B00BR2BOUU EBOK (39 page)

As I stood there watching them, I felt strangely separated
from the scene. This wasn’t life anymore for me. The man at the barbeque was no
longer my husband, he was no longer my lover, or a man I could share my life with.
Instead, he was a man who gave me two beautiful children, and for half of our
life together had been a wonderful companion. I didn’t hate him, I could never
hate him, but when I looked at him now all I could see was a man who had lost
faith—faith in me and faith in our marriage, and I felt sorry for him. It was
very clear to me though that he had not lost faith in himself as a father, he
was still carrying on his duties as ‘Dad’. He might not have known how to be a
faithful husband, but he clearly knew how to be a loving Dad, and I knew that
when we told the kids that we were no longer going to be husband and wife, I
could confidently say that we would still be Mum and Dad. Our separation was
not going to change. He looked up and noticed me standing by the door.

“Hi, I figured I would BBQ, save you worrying about dinner
when you got home.”

“Thanks, good idea, it smells wonderful.” I walked out and
gave Charli a hug, then called for the ball from Nate and sunk a 3 pointer from
the mark near our swing.

“Mummy Jordan, swish!”

“You’re so embarrassing, Mum.” I winked at Nate; he was
impressed despite his statement, I could tell.
Sure, keep telling yourself
that Alexis.
I called to Charli, “Charli Bear come and help me set the
table.”

***

We ate our dinner outside under the pergola as it was the
perfect night for it. The kids did their homework, then had a minor argument
over which channel to watch on TV before going to bed. After they had both
settled, Rick and I went back outside to talk about how we were going to handle
breaking the news to the kids.

“Lex, you do realise Nate will want to know why?”

“All he needs to know right now is that we no longer love
each other like a husband and wife.”

“Well, that’s not really true, is it?”

“Rick, please don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
I looked at him slightly disappointed.

“Well, it’s not true. I still love you like a wife, I always
will.”

I tried to brush off his comment, it was a bit too late to tell
me he loved me like a wife. I didn’t dispute it now, but he didn’t love me like
a wife five years ago, and that could never be taken back.

“We’ll tell them that you are still going to live here until
you find a new home to buy, but after that they can stay over with you whenever
they like.” He nodded, but I could sense he was deliberating telling me something.
“I’m going to tell them about Bryce in a couple of days, but on my own.”

“So, are you planning to move into his apartment?”

“I don’t know, Rick. I haven’t decided yet. Maybe.”

“Well, what’s the point of me buying a new house if you are
going to move out?”

“I don’t know, you’ve got five million dollars Rick,
wouldn’t you like to buy something a little nicer? Something bigger, perhaps?”

“No, wouldn’t it be best if I lived here and you moved in
with Bryce, that way the kids still have the stability of this house, the only
house they have ever known?”

“I’m not going to live away from my kids, Rick, forget it.”

“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying that if you plan on
moving in with Bryce, the kids can stay with you and with me, whenever they
like. They could go between us, I guess. I don’t know, I don’t fucking know
what to do anymore.” He started to get up to leave.

“No, Rick, sit. I understand what you are saying, and I
think that it might be a good idea to try first. That way, it is not so much of
a change or transition for them. Look, I think we should just take each day as
it comes, okay?” It was actually a good idea. They were going to have to deal
with the shock of hearing we were splitting up. That was going to be hard
enough, so sparing them the shock of having to leave their home as well. I
agreed that it was not a bad idea. At least if I were to come and go, then ease
both of them into coming and going, the notion of moving might not hit them as
hard. “Rick I’m not about to pack my bags and move in with Bryce straight away.
I will stay over there every now and again, and then wean the kids into it
until it just becomes what it is. If you want to keep the house, then fine. I
would not have been able to stay here anyway. There’s just too many memories.”

“I know, Lexi, that’s why I want to keep it.”

“Rick, you might as well start accepting this. Torturing
yourself is not going to help you move on, and you need to move on for the
kid’s sake.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Now, I’ll be staying with Bryce
tomorrow and telling the kids I have a late meeting, which I do. Then, we will
sit down with them and talk to them about it on Wednesday, okay?”

“Sure.” He got up and headed inside.

“Rick, we have to work together on this, for the kids.”

“I know Lexi, doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it
though.”

***

The next day, in the eyes of Nate and Charli, was no
different from any other. Rick had slept in the spare room and left for work
before they had woken up.

“I won’t be home tonight, munchkins. I have a late meeting
at work. Mummy is helping with the marketing of the family friendly rooms in
one of the hotels.”

“What’s marketing, Mum?” Charli asked as we all climbed into
the car.

“Well, it’s about making something both sound and look good.
I have to help make the new family friendly rooms at the hotel sound and look
good so that people will want to stay in them.”

“So, what is so good about them?”
Charli, you are a
question asking little monster.

“Well, some of the rooms might have carpet like a Twister game,
and a built in dial selector so you play Twister whenever you like.”

“Cool, what else?”
Grrrrrr.

“I don’t know, missy. Why don’t you tell me what you would
like in a hotel room?” I looked in the rear-view mirror at Charli who was now
thinking of suggestions in her head.
That will buy you maybe 30 seconds of
silence Alexis.

“I know.” Nate said from the passenger seat beside me.
“Arcade games, the ones you can sit in and drive, or the ones where you have to
hit the hedgehogs on the head.”

“I know, I know. I want baby animals I can take care of.”
That
was barely five seconds of peace and quiet.

“So, arcade games and a petting zoo. I’ll mention it thanks.
Anything else?”

“A treasure hunt around the hotel,” said Nate with an
expression similar to a greedy pirate.

“A girly pampering salon.” Charli beemed as she held her
hand in the air to inspect her nails.
Hmmm, not bad, kidlets. Maybe I could
suggest some activity programs for the kids conducted by the hotel.

“Good work, my little brainstorm-troopers. Get it Nate?...Brain...Stormtroopers.
You know...Star Wars?”

Nate sighed and rolled his eyes. “I get it, Mum. But that
was so not funny.”

“Oh.” Cue sad child face.

I received a handful of other suggestions in the time it
took me to drive the kids to school. A trivia challenge on things around the
complex, and the guest with the most correct answers got a prize of some kind.
We actually formulated this idea together. Nate had the idea of the challenge
or a test, as called put it. I had the idea of it being a competition amongst
guests, and Charli came up with the prize. Charli also suggested goodie bags
for kids upon arrival, which I thought was a great idea, and Nate suggested
themed rooms, which could be worked on too.

***

All in all, my drive to school that morning had resulted in
some great suggestions for my meeting. I was terribly nervous about the meeting
though, the last time it had only been me, Bryce and Patrick the Head Designer.
This evening though, it was going to be the three of us, Chris from Marketing,
and the entire board including Gareth. I hadn’t seen Gareth since the Tel V
Awards. I didn’t include that time I overheard Bryce arguing with him in the office.
I was slightly nervous about having to be in the same room with him, knowing he
had Dissociative Identity Disorder and that I was the probable trigger for his
psycho alter, ‘Scott’. I just hoped I wouldn’t let the nerves I might feel at
his presence render me useless, like a babbling sweat beaded mess, resembling a
drug addict in withdrawal.

I parked my Charger,
my Charger! Alexis, yes it’s ‘your
Charger’ get over it.
Then over exuberantly made my way
up to see
Bryce. When the doors to the elevator opened, he was standing there with a rose
for me. I paused for a second to take in the sight of the incredibly romantic
and drop dead gorgeous man standing before me. I licked my lips, because as per
usual, the sheer sight of him depleted my mouth of moisture, and transplanting it
to the very spot between my legs. I didn’t give him a chance to prowl toward me
wearing his extremely smouldering gaze, a gaze that had the ability to send my
pussy into a seizure. Instead, I made the slow cat like walk toward him,
wrapping my arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his lips that would hopefully
send his cock into full-blown cock-assault. We kissed hungrily just outside the
elevator for a minute or so.

“I missed you, Bryce.”

“Not as much as I missed you, Hunny.” I reached down and
caressed the bulge that was pressing into my hip.
Full-blown cock-assault
achieved! Good work, Alexis.

“I think you might be right, Bryce.”

He slid his hand up my leg and wasted no time inserting his
finger inside of me. “No, Hunny. I’m definitely wrong.” He pulled his finger
out then stuck it in his mouth.
Shit, that’s hot!
I had been there less
than five minutes, and already my body was crying out for his.

“You are so bad.” I giggled.

“And you are so sweet, literally.” He wrapped his arms
around my waist and pushed me up against the entryway wall, which had returned
to being one of my favourite spots in the apartment. I fumbled desperately with
his trousers, wrenching them undone, and was rewarded with his long hard
erection. He groaned and lifted my dress, wasting no time in yanking my
underwear down. Ferociously, he mouthed his way up my leg with frantic need to
get to the top. My legs almost buckled as his tongue slid up and down the spot
he had been aiming for. He was anxious today, bordering on frenzied and
desperate in his actions. It worried me slightly, but the overwhelming pleasure
I was experiencing as a result shelved the worry. I decided that after he had
released whatever this frantic performance was—because let’s face it, it was
fucking hot and felt great— I would return to the shelf, take back the worry I
had tentatively put there and find out what it was all about.

“Bryce Clark, you are sensational.” I confessed as I threw
my head back, delighting in the feeling his mouth had bestowed upon me. His
desperation did not ease as he made his way up to meet my lips, caressing them
aggressively with his own. My leg automatically lifted for him and instantly,
he was inside me pinning me to the wall.
Sex Up Against The Wall. Yes, I’ll
order another of these, it’s been a while.
He pulled away from my mouth and
penetrated me with his eyes as he thrust deep within me. I closed mine as the
intensity of his reach was almost too much to bear.

“Open your eyes, my love. I want all of you with me when I
bring you undone.”

“You already have brought me undone.”

“Not yet, I haven’t” He increased his pace and pressure, and
it was just about impossible to grant him the request of staying open-eyed. The
pure bliss he was conjuring inside me was boiling to the point of explosion. I
couldn’t help it, my lids closed, covering my eyes and disobeying his
instructions. “Alexis!” I flung them open at his demand. “That’s it, Hunny,
look at me.” He said with a salacious smirk as he thrust into me harder.

I opened my mouth. “I can’t, Bryce. Oh fuck, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can, Hunny.” He smiled and grabbed my breast,
massaging it within his hand.

“Please.” I pleaded and pierced him with my stare, now hell
bent on keeping it.

“That’s it beautiful.” He kissed me quickly, then he relinquished
his control, so that we could both explode our thresholds simultaneously. As
our bodies relaxed, I finally closed my eyes, shuddering against him.

“Holy Fuck, Bryce.” He chuckled and picked me up, sat on the
couch and laid my head on his lap. “I’m supposed to be at work in five minutes,
but none of my limbs are now functional.”

“This is work, Hunny. I’ve put it in your job description.
The memo is on your desk.”

“It is, is it?”

“Yep.”

“So does that mean I have to start my day like this every
day?”

“Sure does, and you have to finish it like this too.” He
traced his finger down my cheek then lightly dabbed my nose.

“In that case, I need to go back to the gym.”

“Good, we’ll start now.”

“What?”
Are you for freaking real? My muscles have just
completely cracked the shits and gone on strike.
“What part of limbs no longer
functioning did you not understand, Mr. Clark?   Anyway, don’t you have self-defence
class this morning?”

“Yes I do, and you’re coming with me.”
Shit. Crap. Balls.

“I’m not going to be your guinea pig again.”

“We’ll see.”

***

My muscles finally decided to co-operate with me again after
half an hour of resting on Bryce’s lap. I nearly fell asleep while he sat there
and trailed his finger up and down the side of my face.  We went upstairs and I
reluctantly changed into gym clothes which just so coincidently happened to be
in my half of the walk in stadium.

**

Self-defence class was pretty much the same as the last
time, except, after spotting Chelsea in the group of drooling women, I was more
than happy to be his assistant. I think he got frustrated at one point when he
had me in a bear hug hold from behind, and I all but reluctantly refused to
fight him off. He had whispered into my ear, ‘what are you waiting for, stomp
on my foot.’ I replied with, ‘no, I like your arms around me’ to which he then
responded with, ‘do it or your off my kissing list’. I reacted abruptly,
slamming my foot hard onto the top of his, which resulted in him having a limp
for the rest of the day.