Love In Rewind

by Tali Alexander

  Louis raised a suspicious eyebrow my way but said nothing. A minute later the phone started ringing again. Fuck Sara, give me a break. Louis still had his eyebrow raised trying to figure out why I was dodging my best friend's call.

  "Hi, I didn't forget about you. Let me call you back when I get home."

  I closed my phone before giving Sara a chance to answer, only to have the little bitch call again as soon as I hung up. I knew what she wanted.

  "Hi Sara. Sorry, I'll return your Roxette disc with Listen To Your Heart first thing in the morning." I heard Sara trying to mumble something before I disconnected. I looked over to find Louis trying to stifle a grin. I wasn't about to explain this to him or anyone else. When we got to my house he unhooked his seatbelt and got out of the car to help me out. I was already out waiting for him. He pulled my hips close to him with both hands.

  "I love you, Emily. God, it feels so good to say those words to you." He lowered his lips to mine, shutting me up before I had a chance to respond to his declaration of love. I had to get home and compose my emotions. We pulled away. I ran halfway up my parents' steps before I heard Louis humming one of my favorite songs. I turned around to catch his sexy voice singing out loud as he was moving around his car to the driver's seat.

  "Once in your life you'll find her, someone who turns your heart around and next thing you know you're closin' down the town." He winked at me, still singing as he got into his car and drove away, leaving me dazed and confused.

  I stood leaning on my front door watching his car take off as I finished the song he started: Wake up and she's still with you, even though you left her way across town. You're wonderin' to yourself hey what've I found.

  Louis Bruel just sang Christopher Cross' Arthur's Theme song to me … maybe we will get married!

  I called Jenna that night when I came home.

  "Emmy, I know," she said, before I even got a chance to say hello.

  "What do you know?" I asked her, not sure how this conversation was about to go down.

  "Louis called Mike today. He told him that he loves you. He promised that he would never hurt you. Mike said he sounded very serious. Like marriage serious."

  "Am I crazy, Jen? I love him too, I think. I've only known him for a few days, but I feel so right when I'm with him. He makes me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. It feels genuine, the things he says to me. I don't know why but I really feel safe with him. Am I being naïve? Is this how all men are?" I asked my sister, a little scared and lost in my growing emotions for Louis.

  "Emmy, from what Mike told me about him and other women, I think he's fallen for you hard. I mean, you need to be smart, obviously, and take your time. It seems you both have strong feelings for each other. You have to see where it goes. Listen, just because he was a total dick with every other woman before you doesn't mean he will be like that with you. Every relationship has risks; there are no guarantees. No one can promise you that it will work out for you guys. But I hope it does."

  "Do you think I'm special enough for him? I mean, he's so much better looking than me. You know, he's the total package." I needed someone other than Louis to reassure me that I was pretty enough and worthy of him.

  "Emmy, he's the one who doesn't deserve you. You're young, beautiful, smart, sweet, and innocent. Please don't sell yourself short. You're not some slut or a gold digger who's just after his money. You come from a great family that supports and loves you. He knows and acknowledges that. I'm sorry about what I said today at brunch. I didn't think he was so serious about you. I just didn't want you to get hurt and get your hopes up over him ever committing to you. But I was wrong and I take it all back."

  "Thank you, JenJen. I really needed to hear that from someone other than Louis."

  "I love you, Emmy. Mike and I are always here for you. I can't believe my little sister is dating The Louis Bruel. Go big or go home."

  My next middle of the night phone call was to Sara. She picked up on the first ring.

  "I'm not talking to you until you tell me everything. The one time you actually get some and what do you do, Emily Marcus? You shut me out. Don't forget I was there helping you pick out the dildo version of Louis Bruel."

  "If you want to hear about my crazy weekend stop talking and listen." That finally shut her up. Let's see where should I begin? Oh yeah: "Louis Bruel told me he loves me tonight. He asked me to move in with him last night, and told Mike this morning he's going to marry me. Any questions?" Silence … holy shit, I've rendered Sara Klein speechless, no ‘80s songs required.

  *****

  True to his word, Louis didn't once try to coerce me into having intercourse with him. He never even asked me to sleep over at his house after that night. I was only back on the sixth floor and in his bed once. I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to change into a suit for a party we were attending together. All very innocent. I worked for my sister during that month, but only on events for Louis' firm. "Coincidently," Mike and Jenna changed the Crown Affairs uniform to a white button-down shirt instead of the tight white tank top. Jenna said it was Mike's idea, but I think Louis talked him into keeping me clothed and on the unemployed side. I can't say I minded. I only agreed to that job because I wanted to see him in the first place.

  I remember a party that summer that his company was having at a penthouse on Central Park West. The apartment took up the entire top two floors of the building. Louis asked Jenna if it was okay for me to be his date and not have me work that night. He wanted to introduce me to some of his colleagues. He told me no one believed that he had a girlfriend. I knew they couldn't believe it was only one girl filling that post.

  "Once my business partners get a glimpse of you, they'll know why I haven't been at work for the last two weeks."

  That statement made me feel guilty. "Louis, I hope you hadn't been missing work because of me." In those last couple of weeks we'd spent almost every waking hour together. I blissfully and naïvely accepted the time Louis dedicated to me as the norm.

  "What's the point of being boss if I can't allocate my own time as I see fit? Em, I spent the last five years of my life working like a dog day and night. I just realized I was preparing for you. I clocked in enough overtime to spend as much time with you as you'll let me."

  Who says things like that? And why hadn't someone more qualified than me snatched him up already? I loved the attention I was getting as Louis Bruel's girlfriend. He wouldn't let go of my hand all night, introducing me to all as his girlfriend. Louis knew how to work a room. He commanded the attention of every eye; especially of the female variety, which followed his every move. The women were always a little covertly catty toward me, sending me sideways glances. They were no doubt thinking, What's so special about this little nothing of a girl?

  The men obviously wanted a better look at the girl who was able to capture the attention of their embodiment of Casanova. People who knew him were well aware of the kind of women Louis Bruel could have with his looks and means. I knew only a little of his reputation around town from what Jenna and Mike had told me. I'm sure that the reality of Louis Bruel as a bachelor was so much worse. I decided that ignorance was bliss when it involved my boyfriend's past transgressions.

  I was, however, worried about him having slept with so many women in the past. Had he been safe with all of them? Probably not! I asked him once about it and that prompted a full physical an hour later. Complete with blood work, urinalysis, and sperm count. Louis Bruel never did something half way. He told me he had never had unprotected sex with anyone. He said how excited he was that when we did finally make love; it would be the first time for him without a barrier. I also took a blood test that day, more as a show of solidarity than an STD concern, since I'd never been sexually intimate with anyone except him. Louis knew he had nothing to worry about when it came to STDs and me.

  Chapter 13

  Treetop...

  During our short courting period, on
e of my favorite dates was the 4th of July. Louis promised my father that evening that he'd have me back home by midnight. My father told Louis he had until two o'clock in the morning to bring me back, before they sent the cops to find me. My parents really loved him; it's a good thing they knew nothing of his past dating habits, or the fact that he had deflowered their daughter with almost every part of his body.

  That evening we went to his house.

  "I feel bad that you stayed in the city with me. All your friends are hanging out at the Hamptons. I really wouldn't mind if you wanted to go be with 'The Boys' for a few days."

  "I respect your parents for not letting their daughter spend the night anywhere but home. And trust me, Em, I'd rather be with you watching the fireworks than hanging out with a bunch of strangers on some beach alone."

  Yeah right, Louis alone. That's a good one. I knew he'd have every woman within a mile radius bobbing for his attention.

  "Louis, your friends must hate me. I haven't left your side for more than five minutes. You haven't hung out with them in weeks. I feel like I'm monopolizing you. You're going to get sick of me very soon."

  "I don't want to be away from you for a minute. Do you honestly think I'd leave you and go to the Hamptons? I don't think I could explain what I feel for you even if I wanted to. I can't imagine my life without you, Emily."

  "Ditto."

  I was secretly ecstatic that Louis stayed home with me. I'm no dummy. I knew what happened in those Hampton parties. Louis' friends threw a huge party every summer and invited ten girls for every guy. That was not the ratio of women to my boyfriend I liked him to be around. We still hadn't slept together. I'm sure with just the right amount of alcohol in his system, if the right girl came along Louis would forget all about the nothing-special eighteen-year-old he had back in the city. Jenna and Mike spend almost every 4th of July with their friends in the Hamptons. So I was pretty well versed on what took place outside of city limits.

  We rode in the car elevator to the seventh floor of his building. I hadn't yet seen the seventh floor. Louis hadn't given me a full tour of his house. He thought the element of surprise was needed in every relationship. I figured he had more bedrooms, or a gym, perhaps. I was certainly clueless to what was waiting for me up there.

  When Louis drew the metal gate up, my mouth dropped open and refused to close. If Louis' house was a huge exaggerated treehouse, then the seventh floor was the top of that tree. Stepping on that terrace that evening felt like we were hovering in the sky looking down on a lush park. All I could see was a field of green and wide-open sky like a blanket all around us. The bright lanterns spanning the rooftop terrace blotted out the sight of any building around us. It felt like we were the last two people on top of the world. In the middle of this sea of green, I saw what looked like a really big arc—a hammock covered in pillows.

  Louis broke into my dream state and said, "Seeing all this through your eyes gives me the most content feeling I've ever had. Whatever I achieve and accomplish from now on will be for you, baby."

  "Thank you, Louis, that's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me. I love you so much."

  The two of us made our way through the bushes and lay down in that hammock. We kissed each other hungrily with our eyes open for what felt like ages, swaying back and forth.

  "Take your shorts off … I'm going to make you come so hard you won't even notice the fireworks above you," Louis whispered into my ear.

  "I can't take my shorts off; someone will see us," I protested, not being of the exhibitionist type.

  "No one can see anything. The walls around us are pretty high. We are nestled between bushes and those lights all around the building are virtually blinding. So unless someone flies over in a helicopter and then shines a light directly on us, we're invisible," he said with a wink, already crouching down to where my fingers had started unbuttoning my white shorts. I wanted what my gorgeous boyfriend was offering. "I'll cover you with a throw anyway, so you won't get cold."

  Getting cold with Louis Bruel within a foot of you is an oxymoron. He was already working me out of my underwear. He lay himself between my parted legs and with both hands under my buttocks lifted my crotch up off the hammock and into his face. Louis closed his eyes and dug his nose inside me, inhaling me in like a drug. He took the cover and threw it over his head. It blocked my view of him and my naked torso. The hammock swung from side to side. All I could see was Louis' covered head moving up and down under the dark green cashmere blanket. I could feel his flattened out tongue lapping at my already oozing opening with long lazy strokes that started close to my rear and came up to my clit. When he would reach my clit, I could feel him draw his lips together and suck hard.

  "Oh God, Louis that feels so good," I groaned.

  "Baby … I'll make it feel even better," he promised. He bit down on my clit softly. That bite sent a bolt of electricity down my legs. To finish me off he blew on my over sensitized nub. He was doing that to me over and over. I was feeling a delicious tightness start to grow in my groin. Louis continued licking and flicking his tongue at my lips until his tongue found my rear. He circled his tongue around my puckered entrance. That foreign sensation had me clenching both my rear and my sex from the unexpected decadent intrusion.

  "Mmmmm … you like it when I tease your asshole, don't you? Baby, I need you to relax. Stop thinking and only feel me…" Louis said in a muffled voice under the covers.

  My head needed a visual. I pulled the covers off to see the most beautiful man in the world on his knees squatted down on a shaky hammock. He was supporting my rear with both hands and feasting on my mound. I put my hands through his long, now dampened hair, moving his locks back off his face. Louis looked up at me smiling and plunged two fingers inside my sex. He slowly started to pump them in and out. After a few minutes of being assaulted by Louis' long fingers, he added yet another finger to my already quivering hole. It almost looked like he was putting me on like a glove through my open slit. I was stretched out and filled to the brim.

  "Fuck baby … I want you to come hard and squirt all over my hand … I want you dripping all over me."

  As he looked at me and said those words, I could see the raw lust on his perfect face through my half closed eyes. I couldn't hold on anymore…

  "Louis, I'm letting go … it's coming … oh God, Louis I'm coming."

  My climax ripped through me with such force that I was sure the spatter of bright light behind my closed lids was my brain having convulsions. When the sound of my heart pumping began to dissipate in my ears, New York City came crushing in all around me. I finally opened my eyes to see a black sky bathed in red, blue, and green bursts of lights exploding above our heads. The lights I saw in the midst of my euphoric state were actually the 4th of July fireworks. The loud shooting sound wasn't my heartbeat but the pyrotechnic display. I could swear it felt like they were being shot out of my crotch. I looked at my lover nestled around me like vine. He was watching me watch the fireworks. I kissed his nose.

  "Thank you, Louis, that was amazing."

  "Baby, you're amazing, I wish I could watch you explode like that all night."

  "You could watch me swallow your cock whole with fireworks in the background." He liked it when I spoke dirty back to him. He said hearing the word fuck and cock leave my lips was a treat.

  "Em, I made a vow never to say no to you … swallow away, baby…"

  Chapter 14

  Boys will be boys...

  If you tell the guys how pussy whipped you have me, I'll withhold all forms of orgasm for a whole day," Louis warned me while on our way to meet his infamous group of friends.

  I had yet to meet anyone other than people Louis worked with. I was very anxious to finally meet The Boys as Louis referred to them: Max, Phillip, and Andrew—his so-called best friends.

  "I'm so nervous. Promise not to leave me alone," I asked, no begged, Louis before we got to the club.

  "
Em, I promise to not let you more than six inches from me at any time tonight. Relax, I love you and they'll love you."

  Famous last words!

  We walked up to Phillip's club, Lunna, at around eight o'clock that evening, which was not yet open for business. The club scene in New York only got going at around midnight. The club was located in a converted old church in an area of the city called Hell's Kitchen. Lunna looked very hip. It gave off an exclusive vibe. It was massive, occupying a whole corner and taking up most of the block.

  I would never have come to a place like this by myself. I would've felt too intimidated walking up to the door and afraid of not being granted entry. I'd only been to one club in my whole life. Sara's brother, Eddie, took us out with his friends to celebrate his college graduation. My best friend and I were fifteen years old so Eddie had to slip the doorman some money to let us both in. Eddie, being a great older brother, kept us within arm's reach all night. He wouldn't let any guys get near us. He had a protective barrier around me all night, while his best friend Jeffery was safeguarding Sara. I remember begging Jenna to let me tell Mom and Dad I was with them that night at some fundraiser. I got home at two o'clock in the morning, which was way past my eleven o'clock curfew. Eddie and Jeff left the club early to drop Sara home and then he walked me home.

  Tonight, having Louis hold my hand, I felt like I could walk on the red carpet at the Oscars and not feel an ounce of intimidation whatsoever. Being out with Louis meant that everyone was always looking at us. He put his hand at the small of my back and led me to the entrance. I was wearing a sexy, black, long halter dress. The dress looked like a black sheet that I'd tied up at my neck. My back was completely bare. No bra for me. The deep plunge in the back was so low that I couldn't even wear underwear. I'd chosen open toe black sandals to help me close the ridiculous height gap between us, and because Louis loved seeing my bare feet. He said to me that after sucking my toes just seeing my feet was a major turn on for him. Louis noticed my lack of bra but he had yet to discover my panty-less state. Louis knocked on the door and after a few minutes, a big burly looking guy with a shaved head and a goatee opened the massive door.