by T V Hartwell
After they both came, Jake, still hard, remained inside of Amanda as he continued to hold on to her in a tight embrace from behind while she held on to his arms just as tightly, feeling equally disinclined to let go. The stud had more left in him to give, still boiling with heat and desire for his girl. And so they started the foreplay dance again, resuming the rhythm of swaying from side to side, not making a sound, as the water from the shower continued to pour down upon them.
When they both were depleted and satisfied, they stepped out of the shower. As Amanda started to wipe herself down, rubbing the towel against her back, Jake pulled the towel away from her to perform the task himself. He tenderly wiped his bride-to-be down as if he were her daddy and she his little girl. He finished her back and then came around to her breasts and then wiped down her abdomen, past her midsection, down to her legs and feet before rising back up to face her as he wiped her sex with gentle care and attention. He couldn’t resist the urge any longer to kiss her lips, so he did so softly without lingering for too long. “I love you,” he said.
I love you too, Amanda said without actually uttering the words, her moistened eyes conveying her emotion more than adequately.
“You ready for bed?” he asked as he began to kiss Amanda’s clean, supple, beautiful skin.
“Umm-hum,” she moaned and closed her eyes as Jake bent down to kiss her breasts, her navel and then down to her pelvis to inhale the fresh scent of her sex before getting down on one knee to kiss it too, licking and biting her clit with his tongue and lips. With it still being swollen and appearing in need of further attention, he picked Amanda up and carried her off to bed to finish the job until they both passed out, exhausted and spent.
Chapter 34 Happiness Interrupted
After a roller coaster weekend filled with stress, jealousy, sadness, and anxiety with doses of fun, hints of lechery, and then finally love and connection, Jake awoke feeling content and renewed as he returned to work the next morning. He had been expecting the worst before he spoke with Amanda, and to learn that the truth behind her mystery illness was that she had battled anorexia came as a huge relief. While a serious, life-threatening illness, he couldn’t comprehend why anyone would think she still had the condition. In six years, he had seen no sign of the illness’s lingering effects. Amanda was indeed thin, he concluded, but not in a way that would be considered unhealthy or dangerous according to today’s standards. For as long as he had known Amanda, her weight had remained roughly the same, give or take a little here and there, but no dramatic swings or fluctuations. He had seen and inspected Amanda’s body more closely than anyone over the last few years and if she appeared to be sickly or in any way delusional about her weight or body image, he of all people would have known about it. Besides, she was a foodie and if anything, pushed him to eat. As far as Jake was concerned, Amanda was perfectly well, and he got his happy back. End of story.
Jake’s assistant, Patti, popped in to say hello after she arrived to the office. “Hey, sweetie! Welcome back!” Patti was a little more than twenty years older than Jake. A seasoned and experienced legal assistant/paralegal who had worked at the firm for more than ten years, Patti supported Jake and two other junior associates, but she adored and liked Jake best and didn’t bother to hide it. He was always very kind toward her and she considered him a complete and total gentleman, and in return, she looked after him with motherly care and protection.
“Hey, Patti, come on in. Have a seat.”
“Look at you, all tan and bronzed,” she said, smiling broadly as she sat down in the chair in front of Jake’s desk and crossing her legs, eager and ready to get the scoop. “So how was Vegaaaaaaasss?”
“It was awesome. A little crazy at times, but awesome. There were about ten of us in total and it was a blast from start to finish. My best friend got this amazing suite at The Palms…”
“Oh, yes. I know it. I’ve stayed there.”
“Oh yeah? Well, we stayed at The Palms and my friend Kirby hooked us up and got us The Kingpin Suite. You should see this place. It’s really amazing. It has its own bowling alley, a pool table, a full bar. We even had our own bartender and twenty-four-hour butler service. And the size. The place is huge. I mean, really huge. Like 4500 square feet.”
“Wow, that is huge.”
“It was pretty cool. We had another suite that we used mostly for sleeping, but we spent most of the time in The Kingpin Suite and that’s where my bachelor party was held too.”
“That sounds fabulous. And you obviously lay out by the pool from the looks of things. How was the weather?”
“Unbelievably hot. It is August after all, and Vegas in the summer feels like you’re in an oven.”
Patti laughed. “Well your tan looks great and not overdone. You’re going to look so handsome in your wedding pictures. I wish I could tan like that, but it takes me hours, and then I get all red and blistery.”
“Fortunately, I tan pretty easily so I didn’t have to lay out there for too long. But, hey, did I mention I got a massage too?”
“No! You did?”
“Yeah, it was really nice. Don’t do that very often.”
“Good for you. Ohhhh, I just love going to the spas in Vegas,” Patti said, lifting her shoulders as if savoring the memory of her last visit. “I’ve been to nearly all of them. Did you get a facial too?”
“No, no facial. But the massage was great. A full sixty-minute Swedish massage.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
“It truly was. Just what the doctor ordered,” Jake said, leaning back in his chair and resting his hands behind his head.
“Okay. Now tell me about the bachelor party. You said you had it at the hotel? I hope you didn’t let anyone take pictures… Oh, and ooooh, where did you eat? Wait, tell me where you ate first,” she said, waving her hands excitedly.
“Well, we ate at a few places, but the highlight was definitely eating dinner at Artisan Fine Steaks. Have you been there?”
“No. But I think I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s fairly new. It’s located on the Strip at…” Jake paused when he looked up and saw Mike Wallace appear at his door with a stern and serious look on his face.
“I need to talk with you for a second,” Mike said without a hello or a good morning. When Mike didn’t offer a proper greeting upon seeing a subordinate for the first time on any given day, that usually meant that he had something urgent or serious on his mind and didn’t have time for pleasantries.
Patti turned to look behind her upon hearing Mike’s voice. “Oh! Hi, Miiiike,” she said in a high pitched, happy tone.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Mike said.
“Oh, no, no. Go right ahead. Let me get up from here so you two can talk,” Patti said as she rose from her seat. “Do either of you want a coffee or something? I’m going to make a quick run downstairs to Starbucks.”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks, Patti,” Jake said.
“Not for me. Thank you,” Mike said.
When Patti exited Jake’s office, Mike closed the door behind him and remained standing as he looked at Jake.
“What’s going on?” Jake said.
“I spoke with Rick Climent after our conversation last Thursday, and I informed him that you were naturally, and I must admit, rightfully skeptical of the claims about Amanda’s health and that you simply were unwilling to go along with such an extraordinary request with so little information—regardless of the amount of money offered.”
“What did he say?”
“He has requested to meet with you, together with me, and he wants to do so as soon as possible.”
Jake looked at Mike with an exasperated expression on his face. “Mike, I spoke with Amanda over the weekend and we talked about her medical history and any illnesses she’s
had—”
“I asked you not to do that.”
Jake sat for a few seconds, stunned at Mike’s gall. She’s my fiancée. I can talk to her about whatever I fuckin
g please, he wanted to say to his boss, but didn’t. “It was more of an open ended, casual conversation about both of our medical histories and our families’. I didn’t directly ask her or mention anything to her about what we discussed. All I did was ask her about her medical history since it’s something we’d never discussed much before in the past.”
“Did she reveal to you her condition?”
“She doesn’t have any sort of condition, Mike. I’m sure of it. She doesn’t even know her blood type.”
“Jake, I told you Amanda is in denial about her condition, which is why she wouldn’t have told you anything about it.”
Jake sighed and shook his head in disbelief. “But she told me she dealt with anorexia in high school. She was honest and up front about it and the issues which she believes triggered it. There was no denial. Is that what this is about? Do they think she’s starving herself again?”
“No. Anorexia is not the condition of which I am speaking.”
Jake stared at Mike completely perplexed as feelings of despair began to overtake him once again.
“Listen, Jake, I think you should meet with Rick and let him tell you this information firsthand. I’ll be there to support you and I believe the severity of the situation will become clear to you and all of the questions you have will be answered.”
“So are you guys going to tell me what this condition is? Because until I know, don’t expect me to cooperate. I am not walking away from Amanda, Mike.”
“I understand that this is very difficult and the lack of information makes it hard to believe. But I am convinced that once you hear Rick out, you will have the information you need to make the best decision for both you and Amanda. I know that Amanda’s well-being is your primary concern, and I can assure you that her family has the very same concern—they’re seeking your partnership, Jake, not only seeking it, but relying upon it to bring about a solution that will help her to get the care she needs so that she can survive. This is not about walking away, it’s about intervention and you have a crucial role to play. Perhaps the most crucial.”
Jake looked down as if staring into an abyss. “So how soon can we meet with Rick?”
“Given the urgency of this situation, I think it can be arranged as early as today.”
“I have several client calls already lined up, back to back this afternoon and I need to prep this morning.”
“Maybe we could meet with him later. I’m thinking after five would be better. I know how eager he is to speak with you and address the situation as quickly as possible, so let me talk with him to confirm a time. After five works for you?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” Jake said with a sense of foreboding.
Chapter 35 Who’s To Blame?
“Hello, Jamie,” Rick said as he answered the call. He had Jamie Doyle’s number on speed dial now that they were partners in crime, colluding together in what they believed to be a noble and necessary effort to prevent the wedding of their children to each other. Still, that didn’t mean he was glad to hear from her.
“Rick, what’s going on?” she demanded, her voice filled with fear and desperation.
“Jamie, everything is falling into place as it should. Don’t worry.”
“But Jake just had his bachelor party this past weekend in Vegas with his brother and a bunch of friends and this coming weekend is Amanda’s bridal shower and her bachelorette party. To me, the only thing that looks like it’s falling into place is their wedding.”
“Jamie, I am aware that these things are happening, but I feel that we are very close to closing the deal on this. I just need you to be patient.”
“Patient! I have been very patient. You told me nearly two months ago that you would take care of this and now the wedding is less than two weeks away. And all of these people are coming, people from across the country, bringing gifts that will have to be returned, it’s going to make such a scene now, people will expect an explanation.”
“Well, whose goddamn fault is that? Don’t lecture me about patience, Jamie. You didn’t come to me about Jake being my son, allegedly, I might add, until twenty-six years after he was born. To be more exact, you waited to tell me until two months before he was to marry my daughter, allegedly his half-sister. You have harbored this secret for years, watching them grow closer and closer without doing anything to prevent this from happening. They should have been broken up years ago.”
“I tried, Rick. God knows I tried.”
“What? What did you do?”
“I tried to convince Jake not to see Amanda from day one. From the moment he introduced her to me. But he was unstoppable. And so was she. Then after they broke up I never suspected they’d get back together. I thought it was over. I thought all of my persuading and arm twisting had finally worked. But I guess Amanda kept persisting and maneuvered her way back into Jake’s life.”
“Whoooa. Wait a minute. Don’t put this on Amanda, Jamie. All she did was fall in love. Any mistakes that were made were made by you and me.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“As I understand it,” Rick continued, talking over her, “it was Jake who came begging Amanda for reconciliation and it was he who wanted to get back with her. Amanda had moved on and was already with another guy—one we quite liked I might add.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way, Rick.”
“Well that’s how you made it sound. You act like she manipulated her way back in after you heroically freed your son from her grasp. But I know what you did and I know that you haven’t treated my daughter very well over the last several years, which I don’t appreciate by the way. Let’s not forget that this situation is of your own making. I’ll take my share of the blame, but neither Jake nor Amanda is responsible for this. They are a byproduct of a brief affair between the two of us nearly twenty-seven years ago that should have never happened.”
“I know, I know,” Jamie said, her voice breaking and starting to cry. “I’m sorry. I know this is my fault. I’m just so worried. So worried about how this is going to affect Jake and his future. I’m afraid this whole ordeal is going to crush him,” she said, sobbing. “Please…please…”
Rick sat silently until she was able to collect herself. He felt pity for her predicament as a mother but also resentment that she had allowed the situation to spiral so out of control. He could not bring himself to offer her any words of comfort.
“Please be gentle on Jake, Rick. Please be gentle. He’s your son too. He’s our son. Regardless of our mistake, he’s a beautiful boy and a wonderful son. You would be so proud of him if you had watched him grow up from a young boy into the caring person he is today. He’s like you in many ways.”
“I know Jake has been a good son to you and Tom. And I know that he loves my daughter and has treated her with the upmost respect and kindness and for that I am very grateful. I will do everything I can to minimize the suffering and pain that will be visited upon him as a result of this unfortunate ordeal. I know he doesn’t deserve this, but neither does Amanda who will suffer just as much.”
“Thank you, Rick,” Jamie said, sniffling through the phone and wiping her eyes. “I don’t know how I would get through this without you. I can’t thank you enough—”
“I need to take another call now, Jamie, but I will be back in touch with you once the deal is done and I have received confirmation that the wedding is off.”
“Yes. Okay. Bye now. Bye, bye,” she said in a broken whisper that sounded haunting and sad.
Chapter 36 The Art of Deception
Jake arrived at The California Club at 6:00 p.m. sharp to meet with Mike Wallace and Rick Climent. Mike had suggested to Rick that they meet over drinks in a more relaxed setting than an office conference room. Jake had been indifferent to the venue—he only wanted answers.
Jake did his best to maintain an air of confidence and self-possession, as he made the short commute across the street to the members-only club steps from his office. How
ever, his stomach was churning as the harsh reality was sinking into his psyche with each agonizing footstep he took toward the club’s front doors. He’d been in this club for so many happy occasions, now he was coming to do battle. The father of the bride, the man whose blessing he had sought and received before asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage, was now coming to rescind the blessing. To literally take it back.
He tried to convince himself that no matter what Mike and Rick would reveal to him about the state of Amanda’s health, he would persuade them that it would be far better if he stuck it out with her the way he would do if they were already married. He didn’t care about Mike’s claim that Amanda’s condition could pose a risk to him as well. He loved Amanda inside and out. They were soulmates and there was nothing that they could not work toward overcoming together as a team. Not even a life-threatening illness. Mike said that this was not about walking away, but about intervention and that is exactly what Jake took to heart. Jake knew how much Amanda loved him and that she was as eager as he was to start a family of her own with him. He wanted that too, but he would always put her needs first. If she needed intervention, he felt that he was the key to its implementation and success. Therefore, he felt that he had the upper hand.
When Jake arrived Mike and Rick were already there huddled together at a table on the club’s expansive outdoor terrace. It was a balmy evening and still fairly bright outside as the lights of the downtown skyscrapers twinkled around them in the twilight. As Jake walked over toward them, Rick and Mike stood to greet him. It was the first time Rick and Jake had seen each other in a little more than two months. The last time was in June when Jake had joined the Climent family for a little R & R at their Malibu beach house.
That was just before Rick had been told that Jake was his son. Now Rick looked at Jake a little differently, searching for anything to verify Jamie’s claim. In the absence of a paternity test, he wasn’t 100 percent convinced that Jake was indeed his son, but he nevertheless felt a sense of fatherly compassion and sympathy for him.