Into the Darkness

by Kat T. Masen

  “Dad I’d like to fuck,” Eric answered instead of Adriana. They both laughed.

  “OK, OK. Enough about me. How about you, Julian? How did you meet Charlie?” Adriana asked curiously. I’m surprised she asked given that Lex would give her an earful later but if there was anyone who would put up with his shit, it was Adriana. Lex tensed up, obviously not wanting to hear the story. I watched him watching me intently, like he was trying to read my mind or something. Julian put his arm around me causing Lex to tense up. He clenched his napkin into a ball, his face expressionless. This was the calm before the storm. I was waiting for him to lose it. It was only a matter of time.

  “Nothing like you guys, considering it was only months ago. We met at our local gym. I had seen her working out for weeks. I mean, she was gorgeous. It was impossible to not spot her and that day I decided to go talk to her. I walked up to her and the first thing she said if I recall correctly was: ‘I promise I wiped my sweat off the chair, not that I have a lot of sweat but you know, just the usual amount of sweat. Here, let me wipe the seat again for you just in case.’”

  “Oh my God Charlie, you did not say that!” Rocky roared.

  The table erupted, everyone except Lex that is. Suddenly I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t believe I said that. I was usually fine around guys but the moment he walked up to me I acted like a sixteen-year-old girl meeting One Direction.

  “Um yes, actually I did. Much to my embarrassment.” I blushed.

  “Aw, Charlie, it sounds like you had the hots for him,” Bull’s said, obviously trying to provoke Lex. I kicked her under the table which was followed by an ouch and a what-did-you-do-that-for look.

  “That’s why I wanted to make her my wife. You’d be stupid to let a woman like this go,” Julian gushed, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

  With every fiber in my being I tried desperately not to make eye contact with Lex but I slipped and met his eyes. There was no denying that he was furious but he knew how to hide his feelings. I just knew him better than anyone here. The way he glared at us was expressionless but his eyes revealed his true colors. They were dark, reflecting his mood. I didn’t know what to do, so I drank. Because drunk Charlie was better than nervous Charlie. There was no way I could pull him aside for a moment without Julian questioning what I was doing.

  “Okay, me next please,” Eric chimed in. How many wines did he have? Judging by the loudness of his voice I would say at least four; by five he would be up on the table dancing. I swear he was such a cheap drunk.

  “We met about eighteen months ago. She rear-ended me.”

  Rocky burst out laughing, spitting out his drink. “Dude, is that even possible?”

  “Her cab, Rocky,” he sighed trying to hold in his own laughter. “So as the cab drivers got out and argued whose fault it was, Charlie started ranting on about being late for work. I argued of course saying it wasn’t as bad as me as I was going to be late for an interview. Another cab pulled up behind us and we both rushed at the same time to get in. I beat her to it, shutting the door quickly as the cab pulled away. I leaned out the window and I recall my exact words: ‘Sorry, honey, you can stomp your pretty little Louboutins all you want but you ain’t making me late.’”

  “Oh Eric, please don’t tell me this was your interview to work with Charlie?” Adriana squirmed.

  “Spot on. I sat there in her office pleased with myself for being on time. As she rushed in all huffed I was shocked to say the least. The look on her face was priceless.”

  “But I hired you anyway,” I said. “Like my left arm, I couldn’t live without you.”

  He stood up and rushed by my side. There was no one in the world like Eric and my life was never been the same since. “My Ying to your Yang,” he responded.

  The fun continued with the rest of the guests taking turns telling everyone how they met me. The sangria kept coming and my glass kept emptying. I officially lost count but at least my nerves were calming down and I was starting to get giggly.

  “Oh em gee, Lex, we can’t skip you!” Eric exclaimed.

  “I don’t think I can remember when you first met Charlie…” Adriana spoke quietly.

  Lex took a sip of the sangria and told his story. I remembered the story but I was curious about his take of when we first met. I sat there still, focusing intently on him.

  “It was 1996. I was fifteen. I had pretty much spent the summer working my ass off for this collectors Batman comic I had seen in a store in Sacramento. Anyway, I finally saved up and bought it and went to our living room to read it. Adriana was in there watching TV and eating the last of a baked cookie. She and I got into a fight as siblings tend to do, so I decided since it was a nice day out I would go up to our tree house and read it. I climbed up and found a little girl crying in the corner. I hadn’t met Charlotte yet but Adriana raved on about her all the time so I assumed it was her.”

  My heart stopped, knowing exactly the moment he referred to and the pain I had felt at the time when I thought my world was collapsing. I was a kid but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. It was the first huge fight my parents had, after which my mom stormed out and left for three days.

  “I sat down beside her to ask if she wanted to talk. She was upset about her parents having a big fight. I remember her asking me if she should go look for her mom. I was only fifteen so giving a kid advice was hard. I remember telling her that it would somehow work out. She saw me carrying the comic and said Batman was her favorite superhero of all time, so I did what anyone would do when they see her smile.”

  “You gave her the comic?” Bull’s asked, shocked.

  “Yes, I gave her the comic. She looked so happy.”

  “I can’t believe you did that,” exclaimed Adriana and Bull’s in unison.

  For once he looked shy. Lex Edwards was never shy. His eyes met mine and a small smile appeared. I couldn’t believe he did that. I remembered the comic book; I would read it every night. Batman was my favorite, how ironic with the whole Julian thing going on. At the time I didn’t know how hard he worked for it and maybe if I had known I wouldn’t have allowed him to give it to me. But I was eight and he was my best friend’s brother, no one special, just someone who annoyed us and hogged the remote when we wanted to watch TV. The gesture was so kindhearted. But that was Lex. Was, I had to remind myself.

  Julian interrupted the moment, raising his glass and wishing me a happy birthday. My friends cheered but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get that story out of my head. It was almost like a scene of a movie. I was staring at it, watching people around me but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t focus. All I thought about was that comic book, what it represented.

  Everyone was laughing, enjoying each other’s company. The salsa band was playing a soft Spanish beat. The food arrived and looked fantastic. We each piled the food onto our plates, getting lost in random conversations. The weight of Julian’s arm on my shoulder felt like a ton. I knew I would have to deal with Lex afterwards, even though he had no right. I took a sip of my sangria and slowly looked at Lex, careful not to be caught by Julian. My heart plunged as I watched him chatting with Becky. She loved the attention and he looked happy chatting about something I couldn’t hear. I felt my blood boil… What’s it called again? Oh right, jealously. He looked up and saw me looking at him. So he wanted to play games. I leaned over to Julian, snuggling myself in his side. He leaned in and whispered sweet words in my ears followed by dirty ones. I couldn’t help but blush. As I looked up Lex, his eyes were glaring at me. He leaned over to Becky and stood up, walking away from the table. I couldn’t leave, not now. I wanted to ask him why the fuck he did that. I caught Adriana’s attention but it was like she already knew.

  “Char, come to the bathroom with me?” she asked politely.

  I told Julian I would be back. He nodded as he continued his conversation with Elijah about the Haiti government or something like that. I stood up and squeezed past Bull’s; she looked at me. I knew that
look. Adriana grabbed my hand and we walked to the opposite side of the restaurant where the bathrooms were. She stopped before we got there and pulled out her cell. Excusing herself, she walked towards the exit and answered the call. The restaurant was noisy and I was determined to find Lex and ask him what his problem was.

  As I walked into the hallway where the bathrooms were, he exited the men’s clearly surprised to see me.

  “What the hell is your problem, Lex?” I asked angrily.

  “Charlotte, don’t do this here or you will regret it.”

  “Regret what?”

  He pulled me into another bathroom marked for private staff only. Within seconds he had locked the door and had me pinned against it. His lips found mine, desperate for a taste. I didn’t stop him, but I was pissed. Why the hell was he flirting with Becky?

  “Don’t EVER do that again, Charlotte.”

  He lifted my dress and I undid his belt. His cock stood before me throbbing and all I wanted was to have it inside me but instead I grabbed his cock with my hand. He ached, just like me. With every stroke he groaned, the pleasure overwhelming. I slid down and took all of him in my mouth. He arched back, pleading with me to stop or he’d blow in my mouth. I was a fucking tease and I knew it. I slid his cock as far as I could in my mouth, until I felt it slightly entering the back of my throat. He didn’t push further. The more I heard him writhing in pleasure the more I took him in.

  “Charlotte…” he purred, struggling to put a sentence together. I knew I was taking him deeper into my mouth, but I wanted all of him and it surprised both of us how easy it was given his size. He grabbed my hair, guiding me in and out. I couldn’t take it anymore, the throbbing was unbearable.

  “Fuck me now, Lex,” I pleaded.

  Sliding his cock in, he rammed me against the door. I struggled trying to keep my voice down but my moans were uncontrollable.

  I was lost. Pulling the top of my dress down, his mouth would alternate between kissing my lips and tugging on my erect nipples. It couldn’t have been only three days; it felt like eternity since he made me feel this way. His breaths against my ear and his words which were barely a whisper only added to the pleasure of it all.

  “No. You are mine, Lex. Don’t EVER do that to me again,” I managed to say, and just like that I caved. His grunts became more intense and the warm feeling came inside me. Silently he held onto me. My breaths were unsteady. It took me a moment to compose myself before the reality of what I said began to set in.

  “Charlotte, I… We need to talk.”

  “No. Look, I’m sorry. You’re right about the whole regret thing.” Shit, what was I saying? I couldn’t stop myself. Stupid fucking sangria. The damn Mexicans knew how to get us white folk drunk, that’s for sure. “We shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have said—”

  He cut me off, his temper flaring once again. “Why do you keep fucking doing this? I WANT YOU. Why is it so hard for you to admit your feelings? WHY THE FUCK CAN’T YOU EVEN TALK TO ME?!” he yelled.

  “Because we are done. I told you that,” I said, my head bowed. What the hell did I want? I couldn’t even be honest with myself.

  “FUCK YOU! You keep saying that but you only want us to fuck? I’ve got feelings too and this is bullshit. You never had a problem being open with how you felt before.”

  “That was different,” I mumbled, not wanting to elaborate.

  “Why?? Why the hell are you such a cold-hearted bitch now?”

  “YOU!” I screamed back. “YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU MADE ME AFRAID TO FEEL ANYTHING!” I pulled myself away from him as he stood there, his mouth wide open. I fiddled with the stupid lock, on the verge of tears, but no, Charlie didn’t cry over boy troubles. I choked them back.

  His face changed, suddenly composed. “Tonight will be the last night you see Julian. I told you, I don’t share.”

  “Are we seriously having this conversation in a restaurant bathroom?” I answered bitterly.

  “It’s the only place you’ll open up to me.”

  “Don’t tell me who I can or can’t see. This is my life, Lex. You decided to leave it so you deal with the consequences!” I shot back.

  “I won’t make that mistake again. You tell him tonight it’s over. You are mine. I do not share and I will not back down. The sooner you realize that the better.” It wasn’t the yelling or screaming that frightened me. It was the calmness in his voice as he said those words.

  The lock finally came undone. Rushing out of the private bathroom I made my way to the ladies’, running into Bull’s. “Whoa… You OK, Charlie?” she asked.

  I motioned for her to move as I ran into a stall. She laughed because I didn’t have to tell her that I had cum fucking oozing out of my cooch. I wiped myself clean then walked out.

  “Please Charlie, it’s not like that doesn’t happen to me all the time. Looks like I was wrong about you,” she smirked.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You do have it bad…just for the wrong person.”

  “Bull’s…” I stumbled on my words not knowing what to say. I mean, Christ, the fucking jizz was still leaking out. Lex had a fucking bucketload. I shook my head, trying to focus. My mind was all fuzzy.

  “Listen, Charlie, you can’t always be in control of everything including your thoughts. Sometimes we just need someone to confide in.”

  She had a point. I had grown accustomed to bottling up my feelings, but I would not spend my birthday opening the floodgates. We needed to have some fun now. I reluctantly walked back to the table. Lex was nowhere to be seen. I panicked. I didn’t mean to push him away but his words confused me. I wanted him but he angered me so much. I wasn’t his possession and I didn’t like being told what to do. I tried to join in the conversation with Becky and Emma about the latest scandal to rock the Kardashian family but all I could think about was Lex.

  A few minutes later I caught sight of him walking back to our table with Adriana. She was chatting away but he looked dazed; she could do that to you sometimes but I knew it wasn’t because of what she was saying. As they sat down, he looked at me momentarily before Rocky started talking to him about baseball. I was glad he came back. But now what? What do I do? He carried on, pretending I wasn’t here which was good because Julian was still here and I had to make a decision tonight. This was stupid. Such a big decision could not be made in one night while drunk on your birthday.

  “A very good associate of mine runs the sports department here in New York. It’s the only reason I get great seats all the time. Tomorrow night I’ve got box seats to the Yankees game if you’re interested. I’d like to introduce you to him.” Lex spoke as he finished the last of his meal. He looked famished; of course he would be after that fuck in the bathroom.

  “Dude, are you fucking serious? Are you talking about Bradley Sanders?”

  “Yes, that’s him. We own part shares in a country club in the Hamptons,” Lex said.

  It was all I heard of the conversation before Eric announced it was gift time. I left the seat beside Emma and walked back to my own, adjusting myself as I sat there in soaked panties. I felt uncomfortable. Could everyone at the table see that I had just been fucked by Lex against the bathroom door? Julian didn’t act any different, thank God. He placed his arm around me again, Lex watching with an amused look on his face.

  Eric and Adriana spoke in unison, holding a box wrapped in silver paper with a huge green bow. “This is from us and Elijah, of course. Happy Birthday!”

  As I unwrapped the gift paper, the box alone made me want to cream my pants. The tanned color box marked with the signature Christian Louboutin was placed before me. I opened it slowly, savoring every moment but excited as hell. Before my eyes appeared a pair of emerald-studded pumps. The studs shone like diamonds as I held them up to the light. They were breathtaking.

  “Oh my God you guys… I can’t even… WOW! This is unbelievable! But I haven’t seen these in the fall line?”

  “It’s not what you know, it’s
who you know, Char.” Adriana winked at the same time Eric happy clapped. I stood up and walked over to Adriana, Eric and Elijah, giving each one of them a hug. As I sat back like Cinderella, I placed the shoes on my feet. They fit perfectly. The gifts kept coming, and each time I felt more and more grateful to be surrounded by such a great group of friends.

  Julian announced that my gift was to be given later. “For you to open in your own privacy.” I looked at him and turned to kiss him on the cheek but he moved so that our lips met.

  “Aww, aren’t they so cute,” Bull’s exclaimed as she eyed Lex.

  I pulled away. Note to self: remember to beat the shit out of Bull’s later. I didn’t wait for Lex’s reaction nor did I look at him.

  “Our turn!” Bull’s and Rocky handed me a box. If birthdays from the past have taught me anything, it’s to open with caution. I undid the bow of the first box, slowly sliding the lid off to reveal hardcopies of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

  “Open the book,” Rocky persuaded. I opened the booked, the inside signed by none other than the author herself.

  “Are you kidding me? How on Earth did you get this signed?”

  “It’s who you know,” Rocky repeated. I couldn’t believe it. I ran my fingers over the front cover… Oh Christian, we meet again.

  “Don’t forget the next box, Charlie,” Bull’s chuckled. I opened the lid of the next box and low and behold my instincts were correct. I lifted what appeared to be a crystal vibrator. “In keeping with the theme of the book and the fact that you broke your rabbit,” she mocked.

  “I never said I broke it.”

  “Oh my God, that’s just like mine. Right, Elijah?” Adriana pointed out.

  Lex cringed. “You did not just say that.”

  “Go on, there’s more,” Bull’s said.

  It was a like a Mary Poppin’s bag of sex toys. I pulled out handcuffs, a butt plug and a flogger. After a table discussion on how each should be used, I thanked Bull’s and Rocky. I avoided at all costs looking at Lex who seemed to be amused with all the toys I was given. My purse vibrated and I knew it was my cell. I leaned under the table and pulled it out to read the text.