by JD Nixon
“I am very happy to see you, Heller! Because now I can go home and leave you in charge.”
His smile turned to a frown. “No, you can’t. You’re still on duty until Ms Lemere leaves tomorrow morning.”
I dropped my arms and stepped away from him. “But you’re here. I don’t need to be here too, surely?”
“I’m not on duty, Matilda. This is my free time. And also, I won’t be here all night. So you must stay.”
I glared at him with resentment. “No! I don’t want to be here while Yoni and you are . . . you know. It’s awkward.”
“It doesn’t bother me, my sweet.”
“Well, it bothers me!”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to be here, that’s all.”
“I’ll try not to make too much noise.”
“Stop it!”
“It’s not as if we’ll do anything in front of you or ask you to join in. Although, now that I think about it . . .”
“Heller, stop it! I don’t want to be here.”
“Too bad, Matilda. You’re on duty and you’re staying here in this suite tonight.” He paused. “Perhaps you’re feeling a little jealous?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! I’m not jealous! How many times do I have to tell you?” I shouted.
I picked up my packed bag, which was resting by the door in anticipation of my departure. I flung it angrily back into the corner of the lounge room where I’d been storing it all week, paying no heed to any breakables inside. I collapsed sulkily onto the lounge, switching on the TV and turning up the volume until I was sure I wouldn’t be able to hear anything from Yoni’s bedroom, even if they shouted at the top of their lungs, which they probably would.
Yoni’s door opened and she rushed out, dressed for seduction in a slinky short silk dress. She smiled up at Heller, moving closer and rubbing her hand on his arm.
“I thought I heard your voice,” she purred. Then to me in a cattier tone, “Do you have to have that television so loud?”
“Yes,” I snapped, refusing to look at them.
She humphed at me and took Heller by the hand, leading him back into her bedroom. I couldn’t bear to watch.
After I turned the TV off for the evening and settled into my bed, the faint sound of their murmuring voices and occasional laughter kept me from falling asleep. I stuffed my fingers in my ears, but it was one of the longest nights I’d ever endured. I couldn’t get to sleep no matter what I tried and the hours dragged by slowly.
I’d just drifted off to sleep in utter exhaustion when I was woken by a gentle shake of my shoulder. I opened my eyes blearily to find Heller kneeling down over me.
“I’m going home now,” he said softly.
“Can’t I come too?” I begged.
“I’m sorry, my sweet. I’ll see you tomorrow when the job’s finished.”
I rolled over on my side away from him. He kissed me on the cheek. I scrubbed at the spot furiously with my fingers.
“Matilda,” he sighed and rose, shutting the front door quietly and leaving me behind.
Yoni was beautiful, bright and chirpy the next morning, stretching languorously. On the other hand, I looked and felt like one of the three witches in Macbeth – the really grumpy, haggy, tired one. And checking out the brilliant satisfied smile on Yoni’s face, I wouldn’t mind inflicting some ‘double, double toil and trouble’ on her arse either.
“That was the best sex I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she declared. I shot her a sour look. “God, what a man! His body. His lips. The things he can do with his tongue! He kept going and going until I just couldn’t take any more. It was soooo good. And oh, is he ever hung! I could barely fit it in my mouth. I’ve never had one so big. He made me feel like it was my first time again.”
“I really don’t want to hear about it,” I said, burying my head back in the newspaper. She ignored me though and continued to laud Heller’s bedroom skills for another rapturous five minutes.
“Will you just shut up about it?” I yelled at her, on the point of strangling her to stop the flow of unwanted detail.
“Ooh, someone’s in love with the boss, are they?” she mocked. “I think he’s out of your league, honey. Better stick to one of those men that you work with.”
And with that bitchy comment, she sauntered back to her bedroom, still smiling.
When Wanda arrived, I gave her a hand in packing Yoni’s clothes ready to leave for the airport. She chatted to me as we carelessly shoved her designer clothes into her suitcases. I wasn’t very responsive.
“You sound cranky today,” Wanda commented after five monosyllabic answers from me in a row.
“I am. I didn’t get much sleep.”
“That bed’s pretty awful, isn’t it?”
“It wasn’t that. It was the fact that my boss was screwing your boss in the next room.”
“Oh, poor you. You should have stayed with me.”
Now she offers, I thought resentfully.
We somehow managed to force all of Yoni’s possessions back into her suitcases. I hoped that Customs didn’t open any of the luggage because that would trigger an explosion of clothes and shoes that could injure an unsuspecting bystander.
The Heller’s vehicles accompanied the limo to the airport as we again tried to outrun the paparazzi. We hid out in the first-class lounge until it was time for Yoni and Wanda to board their plane. My hug for Wanda was very genuine. My goodbye from Yoni consisted of a disinterested, limp handshake. She didn’t even thank me, let alone tip me.
Chapter 25
I climbed into the back seat of one of the vehicles and snoozed all the way home. My first stop was my bed for a nap and then I spent the rest of the day lounging around with Daniel, Niq and the twins on the rooftop. They talked me into making them a barbeque dinner again and afterwards we chatted in the hot tub. It was nice to be home again.
I’d hoped to see Heller, but Daniel informed me that he was out for the evening with “that pain in the arse woman who keeps ringing him all the time”. I knew who he meant.
“Out again? He’s a busy boy,” I commented sadly.
We stayed up late and I luxuriated in sleeping in my own bed again. I wasn’t in a hurry to get out of bed the next morning because it was Sunday, so I spent some time lazily dozing. The phone ringing shattered my tranquillity. I reached over to my bedside table to retrieve it.
“Hello.”
“Hello, my sweet. Would you mind coming downtown to pick me up, please?”
I sat up. “Of course not, Heller. After all the times you’ve picked me up, it’s the least I can do for you.”
“Thank you.”
He gave me the address. I quickly changed out of my pyjamas and jogged down to the garage to collect my little car. It would be the first time I’d driven since the incident with the flat tyre. I coached myself all the way downtown and as the traffic was light, it wasn’t an unpleasant drive.
I pulled up at the address Heller had given me, outside one of the city’s fancy hotels, and parked on the street. I spotted him leaning against a brick wall, talking to a tow truck driver.
“What happened to your Mercedes?” I asked as I approached. Perhaps it had been stolen?
He pointed down the street, his expression uncharacteristically sheepish. My mouth fell open in shock as I walked towards it. The Mercedes was a wreck. Every window had been smashed to pieces. So had each light. The tyres had been viciously slashed and the words ‘CHEATING ARSEHOLE’ scratched into the black paint.
He came up behind me. “I didn’t want anyone else to know about it,” he confessed.
“Do you know who did it?” He nodded, embarrassed. I suddenly twigged. “Oh, the bunny boiler, right?” He nodded again. “Why?”
“She asked me what I did on Friday night, so I told her.”
“You told her you slept with Yoni?”
“Well, she asked.”
I started laughing. “Oh man, I don’t k
now who’s more insane – her for doing this or you for telling her you slept with another woman!”
I couldn’t stop laughing and it was a good couple of minutes before I was able to breathe properly again. The tow truck driver joined in with me and we clapped each other on the shoulder as we guffawed at Heller’s expense. It was so damn funny!
Heller stood patiently waiting for our hilarity to subside. When the tow truck driver was able to speak again, he finished haggling with Heller and commenced the process of loading the poor Mercedes onto his truck.
“It’s not even accurate,” complained Heller as we watched the 4WD being winched up onto the tray. “I wasn’t cheating on anybody. I’m free to do what I want.”
“Hmm, I think what you have here, Heller, is a basic misunderstanding. You think you’re having a casual fling, however the bunny boiler thinks you’re in a relationship. An exclusive relationship.”
He sighed restlessly. “I don’t know why she thinks that.”
“It’s simple really. You’ve shown an interest in her for an extended period of time and you keep screwing her. A lot of women would assume you were in a relationship with them based on that evidence.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I’ve learned not to assume anything with you,” I replied lightly.
He cut me a hard look. “I don’t know what that means.”
I smiled at him. “I don’t either.”
When the Mercedes was fully loaded and secured, Heller followed me back to my little car and contorted like a pretzel to squeeze into the front seat.
“Don’t tell anyone about this.”
“I won’t.” But I started giggling again at the thought of him blithely admitting to the bunny boiler that he’d spent Friday evening trying to fit his enormous man meat into Yoni’s willing mouth. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall!
“You can’t drive safely when you’re laughing like that,” he admonished, which only made me laugh even harder. He was right though; I could barely see the road through the tears streaming from my eyes. We drove in silence for a while until I was mostly under control again.
“Heller, you know that this is not normal behaviour. You ought to be careful about her. She could be disturbed.”
“I happen to think that her possessiveness shows just how much she cares about me. It’s very flattering. She’s not like some women I know who only like to laugh at me.” And I know it was inappropriate, but his injured tone set me off laughing again and I couldn’t stop for the rest of the way home.
When we arrived home, he frostily thanked me for the ride and slammed the door when he exited. I trudged after him, still snortling, to shower and have breakfast.
My day was lazy, making phone calls, pottering around, reading and baking. Will rang me after lunch and invited me over that evening. I was excited at the thought of seeing him again. After a whole week wearing my uniform, I spared nothing when I dressed. I decided to go with the lovely halter neck dress I’d worn on my weekend with Dixie. It was pretty and practical, offering easy access to all my important bits. I didn’t want to waste a second with Will on unzipping or unbuttoning.
I let Daniel know where I was going and flew down to the basement. I’d intended on driving myself, but luckily for my nerves, I managed to cadge a lift off a couple of men heading out for an evening job not too far from Will’s house.
Will jumped me as soon I stepped into his house, and within ten minutes I was on his lounge, naked and straddling his hardness, heading exhilaratingly towards my first climax. I threw my head back as I came, the waves of exquisite pleasure rolling through me. He finished a second later with a final ram and a loud groan of satisfaction.
We lay entwined together on the lounge for a while. His eyes followed me, an unreadable emotion on his face, as I padded to the kitchen to have a drink of water. We watched a bit of TV, naked, and started to fool around again. He stood up, his eyes dark with lust, took my hand and led me into his bedroom where he ravished me slowly and intensely, concentrating on every part of my body until I was a tingling mass of senses on edge. His thrusting this time was unhurried and precise, each stroke measured for maximum sensation. It was masterful, my orgasm strong and perfectly timed with his. We lay together on the bed afterwards, catching our breath.
“Can you do that to me every day, please?” I smiled dreamily at him, leaning over to kiss his nose.
“I won’t be able to,” he said sadly, staring up at the ceiling. Then he rolled on to one side to look into my eyes, sighing. “I didn’t realise how hard this would be with you here, naked in my bed, gazing at me with those beautiful big brown eyes.” He leaned down to kiss my breasts, then back up to my lips. “I love your body. You’re the best sex I’ll ever have in my life. But I need more than sex.”
I sat up suddenly, clutching the sheet to my chest, eyes focussed on him.
“I’m thirty-five, Tilly. I want to settle down. I want to get married. I’ve asked you and you said no. And I don’t really think there’s any prospect in the future that you’re going to say yes.”
I couldn’t deny it because it was true.
He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to see you any more, Tilly. I met someone at that conference I went to. I used to go out with her years ago at university when we were both studying teaching. She told me she still has feelings for me.”
“Don’t do this to me, Will,” I said, shaking my head in denial.
“Unfortunately the sex isn’t anywhere near as hot, but she gives me so much more. She can stay over, even for weekends. We can go to the movies, to dinner, out to the pub with my friends. I’ve met her parents and she’s met mine. We can have a normal relationship, not just some snatched pleasure once a week if we’re lucky.”
“You’ve been going out with her? You’ve already slept with her?” I asked in disbelief. “You’ve been cheating on me?”
He had the grace to look ashamed, but only a little. “Yes to all those questions. I’m sorry, Tilly.” Now I knew why I was finding it so hard to contact him lately.
“Did you plan on breaking up with me today?” I demanded, tears burning in my eyes.
He nodded.
“But you still fucked me anyway? Twice? You used me? That’s how much respect you have for me?”
“It wasn’t like that. I knew it would be our last time together. I just couldn’t split up without having you one more time.”
“What about my visit before this one?” I remembered how affectionate and loving he’d been on that occasion. “Were you fucking her then too?”
He nodded.
I’d heard enough. I leapt to my feet and ran to the lounge room, pulling on my clothes, blinking desperately to stop the tears from falling. Not in front of him, I begged myself. I thought I might throw up.
“Tilly! It’s not as bad as it sounds . . .”
He came over to me and tried to put his hands on my shoulders. I pushed him back so violently that he stumbled over a footrest and fell to the floor, undignified in his nakedness. I searched around frantically for my handbag. I noticed it under a chair, pulled it out and flew out the door, slamming it behind me, cutting off his final words to me.
Luckily I had worn flat shoes because I ended up walking all the way home that evening, even though my path crossed one of the seediest areas of the city. I didn’t even care but continued plodding along crying, not taking any notice of my surroundings, tears streaking my face. And maybe it was my semi-crazed appearance that kept people from hassling me.
I made it home hours later and walked like a zombie up the stairs to Heller’s place. I banged on his door for ages, but he didn’t answer. I went back down the stairs to knock on Daniel’s door. He answered the door half-asleep, but woke up immediately when he saw my distressed, tear-stained face.
“Where’s Heller?” I sobbed.
“He’s out this evening, Tilly. What’s happened? Come here, baby,” he soothed, opening his arms and guiding me gently t
o the lounge. I leaned against him and poured my heart out, crying so much that I completely soaked the front of his t-shirt and gave myself a headache.
He was the perfect comfort, holding me tightly, rubbing my back, kissing my forehead and listening to me, not interrupting. I cried myself to sleep in his arms and not wanting to disturb me, he settled on the lounge, and we slept together until morning.
When I woke up, he was already awake, regarding me with his sympathetic warm eyes.
“Thanks for being there for me, my lovely Danny. I really, really appreciate it.” And I kissed him gently on the lips. He brushed some strands of hair from my forehead.
“Do you feel better at all?”
“No, but I think I’ve used up all my tears at least.”
He laughed softly. “There were an awful lot of them.”
“But now there’s this terrible pain inside me.” I touched my chest.
“Like your heart has been ripped in two?”
I nodded, tears in my eyes again, not trusting myself to speak. We hugged until I was able to take a deep breath and untangle myself from him. We stood and stretched out our cramped muscles.
“Next time let’s go to bed instead,” he groaned as he stretched.
“You want to be my rebound sex?” I teased, feeling less miserable for a second.
He blushed furiously. “You know I didn’t mean it like that! I meant sleep in the bed instead of on the lounge.”
“Sure you did.” I kissed him again on the lips and patted his cheek. “I love you, Danny darling. Thanks again.”
“I love you too, Tilly.”
I left to take a shower. It felt great to wash away all traces of that cheating, stinking love-rat. Good! I thought. Anger’s better than sadness. But the anger didn’t last long.
I rang Mum and Dixie and cried to them over the phone. I gave Mum the censored version of the story, but told Dixie the unadorned truth of how I’d been coldly used. She offered to de-knob Will for me until I reminded her that I was more than capable of doing that myself.
It was lunchtime before I made it into the office. Niq immediately came over to give me a big hug that almost set me off again, but I managed to control myself. Barely.
