The Art of Love

by Cristina Grenier

  “So why would you ask how they are doing?”

  “Well I was just making small talk. I want you to be comfortable here, Stephanie. I just don’t know exactly what you want yet.”

  “Well what I want … is a nice glass of sparkling water-” she’s cut off by Donald running into the office.

  “Here it is! Here it is! Here you go, Miss Woodson,” he holds the can out to her.

  The look of pure disgust across her face is enough to make anyone cringe, “A can? You think I’m going to put my lips to that can?”

  “I brought you a straw too,” Donald holds the straw out to her.

  Stephanie turns her nose up to the can forcing Donald to back out of the office to find an alternative to the can. His nervous behavior, as he looks around, is distracting to his secretary so she stops him to ask about what’s happening. He explains Ms. Woodson’s hatred toward cans. She smiles at her boss, bending down to the large drawer in the bottom of her desk. She pulls out a champagne flute they keep around for the holiday parties, cracks open the can, and pours in the water. Stephanie is none the wiser as she joyously accepts the champagne glass from Donald.

  “Now this is more like it,” she smiles.

  “Okay now that you’re comfortable, why don’t you tell me what’s going on,” Brandon insists taking the seat across from her.

  Stephanie begins her story by picking up after they broke up years ago. He believes it’s to subtly brag and boast about her accomplishments since their split. He watches her lips move while he tunes out her voice. Their last encounter was his senior year in college …

  Exams had just wrapped up and music blasted from nearly every room. Drinking, smoking, and dancing consumed nearly every student as they prepared for graduation. It had been a long four years for Brandon since he knew all he wanted to do was be a cowboy on his own ranch. It was his parents who forced him to get a degree in business. Looking back at their decision, and the amount of wealth he’s amassed over the years, he can admit that they were right. He was ready to graduate, but he was as elated to start drinking and partying with the others. He stretched out on his bed while his roommate came in and out constantly. The night was just beginning for most of the students but Brandon was ready to sleep. The door opened again, but this time he heard it lock after it shut. He turned over to see Stephanie traipsing over to him.

  “Why are you in here all alone?” she smiled curiously.

  “Because I’m not in the mood to drink and everybody out there… is drunk,” he replies.

  “But, it’s so much fun. Why don’t you do a shot with me?” she swirls the small bottle of vodka over his head.

  “Let’s not, babe. I don’t wanna rain on your parade so go on and have a good time tonight,” he tells her.

  “But I wanna have a good time with you,” she sings wriggling out of her jeans. She looks down to Brandon, who’s wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Stephanie stares at his penis with lust in her eyes. He knows what she wants and is in no mood to stop or fight with her, especially when she’s inebriated. She puts the bottle on the ground before straddling him. She tugs at his boxers glancing at his reaction to see how into it he is. His eyes are closed so Stephanie pulls the shorts down an inch to see if he’d stop her. He didn’t which made her smile. She lets his half erection pop out the brim staring at the head not sure whether to lick it or suck it first.

  Brandon raises his head to see what’s taking her so long, “You got about thirty seconds before this turtle goes back in his shell. Then you’re gonna have to lay in here with me.”

  “Oh God no,” Stephanie laughs as she dives head first toward his crotch. She twirls her tongue around the tip eliciting the moan of satisfaction she was searching for. She let her saliva drip down to the base before wrapping her hand around his shaft to stroke him while her tongue went to work. Brandon couldn’t control himself as his hips started to buck under the rhythm of her mouth. He tried to restrain himself from placing his hands on her head because he knew how much she hated it. Yet, when he ran his fingers through her hair, Stephanie didn’t stop him. She let him fuck her face. Just before he climaxed, she stopped sucking him off. She hopped up onto her knees and slid her wet center around his throbbing member. She wrapped her thumb and index around the base of his shaft tightly to prevent him from coming too soon. She rode him just like that for what seemed to be hours. Fifteen minutes later, she let go and let him let go.

  “I’m not going back to Midway,” Stephanie reveals collapsing next to Brandon.

  He wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but he knew that he wanted them to be together, “That’s fine with me. There’s always Brigham or Centerville.”

  “No, I mean I’m not going back to Utah at all! I wanna move to Los Angeles and be a cook, and open restaurants, and see Hollywood. I want you to come with me, Bran,” she finally confesses.

  “So that’s what this was? One last bang before you left me?”

  “No, well it would be if you decide not to come with me,” Stephanie argues getting out of bed.

  “You know I ain’t no city boy. I need to be out in the open. I need to be on the land getting my hands dirty. But I ain’t gonna try and stop ya or hold ya back. You go on and be great. Make all of Midway proud.”

  “You’re worse than a stubborn ole mule! You know that?!” Stephanie yells.

  Stephanie yells again, snapping Brandon from his memories, “You’re still as stubborn as an ole mule!” Were you listening to anything I said?”

  “Of course I was!” Brandon lies, “You were talking about how wonderful Hollywood is with all of your fancy city friends.”

  She squints her eyes, “You’re either a really good liar or you were listening to me.”

  “Haven’t I always listened to you,” he smiles charming the anger out of her.

  “I guess, but anyway I want you to come out to the land I got and take a look so we can make plans for it,” she tells him.

  “That’s fine. I’ll have my team come out and meet us any day you choose,” he agrees.

  “Team?”

  “Yeah, you don’t think your buildings are gonna be built with my two little hands, do ya?” he laughs, “If you’re serious about this, and not just up here to show off your money, we’re gonna need to have the architect, engineer, and contractor out there with us to give us a ballpark to get this project started. Now, you are serious about doing business with Fairchild Home & Construction, right?”

  “Yes, absolutely. I was kind of hoping to get some alone time with you. Maybe we could reminisce about old times.”

  “Reminiscing is great but I got a lady that I’m real fond of. Just want to put that out there, don’t mean to insinuate nothing about your intentions,” Brandon clears the air shaking his salacious memories of them together from his head.

  “That’s fine Bran, as long as you’ll be available to me personally throughout this project. I just know when the head honcho is involved; people tend to do their jobs better and faster.”

  “I agree that’s true, and I promise that I will be exclusively available to you throughout this process. But,” he holds his finger up to her, “You have to promise me that you’ll let this process go through the proper channels and planning stages. I’ll be able to get through some of the red tape in regards to getting permits faster but this process is an intricate one and my team is the best. You have to give them room to be the best. Do you promise?”

  “Yes, sir I promise,” she stands and extends her hand. They shake on their deal and Brandon calls in Donald, who was eavesdropping via the intercom at his secretary’s desk.

  “Donald’s going to take care of your paperwork,” he motions Donald to come closer, “And Donald, waive your commission fee on this one? Let’s give old friends a good discount.” He slaps Donald on the back and leaves the office.

  Donald is fuming mad but maintains his composure. He lets Stephanie know that he’ll forward all of the paperwork once
they do the walk around and finalize the amount of structures to be built on her land. His most pressing concern, however, is how Elise is still on Brandon’s mind after meeting up with the girl he let get away. He truly believes that Elise is up to something and he’s going to protect his friend by any means necessary.

  Stephanie exits the building with thoughts of her last encounter with Brandon buzzing through her mind. She was foolish to ever let him go, and build his empire without her. And who is the lady in his life that he’s so fond of? What’s so great about her that he wouldn’t want to rekindle what they once had? She just had to find out.

  Chapter 4: Picture Perfect Destruction

  Bryce Fairchild is a man of regal stature. Standing at a solid 6’2, his salt and pepper hair fail to give away his age of 63. His retirement is tantamount to a slug crawling through an open field. While the days can be joyous; more and more they seem endless. So he busies himself at Fairchild Home & Construction. He pokes and prods with projects; giving unsolicited advice and telling the younger craftsmen of his days building homes. So on a day, like any other, he sits in Donald’s office waiting to see what he can “help” with.

  He moves things around and reorganizes Donald’s files just because it gets under his skin. As soon as he places his name tag on the opposite side of the desk, Stephanie walks into the office.

  “Well this job has certainly aged you quickly, Donald,” she laughs, “You need a vacation. But first, I need the specs for the first blueprint.”

  “You do know I’m not Donald, right?” Bryce questions not sure if he should take the woman seriously or not.

  “Of course I do,” she laughs again, “But, since you are in his office, I assume you’re taking care of his work load, Mr. Fairchild.”

  Bryce rises from his chair to offer her the seat, to which she declines. He stares at her in bewilderment as to how she knows his name.

  “Forgive me, Ma’am. I don’t recall how we met,” he he admits wondering if his old age is setting in.

  “Stephanie Woodson, Mr. Fairchild,” she answers.

  “Oh not the same Stephanie that left our Brandon heartbroken? When she went off to Los Angeles to be with movie stars?”

  Her eyes widen in pure shock.

  “Oh I’m just kidding ya, kid,” Bryce lets out a boisterous laugh, “You know leaving him behind was probably the best thing for the both of you. Helped keep his mind focused on the business since he ain’t wanna deal with no more women. And, it helped you cuz, well look at ya now honey, you’re doing so well for yourself. I also hear you got a good deal going on here with my company.”

  “You’re still working here Mr. Fairchild?” she asks.

  “Oh no, I’m retired. Just in here being nosy and mucking things up with these young boys. I just can’t stand being home,” he confesses.

  “Well why don’t you take a look at some of the specs for my site? Since, I can’t get Donald to do anything worth a damn! It’s been two weeks since we started this project and we still ain’t broke ground yet! That man needs a fire lit under his tail,” she shakes her head.

  “Yeah, he’s got a thing for pissing people off and not doing much to show his grit ‘round here. But, I guess I can take a look at things until he gets back.”

  Donald walks in at that moment with the requested documents in hand. He glances at his desk, huffs at its rearrangement, and spreads out the blueprints across it. There are too many times to count that other people sit at his desk without his permission. Bryce slaps him on the back with a smile.

  Donald winces with pain, “Morning, Mr. Fairchild. Ms. Woodson, I have those documents you said you were coming in for. All ready for your approval.”

  “Looks good from here but you might have some issues with the zoning for this greenhouse and that barnyard. Did you have landscaping look at these before you submitted them? The irrigation is gonna have to run through that building too,” Bryce points out to the two.

  “You’re correct sir,” Donald shakes his head knowing he’s going to take the fall for this, “I’ll have them make the corrections and go back out to the site to re-measure and make the adjustments.”

  “Such incompetence,” Stephanie mumbles gathering herself to leave, “Donald, fix it. And thank you, Mr. Fairchild it was nice seeing you again.”

  “Well before you head off, Marilyn would love to see you. It’s been such a long time. We’re doing a dinner this weekend and Brandon is supposed to be coming too. Says he’s bringing a friend, but he shouldn’t mind if you come.”

  Right away, Donald and Stephanie’s thoughts go to Elise. Stephanie smiles, “That sounds like a great idea. We’ll be there!”

  “We?” Bryce asks.

  “Yes, Donald and I will be there. What time should we come?”

  Bryce grumbles a bit, “I guess six should be fine.”

  “Wonderful, pick me up at five, Donald. Can you manage that?”

  “Yes, I can,” Donald agrees, “But you do realize that I don’t work for you right? I’m not your assistant.”

  “You’re whatever I want you to be while I’m spending my millions here with your company!” she barks while storming out of the office. Donald follows after her trying to get a word in about the mistakes in the blueprints.

  The next few days pass as everyone prepares for Sunday dinner at the Fairchild house. Brandon tells Elise about the dinner but she’s unsure if she wants to go. Her choice is the reason she’s attending as his friend and not as anything more. When she finds out that Donald, and his college sweetheart will be in attendance; she becomes even more apprehensive. Brandon promises that things will go smoothly.

  When Sunday arrives, Elise slips into a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black boots as she primes herself for the evening ahead. Brandon arrives on his own, without Logan, and without a driver. Elise watches him drive with an anxious expression painted on his face.

  “Why do you look so nervous?” Elise finally asks, “You’re going to make me nervous and make you take me home!”

  He doesn’t take his eyes off the road, “I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve brought anyone home for Sunday dinner with my folks. I just don’t know how Donald or Stephanie are going to behave”.

  “Do you think it’s really going to be so bad that you can’t handle it?”

  “I’ve wrestled stubborn pigs back into their pen. While I got dirty, I knew what the outcome would be. This dinner here, with these two, I just don’t know. And I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “I appreciate your concern, but I think I can handle a few racist comments, and jealous remarks from an old flame. Do you trust me?”

  “Of course I do.”

  She smirks, “Are you sure?”

  He doesn’t need to see the seductive grin on her face, “I don’t know what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, but whatever it is put it out. I’m driving!”

  Elise proceeds to unzip his jeans and pull his manhood out through the hole in his briefs.

  “Woman! I just said-”

  “I heard what you said. You said pull it out,” she giggles. Before he can protest, her mouth engulfs the entire length of him. Her tongue slides down his shaft slowly. She flicks the tip of it just over his testicles causing him to jerk and swerve the car.

  “You’re going to have to keep this car steady of you don’t want me to bite you,” she warns him.

  Brandon tries his best, but with every pass of her lips over his throbbing erection he either guns the gas or slams on the brakes. Finally he pulls the car over onto a quiet dirt road.

  “You’re gonna get us killed sucking me off like that while I’m driving. What happened to growing through this process?”

  “We are growing,” she smiles, “Growing and fucking. And learning about each other and fucking…”

  “You are some kind of special,” he gets out of the car.

  Elise turns to each window looking to see what Brandon’s up to. When he opens the
door and pulls her around to the back of the car, she’s still uncertain of his intentions.

  “What are you doing? We’re going to be late to your parents’ house.”

  “Are you saying that you don’t want to finish what you started here?” he challenges.

  “I finish everything I start,” she affirms pulling her jeans down to her hips. She spreads her legs and places her hands on the trunk of the car.

  “I don’t know why you pulled me over sheriff but you are free to search me,” she puts on a voice of innocence jumping into a character. It takes Brandon a few beats to figure out what she’s doing, but when she wiggles her butt from side to side he gets aroused.

  “Right, ma’am. I’m goin to have to see if you’re hidin any contraband,” he slides his hands between her thighs. Brandon searches for her center pushing his fingers into her moist pleasure. Elise lets out a moan as he feels her walls tighten around him. She tries to step away as her desire heightens but Brandon wraps his free hand in her hair. He yanks her head back to nibble on her ear lobe. He whispers into her ear, “Don’t you fucking move! You’re gonna pay for this ticket with your pussy.”

  Brandon’s assertiveness increases the juices flowing to her womanhood as she anxiously awaits him to enter her. Her wait is over as she feels the pressure of his shaft slam into her. Elise screams out as he thrusts into her. The car moves with every pump into her wet pussy. The birds in a nearby tree fly off while they grunt and hump as the moon rises into the night sky. The stars shine brightly like the sweat dripping off Brandon’s brow as he digs deep into Elise’s slit. He doesn’t want the feeling to end but knows they have to get going. He watches the arch in her back and then the bounce in her chocolate toned cheeks while he grips her waist slamming her pussy onto his penis. Lost in the sensation, he climaxes inside of her. Elise feels his hot specimen shoot into her. She doesn’t say anything. She isn’t worried.

  When the two finally arrive to Brandon’s parents’ home nearly an hour late, Donald and Stephanie have already made themselves at home.