Faithful

by Bay, Louise

  I had his attention now and he looked at me with that same forlorn expression.

  “I just don’t want to bother you with anything. It’s not about you and me, it’s all work.” He forced a smile and pulled me closer to him.

  “I get that. But I want to hear about it. Don’t shut me out. When something’s bothering you, I want to hear about it. It doesn’t matter that it’s not about us.”

  Daniel sighed. “You see things differently.” I didn’t say anything, hoping the silence would force him to elaborate. “I’m not used to talking about work outside of work.”

  “You mean I see things differently from Georgina?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not comparing you, it’s just different, and I’m not used to it.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m adjusting to having so many orgasms.”

  “Want another?” Daniel whispered and buried his face into my neck, kissing and sucking me. I pushed him off.

  “Stop trying to distract me. Talk to me,” I said seriously. “Did Georgina not like you talking about work?”

  “No. By the end, I couldn’t glance at my Blackberry without it turning into a full-blown row. But she was right, work was my priority. I thought I was doing it for the both of us. I genuinely felt that, but she just wanted my time and attention.” He fingered the beautiful diamond bracelet he bought me.

  “It must have been difficult.”

  “It was. And I don’t want to repeat my mistakes with you.”

  I nodded. “We need to share stuff in your head as well as mine. I like you to talk about your work. I’m not going to get mad about you looking at your Blackberry or having to work. I’d be a hypocrite if I did. I like to work and I get that you do, too. But share it with me, please?” Daniel hugged me so hard it winded me and then he started to talk.

  The New York MD that Daniel fired had left a trail of destruction behind him of which they were uncovering more each day. He had falsified financial figures reported to London, he had told suppliers that he was going to buy Daniel out of the business and some of them had stopped working with Daniel as a result. There were also suspicions that a couple of the suppliers were dummy corporations that the MD had been using to siphon off money from Daniel’s business. If they came across more evidence then they might have to involve the police which would have serious PR implications.

  “I dropped the ball. I should have seen all this stuff for myself, I should have known.” I suddenly felt guilty. Had he been less attentive because his attention was directed on me?

  “You can’t blame yourself for someone else’s dishonesty and bad behavior.”

  Daniel stayed silent for a moment.

  “Try taking some of that advice for yourself sometime,” he replied finally. He was right. I did still blame myself for what happened with Charlie. But I was beginning to realize that it wasn’t a rational reaction, even if I couldn’t stop doing it yet.

  “It’s so much easier to dish out than it is to take yourself,” I laughed. “But seriously, am I a distraction to you? Should we calm it down a bit, just until the New York situation sorts itself out?”

  “No,” he said simply.

  We lay back down on the sofa me on top of him, Daniel stroking my back. I must have fallen asleep like that as the next thing I knew I felt Daniel placing me in bed. Sleep fell so heavily over me I couldn’t open my eyes and I let him pull the covers over me and place a kiss on my forehead. “I love you,” I mumbled. I heard him sigh.

  I awoke hot, aware that it wasn’t morning. Looking at the clock beside me I saw it was 3 a.m., but the bed beside me was empty. After stripping off the layers of covers over me I went to find Daniel. I could hear him in his study. He was on the phone. Well, it must be to New York at this time of the night. Even there it must be late. The talking stopped and I pushed open the door. He looked so tired.

  “Hey stranger.” He looked up when he heard the door.

  “Hey stranger, yourself. Are you OK?”

  “Yes, sorry. Did I wake you? Let me take you back to bed.”

  “No, you didn’t wake me. Will you come with me? You need to sleep, Daniel.”

  “I have so much to get through, Leah. I’m so sorry.”

  “Bring your laptop and work in bed. At least then you don’t have to go far when you’re done.” He grinned and followed me with some papers and his laptop and I quickly drifted back to sleep the sound of him typing lulling me back to my slumber.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I was excited that it was Friday and I was going to get to spend two full days with Daniel without my work, at least, interrupting. When I woke Daniel was upright, resting against the headboard but asleep, his laptop on still on his lap. God knows how little sleep he had last night.

  My shower must have woken him. When I emerged from the bathroom, he was typing away as if he’d been there all night. We agreed that I would collect some more clothes from Anna’s this evening and stay until Monday. I made him promise that he wasn’t to put work on hold for me and that he could work from home. As long as he was near me, I was happy. He seemed to have relaxed a little from yesterday, although he still had exhausted eyes. I would have to think of how I could make it better for him.

  The atmosphere at work was great. It was always a bit more relaxed on a Friday, but people seemed really upbeat. Maybe it was just me.

  Brendan was doing a great job on his interviews and we pulled together a first draft disclosure letter, which was looking pretty good. I had a meeting with Jim on Monday to go through the first draft agreements, but we were on schedule and things were going really well. Brendan and Deb worked really well together. I was concerned that Deb would feel like Brendan was taking good quality work from her—quality work was the goal of all trainees—but she was generous and wanted to help him. Even better was they were totally and completely loyal to me. Some trainees were always finding ways to report to the partner on issues that came up before I got a chance, which led to me looking like I didn’t have a grip on things. But Deb wasn’t like that—she just wanted to do a good job. And I was keen to create a good impression—after all, ultimately Daniel was the client.

  Just before lunch my personal phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize.

  “Hi, Leah, is that you? It’s Polly, Edward’s wife.”

  “Oh hey, how nice to hear from you. Are you OK?” I was surprised that she had called, we hadn’t swapped numbers.

  “Yes, I’m fine, I hope you don’t mind me calling. I’m in the neighborhood and wondered if you fancied a coffee?”

  I glanced at the clock on my computer. It was nearly noon. “Yes, that would be lovely. Do you know Simmons? Shall we go there? I’ll be about 15 minutes, if that’s OK.”

  I quickly hurried off an email before I left and stopped by the bathroom to check my makeup. Did she have a specific reason to meet with me?

  Apparently it was just a catch-up. It was nice to see her. She told me all about how she and Edward met and how they got married after just a year. She just knew he was the one. I’d heard stories about couples like that but never actually met one. All my girlfriends seemed to have terrible luck in the dating department. I seemed to be the one that was most fortunate, well until the Charlie stuff of course.

  I opened up a bit more about that to her. I didn’t mention the pregnancy but I did admit that Charlie had cheated on me with a close friend. She was horrified so goodness knows how she would react if I told her Fran was pregnant. I tried to reassure her that Daniel wasn’t some rebound guy. I’m not sure why I felt the need to do that. Did I want to ensure his family liked me or was I trying to convince myself?

  Although in many ways it felt like Charlie and I had ended ages ago, every now and then I was reminded otherwise. I still had to tell some friends I’d not spoken to for a while that we were no longer together. It’s not like I could send out some big announcement. I checked and there didn’t seem to be any `My fiancée cheated on me and is ha
ving a baby with another woman` announcement cards available. It might have been easier, to have the plaster ripped off like that. The alternative was to regularly explain what happened and then endure people’s sympathetic but awkward response. I couldn’t even distract them by announcing that I had moved on and was seeing someone. The only person that I had told about Daniel was Anna. Of course Edward and Polly knew about us as did his parents but that had been Daniel’s decision. I remained distracted by thoughts of who should know and who I should tell as I retook my place at my desk.

  Brendan appeared out of nowhere. “Where have you been?”

  “Having coffee with my boyfriend’s sister-in-law,” I said. Maybe I should start being more open. I was sure of my feelings for Daniel, wasn’t I?

  “Are you messing with me?” It wasn’t the response I expected. I didn’t know what to say. “Are you serious? You call him your boyfriend and you are meeting distant family members and you won’t tell me anything about him?”

  “Yes, he’s my boyfriend, but we have been taking things slow and seeing how things go. It’s no big deal.”

  “Leah, you are meeting his sister-in-law for coffee. That sounds serious to me.” I guess it was. “So who is he, what does he do, what does he look like, is he rich, is he good in b—“

  “Brendan!” I cut him off. “Stop. No more details until you do some work!” He slunk off, pretending to be in a mood but I could tell that he was delighted that he had been able to get some information out of me.

  At exactly 5 p.m. I shut down my computer and grabbed my bag. I wasn’t alone. There was a small group already huddled waiting for the elevator all desperate to begin their weekends as soon as possible. I told him it would be best for his driver to pick me up from Anna’s rather than from work as getting out of the City was bound to be impossible on a Friday afternoon. So I hopped on a bus but soon gave up and decided to walk. The traffic was at an absolute standstill.

  When I arrived at Anna’s, she was already home and more than a little bit flustered. Oh yes, it was date number three (if you counted the flirting at the party, which we both agreed, for ‘how long to wait before sex’ purposes, was entirely acceptable.). While I was packing my case she ran in and out of my room in various outfits asking for my opinion. It was like some kind of movie montage. This needed alcohol. I poured us a glass each from the bottle in the fridge and forced a glass into Anna’s hand.

  “Please take a sip, I can’t have you hyperventilate on me—I’ll spend all night in A&E and I’d planned to spend the night having sex with my boyfriend.”

  Anna looked at me shocked. “Jesus, Leah, have you had a personality transplant?” I shrugged. “Don’t try and pass it off as no big deal. You just called Daniel your boyfriend—I’ve never heard that before—and you just offered, without me asking may I add, that you planned to spend this evening shagging! I’m so proud. It must be living with me!” We both started laughing.

  I finished packing and after hauling my case to the front door I collapsed on Anna’s bed to try and help her come up with the most perfect date three outfit of all time. It must be sexy but not slutty. It must say, ’I might be up for a slice, but I’m not a sure thing.’ It must be super flattering, but not require control underwear, just in case. It was an almost impossible task.

  My phone rang. It was Daniel. Gosh, I’d been distracted.

  “Sorry, I got caught up with Anna. I’m just going to leave now.”

  “OK, baby, just making sure you were OK.” I could tell that look was back on his face. A dull ache rested in my stomach.

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” After hanging up I turned to Anna. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Things are tough for Daniel at work and I want to cheer him up. But call me tomorrow because I want to hear all about tonight!”

  I raced downstairs as far as I was able with my suitcase. I’d overpacked. I had no intention of spending much time in any of my clothes this weekend.

  When I arrived, I hesitated but fished out Daniel’s keys from my purse and knocked on the door using the shiny brass knocker and then tentatively let myself in. He was walking toward the door as I stepped in and a big smile crossed his lips. He pulled me toward him in a tight embrace.

  “You used your keys.”

  “I did.”

  He pulled his head from my neck and kissed me on the lips, long and hard. Daniel picked up my suitcase in one hand and took my hand with his other and led me upstairs.

  I didn’t get a chance to even unzip my suitcase before Daniel came up behind me and snaked his hands around my waist burying his face in my neck again. I laced my fingers through his as he walked me over to face the bed. He unclasped me and began to methodically undress me from behind me, kissing various exposed areas of flesh every chance he got. When he kneeled down behind me to take off my shoes and hold ups he took a sharp intake of breath. My body had betrayed me again.

  “Leah, I can see how ready for me you are. You are so sexy.”

  I shuddered as he reached between my legs and caught the drips of my desire on his fingertips, leaving me craving a more thorough exploration. Standing up he massaged my wetness on my nipples, so they were straining almost ready to burst. I reached up and behind me for his head and he pushed his face into my neck, nipping at the delicate flesh. I tried to turn around but he stopped me.

  “Bend over the bed, Leah.” I did as he asked and bent over onto my elbows. I could feel my wetness increase in anticipation. I heard him quickly remove his clothes. I felt his hands grip my hips and then his tongue on my inner thigh. That was an unexpected sensation. I expected him just to slam into me, knowing how ready I was for him. His tongue gradually moved up to the lips of my sex and teased me running up and down the slit, clearly feeling no rush to bring things to the next stage.

  “Daniel, please,” I begged.

  “Tell me what you want, Leah.”

  “I want you. I want more of you, Daniel. I want all of you.”

  Daniel plunged his tongue forward and reached my clitoris circling and stroking. My breathing grew shallow and the pleasure built from deep inside me. Without warning Daniel replaced his tongue with his thumb on my clitoris and thrust his tongue deep inside me. My head spun as I came, thrusting my hips, pushing him deeper and harder against my body.

  Before my orgasm was over and he changed position I felt his hands on my shoulders and him pushing into me from behind.

  “Feeling and hearing you come gets me so hard. I couldn’t wait another second to be inside you, Leah,” he gasped as he pounded into me pulling me back against him, taking me so deep I could feel him right at the end of me. I wanted it to never stop.

  He ran the fingers of one hand down my spine, the sensation increasing my desire to almost unbearable levels and I bucked against his touch, arching my back and throwing my head back. I heard him groan and he circled his hips and it was over for me as another orgasm crashed through me and I clenched him as tight as I could. Through the sound of the blood pumping through my ears I heard him climax behind me.

  He circled his hands around my waist and pulled me up onto the bed bringing my head to his chest in a now familiar post coital position. Both breathless and without words, we lay there waiting for our bodies to regain their energy.

  ***

  The next morning I called Anna, eager to hear how about her date.

  “So?”

  “So what?”

  “Anna Jane Kirby, you have never been coy in your life. Now is not the time to start.” Anna laughed.

  “I’m trying to turn over a new leaf,” she giggled.

  “Well you can stop that right now and tell me what happened.”

  She sighed and breathlessly declared, “It was wonderful.”

  Oh my god. Where was Anna and who was this imposter?

  It sounded like the biker, whose name was Ben—which was perfect as I was very fond of alliteration—was a hopeless romantic. There had been no sex but a more than perfect kiss follo
wed by another perfect kiss and a promise that he would cook her dinner the next evening. I think Anna would have been less coy had they had mind-blowing sex all night. It was the intimacy that she was embarrassed about.

  “So if we are having an at-home date, we’re having sex, right?” Anna rarely asked me about the rules of dating. She was a self-proclaimed master.

  “I guess.” Having dated exactly three men, I wasn’t the best person to answer.

  “If the sex is as good as the kissing, I might have to marry him.” I’d never heard Anna mention marriage before, not even as a joke! It was like she was allergic to the concept or something.

  We had another detailed outfit discussion. The at home date always has the added complication of having to look super natural but still sexy. We decided on the mixture of freshly mani-pedi’ed nails, not too much make up, skinny jeans and a low back, long sleeved gray Jigsaw t-shirt. Precautionary measures included her taking condoms and texting me his address in case I never saw her again and he turned out to be a serial killer.

  Anna never gave me grief about spending too much time with Daniel. I guess she was pleased to have the flat to herself. But she seemed to get how Daniel and I were together. We were together from the very beginning. I wished her luck and told her I wanted a full report tomorrow.

  I spent the rest of the day pottering about. I did some yoga. I read at least three articles from the economist and texted Anna to tell her I was so proud and then resorted back to Grazia. I also caught up with a couple of my favorite TV shows—anything to do with the law, it was always so much more exciting on TV than it was in real life.

  In between I kept Daniel supplied with tea, water and a shoulder rub that almost turned into something more before I turned very stern and told him that he was to stop trying to distract himself and to work hard today so maybe he could have some time for me on Sunday. I just liked being there in the house with him. Just to know he was in the room upstairs was comforting. It made me feel like we were really part of a couple and we weren’t just caught up in some wild affair. It made me feel even better that I had started telling people that I was seeing someone. I guess my parents would be next. I wondered how they would react. I think they were relieved that Charlie and I weren’t together, although of course they never said anything. “We just want you to be happy darling,” was my mother’s eternal cry.