Chapter Fourteen – Serena
I’m singing, actually humming a tune with happiness as I set about making breakfast for me and Ben. Jenny has left for her cruise, the rug of my life has been yanked out from underneath me, and yet I’m happy. I guess not all change has to be bad news.
Admittedly, I was a little nervous when I first moved into Ben’s home. There was a small part of me that could see over the rose tinted glasses into everything that could go wrong, but nothing has so far. It’s been smooth sailing. I have my own room – not that I’ve stayed in there much to be honest – we have our own space and privacy, but we can be together a lot too. It’s actually really awesome. Every moment I spend with Ben I find myself liking him more and more, he’s growing on me in the best way possible. I feel like I might well be falling in love with him, and it’s the most gorgeous, velvety feeling of all.
Of course, he wants me to leave the club and at first I thought I wanted that too, but as I spoke to the manager, who I now know is called Burt, he freaked out. Me and Jenny leaving at the same time was just too much for him at once. Apparently he doesn’t have as many girls wanting the job as he once did. So I negotiated with him. I asked him if I could take a couple of shifts a week behind the bar in normal clothing, which is something that I’m much better at than being a shot girl anyway. I actually quite like it, even if the money is less. It gives me some independence and a little bit of a nest egg to get me started when the moment comes.
“Good morning.” Ben comes up behind me and he circles my waist with his arms. As he buries his face into my hair my heart races faster. Everything he does makes me feel amazing, I have yet to find anything I don’t like about him. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m good,” I reply with a smile on my face. “I’m just cooking you some eggs because I know you must have a busy day at the office today.”
“I might not go into work today,” he replies while running kisses over my neck. “I might just stay home with you all day.”
I turn around and I wrap my arms around his neck. I push myself up onto my tiptoes so I can press my lips up against his. “I don’t think you should take any time off work because of me, I don’t want everything to go under without you.”
“It won’t,” he insists. “I have people who can do everything for me.”
“But you were never away before.” I don’t phrase this as a question, despite the fact that I don’t really know the answer. I just assume that’s the case judging by his ambitious nature. “So I don’t want you to change things up for me.”
He wraps his fingers around my butt and smirks. “I know, but I want to. You’re so damn worth it.”
The dream is so real, I try not to get caught up in the whirlwind nature of it anymore. Somehow, we’re making it work. Ben hasn’t been out partying every single night since I’ve moved in, he prefers to spend time with me, I think he’s actually calmed down quite a lot, and I find myself opening up to him more than I ever have anyone before. We’ve changed each other, and I think it’s in a really good way. So far it seems like we’ve brought the best out in one another.
“Well you have to have breakfast first, I didn’t spend all morning slaving over it for nothing!” I take a step back and Ben lets me. He’s so horny all the time, but he’s also really respectful when I want to do other things as well. I think I’ve met the perfect man in him. “I’ve made this nice for you, whether you’re going to work or not, and I’m going to make sure that you do, so take a seat and wait for it.”
“Ooh, I do love it when you boss me around,” Ben teases. “I’ll just sit right here like a good boy and wait for it.”
I plate up the food and put it in front of him. Then I join him at the dining table to eat my own. I only have one of Ben’s oversized tee shirts on, it barely covers my butt, but around Ben I don’t have any reason to feel self conscious. Nothing can be worse than the shot girl attire, and that’s what I was wearing when he fell for me.
“So, how was your visit to your Mom?” I ask while stuffing a forkful of food into my mouth. “I forgot to ask you yesterday.”
“It was really something,” he answers me, sounding a little weary at the memory. “She’s quite full on, I warn you. When I tried to tell her about our new situation she got really excited and even started talking about marriage.”
Ben rolls his eyes but the idea of a big white wedding gets me excited. I’ve always dreamed about my big special day and the thought that Ben could be at the other end of the aisle is an awesome idea. I would absolutely love for him to be my husband and with the way things are going at the moment I can’t see that changing.
“But she hasn’t ever met me,” I joke instead of saying all of that. “She might hate me, how can she think that we should get married.”
“Oh the description of you was enough, trust me.”
I want to ask Ben what she said, I’m really intrigued to know how Ben would speak about me to others, but I can’t ask. If he doesn’t want to divulge the information then what can I do? I just nod and say nothing, internally praying that he’ll reveal all anyway.
“Then she got out all these pictures of Dad and started saying that I look like him.” Oh, okay, this conversation has taken a much more serious tone. “It was weird because when she talks about him I don’t know what to say. Sometimes I don’t think she realises that.”
“I’m sure she wants to just keep him alive and part of your history,” I reply gravely. “I’m sure she assumes that she’s helping when she talks about him.”
Ben doesn’t say anything but I can see him contemplating my words. It’s like I can see the cogs in his brain spinning at a million miles an hour. I remain silent and let him think things through, while enjoying my breakfast. I never had food as good as this back at the apartment, I always had to buy the cheapest of the cheap. I’m sure I’m going to put on a lot of weight while being here and it tastes so good that I don’t even care.
“Anyway, I don’t want to worry about that today.” He stands up and puts his empty plate on the kitchen side. “If you’re going to force me back into work then I need to get my head back in the game.”
“Right. So why don’t you tell me what you have to do today? Maybe that will help you get your head in the game.”
He leans over me and places kisses all over my cheeks. “I don’t want to talk about work, I want to talk about you.”
I jump up and laugh. He thinks that he’s about to lure me into something sexual this morning, I can tell by the glint in his eyes, but he isn’t. Much as I’m tempted I would much rather him get into the office. I’m concerned about his company, I might not understand anything about it but I’m sure he’s the key element. The last thing I want is for him to end up resenting me because I’ve made him fail.
“I’ll tell you what.” I lean up and kiss him again. “Why don’t you go to work now, and I’ll send you sexy little text messages all day long. I don’t have work today at all so I can focus solely on you. When you can’t hack it anymore, come home and we’ll do whatever you want.”
“Urgh, you’re killing me,” he groans. “That is such a hot idea, but what if I can’t hack it for very long?”
“Oh I think you will,” I smirk back. “Because you know for a fact that the messages will get better and better throughout the day. It might be delayed gratification but you know that it’ll be worth it.”
Finally he takes a step back from me and he runs his eyes up and down my body, dragging them slowly over. “You really know how to play the game, Serena. I think I might have met my match in you.”
I wiggle my hips playfully and send him a wink. I want to keep him on his toes, I love that he feels that way about me. The way that Ben sees me honestly brings me right out of my shell. “You certainly have. Now get to work. I shall see you when you get home.”
“Fine, but I want my first message before I even get there.”
I walk him to the door and wave him off, already feeling like a wife. My brain spins, trying to plan my first text to Ben that will start things off in a slow and sexy way, but before the car is even out of sight it rings. I half think it might be Ben trying something new with me, but the name on the screen tells me that it’s my best friend.
“Jenny!” I crow into the handset. “How are you? How is life out at sea?”
“Good, good.” Her voice is distant which reminds me just how far away she is. “Things are really great, I’m loving life as a dancer, I think that’s what I was always meant to be.”
“Oh that’s wonderful.” I can be genuine with my happiness for her now that I have my life settled too. “I’m so glad to hear about it. It’s good that you’ve found your life’s calling. Where are you right now?”
“Headed towards somewhere in Asia. I’m not sure exactly.” She pauses for a moment. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good actually.” I feel pleased that I can actually say that and be truthful. “Things are working out alright.”
“You found somewhere to live in the end?”
Admittedly I haven’t told her the truth about what I’m doing but that’s because I know she’ll freak. She’s a bit of a cynic when it comes to romance, nothing like me. I smile to myself but still remain evasive for the time being.
“Yes, I found somewhere. I’m still at the club too, but not as a shot girl anymore, behind the bar.”
“There’s less money in that,” Jenny warns. “But I’m sure you’re much happier. I probably should have thought about that for you in the first place.”
“Oh don’t you worry about that, it all worked out okay in the end. It’s good to hear from you though, I didn’t think I’d get anything for about ten months!”
“Hey, I promised to keep in touch and that’s what I’m going to do.”
We chat for a while about some of the hot guys that she works with now, with the promise of pictures to follow. I’m so happy to hear from Jenny, I’m glad we can keep our friendship alive, but I’ll keep things with me and Ben a secret from her for now... at least until I work out just how serious we are about one another. Once I’m certain that we’ll go the distance I’ll tell her everything... she’ll be so damn surprised.