni with my baby. Oh, God, I mean a child. Not my baby.
I clear my throat just as Katie finishes her snack. She’s getting fussy, so she either needs to burp, or she wants more food. I take her from Kate and pat her back until a loud burp escapes. “Jeez girl, you belch like a sailor,” I say laughing at Katie Did.
Roni laughs too. Patting Katie’s back, she adds, “She did. That was a good one. I bet you feel better, don’t you sweetie?”
“Okay. I’ll be right back. I’m gonna give her a quick bath and get her in her jammies. Unless… do you want to help?”
“Sure. That sounds fun.”
The three of us walk upstairs and stop first in Katie’s room. Sophie and Hank have it decorated in bright pink, yellow, and green. Her furniture is white, and the theme of the animals continues up here. A mobile above her crib has creatures like a monkey, a lion, an elephant, and a bear. The rug is green in the center of the room and has an abstract design like a forest floor. There are wall stickers of happy cartoon animals frolicking around the space, and the rocker is covered in an abstract pattern of the same colors as the rest of the room.
“Her room is adorable. They did an excellent job.” She walks around looking at the books and little knick-knacks. There are photos on the wall of each of her aunts, uncles, and grandparents holding her. “I’m going to guess that these are your brothers and sisters. Oh, and your parents. You all look a lot alike. But, where are Sophie’s parents?”
“Dead. She doesn’t have any living relatives.”
“Oh, that’s so sad. But, at least she has you,” she looks at me, and I think she actually means just me.
“Yeah, we all like Sophie a lot. She felt like part of the family the first time we met her.”
“Good. I’m glad,” she says as she pats Katie’s little back. “Ready for a bath little lady?” she asks.
I hand Katie to Roni as I grab her baby bathtub and towel. “Let’s do this thing.”
Bath time has never been this much fun. Roni giggles the whole time using toys to entertain the baby while I wash her. In no time, she’s clean and dressed in warm pajamas. “After I give her another bottle and put her to bed, let’s order a pizza and watch a movie.”
“Sounds good. But, are we ever going to agree on a movie? Something tells me you like bloody, action flicks.”
“Of course I do.” I really don’t. “I’ve got something in mind but, we’ll find something on Netflix that we both want to see.”
After I put Katie to bed, we make our way back downstairs. “Okay, if you want to make the microwave popcorn I’ll get us set up in the living room.”
“Sounds great,” she smiles.
“The popcorn and a bowl are on the counter.” As Roni walks into the kitchen, I turn to the living room. It’s a cozy space, but the furniture is old. I think it belonged to Sophie’s grandmother. It’s stiff and uncomfortable. I don’t know why they didn’t bring over Hank’s furniture from his old place. Not to mention the super high def television he had there.
As I look around the small space, I realize that none of his things would have fit in this room. They’re too big, and they’d clash with the house. The good news is what Sophie lacks in comfortable furniture, she makes up with pillows––lots and lots of pillows.
I quickly grab two dining room chairs and bring them to sit back to back in front of the sofa. I place them about five feet apart. In no time, I have everything arranged and just in time.
Roni rounds the corner and gasps, “Oh, my gosh, Mick. Is that a blanket fort?” she giggles. “I used to love those.”
“I know. You mentioned it when I visited your office.”
“Oh, I did, didn’t I?” she giggles again. “That’s so cool.” Roni bends over to peek inside. There are pillows to sit on, and I’ve placed a small table just outside our little tent for our drinks and the laptop so we can stream Netflix.
“Come on in.” I gesture to the seat next to me in the cave.
She hands me the bowl of popcorn as she lowers herself to her knees. She bends over and starts to crawl inside. I don't mean to, but I moan. First, she’s bent over crawling toward me. Envisioning her crawling to me because I said so makes my dick twitch. Second, I can see down her over-sized sweatshirt. She’s wearing a lacy black bra that I want to tear from her body. Friends. Just friends.
She crawls inside my makeshift tent and gets comfortable right next to me, and I speak, “Okay, let the negotiations begin. What do you want to watch? But, let me just say this, Halloween is this weekend. I recommend we choose a horror movie. Thoughts?”
“I suppose. But, I don’t usually watch scary movies. You’re going to have to recommend one.”
“What have you seen?”
“Hmm, let’s see. I saw Psycho. The old one. Frankenstein. The old one. Dracula. The…”
“Don’t tell me, the old one?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I get a little weirded out by scary movies. But, I’m game to watch something as long as it’s not too bloody.”
“What about Blair Witch Project? The old one,” I chuckle.
“What’s it about?”
“Well, it’s about some college students who hear about some witch that lives in the woods near their school. They decide to hike into the forest to see if they can film the witch.”
“And?”
“And, you’ll have to watch the rest to find out.”
She groans, “Okay. If you want to watch it, I’m game.”
The pizza arrives just as we start the movie, so we eat and watch. Roni is riveted to her spot. We’re sitting next to each other––so close our thighs are touching. I know I should move, but I don’t want to.
“Why did I ever let you talk me into this movie, Mick, I’ll never know. I don't like scary movies, and this one is creeeeeepy.” Something jumps out at us on the screen and Roni screams as she clutches my upper arm. “I hate you, Mick,” she squeaks.
I slide my hand over her upper thigh and squeeze it with my hand. I lean over whisper in her ear, “Ahh, baby, it’s gonna be okay. I’ll protect you.”
Roni slowly turns her head toward me, and I freeze. This is the moment of truth. I want this girl. I want her bad. I lean down and touch my lips to hers. She lets out the tiniest whimper. It’s barely audible, but I heard it. I slide my mouth over hers, back and forth, teasing her. I leave
my hand on her upper thigh as I twist toward her. I use my free hand and place it on the back of her neck, “Come here, baby.”
I pull her, urging her my way. I want her on me. I want her pressed against me. She doesn’t disappoint. Getting up to her knees, she turns her body toward me as her arms slide around my neck. My hand moves to her round ass as I bring her close to me. I lean my back on the base of the sofa.
“Mick, I’m too heavy.”
“Shut up and kiss me, woman.”
She scoots further, so her soft breasts are pressed against my hard chest. She leans down and kisses me, and it’s the best kiss yet. She’s in control, like our first kiss in the taxi. But, that only lasts a few seconds, and I’ve got to have more. My tongue slides into her mouth seeking its counterpart. She moans, and it breaks me apart. I grab her ponytail and pull back so I can see her face and I love a little pulling hair in this situation, “Fuck, Roni. You drive me crazy.”
She’s not fighting me as I pull her hair. She breathes, “I feel the same about you.”
I sit up and look in her eyes. While she stares back, I slide my hands under her sweatshirt and lift. Her arms move up without me even asking. Underneath she’s wearing the sexiest fucking bra, I’ve ever seen. It’s black lace and almost transparent. I gaze at her breasts then at her face just as she smirks.
Damn, this girl is surreal. I lean down and take one of her hard little nipples into my mouth. I lick the lacy fabric of her bra and then suck again. I’d love to bite right through the bra, but I’ll be patient.
Roni arches into my mouth as she uses her hand to hold my head in place. I look up at her as she gazes down at me. Her irises are dilated. She’s as turned on as I am. I move to the other breast repeating my steps. Like in my dream, I use my tongue to tickle her nipple. She squirms and moans.
I’m so focused on her breasts, I didn’t feel her hand move down, but as soon as her fingers make contact with my hard length straining to get out of my sweatpants, I take notice. I move my hand down over hers and pull it away. I’m going to come in my pants if she touches me. I slide her down onto the ground as I raise myself above her. I lift her arm up and say, “Oh, no, Roni. Did I say you could touch me? You naughty girl.”