by Xyla Turner
Maybe I should tell Joshua, so he wouldn’t keep coming at me like this with all his sexual energy. Maybe he’ll back off and just let me do the job?
I pushed him off of me, so I could get down. I buttoned my pants and attempted to button my bra and blouse, until I realized that he ripped them. Good Lord. He had a smirk on his face.
Thank God I have spare clothes. I’m going home early.
“Have a seat Joshua.” I motioned to him to sit on the couch.
I opened my closet and pulled out a camisole with another blouse and put them on. I still felt weird with no bra on my big bare breasts. I sat on the opposite side in the love seat with a small table that held some magazines. He gave me a puzzled look when I sat down, but didn’t say anything.
I sat on the edge and proceeded, “So, what I am about to tell you, I’d like to stay in this room. The only reason that I’m contemplating telling you this, is because you don’t seem to hear me when I say, I can’t do this.” I point between me and him.
He raised an eyebrow at me and said, “You have my attention and my word that this will stay between us.”
“Great. This is a little embarrassing for me, but you’ve left me no other choice.” I sighed, “I have Herpes Simplex 2.”
I paused and waited for him to leave, make a disgusted face and run to wash his hands or something. He just stared at me, so I kept talking.
“I contracted it when I was young, but I just got diagnosed about a year ago.”
He looked thoughtfully at me and asked, “Was that the day you bumped into me in the elevator?”
I nodded my head, “Yes, yes, that was the day. That was why I was crying.”
He nodded his head and kept silent. I continued.
“So, you see why I can’t do this. You know, be physical or anything with you.”
“Not really.”
“Well, Herpes Simplex 2 is a disease that never goes away, my strand usually comes on the body near the genital area or below the waist. I would never…”
“Samantha, I know all about Herpes strands 1 and 2. You don’t need to explain.”
“Right, but you said, you didn’t understand.”
“No, what I don’t understand is why we can’t be physical because you have herpes?”
“No, well, I know we can literally be physical, but most people don’t want to have anything to do with diseased people.”
“What the fuck? Don’t ever talk about yourself like that. You aren’t diseased people. It’s a fucking virus and shit happens. There is nothing to do about it now but live your fucking life,” he spit out. “You don’t have to be a monk or a nun. Fuck people and their issues. If I ever hear you refer to yourself like that again, I will spank your sweet ass, you hear me?”
Oh shit. I think I just came again. He got up off the couch and pulled me up so I was pressed against him. I put my hands on his chest as a defense, as he looked down at me with a scowl on his face.
“Do you hear me sweetheart?” He asked softly, while squeezing my ass with both hands.
“Yes,” I gazed up at him.
“You like that, don’t you?”
“Like what?”
He swatted my ass and said, “Me spanking your ass, you taking my punishments, and begging for more.”
I swayed further into him and purred, “Yeess.”
“I knew you would. Fuck, my dick is so hard for you right now.” He swatted my ass again.
I poked it out for him to do it again.
He growled.
“Mmmm, I got to get out of here, before this whole office knows you like me spanking that ass.”
I smiled at him.
“Goddamn, I’ve been waiting for that look for a year. You pressed up against me, looking at me like I’m all yours.”
I raised one eyebrow at him and he said, “You’ll see one day soon. I’m all yours.”
What the hell?
“What medication does the doctor have you taking? The one you take daily or the one you take when you feel like you’re going to get an outbreak?” he asked.
He knew an awful lot about this process. I just learned most of what I know and that was because I was diagnosed with it.
“I take mine daily.”
“Good, that one is better. Where on your body do you get your outbreaks? The genital area or other places?”
“I used to get them on the lips of my vagina, but not anymore. Mostly, if I do have an outbreak, it’s on my upper backside, where my panty tags used to be. I no longer wear those kinds of panties, but sometimes my jeans are low-cut and they rub it, it might get irritated. I don’t get outbreaks that often, because I keep everything dry down there or not damp for too long” I smiled. “Plus, I don’t wear anything that will chaff those areas. TMI?”
“No, I’m going to be all up in there soon, so it’s not too much information for me,” he smiled. “Good though. Are you on birth control?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Get on some.” He grabbed my chin and lifted it towards his mouth. “Today!”
Holy shit! My body was on fire. My nipples were stretched against the camisole.
It was only 11:00 AM and I needed to go home, change clothes and see if I could squeeze an appointment in with my OBGYN. I’d have to do a pregnancy test before they put me on birth control and get all my other STD testing.
“I’ll see if I can make an appointment. They may not have any openings so late today.”
“Fine, I’ll show you my bill of health as well.” He pulled me closer. “I’m going out of town to take care of some business today, but let’s have dinner tomorrow night?”
“I think I’m good, but I’ll check my calendar.”
He stared at me and said, “Don’t even think about running from me again. I hope you know that I’ll find you.”
I laughed. “No, I just don’t want to say yes, without looking at my calendar.”
“Cancel it.”
“Hey, don’t do that.” I protested, shaking my head.
“Don’t do what? Tell you to cancel, when I want to spend time with you.”
“Yes, that. I wouldn’t ask you to do that?”
He looked at me curiously and said, “You wouldn’t have to.”
Then he kissed me softly, pulled me to him and whispered in my ear, “See you tomorrow sweetheart.” He swatted my ass once more and strode out the room. Well, more like sauntered out of the room. Of course, the women in the office gushed as he apologized for his behavior and the men tried to stand taller than they usually did.
Chapter 8: I’m interested
JOSHUA:
Well, I thought she was going to say she was pregnant or she couldn’t have kids, or even that she got her tubes tied. I wasn’t expecting her to say she had herpes. She was acting like it was a death sentence. Shit, herpes may not go away, but it’s not leprosy. With Simplex 2, nobody even knows she has it, unless she is having an outbreak and she’s intimate with someone. While she can still give the disease to someone without having an outbreak, it still isn’t small pox or Ebola. That was why she was pushing me away. Damn, I wish I would have known that sooner. She could have been mine by now.
Shit.
Daniel, my driver, was playing some classical music in the background, but it was doing nothing to soothe my temper. I had to go out of town to fix a fuck-up, before it turned into a bigger fuck-up. This is why I pay top-dollar for people to do their fucking job, so I don’t have to fly in and fix shit. If I’m on the scene, people are getting fired. This shit would have to change now, especially now that I have Samantha. Everything needs to change.
Starting with Alura.
SAMANTHA:
I sent my staff an email telling them I was taking the rest of the day off and I’d see them tomorrow. I also sent them the details of the new project we would be working with Kelly International starting in a week, but we’d need to hash out schedules, timelines, etc. therefore, we would have an all-staff meeting to
morrow at 10am. I’d bring donuts, but I tasked someone else to get the coffee. The last time I tried to carry both the donuts and coffee, I almost had third degree burns on my legs. Therefore, I now delegate. Elliot would be so proud of me. One day, he saw how stressed I was trying to keep the business afloat, he made me repeat after him several times: DELEGATE! I would call him now, if I was ‘not’ talking to him right now. Well, I’m only partially ‘not’ talking to him and I’m fully not talking to Roslyn.
Quickly, I put on my coat to cover up the change in my blouse and swaying boobs. I knew my cheeks were probably red because I wasn’t sure what the office heard while we were fooling around. Hopefully not the moans, growls or buttons flying. I cannot believe I let him do that. I’m completely helpless once his hands are on me. I should be stronger than this. Dammit. I flipped my collar up on my coat and exited out the office rather quickly. Nobody said anything, but it was all on their faces. Shit.
I called my gynecologist and she said that I didn’t need to get tested again, since I haven’t had sex in the past year, but she always recommended testing. She did say that I need to have the pregnancy test done before I could get on birth control. She said we could talk about the different types when I came today, luckily one of her patients cancelled. After putting on my workout clothes, I caught the train to the Kelly building for my appointment. Joshua said he’d be out of town, but I still found myself looking for him when I walked into the building.
Min, my Gynecologist, and I discussed the fact that I might start to have sex and the best way to prevent infecting my partner. She said there were condoms for males and females. Basically saying that I didn’t have to give up oral sex all together, because there is something called a ‘dental dam’ for vaginal or anal oral sex. She did explain that there was a possibility that he could be infected even if I wasn’t having an active outbreak and taking the suppressant medicine. It reduces the risk, but my partner needs to understand there is risk involved. So in essence, no matter what we do, condoms and all, he can still get the disease. Funny how one stupid mistake can have such a lasting effect on not just me, but the people closest to me.
Such is life.
Urg.
I have to keep telling myself I should be grateful this is herpes and not a death sentence. Therefore, I won’t complain. So long oral sex. Bon voyage! It was nice while it lasted. At least I’ll have my vibrator. I wonder if Joshua will be okay with using toys. I’ll need to talk to him a little more in depth and explain his risk. He may not understand that no matter what we do he is exposed.
The birth control options were simple for me, because although I wanted to have less to worry about, I wanted to take Orthro, because it inadvertently helped with acne. Every once in a while, I’d would get a huge pimple during that time of the month. That meant I would have to take the pill daily, and that would add to my routine of taking my herpes meds, Vitamin A, C, D, multi-vitamin. That was my process, every morning after breakfast.
My test results wouldn’t be back for another couple of days and then I could share them with Joshua - that is if he still wanted them after I explained how exposed he was to being infected. His response was sweet and all, but hopefully he’ll have some time to think about it more.
Leaving the Kelly building, I stopped by Starbucks to get my macchiato fix. I was feeling so relaxed, I decided to stay and attempt to finish my eBook. In The Chase, Xena was back from her trip and Xavier was outside of her door looking like a hobo. Wow, he was really sick about her being gone. She was starting to get on my nerves. That was such a punk move.
For Starbucks to be a coffee place, it was awfully loud in there. The patrons were yelling over the machines, the baristas were talking loudly as well and it just wasn’t a good place to read. Not sure how people sit in there and concentrate, I left after a half an hour of what sounded like an outdoor market.
When I arrived back home, I developed some alternatives for my employees to look at in regards to our plans with Kelly International. I like giving them options, just in case nobody had ideas. I hate sitting in meetings with everyone shrugging their shoulders. If someone had a better idea, I was game with that, but I didn’t like approaching these meetings without a game plan. After four hours and three different options, I ordered take-out through Seamless. I really just wanted Guacamole and Chips, but there was a $10 minimum order, so I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. Yes, I could have made it myself, if I had bread, cheese or butter, but I didn’t – so there.
While I was going to meet the delivery guy at the elevator, I saw the guy from the laundromat coming out of an apartment down the hall. I wanted to divert my eyes, but he smiled at me, so I gave him a weak smile back. He picked up the pace and asked, “Do you live in this building?”
“Yes, do you?” I responded.
“Yeah, I live,” he pointed on the opposite end of my apartment, “down there.”
“Wow, what a small world.”
“Hey Sam, I wanted to apologize for what happened in the laundromat. I really thought about it and I screwed up royally. In short, I should have just said what I was thinking, which was how beautiful you are and could I take you to dinner.”
Oh.
I didn’t know what to say to this, because this guy was asking me out and I think I was kind of seeing someone. Well, only having dinner with Joshua tomorrow. More decisions.
“W-well, I, uh, don’t know. I’m kind of seeing someone right now and I’d feel wrong to have dinner with you like a date, while I’m seeing him.”
“Oh, that’s alright. How about we have lunch? No date, just two soon-to-be friends.” He smiled.
The elevator chimed and the delivery guy had two bags in his hands. He looked at the both of us, then checked the bags.
“Samantha?” he tentatively handed out a bag towards me.
“Yes, thank you.” I reached and took the bag from him.
“Are you Trevor?” he asked my neighbor standing next to me.
“Yeah, that’s me. Thanks,” he replied.
I looked at Trevor again and although he was white, he had some ethnic ways about him. The way he wore the beanie, to the side, told it all. I liked that.
“Wow, this is so weird. You are my neighbor who I haven’t seen before, we have the same meetings, and we ordered take-out from the same place,” I said, with wonder in my tone.
“And at the same time. I don’t believe in coincidences.” He smiled.
“Right, how long have you lived here?” I asked.
“About three months now.”
“Oh, okay. That makes better sense. I know I’m a horrible neighbor and I come home, close my door and don’t participate in any community events.”
“Yeah, you are horrible. I haven’t seen you ever, until the laundromat and I ‘would’ have remembered you.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. Dammit.
“Hey, I have an idea. Not to take away from our future lunch, which I’m hoping can take place tomorrow, how about we eat together right now. We won’t count it as dinner, although its dinner time, we’ll just look at it as take-out.”
“Uh,” I mused.
“Come on, we can go to your apartment if you’ll feel better.”
“No, that’s alright.”
“Okay, let’s go to mine.” He walked down the hall and knocked on a door near the one he left earlier.
An older man comes to the door and said, “Hey Trevor, everything alright?”
“Yeah, I’m good Mr. Landen. Our neighbor here, Samantha is a little apprehensive about having dinner with me, so I wanted you to tell her that I’m trust worthy. Maybe you can convince her.”
“Ahh, yes dear. I’ve seen you around. Trevor here is a God-send. He’s harmless.”
I smiled at the older man. “Thanks, but I think I’m just going to enjoy my dinner alone,” I responded.
“Noo, come on – it’s no coincidence that we ordered the food at the same time, from the same place, and we live on the
same floor,” Trevor teased.
“Oh my, dear, that’s what you call serendipity,” Mr. Landen chimed in.
“See, its serendipity,” Trevor echoed.
“Fine, but Mr. Landen, if you hear that your neighbor in 3f is missing, you know whose door to knock on,” I said, half teasing.
They both laughed.
“Have fun you two,” Mr. Landen chuckled.
“Shall we?” Trevor asked.
“Wait, I need to go grab my keys and cell phone. I’ll be right back. What apartment are you in?”
“I’m in 3b, two doors down,” he pointed towards his door.
“Okay.”
I walked back to my apartment, grabbed my keys, cell and quickly sent an email to Elliot telling him I was going to have dinner with a neighbor, along with his name, room number, Mr. Landon’s info and his room number too. When I do unexpected things, I usually tell someone just in case I go missing, at least they will know who to contact. As a single woman in the city, you can never be too careful is my rationale.
Trevor’s door was propped open for me, so I walked straight in and looked around. His apartment was the same shape as mine, but everything was on the opposite side. My kitchen was on the right, his was on the left. His closet was on the right and mine was on the left. It was like being in the TWILIGHT zone. He had a nice, chocolate leather living room set that looked brand new. I knew it was a reclining set because I had the same one, but it was black. His flat screen was mounted on the wall and it was curved inward. The kitchen was clean and the apartment looked spotless, but also lifeless. There were no pictures hanging up, but several on the floor leaning against the walls. He didn’t have a dining room table, so I wasn’t sure where we would sit. Something flashed on the right side of me, so I jumped and swung around to see what it was.
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”