by Amber Heart
"I might have been dating a guy."
"Oh, really? Did he help you get the job?"
"Not exactly. He's kind of rich. So don't worry, because he cares about me too much to let my mother lose her home."
"What? You're not just seeing him for money are you?"
Opal put on her best shocked face. She technically did start to see Boyd for money, even if that money was to come from Carl, but acting fake had become a secondary thing to her lately. "Mother, do you really think that of me?"
"Of course not. Okay, I'm sorry. Tell me all about this new man of yours. Is he handsome?"
"That's an understatement!"
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Boyd got a call from Vanessa the next day. He'd just said goodbye to Opal after they spent the night together. It was only around eight in the morning, but he figured that older ladies like to get up early; especially if they had medical problems that made it uncomfortable to sleep in most of the time.
"Hi, Vanessa," he said with nervous energy. "You're Opal's mother?"
"Yes, I did say that, Boyd."
"Yes, sorry … I, what can I do for you?"
"I just thought that I should have a conversation with the man who's been dating my only daughter. You're lucky it's not too easy for me to hop on a bus, or I would have come for a visit."
Boyd wasn't sure what to say. "Ahh … that would have been, fine."
"I'm kidding," said with humor. "I have to admit I'm having some fun at your expense. Opal didn't tell you about my superb sense of humor, did she?"
"She might have mentioned something." But he wasn't laughing. "Did you want to arrange to have lunch with me and Opal, I mean Opal and I, sorry."
"My, how proper you are. That must be the good breeding. I'm just a little worried, and I wanted to talk to you about something. Opal says that you're helping her out financially, now that she's lost her job at the restaurant."
"The restaurant? Ah, yes. She was so tired after waiting tables, and her feet had blisters." He knew he could lie with the best of them, so doing a little improvising was not an issue.
"I thought she was working behind the bar. You do talk about that sort of thing with her don't you? I guess what I need to know is, well, this might not sound too polite but you must understand, she's my only daughter. I'm her only living relative as well."
"You're worried that your daughter is just dating someone for money, and you want to know if I truly care for her? Can I tell you something that I haven't actually told her yet? Haven't told anyone, now that I think of it."
"Okay, fire away."
"I love your daughter. I've never felt this way about anyone in my life. You've raised the most amazing person, Mrs. Wright."
"You can call me Vanessa, Boyd. And if what you're saying is true, I'm sorry I thought worse of you. I'd like to believe that you're telling me the truth too. If you're lying, I'll be disappointed. I won't feel bad for trusting you though. Being a cynic is no way to go through life, especially when you're stuck with my problems."
"That's a nice way to look at things, Vanessa. Thank you. Thanks for looking out for Opal too. I'm glad she has such a caring mother. It makes me miss my own parents …"
"Tell you what, Boyd: if you turn out to be a good egg like you say, I'll be happy to let you call me 'Mom' one day. Do you think you can do me a favor first? I don't want Opal to know that I was worried about her. Do you think we could keep this little conversation to ourselves? At least the part about money."
"I don't see how that could hurt. Sure," said Boyd.
After hanging up, Boyd wondered if he should tell Opal about the phone call. Vanessa did say it was okay, as long as Opal didn't find out about the money questions. He decided to tell her that they'd spoken, just to say hello and chat for a minute or two. Boyd would not mention the question about money.
He wondered how Opal was paying for things. If she had savings, it didn't make sense that she'd lie to her mother and say that Boyd was paying for things. That wasn't the kind of thing people were proud of, so why make it up? No, something was going on here. The problem was, Boyd was too afraid to ruin this new relationship, to actually say anything about it to Opal. And he always had Felicia do his snooping, but asking her to look into it would only make the feisty lawyer more suspicious of Opal than she already was.
Doing nothing seemed like it would come back to bite him in the ass, but there was not much else to be done. Boyd decided to let things be, and hope that nothing bad would happen. He just wanted to be with Opal, and try to keep up this new life he was carving with her. He whipped out his phone and sent Opal a text:
Did you give your mother my number?
The reply didn't come for half an hour, but he knew Opal was at work and probably busy. She sent back, Yes sorry, she wanted it in case of an emergency. Why?
She called me, just to say hello, she's nice :)
I think so too :) <3
He sent back a little heart emoticon, which was something the Boyd of the past would have laughed at. It didn't matter, because he was starting to realize that being a strong man wasn't all about being careless toward others. Bad boys were often just weak and scared, so they acted out and ran from their emotions. Boyd was starting to get the hang of this whole 'adulting' thing, it seemed, and he liked it.
Chapter Thirty
Opal was caught in a perpetual boxing match with her conscious lately. There was hardly an hour that went be where she didn't stop and think, what am I doing? Digging up some dirt on a stranger who deserved it anyway, that was one thing. And even then, it was a pretty shitty act. But she had feelings for Boyd now, maybe more than she'd ever had for Dwayne. She did her best to hide how strongly she felt when they were together. It was obvious that they were in a closer relationship, which she just could not prevent from growing each time they were together; there was no escaping it.
But Opal was not going to let herself use the "L" word, not when it was all set up to come crashing down around Boyd's head in the near future. And now her mother was wanting to get to know him? Why that was, Opal didn't know. She was never the type of parent to meddle in her adult daughter's life, and it was completely out of character. She'd probably have Boyd calling her "Mom" before long, which would make this deal with Carl even more painful to go through with.
It was making less and less sense to actually go through with the deal though. Opal threw herself around her apartment, the one that she could only keep because of the improved job that Boyd had helped her to get, thanks to his expensive lawyer. She wondered if Boyd and her mother had talked about where the extra money was coming from.
She couldn't take it anymore! That was that: she decided to go and tell Carl that she wanted out. She would just have to pay him back what he'd already been giving her to pay the bills. This wasn't going to work anymore. She headed down to the big warehouse and stormed by the snooty secretary.
"You can't go in there!" the woman called, but Opal was already by her and not in the mood for any shit.
"Carl, I need to talk to you about something," she said as she burst into his office.
"Jesus, don't you knock? Some of us have respectable business to take care of, not working at some whore house for dimes." Carl had his shirt unbuttoned at the top. His face was bright red and he was breathing heavily, like he was having some kind of attack.
"Hey, are you okay, Carl? Do you need me to call your secretary?”
"Believe me, I've barked up that tree. She's not into it, no matter how much I pay her."
"What?" She walked toward the desk to get a better look at him, see if she should call an ambulance. "Gross!" she called out. There was someone's head down in his lap, facing him. It was a woman giving him head under the desk.
"I'll talk to you when you're done you sick old pervert!"
"Hey," he called out as Opal ran out of the office. "Just gimme a minute, I'm just about to finish!"
"I don't need to know!" She waited out in the fro
nt room, her face as red as Carl's had been in the midst of getting his wiener sucked on. The secretary just grinned at her and kept shaking her head, saying to herself, "Told you not to go in there, sweetheart."
A woman with breasts larger than her head came out a few minutes later. She was pretty, but still made up to the nth, wearing a long coat that couldn't contain her chest. "Sorry about that," she said to Opal as she left.
Back in Carl's office, he said to Opal, "So, what the hell did you want to interrupt my appointment for? You like old man dicks or something?"
"I'm not going through with the deal. I've made up my mind."
"I knew you'd do this eventually. Who the fuck told you to fall for that no good punk? Stupid, stupid girl. If you don't go through with this, I'll personally tell Boyd what you've been up to. Either way, this isn't gonna be a 'happily ever after' like the movies. Go and get me what I need, and don't coming barging into my office during my weekly blowjob, okay?"
Chapter Thirty-One
Their relationship was truly amazing. Boyd had been getting along with Opal so well, and it seemed like nothing could ruin that now. To celebrate, he convinced her to let him treat her to an expensive date. "I know you don't want me throwing my money around, and you don't take things you haven't earned. But I'm glad you agreed to this date, baby." He kissed her and squeezed her into him as they walked into the five-star restaurant, Hermine’s.
It was beyond exclusive, and most people could only ever dream of actually getting a reservation, more than once a decade anyway. "I'll admit that I have been more and more tempted to let you spoil me. Besides, I've been earning it lately, don't you think?" She was talking about the wild sex they both shared. "Say, what time is our reservation here?"
"We're a little early actually. Why's that?" They walked into the lobby, which was fancier than a lot of people's entire homes, and probably larger too.
"Come with me," Opal said. She took Boyd's hand, looking around carefully to make sure no one was watching them. There were no staff members in the lobby, since the true entrance to the restaurant was through another doorway. "Quick, I have a fun idea."
They went into the bathroom, the women's bathroom too, and Boyd wasn't comfortable about the whole idea. "I really don't think I want to get caught in here, Opal. You know what that could do for my interview, right?"
"Is that interview the only reason you started to ease up on being bad? I know you really like it. I like it too now. Besides, if we get caught, I'll cover for you." She took him into a cubicle and sat him down on the toilet seat. "Take off your pants." She hiked her dress up as Boyd undid his pants. Opal straddled him, taking his already erect cock and slipping it into her wet pussy.
"You're such a bad influence," he said with a pleasurable groan. "Alright then, I'm convinced this was a good idea,' he added. Opal continued to make him think so, as she expertly worked her hips, moving herself up and down around his immense shaft. "You have a magical way about your movements, dear."
"And you have a magical cock. Fuck, I just want it inside me deeper than you could imagine." She threw her head back and leaned against the closed cubicle door. Riding him faster and faster with smooth acceleration, Opal eventually had herself making the sounds of a woman near climax. "Pull my hair," she said.
Boyd didn't need to be asked twice. "You like that?" He yanked at it and sucked on her exposed neck hard. "God, you taste so sweet." He came hard as she moaned with her own pleasure, also finishing.
Boyd spoke first “Fuck me, you’re too good at that.” Opal climbed off Boyd’s firm cock and adjusted her dress. “I’ll treat you to some more later. I want you to tie me up and use me as a sex toy.” A grin came across Boyd’s face. “You really have a way with words, don’t you?”
“What can I say, you’ve unleashed something in me. I can’t get enough!”
Opal left the stall to go and fix herself up in the mirror.
"The coast is clear, let’s go eat!" Opal said. They left the bathroom quietly, with no one seeing them. That is, until they went to go into the actual dining area.
"What were you doing in there?" said the host, a younger man. "Where you just," he looked around then whispered, "having sex in the bathroom?"
"Excuse me?" said Opal with a somewhat loud voice. "Are you asking me about my sex life?" she said much louder.
"What? No, of course not," said the host with a face growing a darker shade of red each second now. This was it, Boyd figured, this was when Opal finally had something to prove. Why else would she be making a scene? Another employee, and older woman, was approaching.
"Is there something wrong here?" she said. "Ma'am, do you have something you need to say, with all this inappropriate yelling?"
"Actually …" she said. This was it, the moment she'd been looking for. She'd tricked Boyd into doing something stupid and they'd gotten caught this time. All that being good just to get busted being bad in a restaurant restroom, how sad.
"No," Opal said finally. "There's no problem, is there, sir?" She looked at the host, who seemed most embarrassed of all. He shook his head with eagerness. "No, nothing at all. Please, let me show you to your seat. I assume you have a reservation?"
Chapter Thirty-Two
They ate their tiny but delicious entrees, and then enjoyed a moderate helping of luxurious red wine. "This is so good, and those little starters you ordered. I can't pronounce what they were. I just know I want them every day," said Opal. She was more excited about that night than she'd been letting on. And the whole sex in the bathroom thing, that was nothing but pure instinct. Doing crazy things with Boyd had become natural, and the sex was so good that she couldn't help herself.
But she'd also inadvertently set him up to look very bad in public, indecent exposure, probably some health code violations that the restaurant would want to pin in them. Yeah, it would have landed her in hot water, but it's not like Opal had millions of dollars at stake. It would just be a slap on the wrist for her.
As they enjoyed the wine, talking about how lovely the atmosphere in that romantic setting was, Opal thought about why she'd chosen to cover it up. And that was obvious—she was in love with Boyd. There wasn't a chance that she was going to hurt the guy now, even if that meant Carl would spill the beans and possibly break them up anyway. She'd rather that happen, than to really twist the dagger in Boyd's back by taking away the money his parents left him.
"Is something on your mind," Boyd finally asked. He'd been staring at her for some time, as she thought about all of those things and stared off into the silky liquid in her wine glass. It was giving her the most pleasant buzz too, making it easy to just mellow and reflect on her life. "Hey, Opal. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, really. I think everything is going to be okay, no matter what happens. Right?" She looked up at him, baring her soul through her look, despite the lack of words to make things clear.
"I'm glad you think so, and I know you've been enjoying the time we've spent together. You're the thing that made me want to change my life, Opal. In the end, there was nothing else that could show me that it's time to grow up, stop being a boy."
"I didn't realize I had such powers," she said vaguely.
"Please, will you do something for me, Opal?" He wasn't fishing around for a ring, so she was safe there. She couldn't imagine what she would do if he popped the question, right when she'd still been thinking about betraying him. Instead, he did the next worst thing. "Will you move in with me, and turn my lonely pad into a real home? Opal, I love you."
"What? Boyd, that's so sweet." Her eyes began to grow watery. "You deserve better than this, although some people might not agree. I didn't used to agree, but I do now. You're a good person, you just have a history that wasn't so good. I'd love to move in with you, but can I just go to the bathroom quickly?"
Opal did some soul searching while she fixed up her eyes and checked her makeup. With deep breaths, she went back to the table. "Boyd, I need to tell you something." And then Boy
d's phone started ringing.
"That's my emergency ringtone. I had it on silent, I swear. That's the only number that can get through. Can I take this?" he said, pressing answer as he spoke. Opal nodded.
"Hello?" he said. "What? You know where I am. It's not easy to get a table and—really? Okay, okay, okay." He hung up. Felicia has something really big, I mean could fuck things up forever big, judging from what she said.
"How long will you be gone?" Opal asked with a weak voice. She would actually be happy to get some time alone to compose herself.
"Just give me twenty minutes, okay? Felicia's office isn't far from here so that works out well." He kissed her with warmth and care, directing his love from one soul to the next. It hurt so badly that Opal wanted to scream. She sat alone, poured the rest of Boyd's wine into her own glass and drank the lot. Surely Felicia had finally found out what Carl's plan really was. It was only a matter of time, anyway. This was just a stupid dream, or a nightmare maybe, filled with selfish acts and no planning for the future.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Felicia had told Boyd over the phone that the news was about who Opal really was. It had cut him deep to hear that, but he was pretty sure he'd kept a straight face despite the shock. Jimmie was waiting for them outside still, so he got a ride over to the office Felicia kept in nearby. She was barely ever there, being on retainer for Boyd still. They both knew that one day she would need to go back to her other clients on a full time basis. And having the window front with her professional name on it, in such an upscale part of the city, that was worth more than any advertising could pay for.
"You feeling okay?" asked Jimmie. "Seem kind of quiet. You were happy as a pig in shit when you took Opal inside."