Catching Avery

by M. E. Clayton

  “Hmmmm,” was all I was able to manage as I was still sprawled out over his desk.

  I could hear him clearing his throat behind me. “Avery, I...uh…I forgot the condom.”

  Now believe me when I tell you that nothing brings you out of a sexual haze faster than the phrases ‘the condom broke’ or ‘I forgot the condom’. I was scattering objects of what little bit was left on his desk when I pushed myself up and jumped to my feet, my skirt falling back into place, as if someone had poke me with a fire poker. I could feel Nicholas dripping down my thighs, verifying his statement.

  I looked down as he was tucking himself back into his pants, and sure enough, no condom…because, you know...his dripping semen wasn’t enough to confirm his statement. I look back up at him. “Okay,” I took a deep breath, “Okay.” I started to panic slightly, so I began pacing across his office floor, stepping over all the items that had been knocked off his desk. “Okay. Well, uhm…okay,” another deep breath, “I caught Eric cheating on me over five months ago and I immediately went in for a full check- up and everything came back healthy and normal. Also, you’re the first man I’ve been with since the break-up and the only man I’ve ever…I’ve always used condoms, so no possibility of STDs on my end.” I stopped pacing, looked over at him hopefully and prayed to every God of every religion that he was going to tell me the same thing. Well, not about Eric cheating on him, but being STD free.

  He averted his eyes and my legs almost failed me. “Nicholas?”

  He let out a deep breath and sat on the edge of his desk, not looking at me. “I participate in our company’s health and wellness program and get a regular check up every six months, but…”

  My vision started to cloud over at that one little word.

  But.

  Before I could hit the floor, Nicholas was there, scooping me up and carrying me to the couch. He sat me down next to him and took my face into his hands so I would be forced to look at him. “Avery, just listen, please.” I nodded for him to continue. “I wish I could say it’s been a few months, but it’s only really been a few weeks for me and my physical isn’t due for another couple of months. But, Avery, I swear on my life. I swear on everything I am and own that I have never had sex without a condom before. Never.

  I just stared at him. I heard what he was saying, but it was just garbled noise in the background. This was my fault. I’m the one who chose to sleep with someone I barely knew. I’m the one who didn’t mention a condom the second he slammed the door in his assistant’s face. And no matter how much society dictates that he take ownership of this also, I am the one who is ultimately responsible for my body. Not a man who’s made no commitment to me. “Nic-”

  He shook my head to try to clear my panic. “Avery, I will get a check-up first thing in the morning to prove to you that I am clear of any STDs, but baby, believe me when I say I am healthy.”

  I could hear him pleading with me to believe him, but this was some scary shit. “Okay. I’d appreciate that.” I tried to joke. “I might not get any sleep, but I’m sure I’ll be excused tomorrow if I call in sick.”

  Nicholas sighed. “Imp…”

  I shook my head out of his hands. “It’s okay, Nicholas. I’m not blaming you or anything. This is just a little sobering, that’s all.”

  He ran his hands through his hair and I noticed him pulling on the strands a little. “Avery?”

  “Yeah?” I was still kind of lost in my own thoughts.

  “What about pregnancy? Is there a chance you could become pregnant because of this?” His face gave away nothing.

  I shook my head. “No. I’ve been on the shot for seven years. I’m protected.”

  He didn’t jump up and go open up a bottle of champagne like I thought he would. He just nodded and pulled me into his lap. He circled me in his arms. “I’m sorry, Imp. I promise to make this all go away first thing tomorrow.”

  I sank deeper into his embrace, letting him comfort me. “I actually came to tell you that Julian made an announcement today about a company party. He was looking for volunteers to help plan it. After he made the announcement, he took Q and me aside and told us that it was actually your idea. I wanted to say thank you. After this last year with Mr. Spillner acting like a creep, our department could use a party.”

  I heard him chuckle. “Did you and Quinn volunteer to help?”

  “Yeah. I was ordered to convince you to let us bring in a DJ/karaoke master.” Quinn’s exact words had been ‘I don’t care if you have to spend all week on your knees, get him to agree’.

  He did laugh this time. “Of course,” Nicholas rested his chin on top of my head, “anything you want, Imp.”

  I didn’t want to have this conversation, but in light of the ‘no condom’ thing, I felt it needed to be had. I just didn’t want to be that girl.

  I didn’t take anything he said to me this weekend seriously. I was very clear about what all my fantasy entailed and he played it well. Even that fiasco with my brother was alpha male all the way. “Nicholas, I feel like I should address something, but I don’t want to make this situation any more awkward than it already has been.”

  “Should I pour us a couple of drinks for this?”

  “That wouldn’t be a bad idea.” He let go of me and walked over to the standing bar, washed his hands and poured us those drinks. Watching him over there brought back memories of the last time I was in this office.

  I couldn’t help but observe him. He was truly beautiful. All those magazine covers didn’t do him justice. To describe him as tall with brown hair and brown eyes was incorrect. He was magnificent looking, like walking, talking magic.

  And he fucked like a stallion.

  He handed me a glass as he sat down beside me again. I didn’t even ask what it was because I was going to drink it either way. “I’m all ears.”

  This was so embarrassing.

  I looked down at the glass in my hand and fidgeted with the rim. “I think in light of our little mishap, we should probably,” I cleared my throat a bit, “clear some things up, don’t you think?”

  When I looked up at him, the smirk he had on his face-the one that I wanted to smack off when I first met him at Xavier’s-was back and I still wanted to smack it off. “What things, Imp?”

  God I wanted to punch him in his eye. “I understand that this is…uh, this thing is casual,” he lifted a perfect brow at that, but let me continue, “but I think, out of respect for one another, it needs to be imperative that we exercise safety with whatever partners we choose to engage with when it’s not each other.”

  I noticed the clenching in his jaw, but other than that, Nicholas expressed no real outward emotion. “It’s the responsible thing to do, right?” I implored.

  He finished his drink in one swallow and went to pour himself another. He didn’t speak until after he had already tossed down his second round. “So, let me see if I’m understanding you clearly or not. You’re saying that we are free to fuck other people, but out of responsible respect for each other, we need to make sure we’re using protection with these other people…that we’re free to fuck. That we’re free to fuck while we are fucking each other.” He poured himself another drink. “Is that right?”

  I finally took a drink of, what turned out to be brandy. “Yes, that’s right. It’s the resp-”

  “Yeah, yeah…the responsible thing,” he cut me off. He finished his third glass of brandy and made his way back to the couch.

  I’ll admit. I felt a little uneasy not knowing what he was thinking, especially when he plucked the glass out of my hand and set it on the decorative table at the end of the couch. “I need to ask you a couple a questions before I agree to this...uh, arrangement.”

  I was so happy he was willing to talk about this, I stammered out, “Of course.”

  “I know you said you haven’t slept with anyone since that mistake you were dating, but is there someone else you see casually that could lead to sex eventually?”

 
; I tried not to feel offended, but Nicholas didn’t know me any better than I knew him, so it was a fair question. “No, and just so we’re clear, I’m not my father. If I had already been dating someone else, casually or not, I would never have let you drag me up to the VIP section at Xavier’s.” He nodded, but I wasn’t finished. “And if I meet someone while these hookups are still going on, I’d end things with you first before me and the new guy even had our first date.”

  “So then, why are we having this using-protection-while-we-fuck-other-people conversation?” he asked, his voice smooth and controlled.

  I spent all this time searching for my words to make this conversation sound like it was being held by two adults, but he was going to make me say it outright after all. I gritted my teeth. “I’m just simply asking you to wrap it up when you’re with your supermodels. Once this thing runs its course, it’ll no longer be my concern.”

  “My supermodels,” was his only response.

  I stood up frustrated at his pretend obtuseness. I pointed a finger in his face. “You’re a jerk.”

  I turned around with every intention of storming off all Housewives of Atlanta like, but before I got two steps in, Nicholas was grabbing me by my arm and yanking me back around to face him. “I’m a jerk?”

  “Yes! I’m trying to have a mature conversation with you and you’re act-”

  It wasn’t until he really got in my face that I could see he was pissed. “You’re not trying to have a mature conversation with me. You’re essentially telling me that it’s okay for me to fuck other women as long as my dick is covered!”

  “Nic-”

  “Don’t ‘Nick’ me,” he mimicked, snidely. “Please tell me what I have done or said since the night I first met you to give you the impression that I want to or am going to fuck other women?” he roared.

  He hadn’t said or done anything to give off that impression, quite the opposite in fact. I dropped my chin to my neck, because I couldn’t look at him when I answered, “Nothing. You’ve done nothing. I just know that this thing between us isn’t serious, so I was just trying to be open-minded, but respectful and responsible.”

  He didn’t reply right away. But when he finally did, I couldn’t help the butterflies that took up residence in my tummy. “Serious or not, there will be no one else for either of us, Avery.”

  I finally looked up at him. “No one else?”

  He leaned down and kissed me until I was reminded that he had ripped my panties off earlier. “No one else, Imp. Over my dead body, will another man touch you while you’re with me.”

  He kissed me again as he led us back to the couch. Nicholas brought me down to straddle him as he started raining kisses down my neck. “No one else works,” I whispered breathlessly.

  “I’m not giving you a choice, Imp.”

  Then we proceeded to show each other why no one else was needed.

  This time with a condom.

  Chapter 16

  Wrath: Because what was I thinking?

  Avery~

  By Thursday I had learn something new about myself and it was throwing me into a panic.

  Nicholas was true to his word and showed me his clean bill of health Tuesday morning, and he must have paid a fortune for immediate results, because almost all his test had been processed and back. But after that, real life intruded on us, and other than a few text messages here and there, I hadn’t seen him, which brings me back to the reason for my panicking. It was only Thursday, but it felt like I hadn’t seen him in months. I was falling for Nicholas, if I hadn’t already fallen.

  So, when I ran into Julian in the elevator and he asked me to run some reports to Nicholas, I was beyond happy. He said Nicholas needed them an hour ago, but he was already ten minutes late to some meeting or other and asked if I’d deliver them as a favor. If I had any doubt that I had fallen for Nicholas, it was quickly squelched when I found myself practically running to his office, reports in hand.

  When I got to top floor, it seemed as if Lesa was given the same direction as Mrs. Williams when she just smiled at me as she waved me on by. When I reached Nicholas’ office, I saw that Mrs. Williams wasn’t at her desk and I wasn’t sure what I should do. Julian said he needed these documents at least an hour ago and seeing as how Nicholas had given my new friend Dee instructions that I didn’t need an appointment to see him, I made an executive decision and decided to go ahead and barge in and explain how Julian said it was important.

  I opened the door to Nicholas’ office and my entire world came to a complete halt.

  I was brought up short by the tall, gorgeous blonde standing in the middle of his office.

  Now normally this wouldn’t bother me. I mean, the man is one of the three CEOs of SMA Global, Inc. Of course he has meetings and hob knobs with The Beautiful People.

  No. What brought me up short was that Nicholas was standing next to her with his hands tangled in her blouse. And if the bare display of her impressive rack was any indication, I just walked in on Nicholas ripping her blouse open.

  And ripping my heart to pieces.

  “I’m…I….I’m so sor…so sorry,” I stammered. “Mrs. William’s wasn’t at her desk and Mr. Moretti said you needed these documents an hour ago.”

  Nicholas let go of her blouse and immediately took a step away from her. I tried to avoid looking at the perfect creation standing next to him, but she drew my attention when she spoke. “Ahhh…and how is the magnificent Julian these days?” she asked, making no effort to cover herself.

  God, even her voice matched all the sexy that she was.

  And she knew Julian.

  I didn’t know how to answer her or even if I should. “I…uh…”

  Before I could make an even bigger fool of myself, Nicholas walked over to me and took the papers out of my hand. And just like the lowly financial accounting assistant that I was, he sent me on my way. “Thank you, Ms. Ellis. If that is all for now, I’m in the middle of something.”

  I stared into a face that was devoid of all emotion. Two days ago he insisted that we’d be exclusive while we were seeing each other and now he’s kicking me out of his office while he finishes whatever he’s in the middle of with a half-naked goddess. What the fuck?

  I just nodded and turned around to leave. I gave one final look over my shoulder and locked eyes with Nicholas, but when he made no move to stop me or explain to me what was going on, I made sure to turn the lock on the door before I shut it.

  Walking out of his office in a daze, Mrs. Williams was surprised to see. “Ms. Ellis...”

  It took everything I had to keep it together. “Uh, I’m sorry Mrs. Williams. Mr. Moretti had some important documents he needed delivered to Ni...Mr. Savage. You weren’t here so I just ran in really quick to give them to him.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  I opened the door that lead to the reception area when I looked back at Mrs. Williams and added, “Mr. Savage is tied up in something rather important right now. I think it’d be best not to interrupt his…uh, meeting.”

  She gave me a small smile and the look on her face almost brought me to my knees. “I understand, Mrs. Ellis.”

  I did my best not to run down the hall to the elevator that would take me back downstairs with my fellow commoners. Once I made it inside, the irony wasn’t lost on me that not ten minutes ago I was doing my best not to run to Nicholas’ office and now I was trying not to run away from it.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  It didn’t make any sense. None of it made any sense. Why would he say he wanted only me if he didn’t? It’s not like I had forced him to some kind of quasi commitment.

  I made it to my floor, and like any self-respecting woman, I ran to the woman’s restroom for some privacy to collect myself, and luckily no one was in there. I turned on the cold water and splashed my face. After grabbing some paper towels and patting myself dry, I took a deep breath and realized I couldn’t do this alone.

  I needed Quinn and Isabel
la.

  I reached my desk, yanked open my desk drawer and pulled out my phone to shoot Iz a text.

  S.O. Motherfucking S. If u can’t meet us @ Delbert’s n 10, I’ll need u @ my place 2day, 4 sharp!

  I rushed over to Quinn’s cubicle, and thanking Our Lord and Savior; Jesus Christ, found her at her desk. “Get up. We’re going to lunch. Now!”

  “What the fu…” She cut herself off when she glanced up at me and got a look at my face. “Avery?”

  “I already texted Iz and if she can’t meet us at Dilbert’s, she’ll stop by my place later.” It took everything in me not to start crying. “I need to go now, Q.”

  She must have sensed that my desperation was real because she hurriedly grabbed her purse and followed me towards the elevators. It was close enough to our regular lunch time that no one would think it weird that we just left. I just didn’t think thirty minutes was going to be long enough for this magnitude of a breakdown.

  “Avery, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?” Q finally asked.

  I pulled out my phone to see if Izzy had responded, and like the miracle that she was, she did.

  If I run a couple of red lights, I can b there n 5.

  I smiled. How could I not? “Izzy’s meeting us at Dilbert’s. I don’t have the strength to go over this twice, Q. I promise all will be revealed at Dilbert’s.”

  She gave me a queer look, but didn’t push.

  We made it to Dilbert’s in record time. We found an empty table and ordered three sandwiches to go. I may be keeping my friends from enjoying their lunch, but I wasn’t going to let them starve.

  Izzy came out of nowhere like the tornado of womanhood that she was. She plopped down and didn’t waste any time on pleasantries. “What’s up, Ace?”

  “We ordered you a sandwich to take wi-”

  She shook her head at me to shhh me. “You text me SOS and you think I give a shit what kind of sandwich you ordered me?” She leaned in across the table. “Spill!”