by L E May
‘Sure you could, in fact that would be sexy as hell. Try it now; tell me what you would have me do to you if I was there right now.’
I heard the challenge in his voice, the teasing tone, and I knew he expected me to refuse. I felt stupid but I wanted to do as he asked at the same time. I tried to imagine the way he spoke to me and to think what I wanted. I snorted as I realised all I could think about was his Jacuzzi stories. Well that couldn’t happen here. My mind drifted to the DVD he had sent me, I could have him in the bath. A tingle ran down my spine and my cheeks flushed. I heard him chuckle.
‘You’re imagining it, aren’t you, Liv? Don’t shut me out, tell me what you’re thinking.’ His voice was soft and gentle. It lulled me into a sense of calm and a desire to share my innermost feelings and desires.
‘OK, picture the scene,’ I began. ‘I’m in the bath, the water is hot, the bubble bath has formed a thick layer of foam on the top of the water covering my body. I’m relaxing. You are on your way to visit me and I’m expecting you to arrive in a couple of hours. I’m a little nervous because it’s the first time we will meet in person, the first time I will see you, see if you look like I imagine.’ I pause, allowing this fact to sink in, wondering why he doesn’t have any tagged photos on Facebook.
‘Go on.’ Chris encouraged, giving nothing away.
‘OK, so the doorbell rings and I’m trying to ignore it, but it’s persistent so I climb out of the bath and grab a bathrobe which I put on as I’m making my way down the stairs to the front door. When I open it there’s a handsome man grinning at me with a sports bag slung over his shoulder.
‘“Hey, Liv,” you say to me, “I’m a bit early.”
‘You shrug apologetically and walk past me through the door and up the stairs. I follow you and make my way to the kitchen to fill the kettle.
‘“I was hoping to be a little bit more presentable than this.” I laugh. “I was just in the bath,” I explain.
‘“You look as beautiful as ever, Liv,” you say in response.
‘I turn to the counter to plug the kettle in when I feel you behind me, your hands on my hips pressing yourself into the small of my back.
‘“Does this prove how attractive I find you?” you whisper in my ear, I lean back against you as your hand unties the belt on my robe and sneaks inside, tracing a path across my stomach and up to my breast, your lips trailing kisses along my cheek and down my neck. You turn me to face you, your mouth covering mine as you lift me onto the counter, opening up my robe and exploring my body with your tongue, teasing my nipples with your teeth as they harden and leaving a tingling path down my body to my clitoris. Your tongue flickers against me as your finger enters my body, moving in and out, picking up pace as I tense my thighs around you and explode as the overload of sensations reach their peak and my orgasm is released.
‘You pick me up in your arms and carry me to the bathroom, placing me in the water. You then remove your clothes and present yourself to me. My tongue traces a path from its base up to the tip of your erection before I take you fully into my mouth, moving my lips and tongue slowly along the shaft, all the way to the tip then all the way to the base, my tongue dances around you as my lips move up and down, picking up speed until you release yourself into my mouth.
‘Then you climb into the bath pulling me against you. You dribble shower gel along my body and slowly rub it into my arms, my stomach, and my breasts. I feel arousal building again as you move down to my crotch and suddenly you’re pushing me forward onto my knees and entering me from behind, slowly, stretching me, moving in and out as you pick up pace until we both reach our climax.’ I shrugged. ‘I mean, it’s no Jacuzzi story, but something like that would be good.’
Chris chuckled.
‘It was a little rushed, Liv, I would want to take a lot more time than that, but I do realise that perhaps the first time might be a little frantic.’
I blushed. Since these conversations with Chris, my desire for sex was becoming almost desperate. I found myself thinking about it all the time. I’d waited a long time and I wasn’t sure I would be able to take my time when the opportunity finally presented itself.
‘What do I look like?’ he asked suddenly. I giggled.
‘I think it’s you that should be telling me that!’
‘I mean how do you picture me?’ He laughed.
‘Well, you’re tall, slim, muscular, like a swimmer or a runner rather than a bodybuilder. I imagine you have thick dark hair – sideburns, of course. Your eyes are brown, and they sparkle with amusement and mischief.’ I smiled as I said this, knowing he was always teasing me. ‘Your face is slim and angular, a narrow nose and jaw, perhaps a little stubble.’
‘Interesting.’ His voice was amused.
‘Am I warm?’ I asked, intrigued. It occurred to me that I was basing my description on the guy in the photo with Steven without knowing for certain if that was actually Chris.
‘Quite warm, yes. I have green eyes and sadly no sideburns but I’m sure I could grow some if we were to meet so as not to disappoint you.’
‘I don’t think sideburns are a deal breaker.’ I laughed. ‘They would take too long to grow, and we don’t have that much time before you leave for good.’
He sighed again.
‘Just promise me you’ll think about it carefully before we decide.’
I grinned, I could promise that, and then I would book a train. I nodded eagerly.
‘I promise I will think about nothing else.’
Chapter Twenty-eight
I didn’t know whether to say anything to Steven about Melissa on Monday. I watched him carefully when he arrived, made him a cup of tea, and lingered near his desk to see if he would mention anything. I had forgotten to ask Chris about it on Saturday and was beginning to worry he hadn’t told him about Friday night. The morning passed by slowly while I waited for him to come in to my office and talk to me, but he didn’t. I don’t know what I had expected, really – the old flirty Steven to come back, looking at me with that twinkle of suggestion in his eye? I felt a stab of guilt, I shouldn’t want him to want me when I have Chris occupying my thoughts. I flicked through my diary to find a suitable weekend to suggest visiting Edinburgh and occupied myself with emailing Chris.
From: Olivia Jones
To: Chris Knight
Subject: Jacuzzi
Dear Mr Knight,
I have thought about it and I am impatient to become acquainted with your Jacuzzi.
When can I come visit?
O
X
I watched the screen, hoping for an immediate reply, but I was distracted by the front door bursting open, I looked up and saw Steven’s face darken with anger and I knew it had to be Melissa. I couldn’t understand why she was so keen to make such a public exhibition of her private life, but then I reasoned, this was a girl who seemed to have no private boundary if her penchant for public sex was any kind of indicator.
I made my way to the doorway of my office to observe. Melissa was standing in the entrance to the office, hands on hips. She wore a hideous fake fur jacket, tight fitting jeans, and high-heeled knee-high boots. Steven was watching her warily.
‘Well? Here I am. What did you want to see me for?’ She demanded, her perfectly plucked eyebrows were raised in question and her ruby red lips rested into a natural pout. She looked like a doll. She was beautiful under the heavy make-up, which made her look cheap. Her scowl betrayed her outer beauty, showing her true nature.
Steven nodded, smiling. He moved away from his desk towards her pausing a meter away from her.
‘Did you have a good night on Friday?’ He asked politely. ‘You and your friend seemed pretty intimate at The Garage.’
The colour drained from her face as she stared at him. I watched the thoughts bounce around her vacuous head as she tried to think of an explanation and I almost laughed out loud when she turned to leave. Steven grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her away from the door. She sta
red at his hand and then looked up into his face. His happy smile had been replaced with a hard expression, his jaw was tense and his mouth a thin line.
‘What’s going on? You spent all that time relentlessly pursuing me and as soon as you get me, you’re off fucking other men in public.’
Melissa stared back at him silently.
‘I was prepared to stand by you, but how can I be sure the baby’s mine?’ He paused, ‘and you were drinking alcohol, you can’t be drinking alcohol while you’re pregnant.’
Her face flushed crimson and she avoided his gaze. His eyes narrowed.
‘You are still pregnant, right?’
She raised her face slowly to look at him and shook her head. Steven took a step back and stared at her.
‘Was there ever a baby, Melissa?’
‘No,’ she whispered miserably. ‘I just wanted the money.’
Steven paused, confusion replacing his irritation He clearly hadn’t expected her explanation.
‘Money? What money?’
‘You were supposed to give me £500 for an abortion.’
I felt my mouth drop open, mirroring Steven’s reaction. I knew it was none of my business but I found myself moving closer to speak.
‘But abortions are free on the NHS,’ I said.
Melissa turned to me and shrugged. ‘They don’t know that,’ she replied.
‘So the guy on Friday night? Will you be asking him for £500 too?’ I asked incredulously.
Melissa glanced over at me, she looked ashamed but then something in her brain switched and she pulled herself up, stared at me defiantly and nodded.
‘It’s a new take on prostitution I suppose. So how many men do you fuck each week to trick them into believing you’re pregnant?’ I asked, shocked at this new development. Melissa shrugged.
‘Two, sometimes three.’ She looked up at Steven, ‘of course some of them insist on using condoms so it doesn’t always work, but then when they’re cute I don’t mind trying again.’
Steven reached into his back pocket and handed her an envelope. ‘Take it,’ he hissed. I could see he was losing patience with her.
Confusion filled her eyes as she took the envelope, she searched his face questioningly. I sensed she was hoping it was money.
‘That’s an injunction. Come within ten metres of me again and you’re going to prison.’ He looked at his watch as he released her arm. ‘Starting in five, four, three …’ Melissa rushed to the door, her face crimson with shame and disappointment.
I jumped as the door slammed, and let out the breath I’d been holding. Steven stood by the door, collecting himself, before turning back to his desk. He didn’t look at me. I glanced at James who was concentrating on his screen, his headphones still in place. I doubted he’d even been aware of Melissa’s presence. A natural-born nerd. The thought made me smile.
When I returned to my desk, I had a reply from Chris.
From Chris Knight
To Olivia Jones
Subject Jacuzzi
Hey, Miss Jones,
I have spent a significant proportion of my free time imagining you naked in my Jacuzzi, but I’m afraid I’m heading back to America for Christmas this weekend, so we will have to wait until next year. I may struggle to talk to you while I’m at home, I don’t have the same luxury of living on my own as I do in Edinburgh and my nieces and nephews don’t leave me alone much.
But you can be assured that I will definitely be thinking about you and your gym shorts.
Chris
X
I was so disappointed. It hadn’t even occurred to me that he might go home for Christmas or that he wouldn’t be able to communicate with me in the same way from his home. I had always thought of him as being online, his physical location was irrelevant. I flushed with shame as I imagined his mum walking in on us, seeing me on the computer screen half-naked. I was relieved he had warned me otherwise I might have called him and who knows who would have seen me. January felt far away.
I thought about what Ruth had said to me on our shopping trip. She’d gently reminded me that in reality Chris wasn’t a real person, he was a name on a computer terminal. I should think about spending my time with someone real. Perhaps a bit of space from Chris would be good for me, give me a chance to return to the real world a bit more. But I still had a few days before he left.
Steven appeared in my doorway. His red and black shirt hung over the top of his loose-fitting jeans, his sleeves were rolled up just below his elbow exposing the olive skin of his forearms. His hair was spiked and he wore a lazy smile on his face. He knocked lightly on the wood of the door frame.
‘Hey. I’m just getting myself together for this conference in Manchester tomorrow. Just wanted to check you had everything sorted for the testers coming in on Wednesday.’
We had interviewed several testers last week and had hired three. I also had a part-time assistant hired. I was planning to wait until after Christmas before anyone started, but they were all keen to work right away, I guessed they needed the Christmas cash. I nodded.
‘I have your notes plus James is up to speed.’
‘I can’t believe you used to do all this yourself,’ he grinned at me, I smiled.
‘Never was very good at sharing my toys, but this way is much more productive. I can’t believe how quickly all this has come together.’
‘Well it has to now; we’ve had jobs lining up since Birmingham.’ Steven looked pleased with himself as he said it. ‘Hopefully more to come after tomorrow too.’ He looked at me thoughtfully. ‘You should come next time; you’d enjoy it, you know.’ I shrugged and promised I’d think about it.
Steven turned to leave and then, remembering something, he turned back. ‘By the way, Ols, are we doing something for Christmas?’
I looked at him in horror, I hadn’t even thought about Christmas, it was going to be way too late to book somewhere for a staff night out.
‘What can we do?’ I asked helplessly. Steven smiled indulgently.
‘Leave it with me, I’ll sort something. Next Friday, yeah?
I returned Steven’s smile gratefully and nodded.
When is our last day?’ he asked, still smiling.
‘December 23rd?’ I cringed at the question in my voice. He must think I was an idiot. The truth was that I hadn’t really thought about that either, I was so used to just working all the time it hadn’t occurred to me that my staff needed to know what their Christmas holiday period was. Being an employer was much more complicated than I had realised.
Steven nodded smiling.
‘Cool, we get Christmas Eve off? I was going to book it off anyway to drive up to my folks.’
I grinned back at his smiling face, relieved I had got something right. Then I remembered Melissa.
‘Are you OK? About Melissa?’ I watched as he sighed and moved into the office, closing the door behind him. He smiled sadly.
‘I was sort of hoping to just brush that whole chapter under the carpet and forget it happened.’
‘You seemed quite content to become a dad.’ I said, remembering his conversation with Steph last week. He had seemed almost proud that he was going to be a father. I expected him to be relieved that this episode was behind him but I couldn’t help wondering if he might also feel a little bit sad too.
Steven began to fidget under my gaze.
‘Ols, you’re doing that thing again, you know, where you stare at me.’ His face cracked with a mocking smile. ‘I know I look particularly handsome today but really, you’re embarrassing me,’ he teased.
I shook my head to clear it and smiled.
‘You’ve had a rough couple of weeks, I just wanted to know you were OK and if you wanted to talk about it, you know I’m here, right?’
Steven smiled, but his expression was bemused. He stood up to leave.
‘Cheers, Ols, I’m fine. I’m free! I’m going to head off to Manchester. See you Wednesday afternoon.’
Chapter Twenty-nin
e
The following evening I was playing Wii Fit when my laptop started ringing, I turned down the volume of the TV and made my way to the sofa and I stopped in my tracks. The familiar black square had been replaced by a living room. I saw movement as the bright room was obscured and a figure sat down in front of the camera. He was difficult to see with the light behind him, the faint glow from his computer monitor not really casting much light on his face but I could see him well enough. My heart beat loudly in my chest. This was Chris Knight. He looked different to his photos; he was wearing a baseball cap and dark-framed glasses, and his stubble was almost long enough to be classed as a beard. He looked mature but handsome. Distinguished.
‘Notice anything different about me?’ he asked, smiling.
‘You’re actually human?’ I grinned.
‘The camera finally arrived, just as I’m getting ready to leave. Typical.’
‘Oh well, better late than never. It’s nice to see you finally.’
‘So how do I compare to your imagination?’ His voice had that teasing tone but sounded slightly uncertain.
‘Different, you look much nerdier than I expected. I know you’re not a nerd.’ He laughed. ‘So you must be quite fashionable then, the nerdy look is in at the moment.’ I concluded.
‘Not really, although I am in the business of making people look and feel good, it makes sense for me to follow fashion, but not when I’m sat at home on my computer.’
‘I wasn’t expecting a beard.’
‘Ah that’s because for the last few weeks I’ve done nothing but write my dissertation and hang out with you. Don’t even ask to see my hair, it’s disgusting.’
‘I like it, it suits you.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, I mean I wouldn’t want it on my face so feel free to shave before I visit, but it looks good on you.’
He chuckled. ‘You still want to visit me?’ He sounded surprised, ‘this is probably our last chance to chat this year, I’ve got end-of-term parties to go to and packing to do.’
I closed my eyes and sighed sadly. I was going to miss him. ‘Best make the most of it then.’ I smiled, running my finger across my bottom lip. I saw him smile and stopped, frowning.
