by Lauren Wood
“Cut the shit Leo, what are you getting at?”
“Well I know that you went to see Cameron and I was just wondering how it went. Inquiring minds want to know and all.”
“How did you know that I went to see her?”
“Just a guess because she works there and I can tell that you are smitten with the woman, even if you don’t want me to know about it. You aren’t as hard to read as you would like to think you are counselor.”
I wasn’t going to ask him how he knew that. Leo just knew things. He had a lot of connections and I had used them all more than once to get the information that I needed. It was hard not to think that he was a little clairvoyant, but right now I was trying to push him off of the trail. I wasn’t sure if I should just go with it and admit that he was right or what I should do. What I did know was that I was going to have to push him from the idea of it though. I don’t know why, but I wanted to keep what happened between us, between us. She was the only woman that I wanted to shield from the comments and the assumptions that Leo was bound to make.
“Well I didn’t even know that she worked there.”
He gave me a look that told me that he didn’t believe what I said. I knew that I was going to have to say something eventually, especially if it went any further. This is what I wanted anyways. I wanted him to drop it, but the look on his face told me that he wasn’t going to.
“You are not a very good liar Grey.”
“And you have never been good at minding your own business Leo.”
He grinned. “True enough. Give me a few details and I will leave it be.”
I groaned out loud and he grinned wider. I had a feeling that he knew that I was going to give in. I always did. “Fine, but only a few details and then no more about it. She is not like the rest of the women I meet. You were right about that.”
***
Work was long and tiring. I had a couple of court dates that I had to keep and instead of getting away with a settlement that I had hoped for, one case was going to end up taking more time than I was willing to give because it was going to be going in front of a jury. I should have been happy that I had a lot of billable hours coming my way, but I wanted more free time, more than I needed more money. It was one of those days and when I got off work, I went home instead of staying in and working like I was supposed to. I just needed a break from the law and everything that came with it. In reality, I wanted to spend my time thinking about Cameron and what had occurred between us.
My mind was constantly on Cameron much of the day. She was all I could think about and even though I knew that it was too early to call her, I wanted to, desperately. I didn’t want her to know how badly I wanted to see her. It was against my rules, but so help me it was hard not to give her a call and see what she was doing.
I had many rules that I lived by. It helped keep things straight in my mind and I told myself that it was something that I did to avoid all of the complications that could come with women. I didn’t want to fall for her, but I had a feeling that what was on my mind was nothing short of that. It was dangerous to feel this way about anyone, even her.
Scott called me and I was starting to think that he was going to be in town longer than he and I had anticipated. He wanted to go out again and again I almost declined, but he was good for a few minutes of not thinking about her. That is what I needed more than anything else right now, so again I agreed.
“Do you want to meet at the strip club, or is there somewhere else that we can go?”
He shrugged. “It’s up to you. I just want to see some titties and have a few beers. Do you know of a better place?”
I did and I gave him an address. It was another strip bar like the one we had went to before, but it was closer and a little classier. There was no way to buy a girl there and I didn’t want the urge to come over me. It would have been a waste of time after having Cameron. No woman was going to compare to her.
When I got there, Scott was already inside and it looked like he had already kicked a couple back by the time I got there. I asked him what he was still doing and he finally confessed that he and his girlfriend had broken up. She had kept the apartment and he was looking for a new place to live. “It started as business, but now I am here for good I think.”
I wanted to ask more, but Scott got sidetracked with a pair of tits that were above par and I had a moment where I couldn’t think as well. I don’t know what it was about boobs, but they were hypnotizing in some mystical way that no man was able to avoid.
“I thought you guys were doing well?”
He shrugged. “I thought so too, but you know how broads are. They don’t know what they want and even when they tell you and you give it to them, it still isn’t enough. It was always like that with her and it is no different now. But I am not worried about it. I am going to enjoy my freedom now that I got a little bit of it.”
Why didn’t I believe him? He didn’t sound or look to sure of his own words, but I didn’t want to kick him while he was down.
“So what about you? What about that hot little slice that you were telling me about? The chick with the crazy name?”
He was talking about Kaika and I told him that I hadn’t seen her since that night. I knew I wouldn’t see her again. I didn’t want to see her and she didn’t want to see me. I wasn’t even thinking about her or her magic mouth anymore. I should have thought about her more. We were together for some time, but the realization that I didn’t, just told me that it wasn’t meant to be. If it was, wouldn’t I think about her like I was thinking about Cameron?
“That girl is old news Scott. I told you after I left you the other night that we were through. She smelled another woman on me, that stripper that smelled like cotton candy and that was that. I doubt I will see her again. Besides, I was about done with her anyway.”
He shook his head and told me that I was cold. Was he right? Was I wrong for not feeling more about her then I did? I should have missed her, right? I should have felt something, but I didn’t.
“I guess. I don’t know. They come and go, right?”
Scott agreed and put his attention back to the woman in front of us that was getting naked. She was down to her skivvies and I have to say that I felt nothing. I should have. I know that, but I didn’t and I don’t know why. All I could see was the long legs of Cameron and the petite body that she had. Did it make her more special because I knew that I was the only one seeing her? I liked the idea that I didn’t have to share her and now it was becoming clear that this wasn’t helping.
I told Scott I would be back in a little while, I had to hit the head, but really I just wanted to talk to Cameron and see what she was doing. I called the number that she had given me, but there was no answer. I called twice, refusing to leave a voicemail and then I realized that it was almost midnight. I doubted that she was even still up, but I still tried for a third time. I wanted to be inside of her again, but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. All of my rules be damned, if I would have thought that calling her again would have gotten through to her, I would have done so. I wanted to see her again and all of the rules that I used to live by went right out the window. It was time for her to see that it wasn’t just a fling going on with us. It was something more and I was eager to see where it all ended up.
I got back out of the bathroom and Scott was getting a lap dance. He seemed rather pleased with himself and I wasn’t going to stick around any longer. I motioned that I was leaving and he tried to stop me, but it really was a waste of time. Nothing I did was going to get the blonde out of my mind. I was just going to have to find another way and all I could think about was seeing her. That would fix it all and it was what I needed to do. I needed to see the woman that had captivated my mind, if only she would answer her damn phone.
Chapter 12
Cameron
I didn’t get home from the party till late, even though I tried to get out of there at a decent time. It was hard to get up the next m
orning and I didn’t even get to see Anne before I left. She was still passed out from a long night and when I passed her room, I saw that she had another woman in her bed. I was happy for her, but I wanted a friend to talk to. I had denied what happened with Grey, but I really needed someone to talk to about it. I was confused and she had so much more experience with relationships than I did.
But it wasn’t to be, so I made my way to work with a lot of questions on my mind. I was confused and it didn’t get much better when I got to work. I was on time, but I was called into the dentist’s office almost immediately after I got there. I felt like I was at the principal’s office and the more I thought about it, the more nervous I became. What did he want with me?
“What can I do for you Sir?”
He smiled at me in a way that made me feel a little uncomfortable and I didn’t know what I was supposed to say or do. He just kept staring at me, I mean really staring at me and he was freaking me out if I was honest. The longer he sat there and waited for me, the more ill at ease I felt. It was hard to imagine what was going on in his mind and after a time, I was sick of guessing. I was about to ask him again what was going on, when he finally came out with it.
“So Cameron, I thought I would come to you first about this. Yesterday when you were here, did you do anything that would be considered wrong?”
I was trying to figure out what he was talking about and one glaring thing came to mind more than anything else. It wasn’t hard to think about what happened with Grey in the room where I was cleaning his teeth, but I was not going to spill it unless I knew for sure. I wasn’t going to volunteer information like that.
“Wrong, Sir?”
He smiled and I didn’t like the way he looked at me.
“I will tell you know that we have CCTV in the rooms and in the office. Maybe that will help you figure out what I am talking about.”
My heart leapt in my chest and I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t have to think about it long because before I knew what was going on, my boss had turned his laptop around and I started to watch the recording of me and Grey in the room. It didn’t take long for it to turn dirty and I could feel my face getting redder by the moment. It was clear what we were doing and there was even audio to go with it.
“As much as I respect the fact that you tried to stop it Cameron, you can see why this sort of behavior on the clock is a problem.”
I nodded my head, telling him that I understood, but I really didn’t. I had no idea what to say and if I was honest, I would have rather melted into the carpet at that point, disappearing from sight altogether so I wouldn’t have to have this conversation with him, my new boss, or rather should I say, my old boss. There was no coming back from this and I was mortified to no end.
“I don’t know what to say Sir.”
“Well you need to say and do something if you want to keep your job.”
“Do?”
He smiled at me again and it was then that I got that creepy feeling back. I had a feeling that I knew then what he wanted from me and I was even more worried now. The very idea of being intimate with a man like that turned my stomach and I didn’t want to hear the rest.
“Yes, do. It seems that you don’t mind giving it up to strangers that come in. So if you are going to give that kind of service to our customers, I would like to see what you would do for your own boss. I can look to the side from this if you promise to never do it again and shall we say, return the favor?”
I was speechless, something that didn’t happen very often, but it was the way he said it and the look on his face that made it hard to answer. Was he serious?
“I don’t understand Sir.”
“I think you do Cameron. I want what you gave that man in the video and if you do a good job and scream for me like you did for him, I am sure we can work something out. It is very simple. You have something that I want.”
He was looking me up and down and I felt a little bile come up in my mouth that I had to push back down before it overwhelmed me. I still wasn’t sure that I had heard him right, but I wanted to make sure that I had.
“Sir, are you saying what I think you are saying?”
He smiled and leaned in a little. “I think you are not stupid and you know exactly what I am talking about. If you want to keep your job, then you are going to have to show me some of the same attention that you showed our client. It is pretty simple. Let me use that sweet mouth of yours and that body and we will pretend like none of this ever happened.”
“And if I don’t?”
He shrugged and sat back in his seat. “Well then you are done here. I can’t have women like you working here. It would give this office a bad name and we can’t have that. If the other girls found out about this, you wouldn’t want to work here anyways. I figure it would be pretty embarrassing for you. I will warn you, if you tell me no, then I am going to have to make sure that this video finds its way onto the internet as well.”
I was so mad that I was shaking. I was mad at the guy for being a pervert and at the same time I was mad at myself for ever letting this happen. I should have known better, hell I did know better, but I wasn’t able to say anything. I was shaking inside and the more I thought about it, the more pissed off I became. He had a lot of nerve and I would have respected him so much more if he had just came out and fired me. The man was enjoying this far too much.
“I don’t take well to being blackmailed Sir. I don’t know who you think you are, but there is nothing that is worth being naked with you. You are gross and yes, I shouldn’t have done it, that is obviously clear now, but that doesn’t mean that I am going to compound my problems with what is going on now. I will not sleep with you Sir and if you choose to put it on the internet, I will not be able to stop you. My reputation is not worth it. Nothing is worth letting you put your hands on me.”
His face fell and I think he really thought that I was just going to go along with it. “I will tell you now as well if this is what you choose, then I will be forced to not give you a recommendation. Furthermore, I know all of the dentists in the city and I will make sure that none of them hire you. You will not find work here Cameron, not being a hygienist in this city at least. You will waste all of the time you put in at school and have to go back to waitressing or whatever it is that you do.”
He was going to ruin my career, or at least the beginning of the career that I thought I wanted. He was going to make it so I never worked in this town again, but I still wasn’t going to let him win. I refused to let a man like that get his way. He had most likely done it to others and would have done it to me eventually without me messing up. I just seemed to move it along a little faster.
I stood up and started towards the door before I said something out of line. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I nearly bit it off to keep from saying a word. I wasn’t going to sit here and listen to the devilish tongue anymore. My boss was a snake and I should have been grateful to find out now, instead of later when I actually needed the job.
“You do what you feel you have to and I will do the same Sir.”
I walked out with whatever dignity and pride I had left. It wasn’t much, but I managed to make it outside before I started to break down. What the hell was I going to do now? Everything that I had worked for was gone and I knew that I was going to have to find a way to pick up the pieces, somehow. I didn’t know how yet, but I knew that whatever I was going to have to do would have to be better than what he had suggested. I left with a bad taste in my mouth.
Chapter 13
Grey
“You had a couple of calls while you were gone Sir.”
“Really? Anything that is worth me actually calling them back about? I have had a long day and I don’t want to deal with anything else unless it is urgent.”
I was ready to get home. I had a bad loss today in court and all I wanted to do was get home and have a drink. I wasn’t going to let the loss get to me, but I wasn’t ready to concede yet either.
There was always another way and I just had to figure out what it was that I needed to do. I wasn’t sure yet, but I would be soon enough. I needed a little liquid help to get me thinking clearly and my assistant was standing in the way of that.
“Well mostly just the same old, same old, but I did get a strange call from a dentist that says he wants to meet with you. He left his name and a number, said it was very important.”
I wasn’t too worried about what a dentist had to say, but my assistant wasn’t going to let it go. It seemed that she thought that it was important.
“I don’t know Sir. I really think you should at least call him back. He sounded strange on the phone and it was the way he sounded. I just got a feeling that it is about something you should take care of.”
I took the number, but I didn’t think anything of it until I was in the elevator on my way out. I looked at the name and it took a minute, but I remembered that it was the same name that was on the building that I went into the week before to see Cameron. Since I hadn’t seen her since then and she wouldn’t take my call, maybe I should take this one. I didn’t know the guy, but maybe it was Cameron and this was her way of getting in touch with me. I wasn’t sure, but I was sure that I wanted to see her again and I was hoping that this was the way. I just had to figure out what it was all about.
So when I got to the car, Leo opened the door for me and I had already dialed the number. I asked for the name on the message and a jovial voice greeted me.
“I can’t believe that it is really you Grey. You are a bit famous in the city and I am lucky that you took the time to call me back.”
It wasn’t Cameron, but it was her boss and now I was intrigued. What in the world would this guy want with me? When I realized that it wasn’t about Cameron at all, I almost hung up. I didn’t have anything to say to him and I still needed a strong drink to set me right.
“What can I do for you?”