The Bento Box

by Olivia Gaines

  “Oh my goodness, we are actually going to Paris,” she said, clapping her hands gleefully. “I went once in college and again for a conference when I became coroner. I’ve seen the Louvre, but this weekend, I want to really enjoy it. Get my romance on in the city of luuuuuvvv.”

  Koji put down his phone. Eldredge also noticed that the device, which was always attached to his Boss’s hand, was face down as Koji turned his attention to the spitfire of a black woman. If the Boss didn’t realize it, he was in deep shit. Eldredge looked forward to watching it all play out.

  “Dr. Hathaway,” Koji started, “I mean, Trista. We barely finished our dinner. Once we reach cruising altitude, would you care to finish the meal or should we skip to the champagne?”

  “Champagne on an empty stomach...wait a minute,” she said looking around. The plane only had six seats. “This is an 8 hour trip. Are we going to sleep in these chairs?”

  “No, there is a bedroom, complete with shower,” Koji said, his eyebrows arching slightly at the expression on her face.

  “Oooh, I want to see,” she said, anxious to remove her seat belt. “Is it a queen or a king sized?”

  “It can comfortably sleep three,” he said, watching the childlike expression on her face shift to his assistant. Koji had mentioned the bed sleeping three for Trista to gauge the size of the mattress, not as an invite for a threesome.

  “Sorry, Eldredge, it’s not that kind of party,” she said, with widened eyes. He held up his hands. The look on his Boss’s face when he left her house, inked a blotter of concern which made him turn away from what she was going to pull from her purse. It would ruin his day if the sweet looking lady pulled out a butt plug to use on Koji. That image, he didn’t need etched into his memory.

  Trista pulled the blindfold and two silk scarves from her purse, waggling her eyebrows at Koji.

  “Champagne it is,” Koji said standing up. “Eldredge, if you would, please warm up the dinner, and in about an hour, please bring it in to us.”

  “An hour?” Trista asked.

  “Yes, an hour,” Koji said as he reached for her seatbelt, unfastening the buckle. He pulled the silk scarf from between her fingers and held onto the blindfold. “Sharu wi dansu?”

  “Oh, I know that one!” Trista said remembering the Japanese version of the movie Shall We Dance. She wanted to dance a great deal more with Mr. Okada. There was something about him that connected with her, and the sex was pretty damned good, too. She didn’t understand the language, but she could read his body language and expression, plus the British accent on an Asian man was making her lady parts want to do more than just a rhumba. Her panties felt like sticky rice and she wanted to get to the goodies on the menu.

  Moving down the aisle, she rocked her hips back and forth, following him to the bed big enough for three. Koji stepped aside to allow her to enter the bedroom first as he tried to get a grip on the emotions coursing through him. Dr. Hathaway wasn’t at all what he had expected.

  He looked forward to the night with the lady.

  Chapter Four – Wasabi

  KOJI WATCHED HER DANCE into the bedroom, turning to shimmy her shoulders at him as she unfastened the first button of her blouse. The smile on her face was almost infectious while she undid the second, followed by the third, and finally the last, opening the blouse to reveal the hidden gems inside. She was so different than most of the professional women he’d encountered.

  Trista had been upfront with him and clearly stated that her answer to his software proposal was going to be no. She wanted to come on this trip with him and spend the weekend in Paris. Everything in him made Koji want to distrust the actions he was seeing because no woman wanted just a weekend of sex and romance. There had to be more.

  “Dr. Hathaway,” he asked as he closed the doors, “what are the rules of our engagement this weekend?”

  “As long as you don’t cum in my ear or piss in my mouth, I’m pretty open,” she said, throwing her blouse into his face.

  Koji’s mouth hung open in shock at her words. He started to chuckle, which turned into an all-out guffaw as he sat down on the bed, his hands, steady and determined, cupped over his mouth. She was still dancing about the bedroom, removing the long, flowing red cotton skirt which had swept the floor when she walked.

  “You are so different,” he said softly.

  Trista placed her hand on his shoulder and took a seat on the bed beside the man she was ready to make love to with reckless abandonment. Sighing deeply, she knew the right tone to use when she spoke to him. Her profession had taught her how to deliver any type of news. A life of dealing with death in many forms had braced her to speak to any audience with honesty, brevity, and concise language. This was also one of those moments.

  “Koji, you and I don’t get to be ourselves very often,” she said. “We stand for something that people look up to and respect. Our lives are filled with too much work, very little play, and relationships that don’t work because people don’t want to take back seats to late nights occupied by ideas that call us into the office all times of night.”

  “This is very true,” he acquiesced.

  “See, by my calculations, dating for either of us is a hit or miss,” she said. “This weekend, you and I get to just be. No expectations, requirements and talks about long term commitments. For me, this is a winning situation. I get to be treated like I’m the most important, cherished, and loved woman on the planet.”

  “And what do I get out of this deal?”

  “The pleasure of treating me like the most important, cherished, and loved woman on the planet,” she said, brushing him with her shoulder. “Plus, you get my dazzling company all weekend and some really good loving.”

  Koji wasn’t smiling.

  “No, seriously, what do I get out of this?” he asked, “outside of the sex and the running up of my credit cards? We need to get this sorted out.”

  “I have my own money and don’t need you to buy me anything,” she said. “If you want to, I’m not going to stop you since that was your initial plan. How about, and just hear me out...we play it by ear?”

  “What exactly does that mean to you, Dr. Trista Hathaway?”

  “Exactly what I said, Koji Okada,” she said. “This weekend, for just three days and three nights, you don’t have to be ‘on’. You get to spend the weekend with a woman who will pamper you without expecting anything in return other than you pamper her back. Let down the guards, Koji. Let’s live a little.”

  “You surprise me in so many delightful ways,” Koji said, leaning his head forward to provide a kiss that started gently, turning urgent with need. Koji’s tongue slid into her mouth, touching the tip of Trista’s with his own. She moaned softly into his mouth as he pressed her back to the bed. Her hands became urgent, removing his jacket, struggling with his tie, and tugging at his belt.

  “Bloody hell woman, will you allow me to get completely undressed?” he asked, chuckling.

  “Hell no,” she said, reaching for the back pocket of his pants to find the protection. His eyes weren’t covered this time as she flipped him to his back, pulling down his pants, but he stopped her.

  “No, this time it won’t be rushed,” he said, pointing at the bed. “Pull back the duvet and wait for me in the center of the bed.”

  “What if I say no?” she asked, standing beside the bed, her eyes challenging him.

  “Then perhaps you shall get a spanking for being disobedient,” he said taking off his belt and snapping the leather straps together.

  Trista’s eyebrows arched as she grabbed a pillow from the bed and chucked it at him. She folded her arms across her chest in defiance. The tingle of her nipples across her arm excited her far more than she’d expected.

  “On the bed, now!” he said, his voice still at the same timber, but full of authority.

  “No,” she challenged, wondering what he’d do next.

  Koji moved swiftly, snapping the belt, grabbing her arm, and tossing her wi
th little effort across the bed. The leather in his hand tapped at her bottom with the cotton panties clinging to curves. He yanked at the edges of the fabric, pulling it down to expose her bottom, raising the leather, and bringing in down across the flesh hard enough to sting, but not to bruise.

  “Ahhh,” she gasped, not thinking he would actually do it.

  Koji, surprised himself that he had physically struck her bare bottom with the leather, wanted to step back. His cock was harder than it had been the first go around with her, but he liked the interaction.

  “One more word, Trista,” he cautioned, “one more word out of that sexy, full, luscious mouth of yours, and it will earn you another strike to that perfectly rounded, beautiful brown arse.”

  Trista’s hands clung to the sheets as she looked over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his. The dark hair on his head was disheveled. Sweat formed on his upper lip and she wanted...more.

  “One more word,” she said, gripping the sheets, bracing herself for the next strike. It came without warning, the sting activating the ready to fuck gene in her brain. Her outer folds grew damp with anticipation as the tingle in her lady parts activated for round two.

  “Raise that arse up, lovely,” Koji said, “and get to your knees, face down, now!”

  “No!” she said firmly, preparing for the next blow which came without warning. The burn turned her on so much she arched her back, her butt cheeks in the air waiting for the next strike. Koji came through, striking her bottom once more with the leather. Dampness soaked her panties, and she needed relief.

  “Do me,” she said, gripping onto the covers and biting at the pillow.

  “Not yet. I have an hour,” he said. “I’m going to drive you to near insanity and when I’m ready...then, I shall let you cum.”

  “One more strike and I’m going to cum anyway,” she said, backing her ass towards him. Testing her word, he put the belt aside and used his hand. The sound of fingers striking flesh caused her to cry out. She found herself throbbing in need, but she wouldn’t beg him. “That’s all you got?”

  “No, I also have this,” he said, yanking down her panties. Two fingers slid inside the tight opening, going back and forth as Trista gyrated against his hand. Before she could open her mouth, she felt his on her pussy.

  “Oh shit,” she said, ready to let go.

  “Not yet, Dr. Hathaway,” he said. “Not yet.”

  For ten minutes straight, her spanked her ass, licked her snatch, and tweaked her nipples but he wouldn’t take her to the point of orgasm. Trist nearly lost it at the feel of how hard his cock was rubbing slowly over her clit, torturing her while juices ran down her butt crack.

  “I’m not going to make it,” Trista moaned. “I’m not going to make it.”

  “Shite, neither am I,” Koji said, flipping over to his back. “Sore o owara sete, finish it your way, Trista.”

  Trista moved around the bed, climbing over him, the shaft of his cock in her hand, and the wetness between her legs driving her need. Aiming the bulbous head, she slid the damp slot back and forth, wanting to torture him as he’d done her, but Koji raised his hips, impaling the woman. He braced his feet on the bed, clenching his butt cheeks, lifting in short thrusts, probing, until he’d forgotten he’d relinquished power to her.

  It felt like a fight for control as he thrust upwards and she gyrated until her insides felt like a grenade had been set loose. “Well dayum,” she cried out, trying to hold on to the bucking bronco.

  “Trista,” he murmured, pulling her body down, his arms wrapped around her back as his hips pumped furiously. In a loud grunt, he let go, squeezing her tightly, holding on for dear life, and not wanting to let her go.

  “Jeez,” she said, collapsing on top of him. “That was hotter than a mouthful of wasabi.”

  “Uhhm,” he said as a light tap came to the door. “One moment, Eldredge.”

  “That better be dinner and not him wanting to take part in round three,” Trista said, chuckling.

  “He will not lay a hand on you,” Koji said with a fierce protectiveness as he pulled the covers up around her body.

  “Yeah, but there is only one bed and an eight-hour flight,” she said, feeling drowsy.

  “Eldredge will be fine,” he said, climbing out of the bed and putting on his underwear. He answered the door to receive two bottles of water and two bowls of food. Evidently, he would be eating it alone. Dr. Hathaway was asleep.

  KOJI STEPPED FROM THE bedroom, holding the two bowls. He was bone tired and sapped of all energy, and the tip of his tongue was numb. The chopsticks dangling from his finger felt like two ten-pound weights as he tried, with little success, to get the protein into his mouth. Even if he had, he was too tired to chew it.

  “Maybe you should turn in, Boss,” Eldredge said.

  “I would, if I could get back to the bed,” he murmured. “I’m trying to get some protein and fluids in me in case she wakes up requiring more attention.”

  “Boss, did she agree to use of the software in her family’s business?”

  “No, she flat out refused,” Koji said.

  “What is this about, then?”

  “We’re spending the weekend pampering each other before the lives we live come around on Tuesday morning to swallow us whole,” Koji replied.

  “And the software? What about the app? It was why you came across the pond,” Eldredge said.

  “I came across the pond to get to the woman,” he said as his eyes drooped. “Instead, the woman has gotten to me. Goodnight, Eldredge.”

  “Sleep well, Boss.”

  KOJI DIDN’T EAT THE bowl of food. His desire was focused more on being in the bed next to the woman. He closed the door quietly so the click would not disturb her rest. He pulled the covers gently back, allowing him to slide under the covers. The instant his head hit the pillow, she turned over, her arm around his waist. A look of contentment was all over her face.

  The spanking thing had been an unexpected turn. She didn’t think he would actually do it and based on her facial expression; the lady coroner appeared surprised that she liked it.

  “I liked it too, Trista. Arigatō gozaimashita,” he whispered, snuggling close before falling into a hard sleep.

  Chapter Five – Soy Saucing

  KOJI TURNED OVER IN bed to find it empty. A sense of barrenness filled him as he stretched, feeling an uncomfortable soreness for all the right reasons. Today, he woke up with a smile on his face for the first time in many years. Usually, the first thing he grabbed for was the phone which seemed to be a permanent fixture to his left hand. He didn’t bother to look for it since his first inclination was to search for the lady.

  The plane was still in the air, and the pilot announced they were making an approach to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Throwing back the covers, he located a pair of jeans in his closet and noticed his jacket and pants from last night had been hung neatly on velvet hangars.

  “Thoughtful,” he said, opening the hamper to see his dirty socks inside as well. Still smiling, he found a loose fitting shirt, threw some water on his face, and went in search of a seat for landing and the lady.

  When he opened the cabin door, he saw her having coffee with Eldredge, chatting amicably about God knows what and a pang of jealousy shot through him.

  “Good morning Boss. Tea?”

  “Certainly,” Koji replied, his eyes on Trista. He wasn’t sure what he expected her do, but he stood still waiting on some form of recognition from her. The lady got to her feet, greeting him with a morning embrace, accompanied by a soft kiss to his lips.

  “Hey there, handsome,” she said, pushing him towards a seat and fastening his seat belt. “Hope you slept well.”

  “I did, thank you,” he asked, grabbing her hand. “And you?”

  “Like an overfed, spoiled, good little pussy cat,” she said, running her hand down his thigh.

  Eldredge returned with a hot cup of tea, taking his seat as well for landing. “Boss, we were ta
lking about the mortuary business. I’m starting to understand it a whole lot better when she talks about it.”

  “Oh really?” Koji asked, wanting to know what his long-time friend had learned from his lady.

  Trista chimed in, “Death, for a great number of people, whether expected or planned, can be unsettling. Family secrets, unspoken words, and failure to express love at times in life when it was most needed also plays into the departure of a loved one. Many families fall apart, especially if the death is a patriarch or a matriarch of the family. Untimely, accidental, or mysterious deaths are the hardest to process, which is why I work hard to find answers for the unexplained occurrences so that people can have closure.”

  “Did you get closure on your mother’s death?” Koji asked, creating a blob of tension in the cabin of the plane.

  Trista’s mouth tightened at the corners as she looked at him. “I was only five when my mother passed away.”

  Her eyes bore into him when she spoke.

  “My mother was in the Navy serving on the USS Stark in 1987 when an Iraqi missile came through the crew’s quarters. She and 36 others lost their lives,” she said. “My father became a single parent to two children while consoling others who had lost their loved ones, leaving him little to no time to grieve for the loss of his wife.”

  Koji said softly, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “Are you? Really? Sorry for my loss, or are you feeling like an ass for being jealous of your friend having time alone to talk to me?” she asked, wondering what she’d gotten herself into with this man. “I deal with death every day, and I know, truly know, when the sympathy is sincere. Yours is not.”

  “Trista, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Koji said, feeling like a jackass for approaching such a sensitive subject with no tact.