by Cher Etan
“No,” she protested.
“I told you not to move,” he chided. Then he withdrew from her and flipped her over depositing her legs on his shoulders and burying his face between her legs.
She gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Whaoifhooi?” was the mumbling she heard as his tongue touched parts of her she never expected to be in anyone’s mouth? A white hot bolt of pleasure streaked across her body as his tongue landed on the delicate flesh inside her most secrets parts. His magical tongue circled that piece of flesh, making Meaghan leak everywhere and then he sucked and Meaghan couldn’t hold the sound in anymore. She screamed out loud and then promptly held her hand to her mouth in mortification. Dean remained undaunted, though she could feel him smile against her sensitive skin. She could feel the ball of heat spreading, permeating every cell in her body, eliminating all other stimuli – then her vision went white and she felt herself float away into the ceiling, her body light as a feather….
She came to, hearing pounding on her door and Dean straightening her clothing.
“Dr. Leonard?” a deep voice asked urgently from the other side of the door. “Is everything alright?”
Meaghan absolutely froze for a moment before opening her mouth and attempting to get something out. “Uh, er…yes everything is fine. I’m sorry, I thought I saw a rat,” she gasped breathlessly, hoping whomever it was would go away and leave her to her mortification in peace.
“You sure?” the voice asked not sounding convinced.
“I’m sure. Thank you for your concern,” she said. Dean had put her clothes back in respectable order but the room reeked of sex and she wasn’t ready to face a disciplinary committee or even just the damage to her reputation if whoever was behind that door found out what was going on here. She glanced at Dean, expecting him to be looking as embarrassed as she felt but his face was impassive, though there seemed to be a bit of a smug smile playing on his face. She punched him in the arm just on general principles but all it did was widen his smile.
“Okay then, I’ll go now,” the voice said seemingly waiting for her relieved acquiescence before walking away. She tried to glare at Dean though her body was feeling a bit too languid to completely pull it off.
“What'd you do that for?” she asked as if she really minded.
Dean quirked his brow at her. “Are you trying to claim you didn’t enjoy it?” he challenged.
“Of course I enjoyed it,” Meaghan said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “that is so not the point.”
“What’s the point?” Dean asked running his hands up and down Meaghan’s sides. She sighed shaking her head at his obtuseness.
“Nothing,” she said moving away from him. “Did you bring your own sandwich cause you’re not sharing mine,” she declared picking up the paper bag.
Dean smiled, “Actually I was just dropping that off, I have a lunch meeting with a new investor – he wants to woo me into a partnership I think.”
“Really? As in he wants to buy into Wesson Diamonds?” Meaghan asked exactly as if she actually cared.
“I’m not sure. I think he has mines in South Africa and wants to speak to us about distribution,” he said as he tucked in his shirt.
“Okay well,” Meaghan said coming to straighten his collar and check that he had no untoward stains. “I think you’re ready for your close up now,” she said.
Dean smiled, leaned forward and kissed her. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yes dear,” Meaghan smiled back at him. He turned around and walked out with a small wave as she dug into her sandwich. It was her favorite kind, chicken, cheese and onions.
“I have the best boyfriend in the world,” she said to no-one and then froze; hoping frantically that whoever had heard her scream was not still loitering in the corridor. Seeing Dean walk out of her office would just put a different (more accurate) slant on her screaming and lord knew she did not need that shit. Especially not at work when she was in the midst of her residency and trying her best to impress her supervisor, Dr. Conrad Shelley who also happened to be the director at her locum job where she fulfilled her lifelong dream to do community outreach. She stood up again and opened her door tentatively, peeking out to see who was in the corridor. A solitary cleaner was moving a mop from side to side at the other end of the corridor and two patients were sitting on a bench outside a closed door that she thought led to phlebotomy but that was it. She studied the patients, wondering if they’d heard anything but they seemed too absorbed in their own pain to notice much else.
Meaghan pulled her head back into the room and shut the door, flopping onto the couch to eat her sandwich and hope for the best.
*****
Dean was slightly late for lunch but he just could not give less of a fuck right now. The person he was meeting wanted something from him not the other way around. He was fine with making them work for it. His team of private investigators had already looked into the firm behind this meeting known as De Beers. They’d uncovered a few questionable practices in the past but the company was currently under new management. Dean licked his lips tasting Meaghan on his tongue – interspersed with the salty bitter taste of his own come that he’d licked out of her center. He could feel himself getting hard again just thinking about it and adjusted his pants to accommodate his swelling member. Just then he spotted his hosts standing up at their table waiting for him; looked like they’d spotted him too. Hopefully his arousal was not immediately apparent…
To his surprise the contact who had called him, Mr. Van der Roodt was not alone; he was with a tall attractive woman who was giving him the eye…and the smile. Dean smirked internally wondering what kind of con these people were trying to run. Did they think they could seduce him into falling in line with their wishes? Had they not heard of the latest scandal making the rounds among the country club set, about him and the totally unsuitable female he’d taken up with? Dean smiled to himself and walked toward them, mentally daring them to do their worst.
“Mr. Wesson, a pleasure to finally meet you,” the white guy he assumed was Van der Roodt said. Dean nodded his acknowledgment and then turned to the female whose ethnicity was less certain. She was tall, almost his height, with auburn hair that was possibly not natural. Her dusky complexion was perfectly clear of blemish and her honey brown eyes stared at him with interest.
“May I present my companion…Ms. Adriana Stuijt? She’s our head of A&R,” guy said.
“Interesting name,” Dean murmured.
Adriana smiled at him and then sat down so they could sit as well. A waiter appeared as if by magic placing a bread basket on the table and distributing menus. Dean glanced at it, trying to find something he was interested in eating. Nothing jumped out at him; in fact if he was being honest he would rather be in Meaghan’s hospital office sharing her deli sandwich than here at this fancy restaurant trying to choose between foie gras, or duck confit. He was inclined to go with the latter since he was pretty sure this restaurant didn’t do sandwiches. Maybe he could take a doggy bag back to Meaghan; food was just that much more fun to eat with her in the room.
Once orders had been taken and the waiter had brought their food along with an appropriately expensive bottle of white wine, Van der Roodt fired his opening salvo.
“First of all, allow me to invite you to call me Jan. Mr Van der Roodt is quite a mouthful and I’d like us to be on friendlier terms than that,” he said smiling.
Dean made a non-committal sound. He wasn’t that easily won over.
Jan continued to speak as if Dean had acquiesced. “As I’m sure you know, we’re one of the biggest suppliers of rough diamonds and we’re looking for a new partner in the distribution process here in America who undertakes the process of cutting and polishing, basically turning our rough diamonds into jewels. Your company has shown great resilience in the wake of the financial crisis and with the peaceful handover of power from your father to you without any major fluctuations. We would like t
o congratulate you on your stability and offer you the opportunity to work with one of the best in class in the business. We can all profit insanely from this partnership,” he finished.
Dean just looked at him, nodding his head to indicate understanding but otherwise not indicating in any way whether he was in favor or not of this idea. Adriana leaned forward so her cleavage was peeking out of the v-neck of her red business suit.
“Mr. Wesson, may I call you Dean?” she asked in a soft sultry tone and continued speaking before he had a chance to refuse. “We would like to invite you to a benefit that De Beers is holding at the Museum of Modern Art. Proceeds will go to casualties of the Blood Diamond trade. I’m sure that is a cause you could get behind. And it would give you a chance to really get to know who we are,” she said.
Dean perked up for the first time in the conversation. “I see. And when is this event?”
Jan and Adrianna exchanged muted triumphant glances and Dean pretended not to notice.
“It’s on the tenth of next month,” Adriana said putting her hand strategically on the table, near to his. “I’d be honored to escort you to the event,” she added searching his face hopefully. Dean mouth twisted in a wry smile.
“I think I can find my own plus one. Thank you for asking though,” he said.
Adriana sat back, visibly disappointed. “Well…anyway. We look forward to seeing you there.” Her accent had thickened, with more emphasis on the consonants and a slightly sing song cadence to her speech. Dean still couldn’t place her origins but he guessed that it was also at least partly from southern Africa. He considered asking her straight out but didn’t want to seem prejudiced. His glance flipped to her hair, assessing it for natural curliness but it was straightened either artificially or naturally; Dean couldn’t really tell. He jerked back suddenly, wondering why he was so interested in Adriana’s hair anyway, or her ethnicity…it was none of his business. He stood up, preparing to leave and they stood up with him.
“Well this has been interesting. Have your people call my people to set up a more formal presentation.”
Jan inclined his head. “Will do. And we’ll send you that official invite for the benefit,” he hesitated slightly. “Will there be a plus one?” he asked diffidently.
Dean quirked his eyebrow. “Why of course,” he said with a smirk. Jan inclined his head again in acknowledgment and then Dean turned around and left. He felt the need to get away from these people for some reason.
*****
“Hey Meaghan, what was going on in your office earlier?” Nurse Rachette asked her as she came to drop off the reports at reception.
“What do you mean?” she asked her, feeling her face warm.
“I mean…there’s a rumor that a little raunchiness took place there this afternoon. True or false and is it that white guy who keeps coming to see you?” the nurse asked leaning forward confidentially. Her and Meaghan were not really friends; more like familiar acquaintances. Meaghan had cultivated her because it was necessary to have a nurse on your side if one was to survive the grueling schedule they were under. She wasn’t sure though, if spilling about her personal life was really merited to keep nurse Rachette’s goodwill. After all it was exactly none of her business what Meaghan got up to behind closed doors. Granted these closed doors were at work but still…the theory applied.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, signing her reports in with a glance at the nurse and then walking off. She’d let her make of that what she would.
“Hi Megs,” Mr. Henley waved to her as she walked past the waiting room. He’d taken to coming for his diabetes medication at this clinic ever since she started working here.
“Hey Mr. Henley, alright?” she asked stopping to exchange a word.
“Great,” he replied grinning, preening a bit that the big shot doctor had stopped to speak to him. “How is that boyfriend of yours?” he asked.
It was Meaghan’s turn to grin. “Great,” she said.
Mr. Henley gave her two thumbs up and she went on, continuing with her day with as minimum of fuss as she could manage in the circumstances.
Chapter 9
“We have an invitation to attend a benefit next month,” Dean told her over dinner much to her intense surprise.
“What?” she asked. “Since when do ‘we’ go to benefits? Isn’t that more something you’d do with your mom?”
“Yeah before when you were my dirty little secret,” Dean said with a sly grin. “But now that we’re ‘out’ I don’t see any reason why we can’t go together.”
Meaghan swallowed, forking some spaghetti into her mouth and chewing and swallowing thoughtfully before she answered. “I suppose technically you’re correct.”
“There’s no technically about it,” he said a bit curtly.
“Okay so is it now mandatory that I attend these events?” she asked not really wanting to mix with his snobbish friends and endure their judgment. It would be easier if Bain attended such events but he was also eager to avoid his set’s arbitrary judgments so he tended to ignore these society events too.
“Not mandatory no. But I thought it way past time you were seen on my arm. Don’t you want people to know we’re together?” Dean was frowning at her.
Meaghan took a deep breath; she didn’t know how to tell Dean about her reservations without making him feel like she was rejecting or denigrating his lifestyle. Which was pretty ironic because these things usually ran the other way around. She was the one who grew up in a trailer park; she had no right not to want to rub shoulders with the rich and famous of New York City now that her handsome billionaire boyfriend wanted to parade her on his arm…it was decidedly awkward not to be enthusiastic about this invitation. So Meaghan tried to dredge up some eagerness from the depths of her being.
“Of course I want people to know,” she said concentrating on wrapping spaghetti around her fork. Dean was staring at her and then shook his head.
“It doesn’t seem like it,” he said.
Meaghan stopped playing with her fork. “Well I’m sorry you feel that-“ she began to say staring at him.
“Don’t play with me Meaghan,” Dean cut in rather curtly, badly startling Meaghan. She dropped her fork onto her plate, mouth slightly open as she stared at him speechlessly. She picked up her fork again and forked some spaghetti into her mouth, waiting impassively for him to continue. The silence stretched uncomfortably and Meaghan felt compelled to fill it.
“You’d do very well working with ISIS. Interrogation technique is on fleek,” she murmured with a small smile. Dean smiled reluctantly back but didn’t let her attempt to lighten the mood distract him. He continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes until she put her fork down again and stared back at him with a sigh.
“Okay fine, I am a little nervous about…all this. I’m not sure how wise it would be to rock the boat now. I mean we’ve done the essential bit; your dad and mom know who I am to you. That’s the important thing right?” she said.
“So you are ashamed,” Dean pressed.
“I’m not. Really,” she insisted as she saw his hurt disbelief. “I just…it's hard. People have expectations of me that I either don’t meet or surpass depending on what they were anticipating. I feel like there’s a spotlight on me every time I’m around your friends – and most of them knew me from high school. I imagine it’ll be ten thousand times worse when it’s mostly a bunch of rich snobby strangers I’ve never met.”
Dean continued to stare at her in disbelief for a moment and then he barked a laugh, “That’s funny.”
“Why is that funny?” Meaghan asked preparing to be indifferent.
“It’s funny because after everything you’ve been through in your life, you’re intimidated by a bunch of tame blue bloods?” he asked with a smirk.
“Tame my ass,” Meaghan murmured in an aggrieved undertone. “Y’all are a bunch of sharks.”
“Ooooh, poor Meaghan scared of the scary blue blood sharks wit
h the long teeth,” Dean sing songed, making fun of her.
“Well I am,” Meaghan said firmly chin in the air, “and I am not ashamed.”
“Well you should be; that is totally pathetic. You should know that the head of A&R, this new firm, already tried to hit on me. So if you want me to go all alone and expose us to the danger of having my head turned…” he threatened.
“Please. If I have to watch you like a Doberman this relationship ain’t worth it,” Meaghan countered.
“Well too bad. You’re going, whether you like it or not. It’s part of your girlfriend duties.” Dean declared.
“Great,” Meaghan replied but not like she meant it.
*****
“Bain, you have to come for this benefit,” Meaghan said desperately.
“I do?” Bain asked watching the lady doing his nails closely because sometimes they removed too much cuticle for his taste.
“Yes!” Meaghan said almost pulling her own fingers out of her manicurist’s hands causing her to utter a weak protest. Meaghan turned to her. “Sorry Mei,” she said before returning her attention to Bain.
“Why?” Bain asked as he had another beautician place cucumbers on his eyes. He was forced to lie back and close them much to his chagrin because he could feel his manicurist taking too much off his nails. “Not too much okay?” he said warningly.
“Yes sah Mr. Bain,” the manicurist said. Meaghan smiled at the fake Asian accent. Just last week she’d ran across Mei at the train station talking in fast and furious Brooklynese to this other beautician. She’d ducked away so they didn’t see her; no need to embarrass anyone needlessly after all; and she guessed she could understand pandering to stereotypes if it helped one to make their daily bread. She turned back to Bain.