by E. D. Brady
Chad raised his eyebrows questioningly.
She shrugged. “I just guessed…based on the name, the Israeli connection, the alternative energy…thing…”
Chad’s mouth formed a small ‘O’ then broke into a smile. “My dear, I think you’re on to something,” he said in a classic Hollywood accent.
Shannon giggled.
“Seriously, girl, that’s some good reasoning.”
“Thank you. I just hope it helps,” she replied.
“If it leads me to a contact inside Omagal Inc., it will be a tremendous help,” he assured her.
Shannon couldn’t believe how much more at ease she was on this day as opposed to the day before. She had always been a shy girl, but when her father and brother died, she became so overwhelmed with people looking at her with pity, she withdrew even further. That was compounded even more when she and her mother ended up in a trailer park, with a bad reputation, outside Miami.
She relaxed into a pleasant, easygoing conversation with Chad as they skim through the pages before them.
Chad told Shannon all about growing up in an exclusive neighborhood in Greenwich, Connecticut. He told her that his parents owned an apartment on the Upper West Side that his father used to let him and his friends stay in occasionally, unchaperoned. He recalled fondly the parties and mischief that ensued due to the lack of parental supervision. Shannon could hardly believe how modest and down to earth Chad was for someone who grew up so wealthy.
“So do you plan to attend college at some point?” he asked casually.
Shannon felt her body stiffen. As it was, she didn’t like sharing details of her screwed up life with people, but that was a particularly sore spot. She had always been a straight A student and found school a breeze, so she longed to go forth and explore the world of higher education someday, but due to the horrible events that had taken place in her life, she doubted that she would be able to ever afford it. “I…I…” she shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage. “I’m not sure.”
“I mean, you don’t have to,” Chad replied, looking almost as uncomfortable as Shannon felt. “Your job is secure here no matter what you do. I just thought that if you were interested, maybe I could help you fill out some financial aid forms.”
Shannon felt a tiny glimmer of hope kindle inside. “Really?” she asked. She returned his gaze straight on.
“Sure,” Chad replied, shrugging his shoulders as though it was no big deal. “Maybe we have some sort of college tuition refund program here. We should have. I’ll talk to Mort about that.”
“Really?” Shannon said again, feeling the glimmer of hope turn into a flood. She fought the urge to jump up and throw her arms around Chad’s neck.
He shrugged again. “Sure,” he answered, nodding. “Why don’t you do a little research, find a school you’d be interested in and fill out some forms? We can work out a payment scheme later. As it is, you probably couldn’t attend school until next September so I think after Christmas would be time enough.”
“Thank you,” Shannon said quietly, feeling grateful tears well up. She turned her head to hide her emotions.
“Hey, it’s nothing,” Chad explained kindly.
Shannon got stuck into the job in front of her. She was determined to help this wonderful man anyway she could, and if getting a contact in Omagal Inc. was all she could do, she silently vowed to remain in that chair until she had accomplished it, even if it took her until the end of the year.
A little while later, Shannon sensed eyes on her once again. She turned quickly to see Chad staring at her, wearing a dark expression. She felt a knot form in her stomach instantly. To make matters worse, his bottom lip was between his teeth, a drop of blood cascading toward his chin. He lifted his hand and wiped the blood away then turned away from her, obviously shaken by whatever dark thought had overtaken him. “I’ll be right back,” he announced, avoiding eye-contact. “I seemed to have bitten my lip.”
Yeah, no shit.
Chad returned moments later, completely composed as though nothing had happened. He sat down and smiled shyly in Shannon’s direction.
They continued their research, but Shannon sensed that something between them was different. It was as if an uncomfortable fog had settled over the room. She remained quiet for the next forty minutes, until Chad announced that they should call it a day. “It’s after four and I have to meet my parents uptown for dinner at six,” he explained.
Shannon didn’t try to hide her disappointment. “Really?” she huffed. “I promised myself that I’d find the information you need.”
“There’s always tomorrow,” Chad replied teasingly.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Shannon answered.
“No, I was joking,” he countered.
“But I’m serious,” she said. “I really don’t mind doing more research tomorrow.”
“I can’t ask you to give up your entire weekend for me,” he scolded.
“I want to,” she insisted, nodding reassuringly.
“Well, if you’re sure, maybe we could meet at the library instead,” he suggested. “A change of scenery may help.”
“You got it,” she said with conviction.
“Oh and one other thing,” he added, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. “When someone works overtime with me, I usually buy them dinner, but since I’m meeting my parents tonight, I’m going to insist you take this money.” He handed her two twenties and a ten.
“Fifty dollars?” she screeched. “What is this for?”
“You’re going to go somewhere nice for dinner,” he explained “And before you argue, I’m not taking no for an answer. This is besides the overtime that will be in your check.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, stuffing the bill into the back pocket of her jeans. “It’s really kind of you.”
Chad gestured with his hand for her to be quiet. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
She nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.” As she walked toward the door, she could have sworn she heard him whisper ‘I’m not!’
Chapter 6
Chad rode the subway back downtown after dinner. He wanted time to collect his thoughts so as usual, he refused a ride in the limo. He loved his parents dearly, but sometimes they were just not on the same page.
The whole proposing to Donna conversation was rehashed, this time by his mother. Chad saw through their routine. It was only three nights ago that he’d had the conversation with his father, and he knew his father relayed every word of their conversation back to his mother, yet here his mother was, re-asking the same questions. It’s what they did. If one did not get the answers they wanted, the other would give it a shot. It never, ever worked, yet they still did it constantly.
“I don’t think so,” he answered his mother bluntly.
“Don’t you love her?” his mother pushed.
“I don’t really believe in love that way,” Chad explained. “You do know that it’s only a chemical reaction in the brain.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “So you’ll never marry?” she questioned.
“I probably will, someday, but it won’t be because I’m all gooey-eyed over some female,” he answered matter-of-factly. “At some point, I’ll probably want to have children.”
“Donna looks more than capable of giving you kids,” she said.
“At this point, I don’t even know if I’ll be staying with Donna much longer. While I won’t marry because I’m head-over-heels, I still want to like the person I end up living with.”
The conversation pretty much went downhill from there.
Chad sat on the six train and picked a piece of lint off the side of his khaki pants, thankful that he’d sent Shannon home when he did. The extra hour allowed him the time to go home and change for dinner.
Of course, that hadn’t really been his reason for doing it. That bizarre vision was so unsettling, he was almost afraid he’d be compelled to act upon it, a thought that made him disgusted with himsel
f.
It had started out innocently enough.
He brought up college to her because he was beyond impressed with how intelligent and sensible she seemed to be, but he knew right away he’d overstepped his boundaries. There was no mistaken the pain in her eyes when she tried to stammer out an answer. Once again, he assumed she was in some sort of financial trouble. Sure enough, the minute he brought up payment options, the girl’s face lit up with so much hope, it almost broke his heart. Her big beautiful eyes bore into him with so much gratitude, he had to fight the urge to reach out and stroke her cheek, to cup her face in his hands.
Then, out of nowhere, she was bent over his desk, completely naked but for a pair of pink satin panties that were pushed down around her hips. Chad stood up straight behind her, both hands twisted around her lovely hair, using it for traction as he fucked her mercilessly. The sound of her piercing screams, as he pummeled into her, echoed around his office. The only other sound was the slapping of his belly against her soft, lovely ass.
He looked at her profile as the image tormented him, filling him with unbearable need. He bit into his lip in an effort to distract from the pain in his groin, a pain so severe, he didn’t know if he’d be able to stand up and walk. When she turned her head and looked at him, he was sure she could see the monster inside him, the monster that wanted to ravish her, the monster that wanted to do dirty things to such a sweet innocent girl.
He shook his head, utterly disgusted with himself.
He pulled open the door to McDermott’s and scanned the room for Derek and Alex. Derek sat alone at the bar, talking to Kenny. Chad sauntered over and sat next to him.
“Hey,” Derek said, turning to face his best friend.
“Where’s Alex?” Chad asked.
Derek shrugged. “He said he may show up at some point. Want a beer?”
“I’d like a shot of tequila first,” Chad answered, running his hand through his hair. “Actually, make that two,” he amended.
Derek eyed him suspiciously. “You alright?” he asked.
Chad picked up the shot and knocked it back. He put the shot-glass on the bar and watched as Kenny refilled it with smooth, gold liquid. He picked up the newly filled glass and knocked it back again. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked sideways at Derek. “Not really!” he admitted.
Derek watched Chad with knitted eyebrows. “What’s up with you?” he asked. “You look like shit.”
Chad shook his head slowly.
“Chad, spill it!” Derek said forcefully. “What the hell is eating you?”
Chad blew a strong breath through pursed lips and rested his hands on the bar. “There’s this new receptionist at work—”
“A girl?” Derek echoed. “Are you interested in her?”
“Not in the way you think,” Chad admitted, turning to face his friend fully.
“I don’t get it?” Derek pushed. “Is she hot?”
“I’ve heard her described that way?”
“Dude, cut to the chase. What the hell is up?” Derek asked agitatedly.
“I can’t stop thinking about her,” Chad admitted then sucked his top lip into his mouth, letting Derek know by the gesture that it was serious.
“Go for it?” Derek advised, nodding his head in confirmation.
“I didn’t finish—
“I don’t really care what’s wrong with her as long as she’s not Donna,” Derek said.
“She just graduated high school,” Chad admitted flatly.
“Whoa!” Derek blurted out. He held his hands up in front, shoulder length. “Jailbait? What’s wrong with you, man?”
“Not exactly,” Chad replied, scowling at Derek. “She’s nineteen.”
“Oh, well in that case, you should just bang her already and get it out of your system,” Derek advised.
“Did you not here the part about her being nineteen?” Chad questioned. “I can’t do that, besides, I really like the girl—she’s a sweetheart.”
“I’m not following you,” Derek admitted. “You said you couldn’t stop thinking about her and that you really like her, so just get it out of your system already. Nineteen is perfectly legal. She’s old enough to vote and go to war. She’s old enough to drink alcohol in every country except this one. She’s an adult, Chad.”
“Like I said, I really like the girl,” Chad reiterated. “It’s like there’s two of me in my brain, the one that really like’s Shannon and wants to help her out, and then there’s the other person who wants to do some pretty inappropriate things to her, and they’re warring with each other.”
“What do you mean by helping her out?” Derek asked. “What’s wrong with the girl?”
“I’m not sure, but there’s something,” Chad explained. “She has this sadness about her, and I think she may be having some serious financial problems.”
“Wow,” Derek muttered. “Is she in some kind of trouble?”
Chad shrugged. “I don’t know for sure.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“Okay, so here are your options,” Derek continued finally. “You can take the girl out on a date, bang the shit out of her afterwards and be done with it, or you can play Mr. Noble and not do that. The latter is only problematic if you continue to look like you do now, like a guy who’s craving a drug fix. Do her or don’t do her, but if you choose not to, at least be happy with that decision. It’s really pretty simple.”
“First of all, who’s to say she’d even want me that way,” Chad piped in. “Second, there’s a big possibility that the girl’s a virgin.”
“At nineteen?” Derek asked skeptically. “Nowadays, I seriously doubt that. And as for your first statement, you always had a way of making girls fall at your feet if you want them to.”
“I can’t do it,” Chad said with conviction, staring off into space. “I couldn’t do that to her.”
“Then why the fuck are we even having this conversation?” Derek asked.
“Because I really, really want to,” Chad said under his breath.
⃰ ⃰ ⃰
The following morning, Chad jumped out of bed and headed to the shower feeling ten times better than he had the day before. Ten hours of sleep, for the first time in heavens-knows-when, could really change one’s outlook on life. Obviously little Shannon was a knock-out but the severe cravings from the day before had subsided, and Chad was confident that they were gone forever. That confidence was shattered the moment he saw her standing outside the library in a tight pale-pink sweater that clung to her large breasts, and with two braids in her hair, looking like a complete contradiction, like some sort of innocent vixen. Chad realized that Kyle had been right—it was a lethal combination, something that could easily confuse a man’s senses, make his brain all jumbled up until he couldn’t decide if he wanted to strip the girl naked and fuck her or play dress up and tea-party with her. Unfortunately, pondering this caused his penis to stiffen. He felt his legs shake slightly.
“Hi Chad,” she said with a huge grin.
“Shannon,” he replied with a nod. “Your hair looks cute.” ‘And your tits look gorgeous.’
“Thank you,” she answered. “I didn’t have time to wash it this morning, so…” she trailed off and shrugged.
They wandered into The Rose Main Reading Room and took seats facing each other at one of the extra-long tables.
The inappropriate attraction was definitely not gone, much to Chad’s dismay. As Shannon looked down, reading the last of the papers, Chad sat transfixed by her bottom lip that jutted out just enough to be extremely enticing. He longed to feel that lip between both of his, to lick it with his tongue, to graze it with his teeth. His mouth watered. Then his eyes skimmed her sweater. He wondered what it would feel like to caress her lovely breasts as he kissed her deeply. He shook his head suddenly, once again horrified by his disturbing thoughts.
After what seemed like hours, Shannon let out a tiny gasp then looked up at Chad with excitement in
her eyes.
“What?” he asked.
His question was met with a smug smirk. “Nika Barasch also owns a small investment firm by the name of Wider Investments that she started with a woman named Danya Lovitz. Misses Lovitz and Barasch graduated college together and work at Wider to garnishing investments for further exploration in wind energy…”
“And?” Chad asked quickly, sensing Shannon was saving the best for last.
“Danya Lovitz is a CEO at Omagal Inc.!” She beamed toward him, flashing her teeth in a triumphant smile.
“Is there a number?”
Shannon rolled her eyes. “A number, an email address, a physical address…all for Wider Investments.” She held up a piece of paper and wiggled her eyebrows at Chad, causing him to snort out a loud chuckle.
“You are a genius, Ms. Walsh,” he praised.
“That I am,” she admitted jovially.
“I could kiss you right now.” He blurted it out innocently enough, but then, realizing that he’d just voiced his deepest desire, turned away uncomfortably. When he turned back, Shannon was staring at him with an odd expression on her face, a face that was flushed pink with embarrassment. He knew that she’d picked up on what he hadn’t intended to put down. There was no way to disguise the awkward moment but to roll with it. “But perhaps you’ll let me buy you dinner first,” he said, smiling shyly. “I owe you at least that.”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess you do.” Then her pretty face broke out in a huge, sincere smile.
Chapter 7
“This place has the best linguini vongole in all of Manhattan,” Chad said, pulling open the door and gesturing for Shannon to walk in before him. “Plus the staff is really nice.”
They rode the subway downtown to Tribeca, passing Chad’s apartment building on the way to Mario’s Italian Bistro. Chad explained that although it was a lovely, intimate spot with cloth napkins and candlelight, they were fine in jeans as most of the clientele went casual.