by Ashley Blake
I was caught up on all of my projects for school so I took the night off and vegged out in front of the TV with Kelly. We had not done that in a really long time and it was a much needed, fun break.
Tuesday was a really busy day at school and, thankfully, it flew by fast. It was my bedtime before I knew it and, at around 9:45, my phone rang.
“Hi baby.” He sounded tired.
“Hey, you sound exhausted, are you okay?”
“I’m beat, but looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. How are you? How has your week been?”
“It’s been good, busy, but good. Did you finish that thing you were working on the other night?”
“Not yet, I’m hoping to have it done in a few weeks.”
“Oh wow, it must be a big project. Is it due at the end of the semester?”
“It’s not for school, it’s a personal project that I’m working on.”
“Oh cool, maybe you’ll let me see it when you’re done.”
“Maybe.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “I was thinking I would pick you up around 6:00 tomorrow evening, how does that sound?”
“Sounds good, I’ll be ready. I can’t wait to see you.”
“I feel the same way, love. I’m going to turn in because I am exhausted. I will see you tomorrow at 6:00, okay?”
“Okay, sounds good, see you then. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
The next morning I woke up feeling refreshed and so ready for 6:00 to come. For the first time that I could remember, I had a really hard time focusing in my classes that day, all I could think about was Caleb. In my digital design class, which I normally loved, I barely heard two words the professor said because all I could think about was Caleb’s hands all over my body. I wanted to feel his lips on mine again, his hands on my breasts again and his tongue everywhere again. I was completely lost in my reverie when I realized that all of a sudden everything was really silent. I snapped out of it and focused to see the entire class looking at me.
“Miss Blakely, would you agree?”
Would I agree? I had no idea what he was talking about, oh crap! What should I say?
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry Professor Phillips, could you please repeat the question?”
He pursed his lips and looked extremely annoyed.
“Mr. Thompson, since Miss Blakely seems to be hard of hearing, could you please answer the question?”
I was completely mortified because never in all of my years of school had something like this ever happened to me. For the first time in my life I was deeply in love and my whole world was being turned upside down. I was going to have to get a handle on my feelings so that they didn’t negatively affect my future. Meeting Caleb, feeling like this, was so not in my plan for the year.
I managed to focus for the remainder of the class and then, finally, it was time to go home. It was almost 5:00 by the time I got home, so I quickly hopped in the shower and then got dressed. I dressed casual, but cute, in a pair of jeans, a sweater and boots and I wore my hair pulled back in a ponytail. At 6:00 on the dot my phone rang and the doorman let me know that Caleb was downstairs. I grabbed my coat and my purse and, with a huge grin on my face, I rushed downstairs to see him.
I loved his place, it was so cool and so big, and I especially loved his art studio. He showed me a few pieces of his art and I noticed that the huge easel now had a huge canvas covering it, and I walked over to it and stood in front of it.
“What’s this?”
Caleb walked over to me, stood behind me and put his hands around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. “That my dear, is the personal project I told you I was working on.”
“Oh wow, it’s really big. I can’t wait to see it when it’s done, if you will allow me to, of course.”
“I think I will be able to do that.” He turned me around and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. “Ready to go eat?”
“I am, it smells amazing in here and I can’t wait to taste your cooking.” I held his gaze and put my arms around him. “But first, there’s something that I want to tell you.”
His eyes smoldered as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
I leaned in close to him and whispered in his ear. “I missed you.” I pulled back a bit and smiled at him.
He looked down at my mouth and then in my eyes. “Me too.”
He bent his face down to mine and I lifted my lips up to his. The kiss was slow and sensual as our tongues glided over each other and I pulled him even closer. His hands moved down over my backside, giving it a firm squeeze, and then slid under my sweater. They slid up to my bra, unhooked the clasp and his hands came around to my front and cupped my breasts. His thumbs rubbed over my nipples and I pressed my hips into him as I let out a soft moan. He lifted my sweater off over my head and pulled my bra off of me, then he unzipped my jeans and I stepped out of them as they fell to the floor. I quickly pulled his shirt off of him and my hands moved down to his belt and unbuckled it, then I unbuttoned his jeans and pulled those down. He stepped out of them as they pooled to the floor. I felt an urgency as I fell to my knees and pulled down his boxer briefs and wrapped my hand around his stiff member. I wanted him so badly and I wanted to feel him inside of me. I took him in my mouth and heard a stuttered groan from above as my lips moved over his smooth skin. His fingers dug into my scalp as my tongue made long strokes, teasing his hardened member. He broke away suddenly and pulled me up to him.
“Bend over the table and spread your legs.” His voice was strained as he reached for a condom and ran his hands over my round globes, reaching in between my legs to tease my wetness. He grabbed my hips to steady himself and slowly entered my aching core. I let out a loud moan as my need for him was being fulfilled. We weren’t slow and sensual anymore, we both were moving at a faster pace, unable to get enough of each other.
“Fuck, you’re so sexy Emma.” He choked out the words as he reached around and rubbed my slippery, swollen bud and he pounded into me. I moaned uncontrollably as my hands gripped the sides of the table and I felt my release coming. His hand was furiously rubbing my sensitive bud, and with one more deep thrust I cried out as I shuddered uncontrollably and my orgasm rocked my body.
Caleb continued hammering me into the table, his hands digging into my hips, thrusting hard, fast and deep. I felt his body tense up and he let out a choked cry as his body shuddered violently and he came inside of me. He collapsed on top of me and we were both panting on the table, completely spent. After a couple of minutes he managed to pull himself off of me and he helped me up. He gave me a kiss and lightly smacked me on the butt. “That was incredible, even our quickies are intense. You have me whipped, girl. I’m starved, are you?”
“Yes, you gave me a workout, let’s go eat!”
We got cleaned up in the bathroom, got dressed and went upstairs to go eat. The dinner was delicious and afterwards, we were sitting at the table, enjoying a glass of wine and chatting.
“I went to see my parents a couple of weeks ago.”
Caleb looked at me and raised his eyebrows, looking very surprised. “You did? How did that go?”
“I had the best conversation that I have ever had in my life with my dad. We talked about everything.”
“Emma, that is fantastic! Tell me about it, I want to know everything.”
“I really opened up to him and told him how I had been feeling since I was a little girl. I told him that I felt like he didn’t like me and that it was obvious that he liked my sisters better than me. I asked him why he never asked me what was going on in my life and it was just a really good, honest conversation.”
“And what did he say to you? Did he understand where you were coming from?”
“Caleb, for the first time that I could remember, I saw my dad cry. He had no idea that he had been hurting me for so long and I really think that he felt bad. He told me that he always thought of me as the most responsible daughter and th
at he thought I didn’t need to hear any kind of positive reinforcement because I always excelled in everything that I did. But I explained him that I needed to hear from him that he was proud of me, the way he told my sisters that he was proud of them. We really got to a good place and I honestly believe that our relationship is going to be so awesome from this point forward. And guess what?”
Caleb was listening closely to everything I was saying and his eyes were wide with curiosity. “What?”
“He agreed to go to therapy with me.”
“He did?” The look of surprise on his face was totally understandable. “From what you’ve told me about him, I thought he might be against that. I think it’s great that he agreed to go with you Emma.”
“Thanks, I was really happy with the way everything went.”
He sat there and looked down for a few seconds and looked at me with a bit of a sad look on his face. I reached out and gently placed my hand on his arm.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“I would love to be able to talk so openly with my dad, but I don’t know that he would even take the time to talk with me about our relationship if it didn’t have anything to do with the business. And I definitely think that he would probably balk at the suggestion of going to therapy together. He probably wouldn’t even let me get the question out before he cut me off.”
“You know Caleb, you will never know unless you ask him, and you should be really honest with him. Let him know how you have been feeling. I felt the same way about my dad and I was terrified when I walked in there to talk with him, but he was really open once I started talking. Maybe the same thing will happen with you guys.”
He put his hand over my hand that was on his arm, and his eyes held mine. “You are really sweet Emma, thank you for being so supportive.”
“I am here whenever you need me.”
“The same goes for me.” A pensive look fell over his face as his eyes searched mine. “I would love for you to come home with me for Thanksgiving and meet my family. Would you like to come?”
I was completely caught off guard by his question and thoroughly excited that he wanted me to meet his family. Are you kidding me? Do I want to come home with you?
A huge smile spread across my face. “Wow, Caleb, I would love to meet your family and go home with you for Thanksgiving! Thank you so much for inviting me.”
This was going to be the first time that I was not home for one of the holidays and, in some ways, I guess it was me really growing up. Moving out was the first step and now missing some holidays, I guess, would be next. I remember when Kelly’s older sister missed her first Thanksgiving because she spent it with her boyfriend and, at the time, I thought it was really strange that she didn’t go home for that holiday. But I learned later that her sister and her now husband, alternated holidays with their families when they were seriously dating so that first time that she skipped Thanksgiving was her first foray out into true adulthood.
I knew that my mom would probably be a little bit sad, but she would also be happy for me at the same time because she knew how I felt about Caleb. I figured that my dad would be happy for me that I found someone, especially since he now understood why I didn’t stay with Jordan. My sisters, on the other hand, were probably going to be really sad and I would just have to remind them that I would see them in a few weeks at Christmas.
“Okay, great! I will buy the tickets and take care of a car to the airport, and all you have to do is pack a bag and be ready to go. Do you know if you have a full day of classes on that Wednesday before Thanksgiving?”
“I only have a 9:00 class that day so I should be done by 11:00.”
“Perfect, I’ll see if I can find a 2:00 or 3:00 flight to New York and we should be at my parents place by about 7:00 at the latest.”
“Okay, sounds good to me. I will call my parents tomorrow to let them know that I won’t be home for Thanksgiving.”
He had a really concerned look on his face and he lightly touched my hand. “Maybe you should get permission first before I buy the tickets.”
“Caleb, that is really sweet but I am an adult and I can make my own decisions. I will call them tomorrow to let them know that I won’t see them again until Christmas. Trust me, it will be fine.”
He smiled at me and lightly caressed my cheek. “Okay love, I will go ahead and buy our tickets tomorrow.”
It was getting late and we both had class the next day, so Caleb drove me home, told me that he loved me and he would give me a call the next day after he bought our tickets so that he could give me our flight information. I was a little bit nervous about telling my parents that I was not going to be home for Thanksgiving, but the excitement of going home with Caleb pushed the nervousness out of me. I seriously think I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face.
When I called my parents the next day, my mom was sad that I wouldn’t be there for Thanksgiving, but she was also happy for me that things were moving forward with Caleb. Surprisingly, my dad was upset also and I could hear the disappointment in his voice and he told me that he was happy that I was happy and he was looking forward to seeing me at Christmas. That made me feel really good to know that they both were happy for me and I was happy that we were in such a good place.
When I talked to Brielle and Christine they almost made me cry because they sounded so sad when I told them that I wouldn't be home for Thanksgiving. But I reassured them that I would see them just a few short weeks later at Christmas and we would hang out together and spend tons of time together while I was home. Katie was super psyched for me and, although she was sad that I wouldn’t be home, she was happy that things were working out with Caleb.
When Kelly came home from David’s a couple of days later, I told her that Caleb had invited me to go home with him for Thanksgiving. She was so happy for me and you would have thought that it was all happening to her.
“Emma, do you have any idea what this means?”
“I know, and I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure that this is really happening to me.”
“I can totally see you guys together forever, he is so in love with you. The fact that he’s inviting you home to meet his family after, what, a couple of months? This is huge. You’re going have to tell me all about it when you get back. I’m sure their house is sick.”
Her words resonated with me and I stood there, with my eyes as big as saucers, frozen in place. In all of my excitement of being invited home with Caleb for Thanksgiving, I forgot to think about the fact that I was going to actually meet his parents. A little bit of panic began to set in as I started to think about all of the girls that he had probably brought home to meet them in the past. I was almost positive that I looked nothing like the kind of girls that he normally dated, if Carrie was any indication. She looked like a model and I didn’t, and that was just the plain truth. I was afraid that they were going to judge me and I hope and prayed that I was wrong.
“Emma, what’s wrong?” Kelly must have seen the panicked look on my face because she looked worried for me.
“Oh my gosh Kelly, I am sure that they are used to seeing him with models and I look nothing like that! What if they don’t like me because I don’t look the way his other girlfriends did?”
“Emma Blakely, I am really surprised that you even said that. If they don’t like you because of the way you look then that is their problem. I happen to think that you look absolutely beautiful and more importantly, so does Caleb. It doesn’t matter if his parents don’t like the way that you look, all that matters is that you like the way that you look and he likes the way that you look. And from what I’ve seen, he more than likes the way that you look. So don’t worry, I’m sure that everything will be fine.”
“I hope so.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
As the car pulled through the gates and we drove toward Caleb’s parents’ house, my mouth nearly hit the floor of the town car. It wasn’t a house, it was, without a doubt, a mansion an
d it was stunningly breathtaking. I wasn’t new to mansions, we lived in a pretty big house back home, but it was nothing like this.
“Oh my goodness Caleb, the house is amazing! Did you grow up here?”
“I did and don’t be intimidated by the size, once you get inside it is surprisingly cozy.”
As soon as we walked into the house my eyes instantly went up to the painted ceiling and the picture looked really familiar. I quickly turned my head toward Caleb when it clicked, and I realized what I was looking at.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, it’s a recreation of Michaelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. My mom loves his work and she and my dad hired an artist to recreate much of what is in the chapel.”
I was completely mesmerized as I leaned my head back and stared up at the ceiling. “It is absolutely beautiful.”
“I’m happy to see that you enjoy the work on the ceiling.” A woman’s voice rang out in the foyer and my heart started thumping in my chest as I realized that it must have been Caleb’s mom. I turned to see a stunningly beautiful woman, who didn’t look a day over 40 years old, and an extremely good looking older man walking toward us.
“Hi Mom, hi Dad.”
His mom reached out and gave Caleb a kiss on the cheek and a big hug and his dad shook his hand. That struck me as odd and kind of cold. I could see what Caleb was talking about regarding his relationship with his dad just from that initial encounter. He might be a tough nut to crack.
“I would like for you to meet my girlfriend Emma Blakely. Emma, this is my mom and dad.”
His mom smiled at me and reached out and hugged me. "Emma, we are so happy that you are able to spend Thanksgiving with us. Caleb has told me so much about you and I have been so looking forward to meeting you.”
“Thank you Mrs. Morgan, and thank you so much for having me. It is so nice to meet you.”
“Emma, any friend of Caleb’s is always welcome in our home. We are so pleased that you were able to join us for Thanksgiving.” His dad was nice enough to me but he was all business.
