CHAPTER 07 - MALLORY
A week after the night at Club Vapor…
I didn’t want to think about him anymore. I tried everything, anything to distract me from how those strong arms felt wrapped around me, how Barrett’s kisses felt against my lips and on my skin, all over.
And every time I remembered the feeling of Barrett’s cock pushing into me for the first time I nearly swooned — it was enough that my coworkers had asked a couple times whether I was feeling alright, and I had just feigned a headache or stomachache.
So yeah, I didn’t want to think about him anymore, and as the days stretched out since I woke up in my bed alone, the cold sun streaming into my window and highlighting that my bed was empty besides me, I felt like I was getting better and better at it.
The memory, however strong it felt the next morning, had slowly started to fade, even though I was still able to visualize every inch of that gorgeous man’s body, and feel every thrust inside me.
But he was gone. Despite how much I didn’t want it to be the case, I woke up that morning a week ago alone in my bed, and all I had from that glorious night were the memories.
Well, not just that.
I could tell even as I lounged in bed that morning, that I had crossed a bridge in my mind. I had gone from the kind of girl who tried to only make sensible decisions to the kind of girl who occasionally made rash decisions if they had a good feeling about them.
It certainly didn’t sound like that was a big deal but it absolutely was, and when I wasn’t investigating every random turn around a corner as a place Barrett and I could hide for a quickie, I was enjoying my newfound wild streak.
It wasn’t like I did anything about it or anything - I just liked knowing that once in a while I could do something that was a little risky. It felt good to be able to surprise myself from time to time.
Unfortunately, the next week had passed relatively quickly and without incident. Kelly came over later that day to find out what I had done after she and Brian had disappeared into Club Vapor’s lounge area.
Kelly was overjoyed to tell me, in glorious detail, about how that night was the first time she and Brian had had sex, and how great it was, and how totally in love she was. Once Kelly had run out of great things to say about the sex she’d had the night before, Kelly had taken one look at my face and how much I was holding back, that she knew right away that I had also had a little fun myself.
I guess my poker face just wasn’t what I thought it was.
Kelly spent lunch that next day grilling me about Barrett, completely shocked that I’d taken home a guy I didn’t even know, and slept with him. I’d told her the entire story, and as soon as I started, it was as if she’d forgotten who Brian was.
It was kinda neat to be the center of attention for a little while, I couldn’t lie.
I didn’t have any way to get in touch with Barrett, which amused Kelly to no end, and we finally agreed that it was probably for the best — just because I had had a wild night with this guy didn’t mean that he was relationship material, or even that I would like him if we were to spend time together talking instead of naked.
Nevertheless, by the end of the next day I had made peace with the whole thing, and though Barrett’s piercing dark eyes had a scary and sexy way of showing up in my mind’s eye, especially at the wrong time, I tried to move on with my life.
The weekend ended faster than I thought it would, and before I knew it I was getting off the bus and walking up the steps of the Norman Corporation. I worked in a big room on the fifth floor — general management and accounting. The work itself wasn’t the most exciting stuff in the world, as anyone could tell from the name ‘general management and accounting,’ but I was pretty happy to have the job these days. I knew far too many people from high school and college that were still looking for work, or doing temp stuff while sending out resume after resume.
Compared to that, having regular salaried work didn’t seem so bad no matter how boring it might be.
The next few days passed quickly, and I was already looking forward to the weekend. Kelly had booked her weekend solid with Brian-time, and so I figured I’d have some time to myself, and I was gonna take full advantage — a trip to the spa for one. I didn’t really have the kind of disposable income to do this too often, but it occurred to me that if I was really going to be more outgoing and a little more adventurous in my life, starting off with a good day of massages and spa treatments was exactly what I needed.
It was Thursday afternoon, and for the last day there had been two things on my mind, switching back and forth: the enigmatic and devastatingly sexy Barrett, and my upcoming day of pampering on Saturday.
By then I had decided that in real life Barrett was a secret agent, coming into Meridian on a private jet to undertake some super secret mission, some sort of international intrigue. I wondered if there was some sort of illegal drug ring he was here to stop, or stop a stolen nuclear warhead from being sold to some nefarious third party.
I sat at my desk, imagining all sorts of James Bond-like scenarios for Barrett to be a part of, all resulting in him just barely escaping from the clutches of evil to end up at my door, begging me to let him in for one more night with me.
I was just daydreaming about throwing open the door and letting him in when my boss showed up at my desk, apologetic but stern. She had more work for me to do and even though it was almost quitting time, this stuff absolutely needed to be done tomorrow. She sighed as she dropped the files on my desk, and I sighed as I leafed through them.
Oh well, I didn’t really have anything going on that night, anyway. After assuring my boss that I would be able to process the files and get them back to her desk in time, she stopped me and said these were special, and needed to go all the way up to the seventeenth floor this time. I made a note of it and got to work while my boss apologized again for dumping extra work on me at the last moment.
I sat back down and stared at the pile of folders on my desk, leaning back and rifling through them one more time before I picked the top one off the stack and opened it. As I scanned the first page, figuring out just what I had to do, I realized this was gonna take a good four or five hours.
Before I settled in to get it done I got up and headed to the floor’s kitchen, making myself an extra special big cup of coffee, for that little kick I needed to get through it all.
Right when I got back to my desk cradling my steaming cup of energy, I heard a buzz from my desk, and found my phone ringing, Kelly’s face splashed across the screen.
Shit, that was right. She had mentioned going out for drinks tonight, but we hadn’t really followed up on making the solid plans. That was kinda our thing — we lived so close together that we knew each other’s schedules pretty well. She must have been calling to let me know where and when we were going to meet.
I set the coffee down carefully and picked up my phone, keeping my voice down low to avoid bothering my coworkers nearby. “Hey, Kel, what’s up?” I asked.
“Hey Mal, drinks tonight! I was thinking we get together near Chopped. There’s a new lounge next door I want to try out, and afterward we can grab a salad.” Chopped was Kelly’s favorite place; I was pretty sure she had all their locations memorized, because no matter where in the city we were, she knew where the nearest Chopped was without pulling out her phone and getting directions.
As superpowers went, it was pretty damn useful.
“About that,” I said, about to launch into my explanation when Kelly cut me off before I could get another word out.
“What’s the matter?” I could already hear the weariness in her voice.
“I gotta work, Kel!” I squeaked out, louder than I expected. “Sheila just came by and dropped a pile of files on my desk, and they need to be handled tonight!”
I could hear Kelly sigh over the phone, and when she spoke next, I could hear the suspicion laced with hints of sarcasm barely hidden in her voice. “You’re not just saying that to get out of coming out tonight, are you?” I imagined her hands on her hips as she said this to me, but then I wondered how she’d hold the phone in the proper position.
“I know how it sounds,” I said, picking up the nearest folder with my free hand, “and I wish I didn’t have to deal with, uh,” I quickly read the title of the file, “the Jansen file, tonight, but I don’t know what else to do, Kelly! I gotta get this stuff done.”
“You can’t even come out for a late drink? After you’re done?”
I sighed. “I’ll see if I can.” I could tell Kelly was getting ready to speak again, so I kept going just to drive the point home. “I’ll try, Kelly! There’s a lot here, but maybe I can push through it and be done while you’re still out. If I can finish up here, I’ll text you, alright?”
“Fine!” Kelly said. “Maybe I’ll see if Brian’s free for an early drink.”
“Don’t you think you two are seeing enough of each other?”
“I know, I know, I’m being so bad about it, but I just can’t help it, Mal, he’s so great! And we get along so well, I just can’t explain it! And the-“
“OK, I’m going to cut you off right there before you go on and on about how great the sex is. Feels like I’ve heard so much about how great having sex with Brian is that I’ve had sex with him too, by proxy!”
Kelly laughed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’ve been that way. I’ve been a bad friend. I’ll try and do better.”
“Why start now?”
“I hate you. Stop mooning over secret agent ‘Baaaaaaarretttt Manchest’ and get your work done, Mal. I want to see you tonight!”
Ugh. “It’s ‘Manchester,’ Kelly! ‘Barrett Manchester!’ I should never have told you the name I made up for him.”
Kelly was still laughing. “Mine’s better.”
I had to admit, she was right. “I have work to do.”
“I still think Barrett’s a fake name. Who the hell is named Barrett? Gotta be fake.”
“I have WORK to do here, Kelly!” I practically shouted into the phone, and then looked around sheepishly, getting shaking heads and dirty looks from around the room. I leaned over my desk, out of all their views. “It’s Barrett Manchester!” I whispered with a little force.
“With a name like that, I have to wonder if you made this guy up.”
“I did not make him up!”
“I know, I know, but teasing you about it is way too much fun for me to stop right now, honey.”
“I will see you later, Kelly! If you’re lucky.”
“You’ll be hearing from me, Mal, if you don’t.” She hung up, and I set the phone back on the desk.
I took a deep sip of coffee before it got even colder, then stared at the stack of folders in front of me. No matter how I looked at it or concentrated on it, I simply couldn’t figure out how to make the stack smaller just with my mind.
Strong with the Force, I was not.
At least, not today.
This wasn’t getting me anywhere — the only way to get through this stuff was to start with the top file and work my way down.
And as visions of Barrett Manchester pounding on my apartment door begging me to let him in so he could ravish me all night danced around my head, that’s exactly what I did.