I walked out of there with a little bit of a limp. I had not hurt myself, but my core was so sensitive that each movement rubbed my lips together and caused a jerk of pleasure through my system. The elevator was a welcome sight – until I saw a small blonde woman slide in between the doors at the last minute. I had a feeling that I knew who she was. She was Jerold’s assistant. There was nothing I wanted to say to her, and the one floor down seemed to take forever.
Gathering the extra dishes in order to get off, I saw Connie stop the elevator with the red button. I couldn’t believe it actually worked. I had never seen one pushed before and was more than a little surprised that just anyone could push it and cause such a frightening moment. The elevator stopped and I was face to face with the small woman.
She was older than me and her blue eyes flashed at me. Connie looked at me like she hated me for a moment, and I was left to wonder what it was that she found so offensive about me.
“I know what is going on with the two of you. You need to keep your eyes off of him. Jerold is not going to get wrapped up in something with a little piece of trash like you. I see you guys together again, I will make sure that your career here is very short.”
I was beyond shocked. Was she talking to me? I didn’t know what to say as I watched her pull up the same red button she had pressed down. The door opened after a few seconds.
I was still looking at her as if she was the Antichrist. It was only when she urged me out with a sarcastic remark that I was able to finally move. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. There was no rhyme or reason to what had just happened. Did I really just hear that? Looking back to the cold eyes of the woman still standing in the elevator as the doors closed, I knew that I had. She hated me more than I’d thought anyone could hate a person, and I was lost as to what to do.
My step was not so light. I felt like other people’s eyes were on me. Did everyone know? My face went red with the idea, and I stuck to the small kitchen for the rest of the day. I didn’t want to run into Connie again. She had made me so nervous I actually took the stairs instead of risking another moment alone with the woman. Did the two of them have something that I was intruding upon?
Going out was the only thing that helped me forget the trouble at work and the issues with my family. I was sure that Jamie had made his way back to California, but then he popped up in the bar. I wondered if it was just bad luck or he was following me. Everywhere I turned he was there. I didn’t need the drama, and I told him so.
“I am not trying to stress you out, Nicola. I just want to see you. It has been a long time, and when I got the call from your mom, it was like everything started to make sense. Can you really say that you feel nothing for me?”
I couldn’t say that, and I was even less apt to lie, so I just kind of shook my head in agreement. He had been everything to me at one time, and I had liked the way he looked and the way I had felt in his arms. But now it was hard to forget what he’d done to me. It was hard to pretend that he hadn’t broke my heart a year ago and then ran off to the West Coast to leave me alone after two years together.
“You know that I felt a lot for you, Jamie, but this is too much. You can’t just pop up out of nowhere.”
“It wouldn’t bother you if there was nothing still between us.”
I finally looked over at him and sighed. It wasn’t like that anymore. The man was still just as attractive as ever, but I would never be able to trust him again. If he would do it once, I knew he would do it again. He was that type of man. I didn’t want my heart to be crushed again.
“There is nothing else between us, Jamie, just a lot of memories that can’t be forgotten and an outcome that can’t be changed. Anything beyond that is just your imagination. I am sorry my mom called you, but she misread everything.”
“I don’t think she did, and I find it hard to believe that you don’t want anything to do with me.”
I couldn’t believe it, either. As I took a drink of the wine in front of me, I hoped that the liquid would settle my nerves. It didn’t seem to help much, but at least it was something to do other than look at my ex sitting on the leather stool next to me at the bar. There really was no getting away from my past. It was the first time that I had actually thought about leaving Brewer and being done with it.
“We can be friends, Jamie. We were always good friends.”
He didn’t like the answer, but I was not bothered either way. I finished the wine before he said anything else. “I don’t want to be just friends. I will stay here as long as it takes to get you back, Nicola. Since seeing you again, I know that I’m never going to find what I need in California, because what I need is you.”
That seemed to be my cue to leave. I said my goodbyes and when he stood up to walk me out, I asked him not to. I didn’t want to talk to him anymore, and I certainly didn’t want to be in the dark parking lot with him. If it wasn’t for my friend Jamene coming up when I got to the door, I don’t know what would have happened next.
I dropped her off a few blocks from my apartment and made my way home. It had been a long day and I was still trying to process half of it. Between Connie threatening me and Jamie not going away, I was rattled. If I added in what I’d served up the boss for lunch, there was no way that I couldn’t respond with reddened cheeks.
Happy to be home, I was fishing the keys out of my purse when I saw a package on my steps. My neighborhood was not the type of place that the postman would leave anything outside, and I wondered why it was out there. It made me nervous, and only when I saw the writing on the small attached note did I realize that it was from the same man who had dined on me earlier in the day. The thought made me shiver and I shook the box like it was Christmastime. There was no denying my apprehension about the present, but I was determined not to let him bother me.
***
The next morning I opened the small package before I left for work. I had ignored it the night before, hoping that it wouldn’t drive me crazy. It had, though, so the first thing I did before turning on the coffee was go look at it. The wrapping paper was pretty, and the scrawled words were very much Jerold.
Opening it, I couldn’t imagine what it would be. I was surprised to see that it was another small box, but I was sure that my face turned bright red when I saw the sketch on the side of the box. Yesterday he’d wanted me to opt out of undergarments altogether, but now it seemed that he had bought me a pair to wear.
The box had already been opened, and there was something missing. I pulled out the panties, not really impressed. They were cute, of course, but there was nothing that spectacular about them at all. I had seen nicer pairs of panties before. There was something different about them, though. They felt heavier in some places than in others.
When I started to read the back of the box, the flame in my cheeks intensified. The piece that was missing was a remote control for the vibrating panties that I was holding in my hand. I sat down at the table and tried to get over the shock of it all. I knew that he was a man who liked to push the envelope, but I was starting to think that he was just too much for me.
I didn’t put the panties on. Instead I didn’t put any on, though I did put a bra on to hide the sway of my large breasts. I didn’t know if he was going to be upset or not, but I had to draw the line somewhere. When I got into work, I was not met by a crazy woman in the elevator or by Jerold. I was starting to relax – until I got into the kitchen and Jerold was waiting for me. He had something in his hand, and I saw then that it was the remote.
He flicked it on and waited for a reaction from me. He wasn’t going to get one, though, because I hadn’t worn the panties. Jerold frowned and I could tell he was disappointed. “Didn’t you get my package?”
I nodded my head that I had gotten it, and he moved towards me. “Show me.”
His voice was harsh. I was finally questioning my decision not to wear the panties that he had given me. It was clear that he was not happy with me, and it made me upset at myself. But there was no hesitation this time, and I pulled the skirt up quickly so that he could see that I had not listened to him. When I released the fabric and let it fall back down, his grey eyes were still on where my bare mound had been. He may have still been mad at me, but I was rather confident that he wouldn’t be mad at me for too long.
“Here I was thinking you were learning, but now I see that you need a punishment to keep you motivated.”
I swallowed hard and took a step back as he advanced. All of a sudden I was doing more than regretting my decision. I was regretting even coming into work that day at all.
To be continued…