The phone rang, shattering her nasty nostalgia. Lorraine didn’t like seeing the word unavailable on her smartphone screen, but it didn’t stop her from swiping and raising it to her ear. “Lorraine Phoenix.”
After a nervous little pause, the voice on the other end said, “Lorraine, you’ve got to stop what you’re doing.”
“Who is this? Treena?” Her voice was small, metallic, as if it was coming out of an old payphone, which Lorraine suspected immediately that it was; so the call couldn’t be traced back to Treena, a fact that made Lorraine all the more nervous about the call and the content. “Treena, what are you talking about?” Lorraine pressed.
“I tried to warn you. You don’t know what you’re doing and you don’t know who you’re dealing with. But you just wouldn’t listen.”
“Tell me then, Treena. You’re not being bugged, or you wouldn’t have called at all.” Lorraine said annoyed.
“It’s not just the department,” Treena rasped, “it’s going way beyond that.”
“To who? What are you talking about, the pro sports leagues?”
A pause filled the line, and it brought terrible notions to Lorraine’s imagination. All that money, she reasoned, all those people involved at every level. Is that what she’s talking about, is that who’s coming after me now?
“Just drop it, Lorraine, drop it all now … before it’s too late.”
“Treena, are you threatening me?” Lorraine jeered.
“No, Lorraine, for christ-sake pull your head out of your ass! I’m warning you, and I won’t be able to do it again. Leave it alone, Lorraine, for the love of God just leave it alone.” The call ended, a dull buzz settling deep in Lorraine’s heart and in her conscience.
Jeremy leaned forward, concerned. “Do you really think they would hurt you?” They tucked Kayla into her bed for a nap and crept out of the nursery and down the hall. The hallway was dark, draped in shadow, but the penthouse was bright, sunlight streaming in through the many large windowed walls surrounding the living room.
Lorraine had to say, “I dunno, Jeremy. The police never did find anything conclusive surrounding Albert’s death. It’s possible that somebody did have him killed … ”
“And that means they could have you killed, too.” Jeremy fretted. Lorraine shrugged, unable to contradict her old, dear and very worried friend. They stepped down the hallway and into the living room. “And she’s right about those sports leagues, Lorraine. That’s a big, mean gorilla, and you just had to shake the cage. Why did you post that petition online?”
“Usignit.com is a very effective tool, Jer. I’ve already got a few thousand signatures.”
“Each one another nail in your coffin.” Jeremy said, distress obviously plaguing him.
“What else could I do? That Casper Newkirk really pisses me off. I’m not just rebelling either, Jer. I admit, I hate that self-satisfied grin on that miserable face. But, that’s not what this is about. Hey, the open letter worked in Denver, and it’s working now. I think this could really prove to be a success. Just think of the money that would go to the schools.” Lorraine said trying to steady and squash any thoughts of fear she felt in that moment.
“And right into the pockets of all those corrupt school board jerks,” Jeremy remarked.
This made some sense to Lorraine, but not in the way Jeremy must have assumed or hoped. “That’s probably true. With that much money, a lot of it is bound to get to the campuses where it belongs. But, knowing that, why wouldn’t Casper Newkirk and those others support it? Going against me so strongly doesn’t serve their purposes, not at all.” She considered.
Jeremy shrugged. “Maybe they don’t have a choice.” Lorraine had to think long and hard about that, and she didn’t like where her train of thought was taking her; straight over a cliff.
Lorraine arrived early for a Tuesday afternoon rehearsal. The technical aspects of the play were starting to come together, and even Lorraine’s own performance was improving. She still wasn’t sure about the song she was supposed to sing, but if it was part of Ashe’s vision, she was ready to go all in, no matter how potentially embarrassing it could be.
Maybe I should take singing lessons, Lorraine wondered, I’ll bet Griffin could just call up Paul McCartney and have him pop by for lunch!
The auditorium was quiet, no actors on the stage, only a few props scattered around while Ashe sat in a chair in the front row. He was still, unmoving in his seat as Lorraine approached from the left aisle. “Ashe? Ashe, what’s going on, was rehearsal cancelled?”
“Kind of.”
“Kind of how?”
“The whole play was cancelled.”
A cold nausea turned in Lorraine’s stomach, making the quick and easy logistical leaps to make the obvious assumptions. “Ashe, why?”
He frowned and shrugged, “They say the subject matter is too intense for a school play.”
“But … they already approved it.” Lorraine said confused.
“They cancelled it anyway.”
Lorraine sighed and sat down next to Ashe, putting a comforting hand on his. “Where’s Rachel?”
“Gone. She blamed me for writing it that way in the first place. She said she told me it was too intense, we should just have written a musical about the Gold Rush or something.” He tried his best to conceal his utter disappointment.
“No, Ashe, no. You followed your artistic vision, into dangerous and risky places, that’s what a real artist does. That was a bold, gutsy play.”
“I guess.” He said disheartened.
Lorraine gave it some thought, quickly finding a reasonable solution. “What if we rent a little theater, produce the play ourselves?”
“Nah, just forget it,” Ashe said, pushing himself up and shuffling up the aisle and away from the stage, perhaps for the last time. “Let’s just go.”
Lorraine and Griffin took a stroll down Fifth Avenue just as the sun was going down, sparkling with white lights against the purple sky, chrome and glass and steel and brownstone. The world’s most treasured trinkets were on display beyond those spotless shop windows, pedestrians crowding the sidewalk, milling about in each direction. Cars crawled down the packed avenue, headlights rising to greet the coming gloom, and Lorraine knew just how they felt.
None of that was of any interest to either Lorraine or Griffin, though the spectacle of that fanciful illusion of happiness couldn’t help but catch their eye.
There was so much to talk about, to worry about, Lorraine hardly knew where to begin. She asked Griffin, “So … we’re going to have to settle that law suit, aren’t we?”
“I think it’s only a question of how much. Problem is, once he smells blood in the water, it could get ugly.”
“Just make an offer with no counter. He’ll take it, a grubby little bastard like that.”
“It’s not him we’re worried about, it’s his lawyers. Once those shysters got wind of what the case entailed, how much money there was at stake, he was able to get the best there is.”
A handsome cab rolled by, horse huffing, the woody smell of hair and hey lingering behind it.
Lorraine trying to lighten the situation said, “Maybe we could get a handsome cab, give tours of the city.”
“What’ll you do while I drive?” Griffin smiled.
“You? I drive, Grif … you’re the horse!” They both chuckled, stopping with a thick crowd of pedestrians to wait for the light to change. “Maybe we could move, start a new life … selling souvenirs from a roadside stand in Arizona or Nevada or something.”
Griffin snapped his fingers with the wide-eyed air of inspiration. “What’s the matter with me? We’ll just ride Ashe’s coat tales. He’ll be a big Hollywood film director — ”
“Oh, no question about that.”
“So, he’ll set us up. One thing about us Phoenix men, we stick together.”
“One thing?” Lorraine smiled and they neared to a tender kiss, light and loving. "What about Rachel, you think she'l
l mind?”
Griffin chuckled. “With all those Grammy awards and world tours and chart-topping albums? I think she’ll have other things to worry about.”
Lorraine chuckled with him, the two savoring the moment of togetherness, the chemistry which only they two could create, and which only they could share. The light changed and they crossed the street with the rest of the crowd.
Griffin sighed, car exhaust heavy in the intersection. “Honestly, I could leave this town, never look back.”
“Yeah?”
“Of course! Sure, it’s one of the world's great cities, this is where the action is. But I’ll find a way no matter where we are, we'll find a way together. You’re all I need, Lorraine, you and the kids, some way to put a roof over your heads.”
“That may be enough for you, but I need diamonds, Big Spender.” They laughed again, and Lorraine went on, “Maybe we go back to Denver, work with my folks at the learning center down there. Maybe I could become a teacher … ” Griffin looked at Lorraine with an expression she only saw on his face when he was looking at her. It was an impressed smile, brows arched, blue eyes twinkling. “Hey, we had a lot of fun in Denver.”
“Yes,” Griffin simply said, “yes we did. We fell in love in Denver. You saved my life in Denver.”
“We saved each other.”
They stopped walking, pausing on the crowded sidewalk for another long kiss. Lorraine’s hands rested on his broad, iron chest, his tender lips possessing every bit of his strength and using none of it to a terrific effect.
Chapter 11
Lorraine was asleep, but she could sense Griffin stirring around her. She turned, still in that heady distance between sleep and wakefulness. “Shshshshsh,” Griffin said, very soft and low in the silence of their bedroom, “you’re still asleep, baby, still asleep. Don’t wake up, baby, don’t wake up … ”
Lorraine processed the words, knowing their source, but her dreamlike state wavered, a bubble wobbling but unwilling to burst.
Griffin’s unmistakable touch ignited her pussy, fingers teasing her clit out and getting her juices flowing. Lorraine’s head lolled on the pillow, eyes fluttering while her world remained in darkness. She could imagine Griffin’s face above her, she could feel his fingers and picture them in her strange dream as if it was really happening, which it was.
“Feels so good to be asleep,” Griffin cooed, “nice and relaxed, just sleeping … just sleeping … ” His cock was a slow pressure building in her, filling her slowly, as if it weren't really happening at all. “It’s all just a dream, baby, just a dream … “
Lorraine groaned, uncertain of her reality. Part of her knew but the rest of her didn't want to, and that part of her brain that Griffin had hard-wired to his fantasy world was in control. Reality had no hold on her or on either of them. All their problems, the mounting perils, faded into the back of her mind. That was the dream, this was the reality.
“I wish I could be there with you, baby,” Griffin said, his fingers circling around the little muscular mound at the top of her pussy, a cluster of nerves around her precious G spot. “But, I’m thinking of you, dreaming about you just the same way you’re dreaming about me now, my love, my only true love … ”
Lorraine’s moan leaked up, her mind reeling between the temptation of waking to Griffin’s attention and the even stronger temptation not to.
“I said I’d always be there,” Griffin rasped, "and I will, baby, I will, I'm on my way back to you as soon as I can get there. Until then, think about me, think about my hands on you, stroking you, holding you so tight. Think about my voice, I know you love it when I talk to you, when I talk dirty to you, my perfect little sweet piece of ass.”
Those words stirred in Lorraine’s loins as a soft groan leaked out of her throat.
“Even now, you can hear my voice, so real, so natural, like I was right there with you. And I will be, baby, so soon …. so soon … ”
Lorraine's eyes remained closed, recollections of Griffin’s handsome face flashing across her imagination. She couldn’t resist thinking of other parts, too: His long, athletic legs; that incredible cock and those big, perfect balls, the flavor already tickling the back of her throat; his strong torso rippling with muscles; arms and shoulders branching out from his wide, heroic chest.
“You can’t wait until you're in my arms again, can you? You can't stop thinking about me, dreaming of the day I come home. But it's okay, baby, because you can feel me near you, you can feel my body so close to yours, so ready. God, my cock's so hard for you, even so far away, I'm always hard for you, Lorraine! And you know that, you can feel my cock dragging along your legs, your thighs. Tap tap tap, baby … ”
Lorraine could feel his huge hammer, already hard and getting her ready for another wild ravaging. She could feel his cock, his hands on her legs, her breasts.
“You can feel me touching you,” Griffin said, “almost like I’m right there with you, my angel, my loving little librarian, like I was lying right next to you, so real you can feel me touching you, you can feel my voice ringing in your ears … ”
Lorraine smacked her dry mouth, head rolling on that pillow beneath her.
“Just relax,” he said, voice low and soothing, “keep sleeping, angel, keep sleeping, dream of me putting my cock into you, you can feel it happening.” And with that, Griffin eased himself into her, the pressure unmistakable. He was so delicate, so velvety smooth, the feel of his entry so pleasing, that Lorraine couldn't stir from her sleep, and would not if she could help it.
Griffin made it easy to remain in that dreamy distance between what she knew was happening and what she wanted to believe was happening. It was too much for her brain to wrap around, and it had to succumb to the pressures of illusion, and of intrusion. Griffin was sliding in deeper, and that pushed all thought out of her mind.
“Imagine me going a bit faster now,” Griffin said, pushing and pulling in a very slow, easy pace. Lorraine gave herself up to the tide of pleasure passing over her, and she dreamed that she was in the shallows of some tropical beach, salty warmth rising up, her body shifting back and forth, floating, drifting, numb to respond, resplendent in her helplessness.
Then the waves came faster.
“It’s like I was right there with you,” Griffin said as he began to pump faster, “it's so clear in your mind, so real, like it was really happening, like I was really fucking you right there, right now!”
Griffin’s cycle increased in speed, in depth, a waggle and a shake sending reliable tremors through Lorraine's body. “Imagine me going a bit faster, eh? You ready for that, baby?” Griffin was true to his word, his slow grind increasing, faster and deeper and longer and harder, but still not stirring her from that dreamy state, mind torn, heart sure, soul committed.
“You’re making this happen,” Griffin said, “it's all in your mind, you're that powerful, that brilliant, that you could conjure such a feeling, so real, baby, it feels so real, doesn't it?” Griffin stopped, his grind ceasing all at once. “But it's not, baby, no. I'm miles away, my angel, trying to get back to you somehow, anyway I can. God, I want to be with you so much, be inside you so bad, just the way you feel it now, just the way you imagine it, the way you're dreaming it.” Then he pushed in again. “But until then, my sweet, sweet Lorraine, you’ll just have to dream, to keep dreaming, sleep and never wake up until I'm finally with you again … sleep until you wake up with me beside you, baby, the man of our dreams, the man of your dreams ... ”
Lorraine’s body clenched, another orgasm swimming in tight circles behind her pussy. It roiled and coiled, fast getting stronger. With Lorraine in a state of delirious near-sleep, she couldn’t exert any focus on suppressing it. It was like that sneaky orgasm knew she was compromised and took full advantage, quick to leap to the fore of her body’s awareness, blotting out her other muffled senses.
Her body trembled, a soft cry leaking out of her mouth as Griffin slid in and out, pumping up her orgasm to overwhelming
power and capacity. Lorraine’s body and mind were torn between confusion and consciousness, total relaxation and utter orgasmic bliss. She wanted to wake and turn and wrap her arms around him, and she wanted not to do it. She wanted to reach down and rub her own mound to rile that orgasm to monstrous proportions. But, her arms were numb, and the slow build of that tremendous orgasm only made it stronger, filling her lungs, drowning her heart and her brain and her soul. Ultimately, all Lorraine could do was lay there and quiver as her cum built up to epic proportions and finally a crescendo of release overtook her body.
Even through her body-shaking orgasm, Lorraine was still locked in a nether region of fantasy and reality, slumber and consciousness, solitude and the embrace of the love of her life. And that’s where she’d remain until the sun came up, though Lorraine slept well into the next day.
Chapter 12
Ashe picked at his dinner, Jeremy’s famous oven fried chicken and mashed potatoes barely touched. Griffin and Lorraine exchanged knowing glances, each eating in silence. The penthouse was quiet, the other rooms empty, Jeremy out for the evening.
Lorraine asked Griffin, “Any progress on the law suit? News from the PI?”
Griffin shook his head. “Lawyer wants me to settle, buy him off for a couple mil. Problem is, once we make that offer, he could nail us pretty solid.”
“How solid?” She asked.
“Rock solid. The worst of it is what it’s going to do to the company’s rep.”
Lorraine washed down a mouthful of mashed potatoes with a sip of chardonnay. “The PEEC project was a big hit.”
“And a big expense. Our partners know that, especially overseas.” Another long, sad silence twisted around the table like a ghost of something not yet born. “How’s it going at the department?”
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