A Debt Paid (15 page)

If it hadn’t been for the sleep aide
Nicole gave her, Anya would not have been
able to sleep, whether from excitement or
still not having an answer from the test
results she wasn’t sure.

She did, however, wake up before
the alarm. She showered and packed then
went to wake up Nicole. Driving to the
airport, Anya started to feel a little nervous
about her decision. She had called her
mother while Nicole was getting ready. Her
mother was actually happy for her and
asked for her and Calix to fly over as soon
as they could. Nicole was talking to her, but
her words were going right in one of Anya’s
ears and out the other.

“Now, I want you to call me when
you land. Before you get consumed with
Calix, okay?”

“Yes, thank you for being here for
me on such short notice. I’ve enjoyed our
visit. It’s your turn to come to me next.”

Nicole pulled up to the curb at the
departure gate, got out with Anya, and
hugged her goodbye.

“I love you, honey, don’t forget that.”
“I won’t, you know I love you, too.
Don’t work yourself to death, okay?”
“Okay, now go, or I’ll start crying.”
Nicole chuckled.

Anya walked to the door, turned,
and waved. Then she went right to the
check-in counter. Thanks to the little bit of
clothing she’d bought and the small tote
she had, she didn’t need to check her bag; it
was small enough to be a carry on. She was
very early, and the line to get through
security was short, so she had to wait
twenty-five minutes before she could
board. Her stomach was flip-flopping.
It
will be okay, you’re doing the right thing. He
loves you, he said so, so I just need to be
fearless and tell him how I feel. The whole
truth, holding nothing back as he did,
she
thought to herself.

The flight attendants went through
their pre-flight speech and instructions. As
they took off, Anya closed her eyes and
worked on upping her courage.

***

Calix was still on Anya’s side of the
bed, hugging her pillow with his face
buried in it. The constant ring of his phone
woke him up. He pushed up on his arms
and looked around for his cell. God the
ringing hurt his head. He hadn’t been hung
over since his first night out drinking when
he turned twenty-one. He finally saw his
phone on his dresser next to Anya’s
perfume bottle. He got out of bed, walking
to the dresser to get his phone, still
gloriously naked, having passed out that
way and not bothering to put anything on
as he woke.

“Hello.” His voice was gruff from
sleep as he answered.
“Nipote (nephew).”
“Yes, Zio?”
“What happened last night?”
Calix was lost for words. “I uhm, I
had a few drinks and went to bed.”

“And still asleep at eleven, I’d say
you had more than a few, and what
happened with Natalia?”

Of course, he would want to know;
he sent her over.
“She came over late, we talked, and I
was tired, so I asked her to leave.”

“Bugiardo (Liar). Why did you treat
her so poorly? She was there to comfort
you.”

“Zio, I’m sorry. I will apologize to
her. I just couldn’t. I was drunk. I didn’t
really want her, my body only responded
when I thought of Anya, and when I opened
my eyes and didn’t see her looking back at
me, I snapped. Again, my apologies.”

“Calix, you need to let go move on.”

“Zio, with all due respect, it’s only
been five days. Did you get over your love
in less than a week?”

Vito exhaled. “No, I did not. I’m
sorry I pushed. You’re family, I don’t want
you hurting.”

It wasn’t often his uncle apologized.
“I know, Zio.”
“You are hung over, no?”
“Yes, first time in a long time.”

“Relax, take the weekend, and put
yourself together. I want you at the office
Monday. Your business is suffering.
Business comes first, yes?”

“Yes, Zio.” Conversation over, Calix
hung up. He walked to the bathroom for
some aspirin before he threw himself back
into bed, reaching once more for Anya’s
pillow.

***
“Who was that?” Maria asked as she
sipped her afternoon coffee.

“Anya, she wanted to let me know
she was flying home. She’s decided to go
back to Calix.”

Maria’s eyebrows shot up in shock.
“She is? Does, does she want to, or does she
feel obligated?”

“She wants to. She finally
acknowledged that she had fallen in love
with him, and, despite their beginning, she
wants to be with him.”

“Oh, God’s grace, thank you,” Maria
murmured as she marked the sign of the
cross across her chest and kissed her Christ
necklace. “He loves her, Carol. Vito has told
me that when they speak, he is broken. He
has been absent from work all week.”

“I know, Maria, and I know Anya
wants him too. I raised my daughter to
have thick skin, to never back down, to
fight; I had to if she was going to survive
her father, and I wanted her to be stronger
than I was. When confronted with that
deal, if she hadn’t had some sort of
attraction or wanting for him deep down,
she would have never agreed.”

Maria reached over the table and
squeezed Carol’s hand. Carol’s phone began
to ring again. She looked at the caller ID
and saw that it is Tomas and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Tomas. I was expecting him to
call soon. He has to have put it together
who is doing this to him. Not many men
have no fear of him.”

“Don’t answer. Call your attorney
tell him Tomas is harassing you.”
“I’ll block his calls, and tell Mr.
King.”

“You know, Carol, while we were
speaking about Calix and Anya a crazy
thought came to me. They can still get
married on their wedding date. We will just
change the venue to here, and I think we
should not tell them. Just have them come
and surprise them. What do you think?”

“I already told Anya to fly out as
soon as they could, so I think we might be
able to pull it off.”

Both women began to gleefully
laugh at their wedding conspiracy.
***

Upon landing, Anya called for a car
service to take her to Calix’s office. With the
time change, Calix should still be at the
office. Not knowing if he had appointments
or not, she called his assistant.

“Hello, Calix Anastas’ office.”
“Hi, it’s Anya, can you tell me if Calix
has any open time this afternoon?”
“Miss Richards?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Richards, Mr.
Anastas hasn’t been since Monday.”
“Has he been sick?”
“Uhm no, ma’am. May I speak
freely?”

“Of course.”
“Mr. Anastas has been very
emotional, for lack of a better word, since

your departure.”
“Oh.” Anya’s voice dropped. She hurt
him more than she had realized.
“Yes, Miss Richards, I believe you
can find him at your penthouse.”
“Thank you.”
“No thanks needed. Glad to have you
home.”

Anya thanked her again and hung
up. She taped the driver on the shoulder
and told him the address change. Sitting
back, she began to think on how she would
go about apologizing to Calix. Her cheeks
started to redden, and her body warmed as
she thought of how she would like to
apologize. She clenched her thighs together
as a throbbing sensation began. Three
weeks ago, she had no desire for love or
sex. Now, she craved Calix. Their time apart
had only intensified the craving.

It took only a few minutes to get to
the penthouse. As they stopped in front of
the building, Anya handed the driver some
money. The driver got out, opened the
trunk, and handed her tote to the doorman.
Not knowing exactly what Calix would say
or do after their last conversation, her
nervousness came back. He’d said he would
not bother her again, so would he consider
this as her bothering him? The front desk
staff greeted her as she walked in.

“Please, keep my tote down here
until I call for it to be brought up,” she
politely requested of the concierge.

“Yes, Ms. Richards,” he replied.

Riding up the elevator, Anya pulled
out a mini brush from her purse and
brushed her hair. Then she got her small
bottle of body spray and sprayed some on,
trying to rid herself of the airplane smell.
As the elevator doors opened, she pulled
out her keys from her purse, took in a deep
breath, and opened the penthouse door.

As she opened the door, all was
quiet. She wondered if he was even home,
but the front desk clerk hadn’t mention he
was out. As she walked further into the
apartment, she saw that the living room
was a mess. The cushions on the couch
were tossed around and out of place. On
the bar, an open bottle of scotch sat with
nearly all of it gone. He’d been drinking.
The TV was still on in hushed tones. She
walked down the hallway and saw that
their bedroom door was closed. They never
closed it; why was it closed now? She was
starting to get worried; what if he had
someone with him? After their
conversation, he might have turned to
someone. She thought of the nearly empty
scotch bottle; he didn’t drink that much in
her brief experience with him. What if he
had someone drinking with him? No, no,
again, the front desk clerk would have
discretely said something to her. She took
in slow deep breaths, placed her hand on
the doorknob, and slowly opened the door.

***

At work looked, Nicole at the clock
then her phone. Anya should have landed
and called by now. Nicole wasn’t too angry,
though, no doubt Anya was too tied up with
Calix to phone. She would call her
tomorrow after giving Anya the needed
time to talk and reconnect with Calix. The
desk phone began to ring, so she reached to
pick it up.

“Emergency Room this is Nicole.”

“Hey, this is Roger from the
outpatient lab. I tried calling your place. I
was trying to reach Anya Richards, she has
you listed as an emergency contact.”

“Yeah, is there something wrong?”

“No, I just had her test results there
was a rush on them so, I thought I’d call all
the numbers till I got a hold of her.”

“I forgot about her test, so what
were her test results?”

“Well, she’s healthy; all her sugar
levels and her cholesterol are fine, and she
is pregnant and will need to schedule a
prenatal visit soon, so she can to find out
how far along she is and the health of the
fetus.”

“Shit.”
“Sorry, is that bad news?”

“No, no, she flew back home today.
I’ll have to call her later. Thanks for the call,
Rodger.”

“No problem, bye.”
What should she do now? Should
she call or wait? No, it could wait.
***

Anya opened the door and looked
around. The bed was disheveled, and on
top of the sheets was a passed out naked
Calix on her side of the bed. She walked
around to her side of the bed. On the
ground, she saw what looked like a
crumpled pink silk nightgown, and her
heart dropped. She reached down to pick it
up. Why? She didn’t know. She was
sadistically torturing herself, but she had to
see it. As she held it up, she recognized that
it was one of hers, and she sighed in relief.
Why is it out? And what is on it that’s
making part of it stick together?
God, he
didn’t!
A shocking thought came to her, and
she dropped it back on the floor. She
turned as she gently sat down on the side
of the bed next to Calix.

She reached out and ran her fingers
through his hair. He stirred a little and
groaned as he squeezed her pillow tighter.
She ran her finger down his cheek, and her
thumb against his lips. His eyes squished
together as he moaned. He must be really
be hung over to not have woken up yet.
Anya smiled as she looked down at him; he
looked so cute, so peaceful in his slumber.
She leaned down and kissed his lips softly.
That woke him up in a startle, and he
jumped and pulled back. He rubbed his
eyes as he rolled onto his back and looked
at Anya.

“Anya?” He was confused.
Am I still
drunk?
he thought. But then he heard her
voice.

“Yes, I’m sorry I startled you. If–if
you want me to go, I will.”
“What are you doing here?”

Anya guiltily dropped her gaze.
“After our conversation last night—after I
calmed down—I thought about everything,
and the thought of not being with you
didn’t sit well with me.”

“But...”

“No, let me finish,” she cut in,
placing a single finger over his lips to quiet
him. “It took my mother and Nicole to help
me see what I didn’t want to acknowledge.
I hid the truth from myself because of my
fear of being hurt. Hurt the way my father
hurt my mother. My mother raised me to
be tough, to fight. She didn’t want me to
have her life. If I wasn’t attracted to you in
some way deep down, I would never had
gone to your office that morning. When my
father came to me with that deal, I would
have gone public with it or taken my
mother away. I know I blew you off at the
fundraiser. That was mostly because I was
annoyed and pissed. I hate playing ‘Happy
family’ and every male twenty-one to fortyfive was hitting on me, because they all
want a chance at the Senator’s daughter.
Then, that morning, I had those pre-nup
terms because I was trying to protect
myself. One of my biggest fears is to live my
mother’s life, and then that morning you
hurt me.” Calix frowned as she brought up
that morning again. “And you were wrong
to do that. I understand why what
happened, happened. I know I hurt you,
hurt your feelings, whether you wanted to
admit it that morning or not. You
apologized, but I used that to keep a lock
on myself to keep a distance. And when we
were together intimately, I tried not to
enjoy it. I would think of every reason why
it was wrong to enjoy it. I fought with
myself. The night I left, I was scared
shitless. When I realized I was actually
disappointed about not being pregnant, it
scared me because it hit me that though I
tried to not feel anything for you, I did, and
I didn’t know what to do, so I ran.” Anya
looked into Calix’s eyes to see his reaction
to her words. But, he showed no emotion
and just sat there staring at her. She felt
compelled to fill the silence.

“When I yelled at you last night and
you told me you loved me, it stunned me,
and when we hung up, I couldn’t stop
thinking about us. It might not mean
anything to you now but I–I love you.”

Her eyes glistened with tears, and
she was biting her lower lip as she finished.
Calix was still silent. Taking his silence as a
negative response, she got up off the bed.
Her voice was quivering from her
emotions. “I can see I was wrong to come
back; I just wanted to apologize and tell
you how I really felt.” She wiped her eyes
with the tips of her fingers and slowly
headed for the door. Before she could get
through the door, a still naked Calix
jumped up off the bed, getting to the door
before her and slammed the door closed,
taking Anya by surprised. He pushed her
up against the door, pressing his naked
body to hers.

“You ran once. I won’t let you run
again.”

Anya looked up at him, searching his
eyes. His face softened, and he slowly
stroked down her cheek with his finger.

“I’ve missed you so much. I love you
that won’t ever change.” He lowered his
head and took her lips in a hungry
desperate kiss. His hands moved down to
her hips, and then he grabbed hold of her
and lifted her up, wrapping her legs around
him. He didn’t let go of her mouth but
continued to ravenously kiss her, moaning
into her mouth. He began to rhythmically
rub against her, though she was still fully
clothed.

“Bed,” Anya tried to request around
his kisses. He obliged by carrying her back
to the bed. He lowered her down softly.
Once she was down on the bed, he released
her mouth only to move down her neck.
When he came down to her cotton top, he
grabbed the shirt in both hands and ripped
it down the middle. Anya groaned at the
show of his strength and his desperation to
have her. Her bra was made of tough nylon.
Not bothering to attempt to rip it or take it
off, he simply yanked down the cups,
causing her plump breasts to pop out. His
hands and mouth move down to clasp onto
her taunt nipples. He played with one as his
tongue lavished the other.

“Ahhhh,” Anya cried out. For some
reason her breasts were extremely
sensitive. “Calix, please,” Anya begged. Calix
stopped only long enough to sit up and
unbutton her shorts, pull down the zipper,
and remove them and her underwear
together. He slowly slid his hands back up
her legs, stopping at her knees, and he
spread her thighs apart slowly and moved
to fit himself perfectly between them. His
earlier frenzy was gone. He looked deep
into her eyes as he pushed a strand of her
hair behind her ear.

“Calix?”

“Shhhh, love, let me look at you.” He
slowly nuzzled his nose against hers and
kissed the tip softly. Then he hovered with
his lips over hers.

“Do you want me, Anya?” he asked
in earnest.
“Yes.”
Next, he hesitantly asked, “Do you
really love me?”
“Yes,” she breathed, waiting for his
kiss.
“Tell me.”
“I lo-ove…ahhhh, Calix.” She was
unable to finish as Calix sank into her.

He kissed her cheek, nose, forehead,
and neck as he slowly moved in and out of
her with strong, slow strokes, making
tender love to her. In between his kisses, he
would ask her again, “Do you love me?”

“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“I love you, Calix.”

He groaned in satisfaction at her
words. Suddenly, he pulled out of her
turned her onto her belly and sunk back
into her. Placing his full weight onto her,
thrusting back and forth back and forth.
Anya grabbed onto the rungs of their
headboard. Calix bit down on her neck,
growling in his pleasure. He had been
missing this—her—and, though normally
stamina was not a problem for him, his
climax was already close upon him. He
wanted their reunion to last, so he flipped
her back over. He wanted to see her come,
and he wanted to be as deep inside her as
he could when she did. He spread her legs
wider and raised one of her thighs. He
couldn’t control himself; he was trying
hard, wanting to hear her scream in
pleasure first. His thrusts became faster,
harder. Anya’s soft moans grew louder.

“Ah mmmm, Calix, yes, don’t stop,
please, please, Calix.”

“I love you, Anya, I need you. My
body only wants you, responds to only you.
God, Anya, love, I want to come inside you.
I want my seed to take root in your womb.”
He was huffing as he spoke. “I want you
swollen with my child. Tell me, Anya, tell
me, Anya, that you want it, too.”

Her body was tensing, and her nails
were digging deep into his back. His
forehead rested on hers, looking straight
into her eyes as he continued his
pummeling unremittingly.

“Ahh yes, Calix, yes, please, I want
your child—our child, I love you, please.”

Her words excited him more than he
thought possible. “Oh God, Anya, love.” He
started to growl and grunt as his last bit of
restraint left him, and he thrashed into her,
unforgivingly as he began to climax,
spurting his essence deep inside her,
praying that this time it took hold.

“Fuck! God, Anya. Ahhh Fuck!” he
bellowed. As his cries quieted, he heard
hers, she was crying out in mid orgasm. He
wanted her pleasure and continued to
plunge into her until her last scream
quieted.

“Calix! Calix, please, please, oh God,
oh God yesssssss!”

She was breathless as she buried
her face in his chest, completely satisfied.
He was lying atop her. They both were out
of breath, still holding the other, not
wanting to let go. Once they were both
calm, he slowly pulled out of her, he rolled
off her and to her side, pulling her to
cuddle with him, her head resting on his
chest. He was running his fingertips up and
down her spine as he loved to do. Anya was
slowly caressing his chest with her finger.
“I dreamed of you,” she whispered.
“You did?”

“Yes, we were in bed, and you were
kissing me everywhere. I told you that it
felt good. You stopped looked at me and
asked if I knew what felt even better, then
you said your son growing inside me.”

He placed a kiss atop her head. They
lay there, continuing to relax together,
enjoying their coupling. Her climatic fog
was starting to clear, and, as it did, a
thought of something he said popped out,
‘My body only wants you, responds to only
you…’

“Calix?”
“Yes, love?”

“What did you mean when you said
your body only wants and responds to
me?”

Calix’s fingers stopped stroking her
as he froze, even his breaths stop
momentarily.

‘Shit!’