Judging by her reaction, it didn’t seem like Jessica knew what was going on either. She had greeted Dana warmly after being genuinely surprised and happy to see her there. Dana caught her first glimpse of Alexander since their awkward parting the previous week. His expression was steely, his reaction unreadable. As it became clear that William was headed toward the table, Dana noticed Alexander’s eyebrow raise slightly, almost imperceptibly. Didn’t he know about the dinner? Wasn’t that why he was there?
“Good evening,” Alexander said with a smirk as he caught sight of William.
William looked uncomfortable as he shifted on his feet and adjusted his suit jacket. “Good evening.”
There was an awkward pause as everybody struggled to find something to say. “Where are you sitting?” Alexander managed to say, still snug in his steely façade.
“We’re over in the back corner,” William replied.
Dana thought it best not to say anything. Alexander’s presence was making her so uncomfortable that she could almost ignore her confusion at Jessica’s presence and William’s befuddlement.
Jessica kept looking at everybody and flashing a rigid smile. She looked ready to return to her dinner, and Alexander took notice.
“Well, enjoy your dinner then. I’m sure I’ll see you both soon.” Alexander took a sip of his wine and began shuffling the food on his plate with his fork.
Dana and William continued back to their table. Both? She thought. Is he just being polite? Dana realized she didn’t know Alexander well enough to know whether he was always a man of his word. In that moment, she found herself hating the lack of certainty in her life. The sentiment would stick with her for the remainder of the evening.
William, however, was trying to make right. After they had nestled themselves in their corner booth, he began making a visible effort to steer the evening in a different and more pleasant direction.
“How do you like Los Angeles so far?” he began.
Dana tried to brush her mood aside. “It’s been an interesting few weeks here, that’s for certain. I’ve never lived anywhere like it. But I like my job and the opportunities it’s brought me. I’m sure once I settle in a bit more that it’ll be great.”
“I understand your feelings, though I’ve never had to experience what it’s like to be new to this city. I grew up here, so I’m quite used to it. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling, though, and LA is certainly a unique place.”
“Imagine coming from somewhere much smaller. It’s overwhelming, to say the least.”
William smiled. “It gets better. I promise. Once you know the lay of the land and have made some contacts, you’ll love it. You already have one huge thing going for you, and that’s a great job. I’m assuming that fashion photography is a career you’d like to continue pursuing?”
Dana smiled. “It’s my dream job. I can’t believe I got so lucky, to be honest. There are thousands of people with far better connections and education than me who will never make it into this field. That I did is baffling to me, but I’m happy.”
“Somebody must have recognized your talent.”
Dana’s cheeks flushed. A sleekly dressed young waitress arrived at their table with a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice. As she poured them each a flute, William continued.
“We’ve not only received more interest in our business since your spread, but we’ve also received offers for features and articles from other magazines. The impact this has had on our enterprise and our presence in the city is tremendous. I can’t thank you enough.”
Dana smiled again. “Surely you’ve expressed this to the higher-ups at the magazine?” She took a large sip of champagne. She raised her eyebrows when it hit her mouth. It was delicious.
William cleared his throat and took a sip of champagne. “Well, yes. Of course. We will express our thanks to everyone involved soon.” He cleared his throat again. “Since you were the one we interacted with the most, it made sense to take you out on your own.”
Dana found William’s controlled discomfort endearing. Though she still had a cloud over her, she relaxed and began to enjoy William’s company.
By the time the waitress came back to take their order, Dana had finished her first glass of champagne. The waitress poured her another glass while William told her to let the chef surprise them.
“Certainly,” the waitress said and walked away.
Dana turned the conversation to William in between sips of her new glass of champagne. “How did you begin your company? I mean, I had to research you guys before I came to shoot you, but the internet didn’t tell me very much.”
“Alexander and I went to college together at UCLA. We were both B&F majors and were in a lot of the same classes. We became friends pretty quickly.
“One day when we were seniors, the idea struck us. Alexander was brilliant at mock trading and investing. If he’d been using real money then, he would have already been very rich. I was good at it too, but could never quite get the same results as Alexander. I had the advantage of access to a bunch of start-up capital and a family who was already in finance, and with Alexander’s investment acumen it made sense for the two of us to combine powers and start something. Five years later, here we are.”
Dana never underestimated her own intelligence, but between her lack of finance knowledge and the power of the champagne beginning to hit her, most of William’s explanation had flown right over her head. What she was able to understand was that William was born into a rich family, and Alexander probably wasn’t.
Their first course, a steaming bowl of mussels cooked in white wine, had arrived. Dana’s glass was empty again. While she normally had a hard and fast rule about not having more than two drinks on a nice outing, tonight the two potent glasses of top-shelf champagne had gotten to her quickly and lowered her reservations. She allowed the waitress to pour her another. William looked at her as if to say ‘don’t go overboard’.
Now that she was a bit more relaxed, Dana had to indulge her curiosity. “Alexander knew about this dinner, right?”
William looked as if he was caught off guard, if only slightly. He was very good at maintaining his composure. “Yes, he did. If you knew Alexander, you’d know that sometimes he’s not the most honest man.”
William’s words hurt Dana – if Alexander was dishonest about this dinner, Dana couldn’t be sure what else was he lying about – but she couldn’t show it for fear of William getting suspicious. She said nothing and returned to her mussels and champagne.
William changed the subject and dinner continued on.
***
Three delicious courses and two flutes of champagne later, Dana was giggly and drunk. William, who had only had two drinks, was calmly keeping her entertained and focused. He coaxed her into finishing the bread on the table before walking her out of the restaurant and to a private car the valet had ordered for them.
“Hey, why isn’t this a limo?” Dana mumbled as she stumbled into the back seat of the car.
William smiled. “What’s your address again?”
Dana shouted her address to the driver in the front seat. She slumped against the window and stared at the large estates passing by. Every time they drove by a house that Dana liked, she loudly exclaimed “Wow! What an amazing house!”
William patiently smiled and kept his eye on her.
When the houses had become progressively less interesting, Dana knew that she was close to home.
“Burbank!” She exclaimed with a sneer, inserting a finger into her mouth and making a gagging gesture.
William chuckled and shook his head. “I think it’s time for you to go to bed.”
“Go to bed?” Dana slurred. “Ha! I’m going to watch SO MANY movies.”
The car pulled up to Dana’s apartment building. William opened the door and climbed out, sticking his head back in to tell the driver to wait there for him. He held his hands out to Dana and steadied her as she struggled out of the car. He placed a
steady hand on her back and held the other as he helped her climb the stairs to her apartment.
“Ooh, this is mine!” They stopped in front of her door. Dana turned toward William and smiled at him, realizing through her mental fog that he was being very kind. She fumbled around in her purse for a minute before emerging with keys in hand. She struggled to get them into her door.
William took them from her and inserted the key. He turned the knob and gestured Dana inside. Dana hung out in her doorway for a moment and continued to smile. Awkwardness hung in the air for a moment before William spoke up.
“I enjoyed our meal tonight. You were very entertaining company.” His light brown eyes looked directly into Dana’s.
Dana laughed. “Sorry. Thank you for the meal. It was delicious.”
“Goodbye, Dana.” William began to walk back toward the car.
“Goodnight,” she said, smiled, and shut her door.
Dana stumbled as she turned the lights on and took off her heels. She heaved a big sigh, plopped down on her couch, and admired the new coffee table she had bought a few days earlier. Coupled with the shipment of kitchen supplies she desperately needed, the new items made the apartment feel slightly less bare.
Dana couldn’t shake the weirdness she felt at seeing Jessica and Alexander together at the restaurant. Nobody had offered any explanation of what they were doing there. It didn’t seem reasonable or professional for Jessica and Alexander to be seeing each other, but what else could have brought them there together, acting the way they did, Jessica dressed the way she was?
That slinky little silver dress she was wearing, covered in shiny sequins – it barely covered her braless breasts or her long, smooth legs. Dana didn’t see the shoes she was wearing, but imagined that they were tall and strappy – and what she looked like when she stood up must have been surreal. To imagine gorgeous Alexander plowing his manhood into her perfect little body – maybe in the bathroom of the Poisson d’Or? – filled Dana with rage, kind of.
And what if Alexander was running his large, smooth hand down Jessica’s back as he stood behind her, making her quiver and shake with each thrust of his length, clasping his other hand around Jessica’s mouth to muffle her moans and screams of pleasure?
Dana slipped her hand down her lace panties and began rubbing her mound. She imagined Jessica turning around to lick her juices off of Alexander before attempting to take all of his large, throbbing erection in her mouth and gently stroking his balls. His cock would bulge out of her cheek and she’d find herself having trouble taking all of him in, gagging and moaning while Alexander wouldn’t notice and would continue thrusting in and out of her mouth, deeper and deeper, his crotch zooming in and out of her view.
Dana moved her hand lower, soaking her fingers in her wetness before rubbing them up and down the inside of her fleshy lips. She caught her clit in between her fingers and breathed soft breaths of pleasure as she gently stroked up and down, up and down.
She imagined Alexander lifting Jessica up and sitting her down on the counter, pushing her back to the mirror and forcing down the top of her dress so her breasts were exposed. He would take each of Jessica’s small, firm breasts into his hands and play with her nipples between his fingertips until they were standing at full attention. Then he would pinch and twist them left and right, making Jessica howl and breathe with a heavy intensity.
Dana’s pussy was soaked and throbbing. She stroked her swollen nub more firmly.
Dana imagined Alexander pushing Jessica’s skirt up and guiding her hips back toward his erection. Jessica would grab his cock and slide it around her wet, swelling slit that stuck out from the rest of her slender frame. Once Alexander’s tip was nice and moist, she would slip it inside of her and let out a soft moan. She would pull Alexander toward her by his tie, lunge at his mouth with hers, and furiously dance with his tongue before releasing him and letting him pound into her pussy again and again with his throbbing hard-on. With every thrust, the counter would shake. Jessica would have to grab onto a sink faucet to keep herself upright.
“Mmmh.” Dana was moaning more loudly now. Each stroke up and down her clit felt stronger than the last, and she could feel herself moving closer to an orgasm.
In Dana’s mind, Jessica had wrapped her legs around Alexander’s waist. Her tall, pointy heels were digging into his buttocks and making him even harder. Alexander would lift a hand to Jessica’s throat and hold it there when the walls of her pussy clenched even tighter around his manhood, a physical signal that she was about to come. The choking sensation would make her arriving orgasm more intense. Alexander’s thrusts would make her squirm and writhe, and the force with which she pulled on the sink faucet she anchored herself to would cause it to break away from its fixture.
Jessica’s gurgled moaning would fill the room as her climax came and passed. Alexander would release his hand and allow her to catch her breath. Jessica would lie back against the mirror and let Alexander thrust himself to climax inside of her.
As Dana thought of Alexander’s hot, delicious cum dripping out of Jessica’s delicate, serviced pussy, she inhaled an enormous breath and moaned deeply as her orgasm overtook her. Her entire body shuddered as she continued to rub herself past the limit, extracting every drop of pleasure her body wanted to give her.
After she removed her wet hand from her panties, she dried her hand on her quivering thigh and turned horizontal on her couch. She immediately passed out.
***
The next afternoon, Dana’s eyes felt heavy as she struggled to open them. Her body couldn’t ignore the bright midday sunlight pouring through her windows any longer. She rubbed her eyes with her fists and blinked a few times before fully committing to opening them. She took a minute to get herself sitting vertical before noticing that she was still wearing her wrinkled cocktail dress.
Ugh, she thought, why are my panties at my ankles? Dana kicked the underwear off her feet before standing up.
As she stood, Dana was taken aback by the intense throbbing pain in her forehead. Still in a fog, she couldn’t quite piece together why she was feeling this way or why she was wearing last night’s clothes. And then she remembered how much she champagne she had had the night before.
Dana smacked herself on her aching forehead and immediately regretted it, as it sent a horrible shooting pain radiating through her head.
God, I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself. What day is it? Saturday? Thank God I don’t have to be anywhere.
Dana threw her hair into a messy bun and stumbled slowly into her kitchen like a zombie. She put on a pot of coffee and unwrapped a pack of bacon to cook on the griddle. As she waited for everything to cook, she switched into some pajamas, went back into her living room, and turned on a Real Housewives of Atlanta marathon. This looked like something she could get into.
As Dana zoned out on her couch, she began to think about how crazy her move to LA had been. Relocating and starting a new job had certainly been stressful, but she had no idea that her life would become so interesting so quickly. The combination of the stress, the busyness, the loneliness, the ups, and the downs was really like nothing she had ever experienced before. Although it had been a month-long rollercoaster, Dana suddenly realized – sitting on her couch, hungry and hung over - that she was enjoying herself in her new city. Her life had never been so exciting.
An hour or so later, bacon and coffee had brought Dana back to life. She now felt the pressing need to soldier on and get something productive done during her weekend. She had just gotten paid and thought that it would be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone: to see a little bit more of the enormous city she lived in, and get some décor for her woefully under-furnished apartment. She had read about Little Tokyo in SoCal Style and hoped that she could find some cute things to put on her wall there.
While Dana was throwing on some straight leg jeans and a loosely draped shirt, her phone began to buzz. She ran out into the living room to see who it was.
Another blocked number! Dana was nervous. What is it was Alexander? She had seen him last night. She hated this, but didn’t feel it prudent to ask for either of their numbers. They obviously only wanted a few people to know where to reach them. Dana surmised that Alexander was probably enjoying the power he held by keeping Dana from contacting him directly.
She took a deep breath and answered her cell phone.
“Hello, Dana? It’s William.”
Dana was relieved and a little disappointed. She would have been excited to hear from Alexander because it would have at least meant that he wanted something from her.
“I was just calling to see if you were okay this morning,” William continued.
Dana was touched by his sentiment. “Yes, I’m doing okay. A little bit of a headache, I guess. Thanks for checking in.”
“Of course. You were pretty entertaining last night!”
Dana chuckled nervously. “I don’t really remember too much.”
“Don’t worry. You didn’t dance on the tables or anything.”
“Good.” Dana went silent as she began to piece some of the night together.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay. Perhaps I’ll see you again sometime,” William said.
“I hope so,” Dana said politely. “Thanks again for dinner.”
“You’re welcome. Take care of yourself.” William hung up.
Dana smiled as she pocketed her phone. She continued to try and bridge the gaps in her memory before she remembered what she had done when she came back to her apartment.
Dana gasped out loud, then remembered how hot her fantasy was, which calmed her back down. She smirked to herself as she gathered her belongings and headed out for Little Tokyo.
***
The longer she continued to think about the night before, the more distraught she became over the awkward run-in between the four of them. So many things about their brief conversation confused her that she thought it better not to think about it anymore, hoping it would solve itself eventually.
The Virgin and the Billionaires: The Complete Series Page 4