by Elsa Kurt
Watching him lay kisses over her heaving chest, she grabbed hold of the hair at the back of his head and forced him to lean back. She placed her mouth on his and rolled her hips more persistently to feel his cock thrust deeper inside her. The movement had her sex clenching more tightly around him.
She gave a satisfied moan and caught his smile in response. It aided in the build up more than she expected as she pushed herself to ride him faster. His hips countered in perfect harmony as their bodies arched toward each other and away.
Every thrust brought her closer to the edge. Every moan showed how her body was ready to give into the pleasure. While every moment caused her to realise she was nearing the end of a year, she had this near-perfect portrait of love, only to lose it all.
For after this it had to end, she told herself.
She grabbed his face and he had to take in her moans through his breathing, as she couldn’t let him go. His grunts rumbled in his chest and she felt the reverberation against her own.
The pace of the back and forth, intense closeness and long build-up began peaking for them both. Through the panting, they broke the kiss and an incoherent mutter left him, but before he could speak again, she gave in to the feeling and let go. A long, appreciative moan left her as she felt the pulses of his penis inside her, knowing he was watching her the entire time.
When the world settled, she felt a hand running over her hair and down her shoulder. She had settled in his embrace and eased into him. Lifting her head, her tired eyes met his and she received a smile that warmed her heart.
Leaning in, she gave him a kiss and the slow sweeps of their tongues led to more sleepless hours through the night, as she wasn’t yet ready to leave his room.
Simeon awoke as he noted the warmth at his side was absent, while a light orange hue began showing outside. A moment of panic, as his grogginess still had control of him, made him think it was Machi who was gone, but he quickly recalled the evening and how Amahle was more than he had ever realised.
Mostly their time together was an act, but in one night, even in front of the cameras, she was her true self, and he could feel just as much as she had, that they had a real connection. It might have taken a year for him to realise it, but now he didn’t want to lose it.
He got up and began searching, hoping she had settled in the spare room rather than left. Finding it empty, it seemed to resonate inside him. He knew the sex was likely all she would expect from him, but the somberness he felt knowing she left after the precious evening they shared, felt like a stake to the heart.
Wandering toward the kitchen for water, he still held onto the hope of finding her there, but he had already noted the hallway was cleared of her dress and her bag wasn’t in the spare room. Grabbing a glass of water, he gulped it down, appreciating the coolness running down his throat.
In the dark, the side of his eye caught light bouncing off something and he headed toward the living area. Plopping down on the sofa, he reached forward and took the portrait of him and Machi. Turning it so the light from the window hit the image, he stared at their happy smiles and realised that he would never fully heal from losing her, but he had finally been able to find love in someone else.
It was in the thought that he accepted his true feelings for Amahle had grown deeper and it seemed rather perfect. It was against the Salexis code of conduct agreement, but it happened.
Realising that to Amahle, their evening might have meant less than it had to him, left him shattered as he sat a moment longer, contemplating.
He got up and walked to the wall to place the portrait in its spot, but while reaching up, he stopped and stared at the photo.
“I need to move on, my love. I’ll always have you in my heart, but I think it’s time,” he whispered to himself and told Machi in some way he couldn’t fully understand, but it helped. It healed a little and promised hope.
He soon headed back toward his room, got in bed, and as he rolled to his side, he saw the odd shape on his nightstand. Moving his hand over the light sensor, a dimmed light revealed a piece of paper, neatly folded with his name on.
“Simeon, I apologise for leaving and for telling you this in a stupid letter, but the contract states no personal contact numbers may be exchanged, and now more than ever this wouldn’t be the right thing to do.
The point is; I’ve come to find my life has changed and I’m no longer the woman who first began this with you. I will, by all means, do a breakup scene or whatever you would prefer, but together we can smooth this over for the media.
I, on the other hand, as you know, have reached my goal of having my own practise. It’s all thanks to you, and I leave at a moment I wish I could stay, but that once more, is why I know it’s time to move on.
Not just me. We both need to find our happiness away from memories that leave us in pain. You’re a passionate person, and I wish I could’ve seen more of the man I had the pleasure of spending the evening with, so as a favour to me, go seek new happiness, find peace, and new love. You deserve it.”
She’d signed her name at the end. He sat back against the headboard, staring at the letter. He knew so much about her, yet also so little about the real her. He knew the basics, and he knew he cared for her, but in that moment he was uncertain how it all would play out.
Us To Be
On Monday morning, after an entire day of going back and forth on whether she should go through with her resignation, Amahle found herself doing what she had planned before things between her and Simeon sparked. She took a deep breath and greeted Jody, who had only then entered the office, while Alexa sat behind her desk in the Cape Town headquarters of Salexis. The discreet offices nearly reminded her of the education department building where her mother had worked as a cleaner when she was growing up.
“Sooo?” Alexa dragged out the word, as it was clear she thought they could begin, while Jody was still taking her seat.
Amahle waited for Jody to settle in and fell right in. “I’m putting in my resignation and withdrawing from contract renewal for this year with Mr. Simeon Breitenbach,” she said, and the way Jody turned to her, showed she was beyond baffled.
“Did he do something against the code?” Alexa immediately asked with concern, sitting forward and wrapping her hands together, like a concerned mother figure—even if an odd one at that.
“It’s nothing to drop him as a client,” she said, knowing it was a lie. “Okay, uhm, no, no. I…it’s…” She groaned in frustration. “We went against the code.” She decided to simply be honest.
“What?” Jody spat out next to her. “The first time ever you need to do an overnight and you end up fucking him?” She was furious. “Wait, was this even the first time?” Jody was out of her seat and began to pace the width of Alexa’s desk.
“Please, Jody, it wasn’t like that.” She tried to imagine stating that he was the most proper man she had ever met and the year of pretending to care just simply got to her. But from Jody’s reaction, she knew that was far from an option.
“Explain yourself,” Alexa promptly stated, but Amahle was surprised to find a rather calming contrast in her compared to Jody.
She sighed and began. “He was dealing with a personal issue—we’ve all known about it since I began being his dater—but it was hitting him hard on Friday. So when I arrived, I was there for him, and I could tell something between us shifted because of it. I know I should’ve ignored it, and I should’ve pretended to not feel it, but when we returned to his penthouse, it was all so different. I think I also needed what we gave each other, without truly realising it.”
“The passing of loved ones you both share? It’s what drew you in the beginning,” Alexa asked.
“Yes, exactly that.” She paused. “I know it’s wrong and paints the company into an escort agency, but it’s been a year and…I’m not gonna continue making excuses, but the fact of the matter is, I went in knowing that I was going to quit. Me confessing to you about the breach in the code is just
a courtesy I wanted to extend to you, as I’ve always followed the rules and only now fully understand how sticking to them is important.”
“But why quit now, after that evening?” Jody asked, clearly still confused.
“I began doing this to make enough extra money to start my own practise, and I’ve had it for a few months now while continuing on with you guys because of the contract. But it’s clear that I need someone I can fall in love and have a life with. And to be honest, while I admire what you can give to those who are lost but need to keep up their image, it seems to have become Simeon’s scapegoat, and he also needs a change.”
She shook her head, knowing she was far more in love with him than she would admit, but a year of suppression made admitting it feel like she was finally free. She pressed on, “Since my contract is due for renewal this week, I figured cancelling it now would be for the best. And I swear, it was my plan, before I…slept with him, but it’s clearly why I need to move on.”
“He’s the client, he needs to have a say in how you let this play out for the media,” Jody defensively said.
“I know that, and I will still do whatever he needs. I’ve appreciated this opportunity and the things I’ve learned, but I need some real people in my life,” she honestly replied.
The quiet made her fear their responses.
“I think you’re making the right choice,” Alexa said, and Amahle smiled at her in relieved surprise. “You’re right, you gave us a perfect year, your last few days don’t take that away, and the fact that you clearly made up your mind about this we won’t stand in your way. Besides that, you’ve dealt with more and for longer than any of our other daters, so I can only thank you for your service,” she sincerely said.
“Thank you, Alexa. I truly appreciate it, and I promise to smooth this over with him if there are any problems,” she added.
“He sent his cancellation this morning,” Alexa easily added.
“What?” Jody seemed exhausted as she fell back into the seat.
Alexa ignored her and directed her statement to Amahle. “I’m just glad I have a reason now for why he cancelled. To be honest, I was worried about it being about something else.” A knowing smile played on her lips.
Jody was fuming in her seat. “I think you’re running from the truth and caused us to lose the biggest client Salexis has ever had!”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Jody. We might have lost a client and a dater, but I believe both of them have avoided real relationships long enough now. I approve it, and thank you, Amahle, for being honest about what really happened.” A big smile graced her face. “Go live your life now. You’ve seen the better side it and know how to face it. Moving on is what keeps us moving forward.”
Amahle nodded her head in agreement as tears threatened, while the reassurance in her heart and hope for her life to pick back up, where she let it die several years ago, returned with a new understanding that she wasn’t alone.
After greeting her patient, as noon was soon approaching, she wrote down a few last words before heading to her computer to put the progress notes into the records. A while later, she found herself staring at the image of Simeon and her entering his building, as the newspaper was still open where she left it before the client came. It was primarily the look on Simeon’s face, as the small boxes of images showed her leaning over the security desk before heading upstairs with him, while he was simply looked at her in wonder.
Her intercom light beamed red, pulling her from her thoughts, and she tapped the button on her desk to speak. “Yes, Cathy?” she said, feeling hazy as she finally closed the newspaper.
“Here’s a walk-in. New client, medical aid, but I’ll do approval during the session. Would you take them, or should I schedule them for after lunch? We do have an opening.” she asked in a hushed tone.
Checking the clock at the bottom of her computer screen, she figured a half hour session could be a good start with a new client, and she wasn’t going to turn anyone in need away. “It’s good, send them in after five minutes, I just need to reply to an urgent email.”
Feeling more pressed for time, she opened the email from Alexa and clicked the link to the digital document Simeon and she would need to sign. While it was loading, she sighed, knowing that she had to do it, and as someone was soon to come in, it would allow her to get it done more quickly.
Opening the tab where the document was, she scrolled through the text, not bothered by the details this time. At the bottom, her breath caught. Simeon had already signed, and for a few seconds, it felt like she was drowning. It showed the finality, it showed his ease of doing it and it showed how she might have made the wrong judgment call. She understood that it was simply signed to release them, but it felt so soon, while in her mind she wasn’t quite as ready as she thought.
Giving it a minute, she signed. She saved the document and wrote a quick reply to Alexa, saying it was done. It would now only take her to fully accept it, but five minutes had passed and she had to get back to her reality.
Grabbing her notepad, she headed to the seating area and settled in, but her thoughts couldn’t quite leave Simeon Breitenbach behind. Even more surprising, he entered her office and it took her a moment to find her bearings.
“Hey,” she softly managed to say.
“Hello, it’s nice to see you again.” He carried a brighter smile than usual and it seemed far more genuine.
“This isn’t a professional visit, is it?” she asked.
“If I’m losing you money, then yes?” he answered with a sparkle in his eyes.
She chuckled.
“But I’m here because if our last date meant as much to you as it did to me, I don’t want to send out the news of our supposed breakup. I obviously mean this in a completely non-professional, non-Salexis related manner as well.”
“Straight to the point, just like that?” she said, feeling surprised, relieved, and as if every blessing had come her way.
“Uhm, how are you? Good, me too.” He smiled as he joked. “I’ve had enough time to think this over and I obviously mean it. I just knew I needed to get it out before you said anything and I somehow find another reason why I should rather let you go.”
“But the contract is already signed?” she muttered and got out of her seat, before walking toward the window and facing him.
“That was simply to allow me to do this without you thinking it’s about the contract looming over us,” he clarified.
She wanted to argue about how it had hurt her but knew it would be silly. Yet, she was still left confused, while a thousand things wanted to be uttered.
“Professionally speaking, since you’re a psychiatrist, I don’t know if it’s the best idea. But after you left, I felt like I was losing Machi all over again and I hated it because you aren’t her,” he said with enough emotion behind the words, it made her ache. “Yet you inspired the same response in me. It took me a bit of time to fully acknowledge that I should’ve accepted her passing, but you showed me the way and this time I finally listened.”
Taking a deep breath, she felt overwhelmed with joy, knowing he truly seemed to have accepted that moving on wouldn’t mean he needed to forget Machi.
“Personally,” he continued, stepping closer, “I’ve enjoyed an entire year with you, knowing I cared for you but never seeing it. Never accepting it. And then I lost you.” He sounded sombre.
“I get it. I left because I panicked that evening. I wanted to stay, but I feared what you wanted that evening to be would be something I wasn’t looking for,” she confessed.
“You also want more or are you going in the other direction with this?” he asked, looking uncertain.
She smiled. “I want more. It took me long enough to realise, but I believe we both finally see it now.”
He closed the gap and she recalled his every touch, as his scent drifted toward her. “Good.” He smirked. “How about an early lunch then?”
She let out a breath, enveloped his fac
e with her hands, and kissed him. And for a few more moments, they gave in to each other, as a new path was laid out in front of them, unobscured and endless, for they could make it whatever they wanted it to be.
About the Author
Chevoque was born as Rochelle de Beer on 15 May 1992 in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and as an only child, the world seemed like a lonely place, until she set her mind free and got lost in the worlds she created for herself. Her writing began at a young age and with numerous stories still waiting to be released from her mind, only time now seems to hold her back. She also has a degree in BSc. Environmental and Biological Sciences, because she’s a tree hugging animal lover, who hopes to never use her degree to cause cruelty.
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The House Always Wins
By Catherine Curtis
Chapter 1
Layla
Cici leans over the bar and smiles at the bartender. “Another round of Cosmos, please. And don’t let my friend leave that barstool. She has a surprise coming.”
Great. It’s not enough to drag me to every club in Vegas, I would bet money that she hired a stripper. Even though I stated quite clearly that if she hired a stripper I would kill her. I used to know how to threaten my friends. Where did I go wrong?
The bartender places a fuchsia colored martini in front of me and I turn to him and smile.
“Bachelorette party?” he asks.