One Week in Paris

by Roya Carmen

  I want this. I really want this. I’ve forgotten about everything else.

  But I can’t. Not here. Not now. I’ve got a plan to work on. And he’s with Sophie. And I’m with Matt.

  Yet, when he stands and walks over to the library door and locks it, I get wet. When he kicks the coffee table out of the way, and gets on his knees, I get wetter. He presses his hands gently on my knees. “Open up,” he says. “I want to see you. I want to see your panties.”

  I lean back on the sofa, aroused as fuck. I open my legs for him. I’m wearing pink lace briefs. Funny enough, when I slipped them on, I wasn’t thinking about Matt. I was thinking about Oscar. I’m so turned on, but I feel dirty and naughty, like I’m about to sleep with another woman’s man. “What about Sophie?” I can’t help but ask.

  He closes his eyes for a beat, and when he opens them again, they’re filled with a mixture of emotions: lust, passion, and anger. The anger surprises me the most. He wants me, but he hates that he wants me. “It’s only you, Kayla,” he says, and I know he’s not feeding me a line — there is too much emotion in his eyes. “It’ll always be you. You’ve ruined me.”

  I slide down onto him and grab his face in both my hands. When his hot mouth presses against mine, I feel it everywhere. My heart beats at a frantic pace, and that familiar heat is all-consuming: I feel it in my chest, my sex, and my limbs. I’m melting, and I don’t want this kiss to ever end.

  But eventually, he pulls his mouth from mine. “I need to taste you,” he breathes against my ear, and with those words, he travels down my body, and buries his head under the skirt of my flowy dress. I love the feel of his soft hair on my skin. He licks a slow line up the inside of my thigh, and travels back down again, teasing. He draws hot circles with his tongue as I die of anticipation. I can’t believe we’re doing this. When he gets to my sex, he blows a hot breath, his mouth pressed over the lacy fabric. My legs spread wide, wanting more. “Stop teasing, Oscar,” I beg, the words a pleading moan. “Pleeasse.”

  He takes a bite of my flesh, and with a hard grasp, he pulls my panties down over my hips. I hike my rear up to help him out — I want this as much as he does. He pulls them eagerly over my knees and my feet. They fall to the floor. He wastes no time hiking my leg over his shoulder, the shoe-less one.

  When his hot mouth hits my sweet spot, I’m sent to heaven. I’m so aroused, I’m throbbing. He swirls his tongue around my clit, and I spread wider for him, desperately wanting to come. I run my hands through his thick locks, and throw my head up against the back of the sofa. I wonder if the lock on the door works. I worry about being caught, but damn, it feels so, so good. I feel myself climb to that glorious peak. “Don’t stop,” I beg.

  He pulls me in closer and presses his skilled mouth into me harder. He brings me there faster. I’m so, so close.

  And then my phone pings.

  26

  MY PHONE PINGS AGAIN, but I don’t care.

  “Don’t… you… d-dare stop,” I say, my words a desperate whimper.

  I close my eyes and let him take me there, where he’s taken me countless times before. When the climax grabs a hold of me, it is all consuming, and I let myself get carried away in it. I moan softly as it leaves me, silently thanking Oscar.

  Oscar wears a cocky satisfied smile. “I bet Matt can’t do that quite like I do. He doesn’t know what you like.”

  I pull back from him. It was such a beautiful moment, and he had to ruin it with his stupid mouth. “What? Is that what this was about? You’re marking your territory?”

  He shakes his head. “No, I just… I didn’t want you to forget how fucking good I make you feel, Kayla.”

  My phone pings yet again. This time, I reach for it right away. Oscar’s face is wet, and my panties are still crumpled on the floor. It’s a text from Corrie.

  It’s happening. Get your mom over here.

  What are u waiting for????????

  Are you there?

  —

  I reply quickly. I’m on it.

  I’m completely flustered as I scramble into my panties and struggle to put my shoe back on. “Sorry, I gotta go.”

  Oscar eyes me with a confused expression, full of hurt. “Kayla, it’s not—”

  I grab my clutch off the sofa. “It’s not you,” I’m quick to explain. “It’s my mom… the plan.”

  He follows me as I scurry out of the library. “Can I help?”

  “No, this is a one woman job.”

  I quickly find my mother, who is happily chatting with her friends. She’s so happy, she’s practically glowing. Her little perfect world is about to go crashing down and it breaks my heart. I nudge her on the shoulder. “Mom…”

  She turns to me, a concerned expression tracing her features. “What is it, sweetie?”

  “I’m really cold,” I tell her. “I was wondering if you could lend me that cashmere sweater of yours.”

  She smiles kindly. “My little Kay-Kay… always so chilly.”

  I feign a smile. “I haven’t changed.”

  “Sure, just go up to my room upstairs… you can’t miss it. My sweaters are in the bottom drawer in the dresser with the mirror.”

  “I… I don’t know.” I falter a little. “I don’t want to go up there alone. It’s Mark’s room too. What if he catches me in your dresser? Can you come with me?”

  I catch a hint of an eye roll before she concedes. “Sure, why not. It’ll give me the chance to show you our gorgeous view up there.”

  Our heels click-clack on the stairs as we walk up to the second floor. My pulse races frantically. I feel like I might vomit. I breathe in a long yoga breath through my nose and exhale through my mouth. As we near the top of the landing, we run into Corrie, who is completely flustered. “Someone was in the bottom washroom,” she explains to my mom. “So…”

  Mom smiles. “It’s fine. I’ve told everyone they could use the upstairs washroom.”

  My heart shoots into overdrive again. I can’t take this. I feel faint all of a sudden, and hold on tightly to the banister as we step onto the landing. My legs are actually trembling as we walk to their bedroom. I have never, ever done anything this devious before.

  Mom opens the door slowly with a confused expression, and the first thing I notice is how dark the room is. When we enter the room, we hear Mark moaning. Mom doesn’t turn on the light — she just stands there. I can’t read her expression because it’s so dark. Pure darkness, save for the moonlight streaming through the large windows.

  Mark groans softly. We can barely make out the shapes, but it’s clearly a man sitting on the edge of the bed, and a woman on her knees.

  “Oh yeah…” Mark groans. “Just like that, Nicole… fuck me with that pretty mouth of yours.”

  I want to vomit. I really do. I have a sudden change of heart. We shouldn’t have done this. “Mom, let’s go.”

  She flicks on the light switch. Her expression is unreadable. She’s a statue. Mark is wide-eyed for a split second, and the next, he’s scrambling to get his pants back up. Nicole stares at the floor as she leaves the room, one manicured hand wiping her mouth. She shoots me a devilish smile as she reaches the door.

  “It’s not… It’s not what you think,” Mark stammers. “I was just… one last time before—”

  “Get out!” Mom scoffs. She’s red with anger. I’ve never seen her like this. I’m not sure what to say. I wonder if she suspects that I was part of it.

  Mark dashes out of the room as fast as humanly possible. Mom paces for about a minute. She kicks off her tall heels. I stand there like an idiot, with no idea what to do or say. “Mom, it’s probably for the best—”

  “You needed a sweater, right?” she snaps and dashes over to the mirrored dresser. She flings the bottom drawer open with more force than needed. Her hands are flailing as she rummages through her clothes. She throws them all over the floor, frantic. I kneel down next to her, and take her in my arms. “It’s okay, Mom.”

  She holds me t
ightly and falls into sobs. “How… could he do this?”

  “He’s a creep, Mom. He doesn’t deserve you.” This is so horrible. I really wish she could have found out in a less disturbing manner — you can’t unsee shit like that. My brain will forever be branded with the image of Mark getting a blow job. When those lights flicked on, I should have pulled my gaze away. But it was like a horrible car wreck I just had to see.

  “We had… a life planned…” she whimpers between sobs.

  “I know, but you’ll just have to make a new plan,” I tell her. “I’ll help you. We’ll make a new plan together.”

  She slobbers all over my shoulder. “I… like your shoes,” she says. “Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to tell you before.”

  I smile. That is so Mom — she just caught her fiancé getting sucked off, but she can’t help but comment on how pretty my shoes are. “Thanks. I got them at Forever 21. On sale for nineteen dollars.”

  “Wow, that’s a good deal.”

  I know she’ll be okay. My mother is a fighter. She’s full of life, and I’m sure she won’t let one scumbag drag her down.

  She pulls from me and my heart sinks at the sight of her — she looks absolutely wrecked; mascara smeared, hair disheveled, and her broken heart visible all over her face.

  I did this. I did this to her.

  No. I didn’t. Mark did this to her.

  “What do I do now?” she asks, completely lost.

  “You stay here,” I tell her. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of everything. You go have a bath.” My mom loves her baths. When I was growing up, she’d take one every night, right after dinner. Then, she’d wrap herself in a cozy house robe and watch her shows. It was her favorite time of the day. I assume she hasn’t changed.

  “Am I an idiot?” she asks. “How did I not know he was like this?”

  I take her in my arms again. “You’re not an idiot, Mom. Men like him are very good at hiding who they are. They charm you and make you feel like you are the most special person in the world, and then they turn around and do something like this without the slightest hint of guilt or remorse, and they make sure to cover their tracks.”

  “Well, I’m just glad I found out before it was too late.”

  A heavy weight lifts off my shoulders at the sound of her words. I know I did the right thing. Even if it was one of the worst things I’ve ever done.

  “God,” she goes on. “Everything is already planned. How do we cancel everything? How do we tell everyone?”

  “Don’t worry about that, Mom. We’ll take care of it.”

  She pulls out of our hug abruptly. “Okay, you go do some damage control downstairs. Close down the party, please. And get rid of Mark. I don’t… want to see his face,” she says, a crack in her voice. She reaches for a bottle of red on the desk. “I’m going to take a bath.”

  I worry about her for a second. I study the bottle… there’s only about one glass worth in there. “I’ll be back shortly to check on you.”

  She nods and waves a hand, a signal to go and fix things.

  I dash out in a hurry and scramble down the stairs, not an easy feat in my heels. The party is still in full motion, albeit a little quieter than before. Mark is nowhere to be seen. Oscar eyes me with curiosity but I don’t have time to fill him in.

  Corrie runs up to me. “What happened?” she whispers. “I saw Mark run out. Nicole left too.”

  “Mission accomplished.”

  Matt startles me when he pops up right behind me. “Where have you been?” he asks, leaning into me. “So everything ran smoothly,” he whispers against my ear. “Nicole kept me in the know. She told me everything.”

  I scowl. “She’s something else, that Nicole.”

  “Yeah, she sure is. I knew she’d get the job done.”

  A thought suddenly occurs to me. “You didn’t pay her, did you?”

  “Of course not,” Matt tells me, and my breathing eases a little. “I just brought her shopping. A little shopping spree—”

  My jaw drops to the floor. “How much did you spend?”

  He cocks a brow. “Just five grand.”

  My eyes grow wide — the things I could do with five grand. I’m appalled. I’ve not only just committed the most devious act of my life, but I was also involved in prostitution. I’m a criminal.

  I’m going to hell.

  27

  “WE NEED TO DO some major damage control,” I tell Matt. “We need to close down this party. Obviously, the wedding is off. And my mom doesn’t want to see your dad ever again.”

  “I can take care of it,” he says matter-of-factly, and for the first time, I see the lawyer in him, a take-charge type who always has his ducks in a row. In other words, the complete opposite of me. Thank God he’s around to help because I don’t think I could deal with all this by myself.

  He stands in the center of the room, and with a commanding voice, he starts, “Attention everyone.”

  The buzz of chit chat and laughter stops abruptly as everyone turns to him with curious eyes.

  “I have an important announcement to make,” he goes on, all eyes on him. “Because of unforeseen circumstances, this little soirée will need to come to an end.”

  Eyes widen as people glance at each other.

  Unforeseen circumstances. That’s a nice cryptic way to say, “Because my dad was caught getting a blow job."

  “What happened?” Sarah asks.

  “Unfortunately, Florence and Mark have had a disagreement and are reevaluating their relationship.” He delivers the words with no emotion whatsoever. I know for a fact that he is thrilled by this sudden turn of events, but you’d never know it.

  “There won’t be a ceremony. We apologize for the inconvenience, and of course, gifts won’t be necessary. I hope you’ve all kept your receipts.”

  Jaws drop. People are completely speechless. They look like car wreck witnesses.

  “What the heck happened?” Sarah asks again — my big sister has always been curious. I’ll need to fill her in as soon as possible.

  “That’s all,” Matt deadpans. “If you’ll all gather your things and make your way out now, it would be greatly appreciated.”

  People scramble awkwardly about, lost and confused. Natalie, Mom’s best friend, scurries up to me. “What happened?”

  “I’m not sure,” I lie. “I’m sure Mom will fill you in as soon as she can, but I probably wouldn’t call her tonight. She’s having a bath right now.”

  “Oh, I know how she doesn’t like her bath time interrupted,” she says. “I’ll ring her tomorrow.”

  I smile. “Thank you.”

  Guests offer their goodbye to Matt and I and Sarah, wishing us the best — hugs, pecs on the cheeks and lots of “I hope it all works out.” When everyone is finally gone, save for the bar and wait staff, Matt, Oscar, Corrie and I, and Sarah are left.

  “What the F happened?” Sarah asks again. Oscar is standing nearby, curious.

  “Mom caught Mark with his pants down, literally,” I tell her. “With Nicole.”

  She throws her hands up in frustration. “I knew it. I had a feeling about him. I didn’t like how he stared at me just a little too long, how his pervy gaze was always stuck to my tits, and the whole ‘I’m a richer than sin silver fox… you may adore me now’ thing."

  Corrie laughs. “You’ve pegged him perfectly, Sarah. The man is a creep.”

  Sarah shakes her head. “Why are all men such creeps?”

  “Hold on a minute,” Oscar chimes in.

  “Yeah, hold on. I’m not like my father.” Matt says. “Speaking of my dad, I should call him.”

  “Tell him that my mom doesn’t want to see his creeper face again,” I tell him.

  He nods. “I’ll get it sorted out.”

  He leaves the living room and heads towards the study.

  I grab a hold of Corrie’s arm. “Tell me everything.”

  She throws her head back, rolls her eyes. “It w
as awful. I had to flirt with him, tell him how sexy he is. Thankfully, Nicole was doing most of the work… I pretty much just had to agree with her.”

  “Did you have to kiss him?” I ask, disgusted at the thought. “Please tell me you didn’t."

  She shakes her head. “No… thank God. All I did was take off my dress, and popped out one tit out of my bra.” She says this like it’s no big deal, like she does this sort of thing every day.

  Yep, just popped out my tit.

  “What? Really?” I say, still not quite believing her. She must be joking.

  “No seriously,” she goes on. “I took off the dress to turn him on, to show him we were serious. Then he said, ‘Show me those little itty-bitty tits of yours.’”

  I burst out laughing and she shoots me a deadly scowl. “It wasn’t funny,” she scoffs. “You know I’m self-conscious about my A cups.”

  “Your A cups are beautiful,” I tell her. “You’re a sexy bitch and you know it.”

  “Well, I like where this conversation is going,” Oscar jokes and we all break out laughing. I slap a hand to my mouth. Why am I laughing when my mother is crying upstairs? I’m a horrible daughter.

  Matt comes back, a little flustered. He’s loosened his collar, and his dirty blond hair is completely disheveled. “I talked to my dad. He’s staying at a friend’s nearby, and he’s asked me to gather some of his things from his room. Do you mind coming up with me, Kayla?”

  “Sure, I better. You wouldn’t want to run into my mom alone. She’s not exactly in a good mood.”

  “Understandably,” he says and we head upstairs.

  “I’m sorry we’ve barely had a chance to talk tonight,” he tells me. “Too many people.”

  “Yeah, it was crazy. That’s all right.”

  He smiles playfully as we reach the landing. “You still owe me a date, gorgeous.”

  I smile awkwardly. For the first time, I see a hint of Mark in Matt; the overly confidant and cocky smirk, and those intense blue eyes. I wonder if Matt is secretly like his dad. And then there’s Oscar —something’s definitely changed between us.