“Relax babe. I’ve got you.” He says in his deep, smooth voice that I never tire of listening to. I wish he could read me a bedtime story every night for the rest of my life. With his dulcet tones lulling me to sleep, I would never suffer from insomnia again.
“I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I fell asleep on you. How long was I out for?” I’m so horrified right now. I can’t believe I took a freaking nap on top of him. What the actual hell?
“It was only ten minutes babe and it gave me an excuse to hold you in my arms,” He says cheekily, making me giggle out loud.
“Okay, this has been fun but I think I’m going to give your lap a break now,” I say as I push myself up and off of him. I try not to think about how much I enjoyed being held in his arms and how safe it has always made me feel. The fact that I just fell asleep on him speaks volumes to me. I wish I could climb back in his embrace and remain there for the rest of the day.
Chapter Thirty-Three
June 2015 - Marcus
By the time I get home from work it’s six o’clock and I have about thirty minutes until we need to leave for the airport. Hailey has my bags packed and dinner warming in the oven. I sit down at the table and basically inhale my meal so I can take a quick shower before we have to go. I really wanted to make love with Hailey, but I’m not even going to have time for that. Fuck my life! Everything has gone to shit in the last twenty-four hours. The only positive is that my work project finished on time so I got my thousand-dollar bonus. I’m putting that money aside for a plane ticket so I can come for a weekend visit during this summer. Maybe I will surprise Hailey when she least expects it.
Hailey is quiet on the ride to the airport. We’re in my truck and I’m behind the wheel because she isn’t a fan of driving to Logan Airport. I keep glancing at her in my periphery and she looks so sad. It breaks my heart to see her like this and I hope that she’ll be fine without me. Hailey is strong and she prides herself on being self-sufficient. She doesn’t like to admit she needs anyone else, but we’re a team, she and I. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t count on one another in some way. It will be strange not to have her right there beside me. I’m going to have chronic insomnia without her sleeping next to me, every night.
I didn’t get to say goodbye to Shelby in person, so I called her on my way home from work. She has barely been around lately and I know she’s up to something, but I’m not sure what. I spoke with her about keeping an eye on Hailey for me. I don’t want her to be alone all the time. Shelby promised she would be more of a presence at our apartment and she’s going to take her out dancing soon, so she can distract her for a night.
“Marcus,” Hailey says interrupting my thoughts. “I never got a chance to talk to you last night and when we were at lunch today, we were busy talking about your trip. I wanted to tell you that Cory and I had a long talk yesterday and we worked everything out. He apologized and explained what happened with us five years ago. The short version is that I told him he was forgiven and now we are going to work on being friends once again.” Fanfuckingtastic! Jesus, talk about shitty timing for me to be leaving.
“I’m happy you got your apology, Hails. You do realize that he doesn’t really want just friendship from you, right?”
“I know he doesn’t. He actually wants us to be in a relationship but I told him it’s not going to happen and he settled on being friends.”
“If this makes you happy then it makes me happy, baby. I know it must feel good to have some closure after all this time.”
We pull into the airport entrance and I start to panic. My heart is racing and I’m not sure how I’ll find the strength to walk away from her and get on the plane that will take me three thousand miles away. It takes a few minutes to reach the drop-off point for the airline I’m flying on. I pull the truck to the curbside and put the hazards on, before getting out and grabbing my bags from the backseat of the extended cab area. I carry them around the rear of the truck and place them on the curbside as Hailey exits the passenger side to come stand next to me. She is already crying and has tears running unchecked down her cheeks. I pull Hailey into my arms and mold my mouth to hers, sharing a final passionate, salty kiss. I pull my lips from hers and clutch her to my chest, thinking about how much I’m going to miss holding her in my arms.
“I have to go, baby. I’m already running behind schedule and I can’t miss my flight. I’ll call you when I get there.” She looks up at me with her impossibly large eyes and I swear I can physically feel her sadness. It’s emanating from her every pore. I slide my hands into the sides of her hair, holding her head in place so she can’t turn away from me. Our eyes are locked on each other as I continue on.
“Hailey, you can call me anytime you feel like it. I will always answer for you baby, no matter what. I promise you, this summer will pass quickly and I’ll be back before you can even miss me.” She snorts in reply to that.
“I already miss you. Call me when you land. Get going before I can't let you go.” She tells me in a shaky voice.
“Okay, baby. I love you so much.” I pull her to me for one final hug before I take a step back towards my bags, on the sidewalk. She looks so beautiful with her cheeks wet with from crying and her lips swollen from kissing me goodbye. I take one final glance at her, trying to memorize every precious inch before I turn and walk towards the porter standing in front of the automatic doors.
“Marcus!” She yells my name and I can hear her voice wavering with emotion. I stop and turn to look back at her.
“I love you. Safe home Marcus.” She smiles at me tremulously through her tears and I blow her a kiss before continuing on to check my bags in. The next time I turn around she is already gone and it’s time for me to find my gate before I’m too late and miss my flight. Our goodbye stretched out longer than I intended, but not as long as I wish it could have. I look up at the monitors suspended from the wall and find the gate I need to get to. At this point, I just want to get on this flight and have a stiff drink or two. Hopefully, it will knock me out and I can forget about this whole nightmare for a while.
Chapter Thirty-Four
June 2015 - Cory
Today was an incredible day for me. It was even better than yesterday and yesterday was fucking fantastic. This morning started off really well when she brought me a coffee. I was nervous about how she would act towards me after our big talk and the coffee was the perfect ice breaker. We were able to work in comfortable silence until it was time for lunch and then she took off so quickly I never got a chance to find out who she was meeting up with. I had so much to do that I needed to work through my break, so I sent Candy out to grab me a meatball sub. I ate it at my desk as I continued making my way through all the emails in my inbox.
I lost track of time and by the time Hailey returned, ninety minutes had passed. She’s never been late coming back at any point in the few weeks she’s been interning here. It only took one glimpse of her face for me to notice she had been crying. At first she pretended she was fine but I knew if I persisted she would confide in me. I kept pushing until she finally told me. It broke my heart to see her so upset and it hurt me that she was so distraught at the thought of being without Marcus.
It makes me realize how much work I still have to do if I’m going to win her over. The half hour she spent in my lap was the highlight of my year and the ten minutes she slept in my arms was the high point of the past five years. I wish she had taken more than a catnap, but I’ll take what I can get. Holding her beautiful, sleeping form in my arms and having her trust me enough to let her guard completely down, is an amazing feeling for me. Hailey, allowing herself to be completely vulnerable, makes me see that she really has forgiven me and that she trusts me to keep her safe. I could get used to how incredible that makes me feel.
If I said it won’t be nice having Marcus out of the picture, I’d be lying. With him not being around, Hailey will have more free time to spend with me and I intend to take full advantage of
that. When life gives you an opportunity towards getting what you desire, you have to take it. You don’t always get a second chance. Even though I’m glad Marcus will be gone, I’m worried about Hailey and how she will handle him being away. I know that they are best friends and really close. They are a lot closer than what I want to think about, but I don’t live my life in denial either. I know they are in some kind of relationship and she will be sad without him. I hate that she will be hurting in any way so I’m going to make sure I do my best to keep her busy and see to it that she’s having fun. Thinking about all of the places I can take her that I know she will enjoy, makes me smile. I wonder what she’s doing right now? I glance at my clock and notice it’s ten o’clock. I wonder if she’s already asleep? Waiting till tomorrow to see her seems like forever right now. I laugh to myself, thinking about how this little woman has me completely wrapped around her finger and she has no idea.
Chapter Thirty-Five
June 2015 - Hailey
Now that I’m home safely, I realize the ride back from the airport is all a blur to me. I’m not sure how I even made it here, with all the tears obstructing my vision. I couldn’t see five feet in front of me and I’m lucky I didn’t crash. To make matters even worse, I was driving Marcus’ truck and his fresh, soapy scent lingered inside the interior.
Once I was inside our apartment, I immediately threw myself on the couch and now two hours later, I’m still here in the exact same spot. I can’t summon the strength to get up and get ready for bed. I feel like all the energy and happiness got sucked right out of me when I left Marcus at the airport. He is the one constant bright spot in my life and I’ve come to depend on that. If he were here right now, he’d have my feet in his lap, giving me a foot massage while making me laugh at some silly story. I grab my phone off of the coffee table and glance at the time. Ten o’clock. I wonder where he is right now. Did his flight leave on time? Does he miss me as much as I already miss him? My phone beeps from a new text message. It can’t be Marcus. He must be a couple hours into his flight at this point. I glance down at the screen and notice I have a text from Cory.
Whatcha doin babe? I smile at his endearment.
Lying on my couch for the rest of my life.
That sounds cozy want some company? I’d be horrible to be around now. I can’t subject him to that.
I need to wallow in my misery alone.
Ok, but call me if you need to talk. I mean it! He’s so sweet and bossy. I kind of like the bossy bits of him, though.
k
Go to bed babe! Bossy much.
Yes, sir!
I think I like you calling me sir! Snort! His reply makes me giggle. He can’t help himself.
It’s not the worst thing I’ve called you.
Tomorrow you shall address me as sir. Pfft! He is so ridiculous. Starting in the morning, I’m going to fix his ass by addressing him as Sir for the entire day. I may even keep it up longer than that. This is going to be fun. He should know better than to mess with me.
I prefer douche canoe. It fits you better. Bahaha!!! I can’t wait to see his reply.
Douche canoe does have a nice ring to it, but Sir is better. It’s 8 letters less than douche canoe. You will save time by calling me, Sir. Time you could be filing for me. ;) I can’t believe he just did a winky face at me. Would anyone believe that Cory Marshall sent me that if I told them? No way!
I’m in shock over the ;) you sent me,
What? I’m insulted. I know my emoticons. :p Hmm, I need to think of a good one that I can send him. It has to be one that he can’t possibly know. I rack my brain trying to come up with something.
=D>
Is that a penis? Is the v for vagina? Oh my God! How did I know he was going to think it was some phallic symbol?
It’s the emoticon for applause. It’s not a penis! 8=======D This is a penis ;) I giggle as I wait for his next reply.
No, this is a penis... Oh wait, we need to face chat for that to work. Oh man, I’m sweating just at the thought of him touching his cock and drooling at the thought of seeing it. It was dark when we had sex on the beach so I never got a good look at it.
On that note, I’m going to bed. Cu 2morrow douche canoe.
That’s Sir douche canoe! Get some zzz's babe. xo
He is too freaking much. I don’t know if I can deal with how adorable he is for texting me for the last twenty minutes and making me laugh. I was feeling so down prior to that and he just totally improved my mood. I can’t wait to see what his expression is when I call him Sir for the first time. Pftt!
***
Marcus called me this morning to let me know that he had arrived in California, safe and sound. It was nice to hear his voice, but it made me sad all over again. I felt like after last night’s text conversation with Cory, I was in a better place but after speaking with Marcus I realize I already miss him so much. I really can’t imagine how I’m going to deal with the next two months. Maybe his dad’s employee will have a speedy recovery and he will be back earlier than he thought. I’m going to pray that’s what happens.
I stop to grab coffee for us at the drive-thru of my favorite coffee house on the way to work. I get a couple of muffins too because I didn’t get a chance to eat dinner last night; even though I cooked it. I was too busy packing for Marcus and making sure he had everything he needed. I hope I didn’t forget anything important. My stomach is growling like a hungry beast lives inside it and I can’t wait to eat breakfast. By the time I arrive at work I’m salivating over the combined smells from the coffee and muffins and I’m getting hangry. I swear hangry should be an actual documented condition. It’s like PMS. You can’t see it but you know it’s there. There’s no exact way to prove it exists but we all know it does and it sucks. That’s how hangry works too. I can’t prove it, but I know it’s real. I have physical symptoms from it and mood swings too. I think they need to research it and write about it in The New England Journal of Medicine.
I practically run from the garage to the elevator and when I’m on my way up to the nineteenth floor I can’t wait any longer so I take my first sip of coffee. It truly is the nectar of the gods. Once I reach our floor, I speed walk past Candy’s pleasant self and knock on Cory’s door.
“Come in.” I can barely hear him through the thickness of the wood. I turn the knob, balancing the coffee tray and bag of muffins in my left hand. I push the door open with my right hip and gently kick it shut behind me, once I’m inside.
“Good morning Hailey,” Cory says with a glowing smile. I place the tray with our drinks and food on his desk and fold my hands in front of me before replying. I really want to look down at the floor, when I answer him, like a true submissive would, but then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy his reaction.
“Good morning Sir.” I somehow manage to keep myself from breaking out into wild peals of laughter. I am laughing on the inside, though, insanely! Cory’s expression at hearing me address him as Sir is priceless. His eyes get all wide and bug out of his head like he has just swallowed his tongue.
“Are you alright, Sir? Do you need me to get you something? Perhaps you would like your coffee, Sir?” I lower my eyes like a good little submissive and wait for him to reply. If I were looking at him, I would see the feral gleam in his eyes as he looks me over from head to toe, but I am ignorant of any of that as I stand with my hands still clasped in front of me.
“Thank you for the coffee Hailey. I appreciate you thinking of me.” I look up, surprised that he isn’t biting at the bait I’ve been dangling in front of him. He doesn’t know what he’s in for, but soon he will see when I keep it up all day. I’m not stopping until he admits defeat and I can already taste the impending victory.
“It’s no trouble. I also got muffins, Sir.” I watch him as I answer hoping for some reaction. I think I saw him clench his jaw for a moment. I reach inside the white bag and remove both muffins, placing them on two napkins, on top of his desk.
“Which one would you pref
er, Sir?” I say sir as sexily as I can. I should have practiced my voice inflection last night. I could have googled how to make your voice husky. It must have seemed sexy to him because he definitely clenched his jaw that time. It’s all I can do not to smirk, but he’s so predictable. I bet by lunch he throws out the white flag.
I continued tormenting him all morning with hundreds of sirs and I thought for sure he would’ve put an end to it by now, but lunch came and went and still, no mention of it. He has me filing paperwork for him now and most of it has to go in the bottom drawer. There’s no graceful way to do this when wearing a knee length skirt, so I decide to kneel on the floor. At least my ass won’t be sticking up in the air and my skirt won’t be rising up. Some of the papers in the file he gave me don’t belong in there and it’s aggravating for me. I keep setting them to the side in a pile, but I’m annoyed there in the wrong folder in the first place.
“What the fuck is up with all these papers that don’t belong in this folder,” I pause before adding on, “Sir?” I say this in such a bitchy way and I hope I’m not going to get into trouble for being unprofessional. I bite my lip and look at Cory as he pushes back from his desk and stalks over to me.
“Get up,” He orders as he grips me by the upper arm, lifting me to a standing position. He pulls me over to the brown leather love seat that is pushed up against the wall, before sitting down and pulling me over his lap. I’m lying over his legs bottom up, in a very awkward position.
“You want to play babe? You want to push my buttons and call me sir all day? Well, now I’m going to play.” He rubs my ass slowly as he is telling me this. I can’t see his face because mine is buried in the cushion of the seat, but I can only imagine the heat in his gaze.
“This ass torments me on a daily basis.” He unexpectedly slaps it, Argh! I cry out in surprise, not pain.
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