by S. M. Maddox
I realized she wasn’t having trouble breathing anymore, right before her machine realized it too. I stared at the screen as the flat line screamed at me like an angry demon.
That was the first time a woman broke my heart.
Chapter Seven
Jessie
The entire next day I stayed in bed, fantasizing about the previous night. Something had happened, though I wasn’t sure what it was. But it was sexy and exciting and forbidden.
And over. It was over. Well worth my $500, but also still over. Time to go back to the real world.
Tomorrow.
Today, I was just going to lay in bed with my vibrator and try to reenact the real-life fantasy I’d experienced.
On Thursday, I woke up refreshed and ready to kick the world in the ass. I circled two jobs in the newspaper, plus one for a waitress just in case I needed a quick fallback plan.
“There are two jobs for legal researcher. I definitely have all the qualifications for that, plus my bachelor’s in political science can’t hurt right? I mean it’s not pre-law, but there’s plenty of videos they can google to find my researching skills. I’ve got this. I can do this. What do you think?”
Otis barked and licked my foot, something he knows I hate. He thinks it’s hilarious to hear me yelp in surprise, and it brings out his puppy side. He spun around in a circle, his tongue still hanging out and his tail wagging. Sure, Mom. You’re the best!
I dialed the number for the first law firm, the one on the opposite side of town. I didn’t really want it, because I didn’t want to have to drive an hour and a half round trip every day, but I needed to at least check off all my fall back options.
“I’m so sorry, that position has already been filled! They were supposed to take the ad out last week!” The secretary exclaimed.
“Oh no that’s ok! Can I send you my cover letter and resume anyway just in case something opens up?”
“Sure dear, no problem! I’ll put it on the top, alright?”
I hung up, half relieved and half anxious. I heated up some ramen as I dialed the second number. I had been planning on applying here, whether or not they were hiring. It’s what Jack had wanted.
“Oh wow, that was fast! We just put that ad in yesterday. Can you come in this afternoon for an interview?”
“I absolutely can. I can be there at two, if that’ll work for you?”
“Just ask for Brenda at the desk. I’m the office manager. I look forward to meeting you, Ms. Malone!”
Chapter Eight
Roland, then
When I was 17, Dad hired a nanny for Thor. Her name was Dominique, and she was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. I spent hours and hours staring at her through my window as she did the backstroke back and forth. I would hold my cock in one hand, my other braced against the window, slowly following her movements as she swam towards and away from me in the pool below, until I couldn’t take it anymore and exploded with lust for her.
Dominique lived in the pool house while she was in school. She was going to Fries U, majoring in fashion. Of course she was. I knew she was casually dating Magnus, but I didn’t care. I was in love with her. She was French, she had big, plump breasts, and her words sounded like a purr. She was perfect.
Dominique walked into my bedroom on my 18th birthday. “Rrrrolan,” she growled my name as she walked in the room, “Can you help me carry ze groceries?”
I carried in all her groceries, sitting them on the counter with one arm. I was careful to flex my biceps, which had definitely grown over the last few months. I’d been eating more protein and working out more, eager to murder the layer of baby fat that still clung to me.
“Rrrrolan, you’re getting soooo strong,” she hummed as she ran her finger up my arm and across my back. “Can I show you somezing I’ve been working on for school?”
My voice cracked as I managed to utter a “Yes.”
Dominique went into the bathroom, returning a split second later with a bathrobe on. It was bright pink with feathers, gaudy and girly, just like her personality.
“Sit on ze bed, Rrrrolan.”
I swallowed, not knowing where this was going but willingly ready to follow her every command. She slowly undid her bathrobe, letting it fall to the floor behind her. Underneath, she was wearing a set of black leather underwear and a matching bra. Both looked like they were made more from strings than any actual pieces. Her bright pink nipples stood out, uncovered and uninhibited from the strips which held her breasts up.
My mouth fell open, in shock at the scene before me. I felt my pants get wet and sticky from lack of control.
“Magnus says I should treat you as his equal. If he’s willing to share, then who am I to choose favorites?” Wait, what?
Dominique walked over to where I was sitting and kneeled down in front of me. All I could think about was sucking on her nipples as she undid my shorts and pulled them down to my ankles.
“Tsk tsk tsk, Rrrrolan, patience is a virtue,” she whispered as she licked the cum from my tip. My mouth fell open as her mouth closed around me, licking and sucking my full length and never breaking eye contact.
I screamed as I came in her mouth. She sucked harder, clearly enjoying watching me writhe beneath her control. “What do you want to do to me, Rrrrolan?” she growled after she’d finished sucking me dry, or so I thought. “Do you want me to make you a man today?”
“Yes, please,” I squeaked as she climbed on top of me and pushed me to lay down on the bed. She rode me hard, making me see stars as I came over and over.
“Now, we go to dinner,” she said after she’d finished. I had no thoughts or words except those three that had been on my mind. She’d finally chosen me, picked me. She wanted me.
“Dominique?”
“Yes Rrrrolan?”
“I… I love you. I’ve been in love with you. And you’re in love with me too, right?” I’d thought it was great sex, but maybe she’d been bored with me just laying there like a potato while she ground on top of me.
“Don’t be silly, Rrrrolan. Magnus agreed to pay my semester’s tuition if I fucked you for your birthday.”
That was the second and last time a woman broke my heart.
Chapter Nine
Roland, now
“She wants to get married in the gazebo in town square, in the fall right when all the leaves are ‘all the colors,’” My baby brother, Thor, was sitting in my office talking in air quotes and complaining about wedding plans. “Are you bringing anyone? A date?”
“Why the fuck would I bring a date? That would imply I was dating.”
“I’m free that weekend,” Tina popped her head in the doorway.
“There you go. Bring Tina,” Thor added, adding fuel to her unrequited fire. He grinned, knowingly.
“Tina, shut the fuck up. You’re not coming. We’re not dating. Buy yourself a piece of cheesecake on lunch and charge it to my card. That’s the highest level of commitment you’ll get from me. Ever.”
Tina giggled, “Will you have your usually this afternoon, Mr. Andersen? ‘Tits to knees, Tina, tits to knees.’” She lowered her voice, trying to pull off her best impression of me as she inched further and further into my personal space.
Thor laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair, “Ro! That’s dead on! She’s really good! Are you supplementing her income sufficiently enough?”
“Not nearly enough,” Tina rang out in her mousy tone.
“Tina, I said shut the fuck up. You get cheesecake, you get orgasms, you get three weeks paid every summer in the Bahamas. No woman has gotten more than that from me in the history of women, so be fucking grateful for what you have.”
“But you haven’t wanted me in two days, Ro-,” Tina started to whine.
I bristled, cutting her in half with my eyes which was the signal for her to seriously shut the fuck up.
“I mean, Mr. Andersen. Thank you, sir.” She collected her wounded pride and turned to walk out.
Thor had finally stopped laughing to look at me seriously for a moment.
“Two days, bro? Two work days? I know you give her the weekends off, but when was the last time you gave her a work day off? Are you coming down with something?”
“No. Drop it. I just, haven’t been in the mood for her brand of pussy lately.”
“What brand is that exactly? Desperate, clingy, needy?”
“Precisely. So no, she will not be my date to your wedding. If anything, I’ll bring my niece.”
Anya, Thor’s fiancé, was due to give birth to their baby girl in June, not all that far away. They’d decided to set the wedding date for six months after her due date, because Anya didn’t want to be a fat bride. She was, however, going to be the coolest fucking sister-in-law in the history of sisters-in-law.
Someone knocked on my office door, just to piss me off I suspected. “Tina, I said leave me the fuck alone. Get two pieces of cheesecake if you want to soak your tears up with them. Get one in every flavor, even. I. Do. Not. Give. A. Fuck.”
My office door swung open. Brenda was standing there, files in her arms and shielding someone behind her. Brenda was at least sixty, and sporting a bright purple pantsuit Hillary Clinton would be jealous of.
“You watch your mouth, young man. I’m not Tina and I’m the only one in this office not afraid of you. I will bend you over my knee and paddle you like I did my other five children if you don’t start talking to your employees like the respectful citizens of this country they are. Do you understand me?”
Thor was sitting in his chair, legs crossed and one hand over his mouth trying to contain his laughter as I sat there getting verbally whipped.
“I said, Do. You. Understand. Me?” Brenda stomped her black flats on my carpeted floor. “You don’t need to be getting sued for sexual harassment by your employees. I don’t care if you give her three months in the Bahamas.” I nodded at her.
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Thor had gotten up and walked to the water cooler in the corner to distract himself both from the situation and from her bad side.
“That’s better. Now, I’d like to introduce you to our newest legal researcher. You might know her from television, she used to be the nightly anchor up in Hartford before, well, before she started over. She’s damn talented, excuse my French, so you’d best be nice to her. Ms. Jessie Malone, this is Roland Andersen. Your boss.”
Hot damn. I’d be lying if I said the reason I no longer wanted meaningless sex with Tina is because all I could think about was Jessie Malone holding a knife to my throat. A kinky vixen who’s equal parts smarts, sex and smokin’ hotness all wrapped into one. Too bad I don’t date.
That wasn’t what was written on my face, though. Or hers. The clipboard she was holding fell in unison with her jaw, and mine. We stared at each other for a minute, trying to make sense of the situation we were in.
It must’ve been awkward for everyone else, because I finally heard Thor clear his throat over in the corner, “Do you two know each other already?”
“I, um, I, we,” Jessie stumbled over her words.
“We met at the post office the other day. Her key wouldn’t fit in the box and I helped her. Jessie, Ms. Malone, was telling me how she had given herself one more day before she started her life over.”
Thor’s brow wrinkled up, “Since when do you go to the post office?”
“I can go to the fucking post office if I want to. It’s a free country.”
“I know you can, but you never do. You have people for the miniscule day to day stuff, you’ve always said.”
“I needed a bubble mailer, ok? What’s with the third degree all of a sudden?” A fucking bubble mailer? Why didn’t you just say stamps, dipshit?
“What the hell is a bubble mailer? Is that like bubble tea?”
I looked back at Jessie, suddenly wishing my brother wasn’t here. She looked completely mortified and uncomfortable in the situation. I stood up from behind my desk, stepping forward to greet her.
“Welcome to Andersen Brothers, Ms. Malone. You’ll be an invaluable asset to our team, I have no doubt.” I flashed her my grin that I knew had made her wet just two days previously. Her cheeks flushed red and I felt my dick twitch.
“That’s very pleasant of you. See, it’s not hard to be a decent person sometimes, now is it?” Brenda smiled at me passive aggressively. They turned and left, and I watched Jessie’s beautiful, perfectly round ass sway out the door.
Thor walked up beside me. “She’s cute, Ro, but what gives? How do you really know her?”
“None of your fucking business. Don’t you have napkins to engrave or some shit?”
“I think the word is monogram, and we have people to do the day to day stuff. You know, like you used to have.” He shot me a sly grin that said he knew I was full of bullshit. “Catch you later. Be nice if you brought a date is all I’m sayin’. A hot chick that’s yours for life isn’t nearly as bad as you think it is.” He slapped my shoulder and walked out of the office.
I went back to my desk and sat down, running my hands through my hair. What are the odds that the hottest chick I’ve seen in years has obtained both my thoughts and the vacant job opening all in the same week? And what am I going to do about it?
I decided to search for her on the internet. She was a match waiting to be lit, and I needed to know what fueled her. I’ve seen her, her true self. Maybe I’m the only one in the world who’s seen the real her. I could remember bits and pieces of her story, but not the whole thing, and I needed to fill in the blanks in order to make her feel comfortable around me. I cringed at the Hartford Daily headlines that popped up.
Hartford News Anchor Found Unconscious
Hartford Anchor Left for Dead
WFYR Anchor in a Coma
WFYR’s Malone Out of Surgery
Malone vs. the Mafia
Too Close for Comfort? Woman’s Brush with Death in Search for the Truth
Those fucking bastards. My head was spinning at trying to figure out her story. She got too close to a story, too close to somebody’s truth that they didn’t want out, and it nearly cost her everything, including her life. That’s the makings of a damn good legal researcher, if you ask me.
Why didn’t she just move away and get another anchor job in another state? She’s gorgeous and smart, she could do whatever she wants. Why downgrade jobs, from leading anchor to unknown legal researcher? What’s her angle on this?
On Friday, the very next day and her first full day as our new legal researcher, Jessie Malone called out. Brenda came to my office at 8:30 a.m. to inform me that Jessie had allegedly claimed that she was throwing up.
“What do you want me to do? Should I fire her already? Normally, we go ahead and write people up, as per your instructions, but I just thought maybe since she’s, you know, her situation, you might make an exception?”
“It’s fine. Don’t mention it to anyone. Let her have today. If she does it again Monday, I’ll deal with it personally.” Brenda gave me a strange look.
Jessie Malone, what’re you up to?
Chapter Ten
Jessie
Friday and Saturday I stayed in, fighting between having panic attacks and nursing my liter of Jack.
It’s totally fine that your boss is the sexiest man on the planet and knows all your privately hidden secrets and desires and knows that he turns you on just by standing in the room. It’s fine, it’s totally fine. It’s gonna be fine, Jessie, just pull yourself together.
Otis whimpered at me and went to sit by the door in protest. I’d promised him we’d find a new dog park as soon as we moved here, but so far all we’d done is sleep and drink away our blues.
“I know buddy, today’s the day huh?” He thumped his tail happily as I reached for his leash. We went outside and climbed in my old 1970 VW Beetle, June. June Bug was about on her last leg, bless
her heart. I inherited her from my grandma, and she’d been patched up for as many days as there are in a year, but somehow she was still putting around. I sold my Miata after the accident, and opted to resurrect June since she’d blend into the world a little better.
Otis hung his head out the passenger side window as we headed towards the Fries Sound Park.
Sunday afternoon, the FSP as the locals call it, is the place to be. It’s a large field, the size of two football stadiums at least, directly by the water. There are food trucks galore and sometimes random craft vendors. All the families go and hang out by the water, and there’s also a trail for the runners and walkers, in addition to a large pier for the fishermen. It’s basically a community get together every weekend.
As soon as Otis heard the other dogs, he got excited and started pawing at the dashboard. I knew he wanted to get out and run like he did in his glory days, but I was careful to keep him on his leash because of his cataracts. He’d started walking into walls every so often and I didn’t want him to get out and get hurt because he couldn’t see where he was going, especially so close to the open water.
The smells of funnel cakes and fried foods wafted through the windows as I turned the car off. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Otis licked his lips. Of course he was.
I got a big, hot, greasy funnel cake coated with tons of powdered sugar, and I got Otis a plain cheeseburger and French fries. We excitedly bounded up to the pier and found an empty bench to sit on and watch the people on the rocks and beaches below us.
A pelican sat on the railing just a few feet away from us, and Otis shot me a dirty look when I tossed one of his fries to it. The bird greedily caught it, and Otis barked his best scary dog bark to shoo it away. He doesn’t tolerate thieves.
I took his fries away from him, and he gave me his sad puppy dog eyes. “Do you wanna play catch?” Otis jumped down and stood in the middle of the pier, patiently waiting for me to toss his fries to him, one by one. Where his eyesight failed, his nose strengthened. Any fried potato whizzing by his nose didn’t stand a chance, even if they weren’t more than shadows in his vision.