“Marta made it,” she admits with a giggle, referring to the housekeeper from her parents’ home.
“Marta’s here?” Twirling around, in hopes of finding the woman who has become a member of my extended family, Beth interrupts me.
“No, my mom has just been a helicopter parent. She acts like I’m a child in need of a babysitter. We got into a huge blowout because I didn’t want Marta here. It’s not like I’m helpless.”
The family drama that goes on between Beth and her family members is always comical to me. I’ve could never relate to what I refer to as her “rich girl problems.” It’s all so important to her, so I try my best to take it seriously, but it’s difficult when the disputes are so trivial.
“I’m sure she’s just worried about you, Beth,” I assure her, chopping the tomatoes before tossing them into the glass bowl, on top of the lettuce she’s piled up.
“It’s just annoying. You know how overbearing she can be,” she says. And she’s right. Beth’s mom once filed a missing person’s report when she didn’t text her back for two days. I found the entire interaction hilarious when the police showed up to our college dorm room, but Beth was mortified and didn’t speak to her mom for a week.
“You only get one mom,” is always my way of ending the debate, because my mom died when I was young, and I’d give anything to have her worry about me.
“I know.”
Sulking, Beth pours two glasses of wine, her mouth twisted as if she has more to say, but knows it’s best to bite her tongue. Although we’re the same age, Beth is years behind me in maturity after leading such a sheltered life. Times like this, the difference seems more obvious than others.
“Anyways! Tell me more about the hot guy from the cruise. What was his name?” She hands me a glass of wine with a mischievous grin on her face.
“Adam,” I smirk, remembering her last update on my night was much less than the whole story.
“So? Did you find him again?”
Call me dramatic, but I don’t answer her immediately, forcing a long pause as she waits on edge for the details. Mixing the ingredients for vinaigrette, I glance up to see her eyes glistening with anticipation.
“Maggie!” she exclaims, and I yelp with laughter.
“Beth, you’ll never believe this.” Shaking my head, I realize how embarrassing this is to share for the first time.
Beth is my best friend, but how will she take me being so promiscuous? I don’t want her to judge me, or think of me as a skank, but we’ve never kept secrets from each other. Plus, I feel like I’ll explode if I don’t tell someone about my sexcapade.
“There was like this turbulence,” I finally continue, only to be interrupted by Beth.
“There’s turbulence on a cruise ship?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t bad, but everyone went out into the hall, so I went, too. Adam happened to be walking down the hallway and just wrapped his arm around me, so I followed him to his room. I didn’t even have shoes on.”
A smile spreads across my face as I remember the detail, which is so small it could go unnoticed, but to me it’s so telling. Our night was so sexy because it was spontaneous. If given the option in advance, I would have never agreed to anything that happened between us. It was so far out of my comfort zone, I still had a hard time convincing myself it really happened.
“We get to his room, and this hot blond guy is there—and I mean hot. Bright blue eyes, chiseled jaw, big muscles, the whole nine.” I stress how attractive Liam was, because the hue of his eyes is still engrained in my memory, matching the view of the Caribbean Sea. He was model gorgeous, and Beth sits up in her seat as I continue describing his sexy features.
“You needed your wing-woman!” she squeals, and I can’t argue. If Beth had been with me, she would have undoubtedly been linked to Liam, while I stuck with only Adam.
The thought of missing out on Liam’s mouth and his long thick cock brings on an awful feeling of longing. While they were both sexy and magical in the bed, Liam was hands-down my favorite.
Adam was more sensual, where Liam was rough and demanding. He pulled my hair like we were fighting, and slammed his length and balls deep with every stroke. I can’t even brush my teeth without thinking of his hips pumping hard cock to the back of my throat all the way to my tonsils, his hands holding my head while he fucked my throat. My pussy clenches just thinking of it.
“You would’ve loved Liam. He was really sexy, and they were both cool. They just launched an app and were out celebrating some new investors or something.” I fade off, reaching for the green onions.
The only part of my memory that’s fuzzy is everything that preceded Liam licking my pussy. From there, each moment is vivid, but no matter how hard I rack my brain, the details of their business elude me.
“So, they’re rich, too?” Of course, Beth would care about that, but it never even crossed my mind.
“At some point, I told them I worked at the cookie shop, and Adam says something about me tasting so sweet.” My eyes go wide when Beth gasps, her hand flying to her mouth.
“Right there in front of Liam?”
“Yes! And then Liam is all like, ‘oh I want a taste’.” I can barely contain my giggles, trying to mask my embarrassment.
“Maggie! You did not!”
Nodding boldly, I answer the question she hasn’t even asked.
“I had just gotten out of the shower after the turbulence, so I wasn’t even wearing panties.” My head shakes from side to side again.
“And Adam is just right there?” she asks for clarification.
“I’m on the sofa here. Liam is here. And Adam is there,” I say pointing. I try to give her a visual of our placements in the living room.
“So, what happened?” she screams, literally on the edge of her seat.
“He lifted my dress and licked me like a sundae!”
“Maggie! No way! How was it?”
We’re so loud, yelling and laughing, I wouldn’t be surprised if her nosey neighbor came knocking soon. That makes me think of Jeff, and I silently debate if I’ll even tell Beth about him.
“It was good. Like, really good. I can’t say which of them had the better head, but as soon as I came, Liam carried me to the bedroom, and his,” I hold the cucumber up for reference, closing my eyes as if recalling the most amazing experience.
“Maggie! I’m going to fall out of this chair! So, Adam just stayed in the living room?” She begs for details.
“No … Well, yeah … at first. Me and Liam were going at it on the bed, and I mean going at it. He was so fucking horny after seeing me come twice. I thought he was gonna explode.” My words are spilling out of my mouth now, talking a mile a minute.
“Oh, God! Maggie, you know I’m on a drought. I can’t handle this.” Beth bites her bottom lip so hard it turns red and I fear she may draw blood.
“Beth, it was so good, and we were fucking missionary! I might have come again. I came so much I lost count. Anyways, Adam comes in the room, and I’d wanted to suck him off since the bathroom episode, so when Liam flipped me over I all but dove into his lap.”
My body is heating up as I relive the intensity. I can feel them as deeply as I did last night, grabbing and pulling like there wasn’t enough of me to go around.
“So, you’re like full on train now?” she asks, her eyes wide with shock and I feel the moment of judgment I feared.
“Yeah,” I barely answer, my voice scared of her reaction.
“God, I love that!” Beth practically moans her response, and I shriek in disbelief. She was serious about bringing two guys home!
“I was scared to tell you, because I thought you might judge!” I admit, relieved by her candidness.
“Look, we don’t have secrets, but we do have omissions.” She pauses before waving her hand, silently instructing me to continue with the story as she refills our glasses in such a rush that the red wine splatters onto her marble counter.
“So, we do that, a
nd then we switch, and Liam is so fucking aggressive. He’s fucking my mouth.”
Holding my hands to the side, I try to re-enact his movements, thrusting my hips as he did. Beth giggles and we both bust out in laughter.
“Why is obstruction of breathing so fucking hot?”
“Beth! I came from that alone. Well, it’s hard to say, because Adam was fucking me hard at the same time. The moral is – it was fabulous.”
Throwing my head back, I decide that’s enough. Like she said, we can have some omissions in our friendship. For the next hour, we enjoy dinner as Beth randomly asks every question that comes to her mind about my night; well, what she knows of it. When it’s all said and done, Jeff remains a secret, while I happily reveal every detail about Liam and Adam.
“I’m glad you had a … how can I put this … adventurous and exhausting vacation,” Beth teases as we take turns loading our dishes into the dishwasher.
“Yeah, it kind of picked up at the end.” Sticking my tongue out, I hand her the silverware.
“But I have some bad news,” she says, poking her lips out. I know she’s been holding back whatever she has to say all night.
“What? Tellme.” I grip my hips, trying to think of what she could possibly say before the words leave her lips. Maybe it will soften the blow if I’m prepared, but nothing comes to mind.
I’ve seen my apartment, so I know it couldn’t have burned down while I was away. I drove here, so my car hasn’t been stolen. Taking a deep breath, I prepare for the news while Beth hops to a bar stool before sliding onto it.
“Missy called,” Beth begins, mentioning my boss, so I know it involves work.
“Did she fire me?” I blurt out.
“Not exactly.” Her head tilts, and a ball of tension rolls down my back.
“Then what?”
“Some hoodlums ransacked the place, and I guess Richey decided it wasn’t worth it to make the repairs. He’s just going to sell the building and cut his losses,” she shrugs, looking anywhere but at me.
“Wait, so I don’t have a job?” My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. Beth slowly shakes her head, finally turning to face me.
“But I thought you said I wasn’t fired,” I say.
“Well, not technically.”
“Great. So, I come back to unemployment. This year is really fucking shaping up.”
After such a great night, both with the guys and then with my best friend, I’ve fallen right back in the ditch of bad luck. I don’t even know why I thought things could really get better.
“Don’t act like that, Mags. This is a new year, and you’re a new you. That job had run its course anyway. My dad said he’ll send over some prospects for you, and since I’m out until this ankle heals up, I can help you look for a job!” Beth is always optimistic, and I love that about her, but now isn’t the time for her cheery spirit.
“Yeah, you’re right.” The words are even weaker out loud than they sounded in my head. No part of me believes what my best friend has said, but I know fighting her about positivity is as useless as arguing with her about her mother’s obsessive nature.
“Seriously, Maggie. You can stay the night, and we’ll get right to it in the morning.”
Nodding, I wipe the counter, the last of our tasks to finish cleaning the kitchen before heading upstairs. Thankfully, she doesn’t push it any further, allowing me to go to her guest bedroom in peace.
Chapter Nine
Beth stays true to her word, waking me up just after sunrise for breakfast followed by a job hunt in her home office.
“I think we should start with a list of career fields you want to pursue.” Beth stands at her dry erase board, marker in hand as she looks over to me with determination.
“Seriously? My only requirement is a paycheck.” I wish I was as serious about my career as Beth, and I’d promised to get better at it this year. For now, I just want to make sure I’m not evicted next month.
My savings are practically non-existent and I don’t see this as a good time to be picky. I can think about all of this once I have a job. As my dad always says, ‘it’s easier to find a new job when you still have an old one.’
“Maggie, I mean it. Since we’re going to find you a job, we should at least look in the field you want to work in.” Her urging is annoying, even when she’s right.
“I’d like to work in an office. Maybe doing administrative work.” Shrugging, I think of how much I hated being on my feet all day at the cookie shop, wishing I worked in an office instead. I’d love to have a desk, answering phones or something like that.
“That’s a good start. So, you take this.” Beth hands me her silver MacBook Pro before sitting in the oversized brown leather chair behind her desk. Clicking away on her keyboard, she works from her desktop, sending me links for online job postings.
“Email me your resume,” she calls out after we’ve both been searching for a few minutes.
“Did you find something?” I wonder aloud, curious at how good she is at this job hunting thing.
“Yep! And they’re not too far from your apartment, so it would be a good fit.” She winks at me when an alert sounds from her computer.
“I think I found a good one too. It’s a law firm. Maybe they’ll need a sassy receptionist,” I say before going through the annoying steps to complete the application.
A few minutes later, my phone vibrates with an unknown number. Knowing it’s probably a bill collector for my student loans, I send it to voicemail, but they immediately call right back.
“Hello?”
“Hi! Is this, uh, Maggie?” The woman on the other end sounds too nervous to be a debt collector.
“Yes?”
“Oh great! I saw you applied for the receptionist position, and I was wondering if you’d be available for an interview.”
Wow. That was fast. I didn’t see myself working in a law firm, but I can’t deny how cool it would feel to say I work in a fancy office building.
“Yes, of course. Whenever is good for you.” The excitement is obvious in my tone, and Beth listens in.
“How about today?” she answers eagerly.
“Oh, well, I ...” I start to answer, but Beth nods emphatically, stopping me from making an excuse.
“Can you hold one second?” I ask, and the lady cheerily agrees.
“I don’t have any clothes,” I reason to Beth in a whisper.
“So! You can wear something of mine. Don’t delay this, it won’t look good.” She’s so stern I have no choice but to believe her.
“Hi, yes, today will be fine,” I answer after unmuting the phone.
“Great. How about I see you in an hour?”
Beth begins nodding before the woman has even finished her sentence.
“Sounds great! See you soon,” I chime before hanging up, high-fiving Beth as soon as the call is ended.
“Okay, let’s get you ready!”
I follow Beth’s slow pace to her bedroom closet, watching as she picks a black pencil skirt and white silk blouse for me to wear.
She’s like my stylist, pinning my hair back into a chignon that makes me look more sophisticated than I am, before powdering my face with her high-end cosmetics.
“Wear these,” she insists, pushing a pair of small glasses on my face.
I scrunch my nose defiantly. “I don’t need glasses.”
“They’re not prescription, silly. They just make you look smarter.” Her laugh is infectious as we stumble through the last steps of preparation.
By the time we finish, I can barely recognize myself in the mirror. I look like a taller Beth, and feel like a smarter me. Her designer clothes feel lush against my skin. Running my fingers over the soft fabric sends a sexy chill through my body.
“You look hot,” Beth announces over my shoulder, looking at my reflection in the full-length mirror.
“You know your clothes are good luck, so you may not get this outfit back after I finish this interview,” I joke,
referencing the night I met Adam wearing her dress.
“Listen. The next time you have a night that amazing, I want in,” she giggles, walking toward her bathroom, but again I find myself wondering how serious she is.
Would Beth really want to join me in a night like the one I shared with Liam and Adam? I don’t have long to contemplate the possibility, because after a few splashes of perfume, she all but throws me out of the house.
“Punctuality is key,” Beth yells as I climb into my car. She’s serious about getting me a job.
I’m so nervous about the interview, I make a wrong turn twice, and my fingers shake when I change the radio station. It’s been a long time since I had a job interview.
I started working at the cookie shop after meeting the owner with Beth at a nightclub. We jokingly asked if he was looking for a cute cashier, and he hired me on the spot. It was nothing like working in a law firm, and I couldn’t stop the doubt from taking over in my brain.
How would I fare at a law firm anyway? I didn’t know a thing about law and had never even been in a courtroom. Would they expect me to know about jurisdictions and statutes of limitations?
My mind races through every other law term I can think of as I turn onto Wilshire Boulevard. The GPS loudly announces I’m two hundred yards away from my destination, and my heart rate increases.
Pulling into the underground garage, I force a few deep breaths before making my way onto the elevator. There’s one man inside, middle aged with a salt and pepper goatee. Glancing over at his athletic shoes, I wonder what type of lawyer dresses so casually.
When he gets off on the third floor, I assume this must be some type of office building housing different businesses, because the law firm is on the fifth floor. The rest of the ride is somehow tenser, the silence making my thoughts louder in my mind.
The elevator chimes and the doors slide open, revealing a stark front office with an older woman sitting behind a glass desk.
“Hi,” she smiles, and I instantly recognize her voice as the one I spoke with earlier.
“Hi. Is this the law firm?” I ask, glancing around in disbelief that any lawyers work in such an empty office. If I were ever in trouble and showed up here for legal advice, I wouldn’t believe a word they said.
Naughty New Year Page 6