The Fling

by Rebekah Weatherspoon

  “What did you do?”

  “I called Ronnie to see if she had any idea what was going on and she and Noelle came over and helped me load up my things.”

  “And what happened to Vivian?”

  “Well, the Internet was able to tell us her real last name was Vonburn, but now that she’s married it’s Mainer.” Oksana let Annie process that information for a moment seeing another light bulb go off in her eyes.

  “You mean Vonburn as in Vonburn Center?” Oksana nodded. “Holy shit. Her family invented money.”

  “And they pioneered the railroad and the oil industry among other things.”

  “What did she tell you they did?”

  “She said her dad was a lawyer and her mom was a teacher and she’d gotten into Princeton on a scholarship. There’s a building at Princeton named after her grandfather.”

  “Jesus. So—”

  “So I never heard from her again. I called her and her phone was cut off. She never responded to my e-mails. After a while, the account started bouncing the e-mails back.” And like that, the woman she thought was the love of her life vanished and Oksana was left with years of wondering why she’d been a part of Vivian’s sick game.

  “This”—Oksana pointed to the images of her naked body on the laptop—“was just another part of her escape, I think. She could never pose nude or even get a tattoo without serious repercussions. She lived that life through me.”

  “Do you think it would have worked if she had told you the truth?”

  “I don’t know. She gave me everything I wanted in our relationship. We never fought, she always said yes, but after she was gone I could see that she was going out of her way to make me too happy, as if she knew she wouldn’t stay and she wanted me to be as happy as possible when we were together. There were little things though. We all saw them, like she never had a bad day ever. No one is in a good mood all the time. Once, though, when I brought my toys for the first time, she hesitated.”

  “Wasn’t a big fan of your monster dildos?”

  “I don’t think so. She wouldn’t admit to it, but I could tell she didn’t want to use them with me in bed. She did anyway. I just wish she had told me something. Noelle comes from the same kind of money too, not as old, but just as blue and plenty of it. Her family hates Ronnie, but she doesn’t care. They made it work.”

  “Oh, Sana.”

  “It’s not like I want her back or anything, but you understand now why I was a little hesitant to get involved with a girl from Laguna who was already engaged. You see why I want you to be sure about us.”

  “Yeah, sort of. So how did you end up at the gym?”

  “Once I realized Vivian really wasn’t coming back, I had a bit of a breakdown. Okay, it was a full-on crazyfest. Noelle thought yoga might help me find my center or something. It didn’t. It just gave me more quiet time to think about killing Vivian, but I became really tight with the instructor. I told her I was looking to try something new and she told me about a gym that was doing fitness certifications. She’d started training after a breakup herself so I figured why not.”

  “And it stuck.”

  “Meeting new people helped me get my mind off Vivian and the exercise helped me focus on myself. After I finished my certification, Ronnie introduced me to Paulo. He hired me at Elite and the rest is…the present?”

  “And now you’re stuck with me.”

  “Anne?” Oksana asked cautiously. Annie was the honest sort, and a little voice told Oksana that the truth would be something she didn’t want to hear. “Are you going to leave him?”

  “Yes. Yes, I am. I can’t imagine being without you. Jeff…” Annie puffed out a sad breath. “He isn’t right for me. He and I, we’re friends. We’re not in love. He doesn’t give me the honey bear giggly butterflies. He doesn’t make me feel good about gaining five pounds in a week.”

  “It all went to your tits. I’m sure of it.”

  “No.” Annie grinned. “It went to my stomach and face, but whatever. I am counting down the days until Jeff gets back so I can end things once and for all. I compare the two of you. I compare your family and friends to mine. I think it’s natural when you see what you’re missing.”

  Oksana moved Annie’s computer to the coffee table then slid to the floor between her legs. She felt Annie’s eyes on her as she spread her thighs and shuffled closer.

  “Are you nervous about talking to him?” Oksana asked.

  “No. I’m anxious. I want to get it over with and put it behind me so we can move on. What are you doing? We’re talking about our feelings.” Oksana had unzipped her jeans and was now in the process of taking off her own shirt and her bra.

  “Keep talking.” She leaned forward and settled her chin on her crossed arms in Annie’s lap. “You were saying?”

  “You play dirty.” Annie sighed before she stroked Oksana’s trimmed hair. “I used to ignore my feelings a lot, as recently as a few weeks ago. What I needed from friends. What I wanted in bed. I don’t have to do that with you. I was miserable planning the wedding, but how could I tell people that? Jeff is perfectly nice. He cares about me, and I mean, who else was there?”

  “You didn’t want more?”

  Annie hated that the question was even necessary, but it was.

  “You know, I did. When I met you, I started smiling in a way I hadn’t before. I wanted to go to the gym. The most exciting part about getting married was seeing you twice a week. I wasn’t worried about being bi or gay. I’m not now. I’ve never cared about that sort of thing. If I did, I’d still be in Laguna with fake even bigger boobs. I would be a trophy wife, like—” Annie stopped, then frowned.

  “Like who?”

  “Like my mom. She has no sense of self-worth. What Noelle said about those people, my mom is one of those people. She used to be my dad’s mistress.” Annie closed her eyes and pictured Taum.

  “His first wife died and she swooped in and nabbed that brass ring. I overheard her once bragging about snagging the wealthiest man in town under fifty. When I was Kat’s age, she told me that my boobs would be my ticket to a rich husband. The only reason she’s on board with Jeff is because he did this amazing spread for Vogue last year and she was able to brag about it to her faux-friends.” She’d never told anyone that before, not even Megan, who might have enjoyed that piece of information.

  “I think our moms would be best buddies. She said my hair used to be my glory. Vivian loved it too. It felt so good to shave it off,” Oksana said.

  Annie leaned down so their foreheads were touching. “You have to put your shirt back on.”

  Oksana tilted her head up so their lips were touching. “Why?”

  “Because we’re having a serious conversation and you’re making my butterflies horny.”

  “That’s the point,” Oksana whispered.

  Annie looked at her a few moments longer. She wanted to talk more, but there was something irresistible about being near Oksana, and if she started stripping, it was hard to focus on much else. It was still early in the afternoon and Annie had to come up with a budget for a possible production trip to Paris.

  Oksana leaned up a bit further and drew her tongue across Annie’s bottom lip. “Let’s go to bed.”

  “I have something to tell you first.” A simple truth that Annie didn’t think would matter until now. Oksana sat back, a wary look on her face. “My parents pay for my place too. I’m almost thirty. I have a good job and all I really pay for are my clothes and my food.”

  “That doesn’t bother me,” Oksana said. “I don’t pay rent at Baba’s.”

  “I know, but—”

  “Annie, the cost of real estate in Southern California is outrageous. At best, I thought you rented this place at a deal. I never thought you were paying a mortgage on a house this size in Venice. I know reality TV doesn’t pay that much.”

  “Oh.” Annie hadn’t anticipated Oksana to be so keen to that aspect of her situation.

  “If things go
south, like way south, just don’t shut me out. Okay? Tell me what’s going on. Tell me what to expect. That’s what I couldn’t stand about Vivian. It wasn’t that her life wasn’t a perfect fit for me. She never cared about me enough to let me in. She didn’t give enough of a shit about me to just leave me alone.”

  “Or maybe she never cared about herself enough to go after what she really wanted,” Annie said.

  “Maybe.” Oksana nodded toward the bedroom one more time. “I don’t want to talk anymore. Let’s go.”

  Annie stood and led the way down the hall, walking a bit slower when she felt Oksana’s hand on her waist. Oksana undressed Annie as they made their way to her bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake.

  Naked, Annie slid on top of the covers and waited for Oksana to follow. Annie rubbed her breasts as Oksana shucked out of her jeans, pinching her thick nipples to a peak.

  “Are those for me?” Oksana asked as she crawled over Annie. She didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she went straight for Annie’s lips.

  They kissed slowly as Annie stretched out on her back. She let go of her chest and starting pawing along Oksana’s skin. Their legs tangled together, a sweet pressure building in Annie’s clit and nipples.

  Oksana’s fingers found Annie’s pussy. She was wet, but not as wet as she wanted to be. Oksana was patient, caressing Annie’s entrance, massaging her wetness out of her. She moved down Annie’s body, licking and kissing her neck until she reached her breasts. She kissed along the top, licked in between the ripe curves. Annie’s moans filled the room.

  Annie could feel the temperature rising between her legs. Her heart was thumping. There was no need for comparisons anymore. There was no room for it. There was only Oksana.

  Oksana pushed a finger inside and then another. Annie reached for her breast and held it up for Oksana to suck. Oksana traced the tip with her tongue, sucked it between her lips until Annie arched and moaned again. It took a while, longer than Annie anticipated for her to come, but she enjoyed the ride. Oksana had the perfect touch. Her kisses were still electric, but Annie couldn’t seem to turn her mind off. She couldn’t focus on her pleasure. All her senses were tuned to Oksana. The feel of her skin and the skill of her tongue. Annie wasn’t chasing an orgasm, just more time with Oksana. She didn’t want the afternoon to end.

  It doesn’t have to, she realized. They could be together. This wasn’t part of the fantasy. They were together now, and all the wishes and dreams she’d had about Oksana had come true and doubled over into a rightness that couldn’t be matched. There was nothing keeping them apart anymore.

  Annie came, trembling beneath Oksana. Before she settled, she added her own fingers to the mix. She watched Oksana’s eyes as she stroked her clit.

  “Fuck me some more,” Annie whispered.

  Oksana obliged. She pulled her fingers out, just for a moment and traced Annie’s swollen lips below her clit. She was soaked now, her juices coating her pussy and her ass. Annie sighed as Oksana plunged her fingers back in, deeper, twisting against and stroking the right spots. Annie couldn’t hold her orgasm back this time. She came quickly and hard and nearly blacked out as Oksana drew her cum out of her. She squirted, just a little, but enough to make her jerk and cry out on the sheets.

  It was ages before she opened her eyes. Oksana was still touching her with gentle strokes up and down her thighs with her other arm wrapped around her waist.

  “Do you want me to get a strap-on?”

  “No. Why?” Annie panted.

  “I didn’t know if you missed being fucked that way.”

  “I like your fingers just fine. Come here.” Annie gripped Oksana’s hips and motioned for her to move up the bed. She didn’t stop until her knees were on either side of Annie’s head. Annie latched on to Oksana’s pussy with her mouth, drawing her wet lips in. She scraped her with her teeth, teased her with her tongue until Oksana started to move. Annie held on to her hips as Oksana rode her face. Her motions were fierce and jerking and some of the sexiest undulations Annie had ever experienced. She encouraged her. Annie cupped Oksana’s ass, rocking her back and forth, probing her hole with the sweetness that was spread all around. She devoured every inch, hoping in the back of her mind that at some point she would be enough to heal what Vivian had done. Would anything be enough for that sort of repair?

  Oksana spent into Annie’s mouth and she swallowed every available drop. She orgasmed again, rolling her forehead against the wall as she screamed Annie’s name. “Anne. Anne.”

  When her thighs couldn’t take much more, Oksana collapsed beside Annie on the bed, breathless and blinking. She slid close to Oksana’s still trembling body and stroked her hair.

  “I think about you all the time,” Annie whispered. She didn’t know where the confession came from, but she wanted Oksana to know.

  “I think about your dimples.” Oksana touched her face as she smiled. A second later, she drifted off.

  Annie left Oksana sleeping and snuck to the living room to grab her computer and her phone. There were two missed calls and a text. All from Shane.

  *

  Two days later, Annie still hadn’t answered Shane.

  Annie stared at the texts—Hey, where are you? I want to bowl. Call me. Call me bitch. Don’t make me come over. Are you dead? Don’t text me back if you are—and didn’t know how to respond. She wanted to tell Shane and Feather the truth, but in a spiteful way. She wanted Shane and her mother off her back. She wanted them to know the truth so they could get a head start on accepting the new person Annie had become, the person she was meant to be, and the person she was meant to be with. Annie had been avoiding Shane for over a week now, but she had to reply before Shane did something foolish like showing up at her house while Oksana was there.

  “I’m sending Jewel to get Thai for lunch. You want anything?” Esther asked.

  “Uh, yeah,” Annie replied. Esther wrote down her order then glanced back up.

  “I must say you are pretty ballsy, or you must have some serious faith in your trainer.”

  Annie froze with her hand on a stack of time sheets. “What do you mean?”

  “I couldn’t eat chicken Pad Thai and not have it go straight to my thighs. If Pace and I were getting married, I wouldn’t eat for a year beforehand.”

  “Oh yeah. I’m not really worried about it. Oksana’s a genius in the gym.”

  “Obviously.” Esther chuckled as she walked out of their office.

  Annie felt terrible. When she and Oksana were together, the rest of the world didn’t exist. Annie was still happy, happier than when they first agreed to give each other a chance, but she was so tired of pretending her wedding was still going to happen.

  She had to tell Shane and Feather the truth and her parents, but Jeff had to know first. Annie hadn’t heard from him in a while. She expected she might not hear from him again until he got home. Clearly, he was having a blast. Annie couldn’t decide whether that made things better or worse. Would Jeff remember this trip as the reason his engagement fell apart? If he hadn’t taken the trip, Annie might never have been with Oksana. Would he blame himself for that? There was no way for Annie to know until they talked, and that conversation was still days away.

  Annie couldn’t avoid Shane that whole time. She dialed her number.

  “Oh, hey. Finally taking calls, are you?” Shane said. She was pissed.

  “Hey. Sorry, it’s been kind of crazy at work. I was trying to catch up on sleep this weekend.” Which was sort of true. She’d brought her computer back to bed, but as soon as she laid eyes on Oksana, she decided a cuddle nap was a better idea than working on a budget. They’d slept all afternoon, ordered pizza for dinner, then watched a documentary on the history of Africans in Latin America. Annie was starting to understand Oksana’s love of history. It was pretty cool learning things about the world you never even considered before.

  “Feather came out of the tipi. I took her for some real food and we went to the movi
es. You should have come. We decided what shoes we’re going to wear and constructed a whole plot to kidnap you for your bachelorette party.” Right, the shoes. Megan had mentioned they were all going to wear different shoes during the ceremony.

  “I know. I’m sorry. What are you up to this weekend?” Annie cursed herself as soon as the words left her mouth. She already had plans this weekend.

  “Nothing yet. You want to hang out?”

  “Uh, yeah. Sergio got this new pilot green lit, so let me just make sure I don’t have to be on set, but if not, it’s me and you.”

  “And Megan and Feather. They miss you too. Let’s do something before Jeff gets back.”

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll let you know.”

  Shane seemed okay with that.

  *

  A couple days later, Annie met Shane near her office. It was awkward and forced, but Shane was so busy chatting about the wedding she didn’t seem to notice.

  On Friday night, Annie told Shane she was sick.

  On Saturday, she ignored her calls.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Truth

  The doorbell rang, but that didn’t stop Annie’s pacing. She was ready. She hated to hurt Jeff. It still made her sick to think of breaking his heart, but things between them were over, and Annie had to tell him the whole truth.

  Jeff had flown in that afternoon. He and the boys took a shuttle from the airport. Beyond getting back to his house and washing the Europe off his face, Jeff hadn’t tried to make any official plans. He wanted to come over so they could catch up. He had stories, according to his last e-mail. The only other e-mail he’d sent during his trip, but Annie wasn’t bothered by the lack of communication.

  The last few weeks had been exceptionally good for her and Oksana. There were moments of awkwardness when the elephant in the room would make a strange noise and draw them both out of the haze of their deepening relationship. A call from Shane, Feather, or worse, Annie’s mom, while they lounged on Baba’s couch. A simple question from Kat about Annie’s wedding dress.