Pleasured By You

by Steph Nuss

  “Hello, Felicia, please have a seat,” Carly said, pointing to the chair next to mine. “This is Bayler Jennings.” She looked at me and smiled again. “Bayler, this is Felicia Grant, Vail’s mom.”

  “Hi,” she said, setting her briefcase on the floor. “I’m sorry I’m late. Court ran a little longer than I expected. ”

  “That’s okay,” Carly said. “We haven’t been waiting long. I told Bayler about how you wanted to speak with her privately first. So, I’m going to let you two get to it, and I’ll go see if Vail needs anything.”

  “She’s in the hall reading,” Felicia said.

  “Okay,” Carly laughed, as she closed the door behind her.

  Once we were alone, Felicia turned to me and smiled. “I really am sorry about being late. Carly’s told me all about you and how you’ve been helping with the program since you were in high school.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, smiling at her. “Since you know all about me, why don’t you start off by telling me a little bit about Vail and your family?”

  “Okay,” she said, relaxing back into her chair. She crossed her legs and started. “Well, Vail is an only child. Her father and I divorced about a year ago when I found out he had another family on the side with a woman around your age. No offense.”

  I smiled weakly. “None taken.”

  “Anyway, after the divorce was settled, I started working overtime at the law firm so I could keep Vail at the same school. I didn’t want to have to make her change schools on top of dealing with her parents’ divorce. She’s a really great kid. She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s beautiful. She’s never given me any trouble, even when she was a baby.”

  “So, why do you want her to be in the program? Have you talked to her about it?”

  “Yes,” she said, nodding. “I work so much that I’m not able to take her to the beach or the movies or shopping, and I’m not always home in time to cook her dinner. I just hate the thought of her spending the summer before high school cooped up at home because her mom’s at work and her dad doesn’t want anything to do with us anymore. Ever since our divorce, she’s been quieter, more introverted. She has friends but she rarely asks to spend time with them. The only time she ever really wants to leave the house is when she goes to her dance class. Other than that, she’s perfectly content staying home to read, watch TV or listen to music. I love that she loves to read and dance, but I want her to be a kid. I want her to go to the beach and read. Soak up the sun while doing something she enjoys. She’s a wonderful girl, and I’m so proud of her for doing well in school and her extracurricular activities; she’s an amazing dancer. I just feel like she’s growing up too fast. She already cooks most of her meals and spends way too much time on her own. I’m hoping you can help her have more fun.”

  “I know I can,” I said confidently.

  “Thank you,” she said, sounding relieved. “I just feel like the worst mom in the world for not being around enough.”

  “You’re not the worst mom,” I said, in an attempt to comfort her. “I think it’s awesome that you work so hard for her. I can’t imagine how hard it is being a single, working mom. I bet Vail’s just as proud of you as you are of her.”

  “I know she is,” she replied, blinking away tears. “And that’s what makes her so great. She knows I’m working hard for us. She’s never once complained about me not being around. I just want her to be happy. I want her to be a kid for as long as she possibly can because being an adult, getting up everyday to go to work, it sucks.”

  I laughed at that last bit and nodded. “It really does sometimes.”

  “Carly told me you just got a job at a bakery?”

  “Yes,” I answered, remembering my phone call with Teddy yesterday. She’d called me and told me I started on Monday. I still hadn’t given Fletcher an answer about his deal yet.

  “Which bakery?”

  “Batter Up.”

  “Oh, that place is amazing! Congratulations!”

  “Thank you,” I said proudly. “Is there anything else I need to know about Vail? Does she have any allergies I should know about? Anything like that?”

  “She doesn’t have any allergies,” she said, shaking her head. She looked off into the distance as she thought about my question, and then finally perked up when an answer came to her. “She does have fair skin, so if you ever do go to the beach, she’ll need to apply a lot of sunscreen.”

  “Okay, good to know,” I said, nodding. “Anything else?”

  She stared at me for a moment and then looked back at Carly’s closed door. “There is something, but I think she’d kill me if I told you.”

  “Whatever it is, I swear I won’t ever let her know you told me.”

  She sighed. “Vail still hasn’t gotten her first period.”

  And cue the teenager stuff.

  “Most of her friends have already, so I think she’s just confused as to why she hasn’t yet. She feels like there’s something wrong with her, even though I’ve told her there’s not. I told her she should be glad she hasn’t yet, and I think in a way she is. It’s just something I thought you should know about as a fellow woman.”

  “Of course,” I said, understandingly. Vail should be glad the devil that was Aunt Flow hadn’t descended upon her yet.

  “I think that’s it,” Felicia said, smiling. “I think you’re really going to get along well with Vail. Like I said, she’s a good kid. She doesn’t cause any trouble. She can be blunt about things, but that’s one of her qualities that I think makes her so great; she just tells it how it is.”

  “My kind of gal,” I said, laughing.

  “I’ll go get her so you two can meet,” she said cheerfully. She got up from her seat but before she opened the door, she smiled back at me. “Bayler, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. I feel better putting her in the program after talking to you. All I ask is that you ask before taking her somewhere or doing something. I hate not knowing where she is. She’s good about texting me, so just always have her text me.”

  “Will do.”

  “Thank you.”

  Felicia left the room, and I could hear her speaking to someone out in the hall. A few seconds later, a petite girl joined me in Carly’s office. Her porcelain skin stood out against the jet-black hair that hung below her shoulders. She had big, radiant blue eyes that looked absolutely gorgeous with the small amount of makeup she had on. She wore cut-off jean shorts and a red tank that matched the red Chuck Taylors she sported.

  She smiled at me politely and sat down next to me. “Hi, I’m Vail.”

  “Hey, Vail, I’m Bayler,” I replied, smiling back at her. Her hands nervously grazed the book in her lap, and I caught the title. “Pretty Little Liars?”

  Her smile widened as she glanced down at the book. “Yeah, it’s my favorite book series.”

  “I’ve heard of the TV show.”

  “The books are way better,” she said enthusiastically. “The show’s a little different than the books, but I still watch it.”

  “Books are always way better than their shows or movies.”

  “Agreed,” she said, with a light laugh.

  “So, are you excited to be in the program?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I am,” she said, in a positive voice. “I know my mom wants me to have more fun and be more social. She thinks I’m growing up too fast.” Vail rolled her eyes, smiling. “The thing is, some of my friends are off at camps or on family vacations, and I’m not about to join some camp I’m not interested in just to be more social.”

  “I know what you mean,” I said, nodding. Oh, how I loathed being a teenager with all its conformity. “I like that you don’t want to do what everyone else is doing just because they’re doing it. I like that you’re comfortable being independent.”

  “Thanks,” she said, blushing slightly.

  “So what else are you interested in besides books and dance?” I asked, wanting to know more about her. I liked Vail. She was dow
n-to-earth and sweet. She wasn’t the type of girl to follow the crowd. She seemed more comfortable standing out on her own than being in a clique. She reminded me of myself back then. I wasn’t part of the “in” crowd, despite coming from money. I was the athletic girl who liked to have a good time. I had a mouth that lacked a filter, and I didn’t like doing what everyone else was doing. Unlike most girls I went to school with, I didn’t spend my time gossiping, and after spending only a few minutes with Vail, I knew she wasn’t interested in that crap either.

  “I like listening to music,” she said, surely. “I also like painting.”

  “Me, too,” I said, nodding. “I also love to bake.”

  “Carly said you worked in a bakery. Do you decorate cakes and stuff? I watch some of those cake shows on TV sometimes, and the cakes they make on there are awesome!”

  I laughed. “Yep. I design, bake, and decorate desserts to my client’s liking.”

  “I think that kind of job would be fun,” she commented.

  “It really is.” I immediately pictured her decorating cakes with me. She looked like she was really artsy, like she’d master cake decorating in no time. “My creative side is never bored, that’s for sure. Maybe you can help me decorate a cake sometime.”

  “That would be so cool!” she said, her blue eyes dancing with excitement. “I don’t really know how I am at baking. I usually only make stuff from a box, but I think it would be fun to decorate something already baked.”

  “Decorating is the fun part, but I can teach you the basics of baking if you want.”

  She nodded silently, smiling from ear-to-ear.

  “So, Big Brothers Big Sisters is having this ice cream social tomorrow afternoon in Central Park,” I stated, trying to gauge whether or not she’d want to go. I didn’t want to make her go if she didn’t want to, but it was a good opportunity to get her out of the house.

  “Yeah,” she said, her voice still upbeat. “Carly said something about it to me while you were talking to my mom.”

  “Would you like to go?” I asked, hopefully. “It’s a kickoff to summer, but it’s also a fun way to get to know other Littles and their Bigs. There will be people of all ages there, but if you don’t want to go, we don’t have to.”

  “No, it sounds like fun,” she replied, enthusiastically. “And I love ice cream.”

  “Awesome! Then we’ll go.”

  Chapter Seven

  Friday, Rook met me at Central Park just like we’d planned for the Big Brothers Big Sisters social. We were seated at a picnic table, and ever since we’d sat down, he kept looking over my shoulder.

  “What is she doing here?” he muttered nervously to himself.

  “What is who doing here?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.

  “Don’t look!” he snapped, smacking me in the arm. “I don’t want her to think we’re talking about her.”

  “Wow,” I laughed, rubbing my arm where he hit me. “You got it bad, boy.”

  “What? No, I don’t. She’s just some girl who goes to my school. I didn’t know she was in the program, that’s all.”

  “Mhmm,” I mused, trying to hold back my laughter. I’d never seen him so twisted up over a girl. His leg bounced nervously underneath the table, but his dark eyes were wide with excitement. My boy had his first crush, and it was entertaining. “So, what’s her name?”

  “Vail,” he said, taking a break from admiring her to look back at me. “Her name’s Vail Grant. She’s in the same grade as me.”

  “So, are you just going to sit here and look at her all afternoon?” I asked, smiling at him. “I thought I was supposed to be taking pointers from you today?”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “Shut up, Fletcher.”

  “I’m being serious,” I said, looking over my shoulder. “Which one is she?”

  I heard him sigh and then he said, “The one with the long, black hair. She’s sitting with a blond chick I’ve never seen before.”

  Scoping out the park, I found the girl with the jet-black hair, but my eyes were glued to the woman wearing the green halter top sitting across from her. I’ve seen that back before, I thought. It was like New Year’s all over again. A smile spread across my face as I watched Bayler and Vail interact. Vail glanced over at our table and then quickly looked away, her pale cheeks betraying her with a pink tint. She recognized Rook, too.

  This is going to be fun.

  Turning my attention back to Rook, I nodded toward the girls’ table. “Let’s go say hi.”

  “What?!” Rook asked, like I’d just suggested we murder them. “We are not going over there.”

  “Yes. We. Are,” I demanded, looking him straight in the eye.

  “I don’t even know what to say to her.”

  “Say hi,” I said, giving him sound advice. “Be yourself. Ask her if she’d like to get some ice cream. Offer to get her Big some ice cream, too.”

  He took a deep breath and exhaled. “I don’t know. She’s not like the other girls at school.”

  Setting my elbows on the table, I ran a hand over my face. I’d forgotten how ridiculous puberty was, and the way it made boys simultaneously excited and petrified over everything. Thank fuck, those days were over for me. “What do you mean?”

  “She’s just different.” He paused for a moment, like I was supposed to magically understand what he meant by different. When I didn’t say anything, thinking he’d go into more detail, he rolled his eyes and continued. “She likes to read, and she’s really smart. She’s nice to everyone; I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say a bad thing about anyone. She comes to our football games and actually watches the games, unlike the other girls who just sit around on their phones the whole time.”

  “Wow,” I deadpanned.

  “If you saw her up close, you’d know what I mean! She’s got the biggest blue eyes I’ve ever seen,” he said, stealing another look at her. “And now she just caught me looking at her. What do I do?”

  I laughed, standing up from the table. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

  “What? No!” he said, shaking his head.

  Leaning against the table, I smiled down at him. Rook was a good-looking kid, and luckily for him, his voice had already changed. He was African American, tall, and athletic, with a cool buzz cut that looked natural on him. He didn’t lack potential or game; he just needed to learn how to use it to his advantage. “Look, your name practically begs you to have good moves with the ladies, okay? No Little Brother of mine is going to be scared of talking to girls. If you can talk at a pep rally in front of hundreds of your fellow classmates, coaches and teachers, you can talk to this girl. So, we’re going to go over there. You’re going to say hi to her. You’re going to introduce me to them. Then you’re going to ask her if she wants to get some ice cream with you. Then while you two are getting ice cream, I’ll take a seat next to her Big. I’ll work my charm on her, and I promise by the time we leave here, you’re going to have Vail’s phone number.”

  “Seriously?” he asked, incredulously. “How do you know she’ll even want to get ice cream with me? What if she says no?”

  “You said she’s a nice girl,” I said, shrugging my shoulder. “Nice girls don’t turn down good guys.”

  “What if she doesn’t even like ice cream?” he asked.

  Slapping the back of his head, I laughed. “Are you serious right now? She’s at an ice cream social! She probably wouldn’t be here if she didn’t like ice cream.”

  He sighed and stood up from the table. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

  “Do you want her number or not?” I asked, losing my patience.

  “Yes, I want her number,” he answered sharply.

  “Then let’s go over there and get it,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “Just be yourself. Pretend the park is the football field and she’s the end zone.”

  “Okay,” he replied confidently, standing a bit straighter. “I can do that.”

 
; “This should be good,” I muttered, as I started to walk after him.

  Rook turned around abruptly and glared at me. “Don’t treat this like some joke, Fletch. I really like her, okay? I can’t even remember the last time you had a girlfriend.”

  “Okay,” I said, holding my hands up in defense. “No joking matter. Got it.”

  “Good,” he said, before turning back and continuing his trek across the park.

  Did he just give me lip over some chick?

  ***

  “Ohmigawd,” Vail whispered, awestruck.

  “What?” I asked, concern lining my voice.

  She looked at me and her eyes widened. “He’s coming over here.”

  I laughed lightly, leaning my elbows against the table. “Who’s coming over here?”

  “Rook Ballard,” she said giddily, with a slight blush to her cheeks. “He’s the star running back on our football team. He’s already been promised a spot on the high school varsity team.”

  “Ah, a football player,” I said, staring off into space. “I remember the first hot football player I fell for.”

  “It’s not just about his looks,” she admitted, rolling her eyes. “He’s a good guy. He does well in school. He doesn’t pick on other kids like some of his teammates.”

  “Sounds like somebody has a serious crush,” I teased, nudging her arm.

  “I didn’t even know he was in the program,” she said softly.

  “Some people will surprise you,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  I could tell he was getting closer by the way she fidgeted excitedly across the table from me. Pushing a piece of hair behind her ear, she smiled over at me. “Do I look okay?”

  “You look perfect,” I said, in an encouraging tone. She was so adorable; this Rook kid would be stupid not to notice her.

  “Good,” she breathed, just as a shadow crossed over our table.

  “Hey, Vail,” he said, smiling over at her.