by Whitney D.
“You like to read?” he asked.
“Yes, I love it. It gives me a place to retreat when I need a break from life. It's pure fantasy to read and imagine what is going on, what the characters look like, how it will end. It takes me away to a place I really enjoy. It's an outlet for me when I have a bad day or when ever else I may need an escape. Reading is a vacation for the soul...”
“Hmmmm....” he nodded his head at me, “Well it just so happens that I have an entire library of books right here in my penthouse. I mean they're not all techy and digital as I'm sure you'd prefer for your Kindle, but you can take a look if you'd like.”
“Really? You have a library? I would actually prefer paper printed books over my Kindle, but I got tired of lugging all of those books around from dorm to dorm to sorority house to apartment. I gave my books to a used book store and bought a Kindle a year or two ago.”
“Yes, well it's more of a study with a desk, but it has quite an array of novels. Would you like to see it?”
“Yes! Yes! I would love to,” I couldn't contain my excitement. I literally jumped right off of the couch.
“Well then, right this way,” Bellamy grinned as if he was so proud to show me his 'library'. He took my hand in his and led me through the sitting room and into another room and then down a long hall way with a plush red rug.
The study had floor to ceiling book shelves. The room alone was two stories and it even had one of those cool ladders you see in movies that you can roll around and climb to grab the books on higher shelves. It was absolutely beautiful. The floors were dark hand carved wood and a huge dark wood desk with a computer on it sat at one end of the room. There was a sitting area and over stuffed navy blue leather sofas to sit on and read. It was a dream. I walked over to the shelving and ran my hand along the spines of some of the books. I quickly noticed the books were not in any sort of alphabetical order by name or by author. I was still dancing my fingers along the books when one of my favorite titles popped out at me. The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher. I gasped when I saw it. I immediately pulled it from its home on the shelf.
“Have you read this one?!” I held the book out for him to see.
“Um no, I am sorry I have not. There are lots of books in here I have read and many that I have yet to conquer. The study's bookshelves were so large when I bought this place that I had my interior decorator pick up a bunch of books that were on the New York Times best seller list to fill the empty shelves. It's probably one of those. Have you read it?”
“YES! I love it. It's actually a serial. There are two more books in it. Each is better than the last. I really love this author. Tarryn Fisher. There are a few other books she has written. I read one of them. It's called Mud Vein. And then there is another called Marrow. I haven't read that one yet.”
“Mud Vein? Sounds kind of freakish if you ask me.”
“Actually it is. The whole story is very bizarre. Tarryn Fisher has a way of making you think something completely different is happening than what is actually going on. That's how she gets her readers hooked.”
“Well you're more than welcome to help yourself to any of the novels you would like. I may even have that other one you were talking about... Marrow. Maybe we can look tomorrow?” he said it in such a tone that made me realize I was sleeping here. I wasn't getting out of it this time. What could it hurt? I really needed to live a little.
“Sounds great. We'll look tomorrow. Wait.... don't you have work tomorrow? Tomorrow is Tuesday.”
We made our way to his bedroom.
“No worries, I am the boss, remember? I can take a day off if I want to. Any time I want to. Right now I am beat. Ready for bed?”
“Bed.”
“Yes, sleep?”
I smirked at him, “But you promised you'd take me home and make love to me until the sun comes up.”
“I would love that actually. I would really love that but tonight, can I just hold you instead?”
I think my heart grew two sizes when he asked if he could hold me as we drifted off to sleep together.
“Perfect. Yes I am exhausted. I don't have anything to wear to sleep in. Do you have something I could borrow? Just an old t-shirt or something would be fine.”
“Really Kate, you think I am going to give you a crappy old tee to sleep in?”
He walked over to his closet and came back a few moments later.
“Here,” he tossed a pressed white dress shirt to me.
I looked at the tag. Armani.
“Bellamy, this shirt probably cost more than I make in a month. I can't sleep in this.”
“Take it, Kate. It's just a shirt. I'm not taking no for an answer. I have a hundred more almost just like it. You're not going to hurt it by sleeping in it. And plus I bet it will look hot seeing that oversized dress shirt on you with your bare ass peeking out beneath the hem,” he said jokingly.
I threw my hands up in defeat. I tore my clothes off as quick as I could and threw the shirt on. We climbed into bed together just like an old married couple. It felt like we had known each other for years. This felt so right and normal. Bellamy turned the bedside lamp off and Bellamy held me in his firm arms. I drifted off to sleep pretty quickly. The last thing I remember was looking at the clock on the bedside table. 1:04 AM.
Chapter Ten
I woke up sometime in the middle of the night. It was still dark out. I looked over at the clock. 4:51 AM. I was wide awake. I laid there for a few minutes hoping I would find sleep again. But I could tell pretty quickly that wasn't going to happen. Bellamy and I were a twisted tangle of limbs under his fluffy down comforter. I peeled his body from me slowly and crept down the hall to the library to see if I could find Marrow on the shelves. I looked for maybe fifteen minutes with no luck and then I realized that his sea of books may take some time for me to sift through before I could possibly find the book. Even if it was there. I wandered around aimlessly glancing at titles as I went. When I neared the back of the room by the desk I noticed there was a picture frame on the desk.
Bellamy's penthouse was covered in beautiful works of art, but no photos of people. No photos of birthday parties, vacations, weddings, friends, or family. I desperately wanted a peek at his personal life because it had occurred to me that I really knew much less about him than he knew about me. I don't know about his parents or where he was raised. I don't know if he has any other siblings or if and where he went to college. I don't know if he played sports in school or who his favorite band is. The picture frame on his desk seemed like it might be a small slice of his personal life that I very much wanted to know about.
I came around the corner of the desk. The picture was framed in polished silver. I picked it up from the desk to take a closer look. The photo was of Bellamy and Beth? Beth! His hired help who he barely knows? They were laughing in the photo. Her arms were playfully draped around his neck and his hand held onto her forearm. They looked happy. They looked... in love. My heart began to race. I slammed the picture frame face down on the desk and ran. I ran right back to the room where Bellamy laid blissfully sleeping... he was probably dreaming about Beth at that very moment. I grabbed my clothes and ran. I ran straight to the elevator. I was still in Bellamy's dress shirt with my ass basically hanging out. I entered the elevator and ripped the shirt from my body. Buttons flew everywhere and made a plinking sound as they scattered across the floor. I tossed the shirt in a crumpled mess on the floor and threw my dress back on in record time. When the elevator reached the bottom, I bolted. Leaving Bellamy's very expensive pressed Armani shirt on the dirty elevator floor.
I got a cab back to my place and ended up getting home right around 5:45 AM. The sun was still nowhere to be seen in the early morning sky. I was mentally drained from trying to figure out what was possibly going on. Bellamy had flat-out lied to my face about Beth. Why is there a loving picture of them on his desk if he barely knows her and she is only his employee? And then she watched for who knows how long as he fucked me o
n the yacht. So weird. I was more than angry. I was fucking pissed! I contemplated just never showing up for work the next day. I thought about how I could still move home to my parent's house too. The more I thought about it, the more angry I was. I had to confront him. I had to ask why. Who was she? Why did he lie to me? Did he take me for a fool? What kind of game was he playing? He said he would never hurt me and yet he already had.
I slept away a good portion of the day on Tuesday. When I finally drug my self from the slump around 4:00 PM, I figured I had better get ready for my first day of work the next day. I decided on skinny black dress pants, a sleeveless black peplum top, and black heels. The all black attire that I had decided on happened to match my mood perfectly.
The next morning I got up early and went for a jog to burn off the steam I had been holding onto. I ran 5 miles before the sun came up. I came home and showered and then got ready for work... and ready to confront Bellamy about his terrible lies. I arrived at the office at 8:00 on the dot. I went straight to Human Resources and the receptionist showed me where my office was. It was on the seventh floor. The same floor as Turner's and I am sure the same floor as Bellamy's. When I walked into my office, there was a beautiful dark cherry desk sitting across the room. The windows behind the desk were floor-to-ceiling just like in Turner's office. My office was not as large as his was, but it did have quite the feminine feel to it. I had wondered if the last CFO was also a woman. The receptionist told me to let her know if I needed anything and then she left, closing the door behind her. I walked around the desk and pulled the chair out to sit. When I did, Marrow was sitting there in all it's glory. A small note card was taped to the front cover. I plucked the card from the book...
Reading is a vacation for the soul.
Yours,
B.
He had some fucking nerve! I yanked the book from the chair and stormed out of my office. I walked towards Turner's office to ask him where Bellamy's office was, but I found it before I had the opportunity to ask. I walked into the office and Bellamy's head was down as he was typing away rampantly on his computer. He looked up at me when he realized I was there.
“Good Morning, beautiful. I see you got the book? I actually didn't have it in my library, but I stopped by the book store and picked it up for you yesterday. Are you settling in okay?”
I slammed the book down on his desk in a fit of rage.
“You have some fucking balls, you know that?”
He looked at me bewildered and quite frankly he looked a little terrified.
“I take it you don't like your gift?” he questioned me.
“Beth. Who the fuck is Beth to you?” I raised my voice at him.
At this point he could fire me if he felt the need to, but I wanted an answer and I wanted it now.
“Kate, please shut the door and we will talk about this.”
I walked over and shut the door. I turned back and walked to the chair sitting in front of his desk. I sat down and clutched the book nervously in my hands.
“Fine, talk!” I seethed. I threw one hand up in the air insinuating that he better start explaining what the hell was going on.
“Okay, look, Kate. I told you I didn't want to hurt you which is why I hadn't talked to you about this yet....”
“Yet?”
“Yes, well you see..... I have a particular kind of taste. Sexually, speaking.”
“Excuse me?” I interrupted him.
“Look, this was something I wanted to talk to you about later... when we had more of a relationship established. I am sorry you had to find out this way.”
“Sorry that I had to find out what this way? Just tell me what the hell is going on, Bellamy....”
“Okay. Well here goes... I am a one woman kind of man. I do not cheat and have never cheated on a woman. However, in the bedroom I like multiple partners...”
“Stop! Just stop, Bellamy! You have got to be fucking kidding me. So let me get this straight... you are emotionally faithful to a woman you are dating all the while you are fucking many women in the bedroom. And feelings with these 'other' women never get in the way of keeping it just sex? And on top of that, are you insinuating that you thought that we could add another sex partner later down the road once our relationship was better established?!”
“Well, yes. Sort of. It's not quite like that. Beth is the only other person I would introduce into our sex life. It's not like it would be multiple women. Beth has been an employee of mine for some time. That, I didn't exactly tell you the truth about. I apologize, please forgive me.”
“So you pay her to fuck you and your girlfriends and you have no emotional relationship with her at all?” I balked at him.
He stared at me and after a few moments with no response from him, all I could mutter was “UH!” in complete disgust.
I rolled my eyes when I stood. I turned on my heels and I walked right out on Bellamy Drake.
I heard him call my name and he was even telling me to wait, but I couldn't... tears fell from my eyes like hail during a bad thunderstorm. I speed walked straight to the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor several times before the doors flung open. Once the elevator stopped on the bottom floor and the doors swung open, I high-tailed it right out the front doors of Drake Dynamics. I figured I would spend the rest of my day packing up my stuff so I could move back to Savannah where I should've gone in the first place. I was a complete moron for thinking that after those couple of amazing nights with Bellamy and then finding out he was my boss that this would actually work out in the long run. Then he throws a curve ball at me that he likes fucking multiple women on a regular basis. I must be dense if he thought I was just going to say 'Sure, sounds fun, let's do it!' And there it was... smacking me right in my naive face: this was the reason he was a dud.
Chapter Eleven
I got back to my apartment in about fifteen minutes. I threw myself on the couch and cried for probably an hour before I dozed off. I was awoken later by a banging on my front door.
“Kate... please open up. I know you're in there.”
It was Bellamy. How did he get up here without me buzzing him in?
Bang, bang, bang – again and again and again. After five solid minutes of the banging, I knew he wasn't going to stop.
I stomped to the door and unlocked it. I reached for the handle and turned it slowly.
“What?” I screamed at him as I flung the door open.
“Please just leave me alone. I am going back to Savannah. I never want to see you again Bellamy. Please leave. Now.”
I went to close the door in his face when he stuck his hand in the door jam to stop it from closing.
“Please, Kate... let me explain all of this to you. I know it seems weird and you have been totally caught off guard, but it's not exactly what you think. Please...” he begged.
“How did you get in here anyways?”
“One of your neighbors was coming in with groceries, she let me in.”
“Fabulous. Whatever, just make it quick because I need to start packing and finding a new job!” I spoke in a sarcastic tone and I left him in the door way as I walked toward the couch.
I sat down and then he walked in, shutting the door behind him, and taking a seat on the couch next to me.
He was in a navy blue suit with a pale blue tie. His shoes were so polished I could see my reflection in them. I looked him up and down. He was so sexy. Stop it, Kate.
He placed his hands over mine which were folded in my lap. I went to pull my hands away, but then he said, “Kate, if this is not something you are willing to explore with me I will stop it entirely. You are the most smart, beautiful, and funny woman I have ever met. I know we haven't known each other long and we have much more to get to know about one another, but I want to be with you. Please don't leave. Please don't leave me. Please Kate just take a chance with me. I promise I won't hurt you.”
All I did was look at him completely unsure of how I wanted to handle this
. He had said again that he wouldn't hurt me, but he already had. Or did he? We weren't technically together. We hadn't even spoken yet about being exclusive. We didn't really even speak about having any sort of a relationship exclusive or not.
I took a deep breath and then I said, “How exactly does it work?... With Beth, I mean...”
His eyes grew big. Maybe he was a little happy at the possibility that I was actually considering it.
“Well, Beth is not a prostitute or anything even remotely close to that. In fact, she has signed an agreement of sorts. Her medical history has been completely sifted through and she has regular health examinations. I compensate her for her time, not for the sex. She knows the kind of relationship I expect from her and she never crosses those lines.”
“Agreement?”
“Yes, a confidentiality agreement. It basically states that she cannot talk about the relationship me or my partner have with her. She is to remain completely professional around me any time she is working for me. She knows I will never have an emotional relationship with her.”
I was completely shocked. Bellamy was not exactly Christian Grey, but this agreement was legit.
“So... what all would I have to do if I were to 'try' this with you and her?”
He chuckled a bit and smiled. He seemed a little embarrassed actually.
“About that... well I don't exactly...um,” he paused.
“She and I don't have sex. I just like to watch,” he cocked his head to the side and bit his lip in a nervous manner. He the insinuation of what he had just proposed sink in.
“Watch?” my brow furrowed.
“Yes... I want to watch her fuck you.”
My mouth fell open. I wasn't a lesbian or bisexual. I had never even thought of another woman sexually before. I pursed my lips and thought about it for a minute.
“Look, Kate.. I know this is a lot to take in at one time. You don't have to make your mind up about trying this right now. But I would like you to be open to the idea. If you do it and decide you don't want to do it ever again then I will just release Beth from her agreement.”