Chapter 6
February
Amy
Shit. When I glanced down at my phone after I got out of my nail appointment, I saw a few texts from J.P. He seemed frazzled, but I didn’t understand why. Then I realized that the text I typed out after his comment about someone “screwing my ass over,” never sent. So, he never saw my text response back and probably freaked out thinking that I was pissed.
Samantha: Are you done with your fingers and toes? If so, let’s meet for coffee.
I swiped Sam’s text message out of the way in an effort to sort this out with J.P. Poor guy seems worried. I hit “send” on the text that I failed to send over an hour ago and then followed it up with an explanation.
Amy: Being screwed in the ass sounds delightful.
Amy: Hi, J.P. My apologies for the delayed responses. I was at a nail appointment and was waiting to be called back. I was texting to you while walking and thought I hit send. But I just realized it never sent. I’m just getting out of the nail appointment. No worries about the texts – you weren’t out of line. I’m not angry, so please don’t worry.
I hit send and then inadvertently accepted the incoming phone call from Samantha.
“Hey, Aims. Done with the nails?” Samantha asked.
“Yes, just finished. Did you want to meet at our usual spot?” I asked while fumbling with my keys.
“Of course, I’ll meet you in ten minutes.”
I frowned because I knew that she lived a good twenty minutes away from our usual coffee hangout. I assumed she was out and about doing errands. We got off the phone and I drove to the coffee house. During my drive, my thoughts were on J.P. It was so sweet of him to be worried that maybe he offended me. He’s not what I imagined for a sadist. My stereotyped thoughts made me think they were mean, selfish and just wanted to hurt people. J.P. had been nothing but kind to me and I feel a little silly to have thought that sadists were the worst people around. It simply wasn’t true.
Sam and I waited in a long line and finally sat down under the warm sunlight on the patio. I absolutely loved this coffee house because they had seating on a patio. It was very comfortable here.
“Love the nails, Aims. What are you wearing tomorrow for the event?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure yet.”
“I’m assuming something with purple since your nails are purple with black flecks.”
“I will take a look at the closet this afternoon, but I think I have it narrowed down.”
“Remember, you want to try, but not look like you did,” Samantha reminded me.
I nodded and sipped my coffee as she pulled out her notebook and began going over information. I had to be checked into the event by 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Then before the event there’d be a group photo. Photos seemed to be common place at the events. I could handle that. I knew I needed to leave the house by 6:30 a.m. to allow enough time to drive to San Diego with traffic. Samantha was going to drive to my house in the morning and we’d just take my car down to San Diego.
Anytime we drove somewhere together we always took my car. Not because I was a control freak and had to drive, but Samantha loves my car. I think our friendship hinges on my car. Before my books started doing well, I was driving a twenty-year-old Honda that was falling apart. The air conditioner only worked part of the time, which wasn’t so bad living in southern California, until the summer and humidity hit. When I got my first big check, I began car shopping some. Since I loved the feeling of warm sun on my skin and the weather was perfect nearly year around, I opted for a convertible.
When it appeared that Samantha was done talking about book stuff and the event, I shifted the conversation.
“J.P. sent me a message last night asking why Jeannie had to die in Paris,” I said casually.
“Really?”
I nodded.
“I explained how it was karma for Emilio to lose someone that was important to him after he had been such a dick through his life to people. Anyhow, I just found it kind of funny that this bad ass sadist was pissed about her dying.”
“Remember Aims, just because he’s a sadist doesn’t mean he’s a terrible, mean, heartless man.”
“I know.”
“Besides,” Samantha paused and sipped from her cup. “I think it’s cute that he downloaded and read Paris in a day.”
I had to smile. I also thought it was sweet of J.P. I showed Samantha the text string between J.P. and me today. When I held my phone out for her to see, she yanked her sunglasses off and stared at the phone with wide eyes.
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Samantha said as she grabbed the phone and scrolled with her index finger. “Did you give Mr. Sadist your cell number – your actual cell number?” she asked as she stared at me with those big, surprised, “what the fuck” eyes.
“Yes.”
“Amy!”
“What? J.P. and I have been talking for over a month. He’s been helping me with some info for the book...and we’ve become friends. It’s becoming so difficult and cumbersome to have to log into Kinky Links just to see if he’s sent a message.”
She still was staring at me and I felt that a parental warning was on the tip of her tongue.
“Sam, might I remind you that you were the one who thought it was okay for me to give him my pen name.”
“A pen name is different than your fucking phone number, Aims.”
“Seriously? You’re going to rake me over the coals for this? He’s helping me with the book. He’s not a stranger. This isn’t going anywhere romantically, so please relax.”
“So far,” Samantha said in a playful tone.
I rolled my eyes at her from behind the safety of my sunglasses.
“Have you guys talked on the phone yet? Does he have a deep, sexy, sadist voice?” she excitedly asked.
“What is a ‘sadist voice’ anyhow?”
“It’s deep and sexy,” Samantha said, and while laughing, she added, “And dangerous sounding.”
I laughed but shook my head at her.
“I don’t know. We haven’t spoken on the phone. But when I do talk to him on the phone, I will be sure to let you know.”
I finished my last bit of coffee and stood.
“I have to get going so I can get things ready for tomorrow. You’ll be at my house in the morning so we can leave right at 6:30?”
“Yes, I’ll be there and we can talk about your new book and J.P. on the drive to San Diego,” Samantha said.
When I got situated in my car, I decided to send J.P. another text. It wasn’t important at all, but I wanted to send something to let him know that I really wasn’t mad at him about his text comment earlier.
Amy: Hey you, hope your afternoon is going well. I have a few errands to run and will be home later. By the way, my nails look great for tomorrow.
I stopped at the gas station and filled up for the trip tomorrow and grabbed some munchies in the convenience store. Since the post office is right around the corner from my place, I decided to stop in today and collect the mail from my P.O. Box where fans and readers can write.
When I opened the box, I stared at the inside jammed full of letters and cards. There was also a small bubble mailer package. I shook it but had no idea what was inside of it. Mystery gifts are sometimes good and sometimes not so good. I would leave it in the car and we could read through them during our drive tomorrow. I knew she wanted to talk about the new book, specifically the release date that I don’t have for her yet.
When I got back to the car with my loot, I checked my cell phone and smiled at the new text from J.P.
J.P.: I’m on my break. Glad you’re not pissed at me and that your nails turned out as you hoped. What color are they?
I started to type back that they were purple, but decided to take a picture of them. I sent him the picture and then added that they were purple with black flecks. I read his next text as I sat in my driveway waiting for the garage door to open.
J.P.: I like the black flecks.
Amy: I’m home now. Going to finish up my packing for tomorrow and do a little book work.
J.P.: I work until 6 p.m. I’ll catch you later.
I decided to wear my little black dress and vibrant purple heels for the book event tomorrow. Before slipping it into the garment bag, I snapped a picture of the outfit and sent it to Samantha. She likes to know these things mostly so we don’t accidentally wear the same colors.
Amy: How’s this for tomorrow?
I put together a make-up bag and set it next to the garment bag. While I was putting my shoes in a small bag, my phone chirped for the incoming text. When I grabbed it, I was expecting to see a text back from Sam regarding the outfit…not J.P.
J.P.: Love it. Shoes will be a pop of color off that black dress and will look great with the nails.
Shit. Directly above his text was mine asking, “How’s this for tomorrow,” along with the picture of my black dress and purple shoes. I’ve really got to stop multitasking and texting quickly. I typed a response back to him.
Amy: Thanks, I think subconsciously I wanted to wear these shoes all along.
I then sent the picture of the outfit to Samantha and before I set the phone down, I had one back from her. I swear, the phone must be glued to her hand.
Samantha: Looks good! Heads up, Ryan and I are going to dinner and then with any luck, I will be tied up tonight. So, I might not reply to your messages right away.
A few hours later I was satisfied that I had everything ready. I sat down with my laptop and worked a little bit on the new book. I wanted to get a new teaser up tonight for the new book. I wasn’t nearly as good as Samantha was with graphics, but when needed I could turn out something decent. I found a gray, smoke background and using a bright purple font, I typed out the verbiage to my short teaser.
There. I sat back and stared at it for a few minutes, considering it. Were the words getting lost or washed out? Normally I would send this to Sam and get her two cents. Then typically she would say “it’s ok” and then moments later she’d send me a version that looked much better. But I wasn’t going to bug her with this now. I hoped she was enjoying her evening with Ryan. I still can’t believe they met on Kinky Links.
“Hmm,” I mused out loud. “Wonder if J.P. has an opinion.” I decided to pick his brain for a moment.
Amy: Do you have a sec to glance at a teaser graphic that I want to post tonight? Looking for another opinion.
J.P.’s text came a few minutes later while I was messing with the font size. He said he’d be happy to take a look. I went ahead and sent him the picture and asked him what he thought about the font and if he thought the words were being washed out.
J.P.: I like it. Especially the purple font because it goes perfectly with your branding colors.
Sharp guy. I was surprised that he picked up on that.
Amy: What do you think though about the verbiage? Does it wash out or is it hard to read?
J.P.: I think it’s easy to read. But maybe it’s my perfect vision.
Amy: Funny. So, for the rest of the population that wasn’t blessed with perfect vision like you, how does it look?
J.P.: Can you try to bold the font?
Oddly, I hadn’t tried that.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” I whispered to myself.
I highlighted the text and clicked to bold it, then sat back to look at it. I felt much better about this now. I sent the bolded version of the teaser to J.P.
Amy: Excellent suggestion. I like it a lot better now. What do you think?
J.P.: Perfect.
Amy: Like you and your vision?
J.P.: Yes, just like that.
Amy: I’m going to go with it. Thanks for your help, J.P.
I quickly made the post to all my social media accounts and then checked over my “to do” list one last time before going to bed.
J.P.: You should get some sleep since you’re leaving early in the morning for your drive. Good luck with your event tomorrow.
Aw, he’s a sweetie.
Amy: Thank you. I’ll send you a picture from the event.
J.P.: Can you do me a favor? This might sound really weird to you, but would you send me a text before you head out on the road and then when you arrive at the event?
I smiled at my phone.
Amy: Are you going “big brother” on me?
J.P.: Yes. It’s a Dom thing.
Amy: That is very sweet of you. And yes, I’ll text you before I leave in the morning.
J.P.: Thank you. Goodnight.
Before I drifted off to sleep, I thought about how refreshing it felt to be cared and looked after by a guy. I didn’t even have that with my ex.