Four Reasons to Come

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “It’s disgusting Liz,” Bella said as she started to get teary eyed.

  “Bella, I just wanted to be loved. I’m so sorry. He is such a nice man. I couldn’t resist.” Liz started to cry as well at this point.

  “Oh crap Liz, don’t cry,” Bella said as she reached out and hugged her friend. Bella had never seen Liz cry before. Liz was the strong one, the tough one. Liz wouldn’t cry at anything, Bella felt bad.

  Liz totally lost it when Bella hugged her. Without having family around, Bella and Harrison were the only people she truly cared about. It felt right to be with Harrison; he seemed like the right match for her. But Liz was willing to give up a temporary relationship with a man for a lifetime relationship with her best friend. There would be plenty more men available, but only one best friend.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that you are my best friend.” Liz said through her tears.

  “You are my best friend too.” Bella echoed.

  “It’s over with him. I promise.” Liz said through her tears.

  The girls gave each other one final hug as Bella disappeared into the parking garage. Liz returned to her hotel room, unsure if her efforts to save her friendship were entirely successful. She felt good about how things ended though and hoped that she and Bella would be able to mend their friendship.

  “Well, that didn’t go well.” Harrison joked when Liz got back to her hotel room.

  “It’s not funny. She’s my only good friend.” Liz said as she packed her things and prepared to go back to New York City.

  “She’ll get over it; Bella has always been a bit of a drama queen. Before you know it she will love the fact that the two of us are together.”

  “We are not together. This cannot happen again.” Liz said definitively.

  “Come on now. Let’s not make a rash decision.”

  “I’m serious Harrison. I told Bella we would not continue this.” Liz wanted to be strong in her statement, but even she wasn’t sure she could really commit to staying away from Harrison.

  He moved up behind Liz as she packed her suitcase. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her waist and started kissing her neck. It felt so good to have his arms wrapped around Liz; Harrison was not about to give up this girl just because his daughter did not agree. Liz was everything Harrison had been looking for. Not only was she beautiful, but Liz was hard working, intelligent and funny. Bella would just have to get over her issues with them being together.

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Harrison whispered into Liz’s ear.

  Liz felt weak in the knees. This man was too gorgeous to say no too. How on earth did she ever think she would be able to?

  “Oh, I can’t?” Liz said with a smile on her face.

  “You know you don’t want to resist me.” Harrison continued as his hands started to explore Liz.

  He was right. It was incredibly hard to say no to him, just being in his arms made Liz feel safe. She wanted to stay in that moment forever. But if he actually cared about her he would understand that her relationship with Bella was important to her also. He would just have to agree to step back and take a break for a bit.

  “Seriously Harrison. Let’s just take a break. Give Bella time to cool off.”

  “You are serious? What if she never cools off?” Harrison didn’t like this idea at all.

  “She might not. Then we will just have to move on.”

  “I’m not ok with this. What if I want to see you? What if I want to help take care of you?” Harrison wanted Liz in his bed every night. He knew how hard life was for her, and he didn’t want it to be that way anymore.

  “Take care of me?” Liz questioned.

  “Yes,” Harrison said as he stepped away from Liz. “I’m going to pay for your tuition and get you an apartment. We can just keep this a secret from Bella.” Harrison seemed proud of this offer and totally oblivious to how it demeaned Liz.

  Chapter 2

  “What? No!” Liz said as she flung herself around to face Harrison.

  “What do you mean, No?” Harrison responded with a look of anger. “I can pay for whatever I want with my money.”

  Harrison had never actually been told no by a woman before, especially when he was trying to make life better for them. He really could not understand what Liz was so upset about. He simply wanted her life to be easier so she could spend more time with him. It made him mad that her reaction was so angry toward him.

  “I’m not a charity case.”

  “I know you aren’t a charity case. I have the money, and it would make me feel better to just pay for things for you. It is my money. It’s ridiculous that you would say no.”

  Liz could tell Harrison was comfortable always getting his own way. He probably never got told no by people, especially by women. Although she certainly did not see the need for him to pay for her life, it would make things much more comfortable for her. It made her mad that he thought he could just buy her though.

  “I appreciate your offer, but I’m not a whore who you can buy with your money.” Liz felt disgusted by Harrisons offer to turn her into a kept woman.

  The more she let the thought sit with her, the more she hated it. She didn’t need his money. She didn’t sleep with him for his money and him making an offer like that was beyond demeaning, it was downright rude!

  “Again, I can do what I want with my money. So I can and I will pay for your school. That doesn’t make you a whore, and I never said such a thing. That makes you a smart woman who can appreciate when someone is being nice.” Harrison didn’t wait around for Liz to respond. Instead, he headed for the hotel door.

  Liz stood there stunned into silence. He was so overbearing and demanding.

  “Fine. You can pay for my school. But I will find my own apartment.” Liz had to hold out for a shred of her independence. “And we have to stop sleeping together, at least for right now.” Liz knew it would be too hard to give Harrison up forever, but for the time being it would be the best thing.

  Harrison made his way back over to Liz and kissed her passionately. His lips lingered on hers and sent wetness throughout her body. Her legs got weak, and she was forced to wrap her arms around his neck for stability. As much as it would be the right thing to give him up, it felt so good to be in his arms. This would be very hard for her to commit to.

  “Ok, my dear. No sex. No kissing. No anything.” Harrison said as he winked at Liz and left the hotel room.

  It was like he dared her to actually stick to her commitment with Bella. Harrison didn’t believe for a second Liz would be able to stay away from him, and Liz could tell this by the look in his eye. He could see the passion Liz had for him; Liz just couldn’t hide it at all. But she really did want to stay away from him, for a while and try to mend her relationship with Bella.

  Harrison was very demanding and sort of rude about the whole paying for college thing. It was hard for Liz to get out of her mind. She started to think that maybe he wasn’t the nice guy she thought he was; perhaps he was really the mean and rude guy she had briefly seen when she said no to his offer.

  Unfortunately, Liz could not stop thinking about Harrison. The whole ride back to New York her mind wandered to the night before. Liz could feel his hands on her body. Her imagination went freely back to that night. She felt him inside of her when she closed her eyes. It was impossible to rest at all because every time she closed her eyes she got wet with desire to have Harrison thrusting his cock deep inside of her again.

  This was going to be a very difficult few weeks if Liz was going to be successful in staying away from Harrison. She decided it would be necessary to get really busy with school and work. Liz made plans to avoid all calls, texts and contact with Harrison for at least the next month. It would be the only way she could build her relationship back up with Bella.

  Just as she solidified the plan to stay away from Harrison she opened her phone up. When her plane arrived in New York, there was a missed call from Harrison. Then a text came in
. The text read “My assistant is still sick, can you work as my assistant for another couple of weeks? $5,000 per week.”

  Liz wanted to say no right away. There would be no way to avoid Harrison if she kept working for him. But the money was insane. She could get her own apartment and still have plenty of money to pay her bills.

  An hour had gone by before Liz gathered enough energy to reply to Harrison and agree to take the job as his assistant for a couple more weeks. It would be hard to work full-time as his assistant and not give in to her cardinal desires for him. Liz knew she would need to use all of her will power to stay away from him, but the money was too good for her to refuse.

  She made a list of all the things she did not like about Harrison. If she were ever feeling weak and wanted to cave into his innate sexiness, she would look at this list and remind herself why she should say no to him.

  Liz had to think really long and hard in order to make her list. Harrison was bossy. He was overbearing. Harrison could be demanding. He liked things his way all the time. Liz started to feel really good about her list.

  Then the good things about Harrison started to fill her mind. His hands were gentle and felt like satin against her naked body. He was an innately giving person. He was a great Dad to Bella. His eyes pierced into her soul like a person she had known for her entire life. He was kind to her. He could hold a very intelligent conversation that always kept her on her toes. His lips were incredible.

  Oh, god. How would she ever be able to stay away from Harrison!

  Chapter 3

  Liz worked hard to avoid eye contact with Harrison every day at work. She committed herself to her job and being an excellent assistant, but she would not give in because of the promise to Bella to stay away from Harrison sexually.

  Harrison wanted Liz to give into her desire for him. He knew she wanted him and knew it was taking all of her will power to avoid him. On a daily basis, Harrison tried to flirt with Liz and convince her they could continue their relationship without Bella finding out.

  “Bella will get over it. She was just being dramatic.” Harrison said one Friday afternoon.

  Liz wanted to believe that Bella could get over it and be alright with Harrison and Liz being together, but she was not willing to risk it. Bella had remained friends with Liz over the last several weeks, and although they were both really busy they were back to their normal friendship. Liz worked all the time; Bella spent her time hanging out with friends. They tried to hang out at least once each weekend.

  “I’m not going to risk it Harrison. It’s going to have to just be a professional relationship for now.” Liz said.

  Liz continued to work at the law firm and even a few hours at her old job as a waitress. She was committed to ensuring that she had enough money to feel secure, although Harrison had paid off her college, and she was getting paid plenty while working as his assistant. Liz just never really felt secure financially. She did not have a family or anyone else she could count on so she continued to work as hard as she could.

  After work on Friday Liz and Bella decided to get together with their friends and go to a dance club. Both girls were single, so they enjoyed hanging out together. Bella wanted to fix Liz up with guys she knew, but Liz always turned down the offer because she was so busy with work and school. Or at least that is what she told Bella.

  The truth was that Liz wanted to be with Harrison. She secretly hoped that Bella would magically agree to them being together. It was really difficult for Liz to keep saying no to Harrison. At work, he pulled out all the stops to be adorable, sexy, and just plain irresistible.

  On this particular Friday, the girls went to Essence dance club and tried to have a good time. Liz spent her night pretending to have fun while she watched Bella having fun, until Bella finally dragged her out to the dance floor.

  “Liz come on. You have to get out here and dance!” Bella screamed as she came off the dance floor for a brief moment.

  “I’m so tired Bella. You go have fun.” Liz wanted to rest, she really was tired. Actually exhausted was a better word for how she felt on most nights. Dancing also scared her to death, especially if she did not have a large amount of alcohol in her first.

  Liz would have stayed home that night, but she really wanted to build her relationship with Bella back up since they had been getting along good for the last couple of weeks. It might take going out and partying more than Liz liked to, but she was willing to do it in order to keep her friendship.

  “You need to let loose. Party. Have fun.” Bella said as she danced around Liz with delight and more than enough alcohol in her system to be having a great time.

  Finally, Bella pulled Liz onto the dance floor and forced her into a night full of dancing. It felt good to get some stress out, and Liz couldn’t help but enjoy herself as the two girls started dancing with everyone on the dance floor. They also kept drinking more and more alcohol as the night went on.

  Boys and Men alike were all interested in dancing with the two girls, and Liz kept drinking and drinking until she felt comfortable dancing with them. The night quickly turned into a blur.

  Liz did not usually party as much as Bella, in fact; Liz couldn’t hold her liquor very well at all. Soon the room was spinning, and Liz needed to sit down.

  “I’m good. You go dance. I just need a break.” Liz assured Bella.

  The alcohol had taken control of Liz, and she sat there contemplating her life, when a sudden urge came over her to call Harrison. In a normal state of mind, Liz could have combated this urge with some reasoning, but she had no reasoning at this point.

  “Liz? Is everything ok?” Harrison answered.

  It was almost 2 o’clock in the morning. Certainly not a usual time for Liz to be calling Harrison, in fact, it was odd for her to call him at all.

  “I miss your hands on my body.” Liz blurted out over the loud club music.

  “Oh really?” Harrison said as he lay back down in his bed. Realizing that this was not an urgent call at all, simply a drunk dial.

  Harrison happily played along with this though. He wanted to be with Liz ever since they returned from Boston, but she kept insisting that it would be a bad thing. Perhaps this would be the perfect opportunity to convince her to forgo her plan to stay away from him.

  “Yes. I want your hands on my body right now.” Liz said.

  She could still feel what his hands felt like on her body. Every night when she closed her eyes she wanted him next to her in bed. It killed her to continue to deny her feelings for him.

  “Come here. I could have my hands on your body within the hour.” Harrison offered.

  “Oh, I want to. I want to be in bed with you right now.” Liz did want that. She desperately wanted to leave the club and go straight over to his house.

  “Yes. I want my lips on every inch of your naked body.” Harrison said as he closed his eyes and remembered how delicious Liz tasted.

  His cock got hard just thinking about Liz. Harrison wanted her to come over. He wanted to lay her on his bed and watch her orgasm over and over again. He let his hand slide down to stroke his cock as he thought about Liz.

  “I should come over there right now. I want you so bad.” Liz said as she noticed Bella making her way toward her and then quickly hung up the phone.

  “Who was that?” Bella asked.

  “Oh, just a girl from work,” Liz said.

  “Oh, you seemed to be smiling a lot for a girl from work. Are you sure it wasn’t a boy you are flirting with?” Bella joked as she grabbed Liz and dragged her back out to the dance floor.

  Harrison tried to call Liz back, but the call went to voicemail. He decided to leave her a message and then went back to bed. At first he thought Liz might actually show up to his house. But she had a key and could get in if she decided to do that. She would probably not even remember calling him in the morning, she had been really drunk he thought.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning Bella and Liz woke up at
Liz’s new apartment. The girls were both destroyed by their night and suffering from major hangovers. Liz had not experienced this level of hangover in a long time. She was already exhausted and feeling this horrible made her cranky.

  “I’m pretty sure my brain is going to explode,” Bella said as she tried to roll off of the couch and make her way to the bathroom.

  “Mine already exploded,” Liz said while she continued to keep her eyes closed.

  “My god. How much did we drink last night?”

  “Bella you drank more than any human should ever consume.” Liz joked.

  The girls spent at least an hour trying to drag themselves out of bed and wake up enough that they could shovel some food down. This was exactly why Liz hated drinking too much. The morning after feeling was just horrible, and she wanted to curl up and go back to bed.

  After breakfast, Bella climbed back into her covers on the couch as Liz took a shower and prepared to go to her waitress job. She had cut back her hours to only working one full day each weekend, but it was getting pretty hard to gather the strength to get up and get to work.

  “Liz are you seriously going to work today?” Bella asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Just call in. Stay here and sleep.” Bella urged as she wrapped herself tight into her blankets and tried to hide from the world.

  “That’s not the way the real world works. I have to go to work.” Liz said.

  “You don’t have to get snotty about it.”

  “Whatever. You are spoiled and don’t know anything about the real world.” Liz tried to leave after she said this, but it had struck a nerve with Bella. Liz wasn’t even sure why she was so agitated with Bella. Maybe it was the late night drinking, or because Bella didn’t approve of Liz dating Harrison. Liz regretted yelling at Bella but just couldn’t stop herself from continuing with the argument.

  “I don’t know about the real world? Oh Really?”