by Pinki Parks
Tristan followed her down the hall until she stepped inside of the bedroom. Ava turned her head slightly and said, “This is my-”
“Don’t turn around.” He pressed himself against the back of her and wrapped his arms around her. His lips danced over the back of her neck, and his teeth nibbled against her earlobe.
Chapter 8
Ava crossed one leg over the other as she watched the men lean forward and flex their bodies. A man lumbered onto the small stage, his sinewy arms curled and pumped the biceps into balls of steel. Her legs trembled as she watched his pecs flexed as he moved his arms into a new position. The women that sat on either side of her erupted into applause, and Ava’s eyes eagerly searched the room as Tristan made his way onto the stage.
She didn’t think that she’d be provided with an explanation for their fun the day before. It’d been impossible to tell when she ran into the street and walked alongside him in Central Park, but Tristan’s lean arms and finely sculpted abs had come from 12 months of body building. He’d finally reached the appropriate weight to do his hobby competitively six weeks earlier, and Ava’s mouth salivated when he invited her to see him present.
You’re on a roll, Ava. It’s one thing for a woman your age to sleep with a younger man, it’s another for him to look anything like that. Ava smashed her teeth into her bottom lip as Tristan put his arms behind his head, bent his torso and flexed his abs. His legs flex outward one extended, while the other twisted to the side, which displayed the crunch of the smaller muscles to the side of his ribs. Every muscle in his calves and ass worked in unison to create a picture that almost made Ava want to ask the woman beside her to stop gawking. But she smiled in delight that they would be envious of her if they knew Tristan was her boyfriend.
Ava’s eyes slid over to the woman that was only a few years younger than her at most, her eyes were set in a lust stare as Tristan torqued his body and pumped his biceps. A rush of giddy excitement gathered in Ava’s chest, if she chose to keep this little fantasy of hers going, she’d be the woman sliding underneath a coveted bodybuilder.
Tristan’s grunt bounced off of the walls as he pumped his pecks to end his session. His tanned, oiled body glistened in the light. Ava’s eyes followed him as he walked off the stage with a contained curve off the corner of her lips from a smile only he could see.
The crowd erupted into applause, and Ava imagined how it would feel to sit in the stands every weekend, watching the oil glistened on his chest and arms as he posed nearly nude in front of everybody.
Her skin felt as if it were on fire, she rose to her feet and flashed Tristan a smile as he came running towards her. He threw on a sweat shirt and tossed a frayed towel over his shoulder; her eyes caught a hint of the chocolate brown skin of his nipple. Ava grinned and said, “So, is this what you do when you’re not waiting outside of my office?”
Tristan grinned and slung his arm over her shoulders as they walked towards the door. His skin felt hot against hers and carried the musky scent of sweat. When she closed her eyelids, she saw the way his defined abs flexed when they made love, and the strength behind his touch as he tossed her around.
Tristan’s voice pulled her out of her reverie. “I’ve been doing this for a while. Everyone has a set idea about bodybuilders, they think that we’re just meatheads, but I’ve spent so long working towards my body-”
“You did well!” Ava asked. They moved towards the door and Tristan held it open, they stepped into the cold and Ava batted away the urge to implore Tristan to put on a coat. Nothing would stand out more than his brawny arms as they waited for the car to pick them up.
Tristan replied, “I’m glad you had fun” his voice trailed off as his eyes connected with hers. Ava’s heartbeat quickened, and she whipped her head towards the street in front of them. The car from the ridesharing app was moving towards them, and she leaned against Tristan. “This was nice,” she said.
The car stopped in front of them and Ava pushed away from Tristan and moved towards the street. Her heel scraped against the sidewalk as Tristan hooked his hand underneath her arm. Tristan chuckled and delivered a swift kiss to her temples before he said, “I’ll call you.”
Chapter 9
The snow descended from the sky in heavy, thick blankets. Ava’s eyes followed the rush of snowflakes as they landed on top of the rooftops of the buildings below. Ava crossed one leg over the other, the fit of the pencil skirt that she wore was unforgiving. She winced as she pressed against her inner thigh, but a smile snuck its way onto her face, disrupting the serious expression that she wore.
She’d found out yesterday that blue and purple bruises were peppered along the back of her thighs and her ass. It was like a delicious secret that she was keeping to herself. I’m sleeping with a twenty-year-old. Tristan hadn’t limited their fun to the shower, or to the bed. He’d christened the floor of her bedroom, one of the spare rooms down the hall when she gave him the tour, and the expensive, l-shaped sofa in her living-room. Ava made a mental note to get the sofa cleaned. Her fingers wandered to her lips, and she stroked her finger along her bottom lip. A thick coat of bright red lipstick erased the evidence of the fun she’d had over the weekend with Tristan once again.
Ava leaned back in her chair and extended her arms into the air, her muscles popped and her eyes rolled towards the ceiling. Although she was aching and bruised, the thought of what it might feel like to be underneath him again or pressed up against the stone covered wall in the shower hovered in the back of her mind. Ava swept her hands over neck and brought her hair forward. She was closer to Valeria than any other employee underneath her, but she didn’t want to invite any questions about her weekend by letting one of several hickeys go uncovered.
He comes off so sweet, and sensitive. He is passionate under the sheets. Ava pushed her chair out and did a double take towards the snow that fell outside. Navigating the crowded sidewalks would be miserable right now and given that her usual stride was already compromised by the bruises on her thighs, she couldn’t risk the embarrassment of falling on her ass and being on the front page of some blogger’s website.
The lock clicked and Valeria’s boots pressed against the floor. Ava turned her head and said, “Yeah?”
Valeria cleared her throat and said, “I was wondering what you wanted to do for lunch today,” she stepped forward until she stood beside Ava, “I can’t imagine that you’d want to walk in that,” she shook her head and a low whistle slid past her teeth. “Man, I miss living in California sometimes.”
Ava grinned and said, “New York is a great city. The winters will grow on you.”
Valeria crossed her arms over her chest and whined, “It’s going to be a nightmare to catch a cab in this weather. I bet all of the cabbies are hiding somewhere so that they don’t have to drive in this.”
Ava chuckled and an airy chuckle came from Valeria as well. Valeria screwed her face up in a quizzical expression and leaned forward, “You seem more relaxed these days.”
Ava made an attempt to adopt her usual no nonsense expression, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. She turned to Valeria with a wide grin and said, “I’ve been relaxing more. I had a lovely weekend and I didn’t have much time to think about work.”
Valeria nodded and said, “I’m glad. You usually seem so stressed out- sorry, I’m involving myself too much.” Valeria allowed herself a nervous laugh as she tucked her hair behind her ear. The bright blue streak that was there before had been replaced by a whimsical shade of pink.
She doesn’t even worry about what it could do to her hair, or how it might look to some older people in the office. She’s so carefree. Ava had never been the sort of person to dye her hair on a moment’s notice or even take off on a luxury vacation, despite her ability to spend weeks, if not months in the best place that she could think of.
Ava turned away from the window and said, “Why don’t you order lunch for everyone? From that sushi place. Tel
l them that they can have whatever they like.”
Valeria’s wide-eyed stared was not missed by Ava. “Whatever they want? You want me to charge it to the company account?”
Ava slipped away from Valeria and walked around the other side of her desk. She pulled zipper down on her leather bag and withdrew her platinum credit card. “Here.”
“That sushi place is one of the most-”
Ava shook her head, “It’s fine. It’s a treat. Every person in the building.”
Valeria looked down at the card and said, “T-Thank you?”
Ava shrugged and settled into her office chair. “No problem.”
***
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Ava shrieked. With an animalistic growl, she swept her hands over the empty, disposable sushi containers that covered her desk. Valeria threw her hands out in front of her and Ava directed her gaze to the floor.
She focused on the bright red pumps that covered her feet. 10….9….8….7… Ava held her trembling hands out in front of her and exhaled, “I’m sorry about that, Valeria.” Ava walked around the other side of her desk and shut the door to her office. She reached up and shook the strings that dangled above her, and the blinds fell on all sides of her office.
Ava inhaled and moved over to the see-through door of the mini fridge that sat in the corner. She pulled a bottle of spring water off of the top shelf and sighed before turning to Valeria, “Do you want one?”
Valeria’s mouth fell open, then closed, then open. “Do you have any scotch?” She blurted.
Ava narrowed her eyes and a bubble of laughter rose up and out of her chest. “You’re right,” she set the water bottle onto the edge of the desk. “We should be drinking.” She returned to mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of scotch. Ava hooked her fingers into two of the glasses that rested on the shelf above the mini fridge, and she returned to her desk. Her hands trembled as she poured a generous amount of scotch into each glass and handed one to Valeria.
Valeria took a long sip and set her glass on top of Ava’s desk. “Okay, what are you going to do? He’s clearly trying to fuck with you.”
Ava rolled her eyes and drained most of her glass. “No, no, no. He’s trying to get back at me because I wouldn’t fuck with him. He tried his best to steer things away from the business meeting we were supposed to be having and I think I bruised his ego,”
Ava leaned over her desk and leaned towards her computer screen. The five lines of text that had been sent by Howard Bell only incensed her more the second time. Her hand formed a fist by her side, and she read, “Ava, it’s been a pleasure negotiating with you and your team each week. I’ve decided that our real estate needs can be better handled by a company that’s willing to be more of a team player, and more accepting of the relaxed culture here. If you should change your mind about the way you’d like to go about business, I’m always ready for your direct call at 212-304-558.”
Ava sank into her chair and said, “There’s nothing I can do. I’ve been working on him for a while now and that dinner was our first in person meeting after seven months of emailing.” She refilled her glass and took a long sip. She turned towards Valeria, “That was a three-million-dollar account.”
Valeria shook her head and cupped her hands around her glass. She took a small sip and said, “It’ll be fine. You know that everyone here appreciates the opportunity and everything that you do.”
Ava pressed her hand against her forehead. A stress headache was bubbling up from her neck, and she smoothed her hand over the back of her neck. She flipped her watch towards her and sighed, “Look, it’s a little after four. Why don’t you go home for the day?”
Valeria blinked and said, “But the rest of the building isn’t going to be leaving until five. Are you sure?”
Ava nodded. “Yes. The rest of the building isn’t my personal assistant. Forward all of your calls and turn on your out of office message.” She rose to her feet and walked over to the coat rack. She shoved both of her arms inside and said, “I’m heading out for the day. If I’m here for a second longer, I’m going to do something I regret,” she snatched her phone off of her desk and hurried towards the door. She held it open for Valeria and said, “Enjoy the rest of your evening,” Ava’s guttural swears moments before echoed in the back of her mind, “in fact, just come in late tomorrow. Or don’t come at all, take tomorrow off too, if you want.”
Ava pulled the door open and broke into a brisk walk down the stairs. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a text to Eric. The curious eyes of employees that worked on the first floor were glued to her as she watched the cars fly by. Men and women shuffled past the window of the realty office, her eyes narrowed as her eyes followed two well-dressed men down the street.
Damn it, Ava. Now I remember why I don’t do one-night stands. It occurred to her that she’d been scanning the crowd in the hopes of seeing Tristan walking past the building, or better yet, waiting outside of the office in hopes of talking to her. She breathed a sigh of relief and shoved her phone inside of her pocket as Eric pulled up outside of the building.
Ava maneuvered around a group of women and slid into the backseat. Eric’s eyes met hers in the rear-view mirror as he steered the car into traffic. “Rough day?”
“That’s a fucking understatement.”
Eric’s eyes snapped open, and he kept his eyes glued to the road as he drove through the city. Ava sighed and said, “I’m sorry. I just found out that we’re not going to get this deal that I’ve been working on for months. Completely blindsided me.”
Eric’s serious expression smoothed into a sympathetic smile. He nodded and said, “That’s shitty. Straight home, then?”
“Please.”
The rest of the ride home was fairly uneventful, Ava couldn’t help but keep her fingers connected to her phone, and she sensed that Eric would be relieved if she didn’t unload on him. The car rolled in front of her apartment building before she knew it. She reached into her wallet and handed Eric two one hundred-dollar bills. “Thanks for putting up with me all the time.”
Eric’s hand hovered above the money before he took it out of her hands. He shook his head, “I’m not putting up with you. It’s a pleasure. Feel better, Ava.”
Ava smiled and slipped out of the car. She took slow steps towards the entrance to the building. The bubbly redhead that stood behind the front desk gave her a bright smile as she walked in.
“Good Afternoon, Miss Lawrence!”
Ava sent her a polite nod and picked up the pace towards the elevator. Once she made it upstairs, she kicked each heel off of her feet. She pushed her hands against the skirt that she wore until it fell around her ankles. She winced as she pulled off the rest of her clothes.
Ava stood in the middle of her living room in her bra and panties. She ran fingers along the edge of the plum colored underwear and caught her reflection in the window across from her. The woman that stood in the middle of the room looked haggard and run down. Her hair hung limply around her shoulders, and she sighed as she pulled her fingers through it. I’ll have to ask Valeria to schedule a hair appointment for me. Ava sighed and moved down the hall.
The glow of the recessed lights in the kitchen ceiling illuminated the floors. Ava walked to the end of the kitchen and pulled out a large bottle of red wine. She grabbed a wine glass from the rack beside her and sighed. “I think I’ve earned a vintage bottle of wine today…” She took the cork off and poured it into the glass until it filled it halfway.
Ava’s hand hovered in the air before she filled the glass to the brim. She took a long sip of wine, the aged blackberry and grape notes spread across her tongue and numbed parts of her mind. Her stocking covered feet moved across the kitchen, and she moved towards the bathroom.
She threw her hand against the light switch and set her wine glass on the counter. Ava reached behind her and undid the snaps on her bra. She stepped out of her underwear and turned on
the faucet above the tub. As the warm water pelted the floor of the tub, she heard a faint ding from the living room.
With a heavy sigh, she moved back to the living room and grabbed her phone off of the floor. A message from Valeria floated across the screen, I locked up your office. Sorry we took such a huge loss today.
Ava’s eyes were trained on the phone as she walked back into the bathroom. She took another sip of wine, this one made her chest feel warm in the center. Ava’s fingers flew across the screen, It’s okay. Me too. Have a good night. Sorry if I worried you today.
She turned her phone on silent and set it on the edge of the tub. Ava sank into the tub as the water spilled over her thighs. Her muscles cried out in relief as the warm water massaged all the areas that Tristan had touched the night before. Her head fell back against the tub, and her hair spilled into the water.
“Ah,” Ava sank into the tub and squeezed her eyes shut. The water roared in her ears, and the alcohol was starting to work its magic. Her hands sat by her sides before she pressed her fingertips into one of the bruises left by her roll on the floor with Tristan.
The water that surrounded her threatened to spill over the edge of the tub. Ava reached forward and pushed her hand against the black faucet handle. The water rested just above her nipples, and she smiled as she pinched each of them.
Ava leaned over the edge of the tub and took another sip of wine.
Her phone screen was bright, and she scowled as the events of the afternoon came rushing back to her. Ava reached forward and hooked her fingers underneath the phone. She inhaled and tapped her finger against Tristan’s recently saved contact in her phone.
Ava’s fingers worked fast enough so that she could accomplish her goal before every reason why she shouldn’t be doing what she was doing crept up from the back of her mind. She typed, Need a break from studying? Then, she quickly backspaced each letter. It’s better to call him, she thought.