Chapter Four
“Thanks,” Selena told Tom as he saw her, Ayesha and May out of his house. It was three in the morning and most of the guests had already left. The few who remained had been spending time at the pool.
Tom gave her a kiss on the cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow then. I mean, later, I guess. After lunch.”
“I’ll call you,” she replied and then shut the door.
Both Ayesha and May gave her a look of pride.
“Don’t even fucking say it,” Selena told them both as they began their way to the street and to their cars.
“You slept with Tom Sellick,” May said as if it was the most glorious thing in her life. Her eyes were wide with astonishment.
Ayesha seemed the same way too, which Selena found strange given that just an hour ago Ayesha was fucking David’s friend Gary inside the bathroom. “Was he any good?” Ayesha had to ask.
“I’m not saying anything,” Selena wouldn’t give them that satisfaction.
“You should be careful though,” May warned as they were getting out of the front garden and through the gates. “That is Tom Sellick, after all.”
Selena didn’t understand, “What do you mean?”
“Sellick’s a playboy,” May answered. Her tone had a sarcastic ring to it as if everyone already knew. “He screwed Jessica over like a few months ago then went to Thailand where they said he fucked around with not one, not two but four different girls.”
‘He didn’t seem that way,’ Selena pondered to herself in silence. She then shrugged and replied, “I can take care of myself.”
“He’ll use you then dump you,” Ayesha said but she had a happy look on her face. “Who cares, though? You got to sleep with a billionaire, at least for a night, so it doesn’t really fucking matter, right?”
They finally got to Selena’s car, which was parked the closest. She opened the door and before she got in she turned to her friends and asked, “Wait, before you guys go, do you think I should call him later? I mean, will it seem like I’m desperate or something? You think he knows that I know about him being a playboy?”
“Girl, every rich playboy knows that everyone knows they’re a player,” May answered. “That’s why they keep playing since they don’t really care anymore about public opinion. Look, if you want to hang out with him later go call him. If he dumps you, it ain’t your loss. He ain’t going to find another ass like yours.”
“Truth,” Ayesha agreed.
Selena had a smile from ear to ear. She loved these two despite how naughty and irresponsible they could be. She waved good-bye and gave them a wink before getting into her car and driving off.
It was a quieter, more contemplative drive than the one she took getting there. There were fewer cars on the road at this hour and the dead silence gave her space to think about what she just did back there.
‘I slept with Tom Sellick,’ she thought. ‘He must think I’m just another one of those sluts he fucked with in Thailand or whatever. I just met the guy and there I was getting drunk and stupid and I let him fuck me like that. What the hell was I thinking?’
She shook the thought out of her head. She knew she was over-thinking the matter. Tom didn’t show any sign of being a bad boy during the whole time they were together. He seemed like a really nice, really polite guy who was gentle when needed and rough when the time called for it. She never felt scared or worried with him in that room, even after they had sex.
However, she did recall that glimmer in his eyes and the wicked smile he had on. That was not the look of a shy, gentleman. She saw the fire burning in him.
“I can play with fire,” Selena whispered to herself as she decided to drown out her thoughts with music. She lost herself in the beat and kept this peace of mind intact all the way back to her home.
When she was finally back in her apartment Selena didn’t even bother to undress. She just tossed her bag to the floor and plopped herself on the couch. She was still slightly tipsy and she could still feel the aftermath of her time with Tom aching all over her body. It was a good kind of ache, however, and it put a crack of a smile on her face before she finally fell asleep.
***
It was ten-thirty in the morning when she woke up. The sunlight pierced through the open curtains of her living room window and she struggled to get back up. Grogginess was overwhelming her but she knew she had to get moving.
After getting some music playing in the house she took a shower and made some brunch. There was almost nothing left in the fridge so she settled for pancakes and a strawberry tart. She still had some soft drinks left but they were all the weird-tasting grape soda May bought last week. It was better than having nothing though so she didn’t complain.
There was still time before she had to leave so Selena settled in to her room, opened her laptop and browsed online on Facebook. Ayesha had posted some of their photos from last night. There were a lot of stupid photos like when Ayesha and May were flirting with David and his buddies in the solar and by the pool. She also saw a photo of May trying her best to win at beer pong. Fortunately, Ayesha also had a picture of Tom.
Digging in, Selena clicked on it and scoured to find Tom’s Facebook profile. As expected it wasn’t as loud and as extravagant as her friends made it out to be. Most of Tom’s posts and photos were related to work so there were a lot of geeky images about video games and entertainment news. There was the occasional picture of him hanging out with friends and a girl she figured to be his cousin based on the captions.
She found a picture of him hanging out with his mom and dad. It was only at this point she discovered his parents were separated. His father was apparently living in New York and his mom was down in Florida. So why was he here all alone?
It might explain why he screws around. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get a glimpse of this bad boy persona in any of his photographs. It was expected though. He was famous, he was rich, so he would have the public’s eye on him.
“Aha,” Selena uttered when a light bulb flickered in her head. She wasn’t going to dig into his personal profile. It was time to look for what the paparazzi could get.
It didn’t take long either. Soon enough she found tabloid websites baring the whole truth to her. It did kind of come as a shock. Apparently Tom was a party animal when he could get away with it. He even took out a yacht and had a sex party with several girls. There were even stolen snapshots of him joining a BDSM club in Boston.
“You fucking animal,” Selena told herself.
Despite seeing all of this, however, her opinion of Tom still didn’t waver. If he was a playboy and a heart-breaker there was no sign of it from last night. Last night, she spent her time with the most polite man in the world. He was quiet, shy and friendly. Tom was more like a little boy with a flair for something more dangerous instead of being the actual danger.
Satisfied with what she discovered, she got dressed. This time around she wore tight jeans and a grey no-shoulder top. It was loose and hanging, further enhancing her petite form. She was with Tom so she didn’t even bother wearing a bra underneath this time.
Before walking out of the apartment she took her folder which had her resume and a printed portfolio of her previous designs. That was when she remembered the real goal of their date: she also needed to apply for a job. If the person interviewing her was a guy she might get lucky so she decided to put on red lipstick and large hoop earrings aiming to get his attention. Maybe a combination of charm, good looks and an impressive resume and portfolio might get her the job.
Finally ready, she locked her apartment and took her car out to the nearby mechanics shop. When she asked how long it might take they did tell her it wouldn’t be ready until later that evening so she decided to just wait and call Tom to pick her up.
He picked up the moment she rang his number.
“Hello?” he asked on the other end.
“It’s Selena,” she replied, holding her phone up as she paced around the parking lot of the shop. “I’m ready. I’m at Groucho’s, you know it?”
Tom was silent for a second and then answered, “Uh, yeah, that’s the one near Johnson’s Square Mall, right? It’s the one near the theater?”
“Yeah,” she told him. “They said my car won’t be ready until later so I’ll really need that ride if you’re still up for it.”
“Oh of course,” he told her. “I was just waiting for you to tell me.”
“Will it take long for you to get here?”
“No, I’ll be there in ten,” he answered. “I was already on my way out, anyway. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Selena ended the call and sat back down on the benches near the entrance. There was nothing to do and she didn’t want to go over her resume for the hundredth time. She swiped her phone, browsed online for a game to download, and decided to get one of the titles Tom worked on.
They were easy to find. Tom didn’t work for someone else’s company nowadays and she quickly found apps developed by Sellick Entertainment. Most of them were paid apps but she did find one that had a free demo. To her surprise, it was quite enjoyable.
As a matter of fact, she was having so much fun she didn’t even notice when Tom’s car parked right in front of her.
“Hey,” Tom had called out.
When Selena looked up she found he had already opened the passenger door and was waiting for her to hop in. The sight did seem surprising though – she knew Tom was rich but strangely enough he was driving an old 2004 Chevrolet Camaro.
“What’s with the decade-old car?” she asked as soon as she sat in his car, shut the door and buckled the safety belt in.
He gave her a soft peck on the cheek and looked at her as he replied, “Really? The first question you ask is why I use an old car?”
“You can buy a yacht,” she told him with a nonchalant shrug, “so why this?”
“I like this car,” he answered. “And more importantly, how did you know I bought a yacht?”
Tom began to drive out of the parking lot and got back onto the highway. He began heading towards the downtown district where Selena’s job interview was at.
“I did some digging,” Selena answered without any fuss or fluff about it. “Who would’ve guessed you screwed an entire team of girls in Thailand?”
Tom gave her a horrified look, “How the hell did you find that out?”
Selena responded with a wicked smile of her own then said, “I know how to dig around. You can take all that stuff out of your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and I’ll still be able to find it.”
A moment of silence filled the car as Tom tried to respond to that.
“Are you really a player?” Selena asked him, straight and direct.
Tom shook his head but kept his eyes on the road, “No. I mean, sure, but not like the way you think it is.”
“Players fuck girls then leave girls,” she said. “That’s how it is, plain and simple.”
“I’m not like that,” he said.
Selena chuckled in disbelief, “Don’t try to lie. Are you trying to tell me you were seriously involved with all those girls?”
“No, but ---“
Selena cut him off, “There it is then. Don’t try to play with me, Tom Sellick. Just because I found you cute last night and because I slept with you it doesn’t mean I’ll let you play with me like an idiot. So you better tell me right here, right now if you’re going to just play games.”
That was a lot to take in and Selena knew that. She also knew it was a lot of pressure on him. After all, they just met and had sex just hours ago. It came as no surprise when Tom had to park at the side of the road to fully compose himself.
“All right,” he started. “I have a sex drive. I can’t really explain it but when I’m not busy or anything my mind always goes back to sex. I need it. I’ll look at a girl, go back to my car and masturbate thinking about her and what I could do to her. I have the means so I don’t have to imagine things to get girls that will do whatever I want.”
“You’re not going to do that to me,” Selena told him. “If you want to step into the light with me, Tom Sellick, you better be serious about it or else I’m stepping out of your car this very moment. You can keep last night as a memory but I will not let you add me to your list of side dishes.”
Tom gave her a forlorn look and for a second she felt sorry for being so harsh on him.
“Give me a chance,” he told her. “You don’t seem like any of the girls I’ve met and I’m not just saying that so you’ll go out with me. I mean it. You’re real. You’ve seen the real me, as well, when I took you into my attic. Let me show you that that’s the real me and not what you read in the tabloids.”
Selena looked back at him and then pointed a finger at his face, “You’ve got one shot. Just because I liked it last night doesn’t mean I’ll let you get between my legs again for free.”
A smile cracked his face, “So you did like last night?”
“Okay, I kind of set myself up for that one,” she answered with a chuckle. “Yes, yes I did like last night.”
Tom, satisfied and cool, began driving again and said “Well, that’s a relief. I honestly didn’t have anything planned if you said I was horrible last night.”
They both laughed and Selena realized she was indeed having a good time around him. For the rest of the ride they talked a little less about Tom’s promiscuity and more about what they could do together. She wanted to go out during the night to see movies and he wanted to take her out for go-karting.
By the time they arrived at the place Selena was applying at she didn’t really feel like leaving him in his car.
“Hey, I got to do this real quick,” she told him. “I promise it’ll be really fast. I’m not even sure they’ll take me.”
Tom nodded back and gave her a kiss, “Go get ‘em, tiger. I’ll be parked right outside. If I’m not in the car, just go to the coffee shop across the street. I could use some donuts.”
Selena nodded and got out of the car.