Bigger Is Better: Crazy in Love (4 page)

     “Nathan, give her the Head Banger Special. I want

her
to feel something that will go down smooth… Then

hit
her
real hard
.” Stone tells his bartender never

taking
his eyes off of me.

     “I got it Boss.
Coming right up.” The bartender states as I witness him pour a plethora of liquor into a colossal beer mug.

     “Boss, we need you in the back.” A well-built
Asian man around 6’4” tells Stone.

     “I have to take care of this. Enjoy your drink.” Stone says walking away. Then he stops.

     “Aye Nathan, those three are on me. Get Ashley to bring them whatever they want from the kitchen.” Stone instructs then continues on his path to the back of the house.

     Nathan hands me my drink. He gets our food order and
as soon as he walks away to the other end of the bar, Taryn and Casha start to interrogate me about Stone.

     “Star, he is one hot piece of ass! Where did you meet him?”
Casha asks pryingly. I knew that they were going do this. They are like two bloodhounds.

    
“I met him earlier today at school. He goes to Emory also.” I reply nonchalantly. On the inside though, my heart is racing like it is in Nascar.

     “School Huh
? Hmm, Today…” Taryn retorts as if she isn’t buying what I just told her. My best friends know me better than anyone in the world. I am trying my best to conceal my emotions. But am sure the sexual heat that Stone has just ignited has turned my face beet red because I can feel that my cheeks are a little flushed.

    
“So you two just met today? Interesting,” Casha states in a skeptical manner. Then she and Taryn look at each other.

    
“Bullshit!”
They tell me simultaneously.

     “What do you mean? I am telling the truth.” I chuckle at them. I don’t know why they
aren’t believing me because I am telling them the truth. The only thing I won’t be telling them is how Stone has caused a tidal wave of wetness in my lace panties I am wearing.

     “Star, come on now. You don’t have to hide anything from us. It is very apparent
that you two have some
serious
chemistry… I don’t believe you. Is that the reason you have been “working” so much lately.” Taryn drills me. 

    
“She has been putting in “work” all right— in the bedroom.” Casha mocks
.

    
“I just met him. I literally bumped into him when I was leaving one of my classes. You two are hilarious.” I respond laughing at my two best friends.

     Out of the peripheral of my eyes, I see Stone coming back towards us again.
Just as he enters the service area behind the bar, he gently rubs his agile hand across my upper arm creating a multitude of pleasurable naughty thoughts in my mind.

    
“The things I could do with him,” I imagine him

fucking
me in all types of ways. I picture him with vivid mental images. Those brawny masculine hands and arms of his touching me, caressing me, holding me, flipping me and taking full control of me with those ripping muscles he adorns embracing my overly curvaceous body.

     “
No, Star don’t you even think about it.” I battle within. I hate it when my brain does that—instantly fantasizes about a man that I know will probably be no damn good for me. Internally refereeing the mental boxing match in my mind, I make a strong attempt to control my thoughts.

    
I know better to even contemplate the idea of ever having any type of contact with Stone— let alone steamy, passionate, unadulterated sexual contact with him. Guys like him don’t usually go for girls like me. As I stated, they will fuck a big girl but they won’t have a relationship with her. Besides, he is in college, he has his own business and he is hot as hell so I know he more than likely has swarms of women vying for his attention
and his cock.

    
“So what brings you girls to Barcode tonight?” Stone inquires giving me a pining look. His beaming light brown eyes causing me to almost lose it.

     “Well I was coerce *coughs*
convinced to come here by these two actually.” I reply with a smile.

     “Oh, coerce *coughs* convinced to come. I am glad you decided to visit the bar.
I hope to see more of you.
” Stone remarks in a sensuous tone.

     “
That would be great for Star to
come
more often. Wouldn’t it Taryn?” Casha states in her raspy southern drawl placing an emphasis on come.

    
My nerves are at an all time high. I pray my two

best
friends don’t put me on the spot and embarrass me in front of Stone. They are infamous for doing so.

    
“Boss, we need you in the back again.” The Asian man reappears requesting Stone’s presence once more.

     Stone takes me by the hand, “I have to go handle so
me business. I will be back shortly.” Stone tells me then releases my hand slowly.

    
Taryn, Casha and I continue to drink and eat our food. We dance, we sing and enjoy ourselves in the upbeat atmosphere. Some guys try to hit on us but I politely decline the sexual advances. I can’t stop thinking about Stone. I look towards the back periodically to see if he will come back to the bar, but he never does.

    
I open my clutch to peek at the time on my cellphone screen. It is now 1:00am. That old saying is true, “Time flies when you are having fun!” I have to be at work in a few hours for the morning shift as usual.

     “
Girls, I have to go. I have to work the morning shift at the diner.” I express a little inebriated. Thank God, I didn’t drink the whole Head Banger because just a few sips have gotten me a little woozy. I feel nice and tipsy right about now.

     “Ok,
let’s go.” Taryn says fully alert. All she had was

the
Apple Martini since she is the designated driver.

She usually doesn’t drink at all when we go out.

     We make our way to the parking lot. Just as I am

about
to open the door to get into the Bentley, I see Stone coming towards me.

    
“Wait a sec.” Stone says with those beautiful bright eyes twinkling like the stars in the night sky.

     Taryn and
Casha get into the car. I stand leaning on the car to give me some leverage in these hooker style high heels.

     Stone stands directly in front of me and places his arms on either side of me with his hands on the car.

     “Did you enjoy yourself?” He asks looking ever so tantalizing.

     “Yes, I did. I
definitely will be coming here again.” I state softly.

     “I know we just met
but I would love to take you on a date Friday night.” Stone tells me moving his right arm from the car now placing it around my waistline.

     “Hmm, I have to check my schedule. Then I will get back to you.” I respond knowing damn well I want to shout that I will most certainly go out with him but I don’t want to seem too easy.

     “Okay, no problem. May I have your number so that I can call you to know if you are available or not?” Stone states now with both arms wrapped around my waist. Usually, I would never let a guy I don’t really know be this close to me, let alone have his hands on me. But I feel so comfortable and at ease in Stone’s Herculean hold.

    
“Yes, my number is 404-777-7777.” I tell him.

He reaches in his pocket and
pulls out his cellphone. Afterwards, he keys my number into his iPhone.

     “I got it. Talk to you soon… It was a pleasure seeing you tonight.” Stone whispers with an intense look.

     “It was nice to see you as well.” I say with a nervous chuckle and smile.

     “Have a goodnight beautiful.” Stone says then steps back and opens the door for me. I get into the car and he shuts the door behind me.

     “Goodnight Stone,” I state through the window and Taryn pulls off.

     “Every night will be a good night for sure if you had that
hunk of bulging muscles on and in you.” Casha chuckles.

     “Yeah Star, Stone is so fucking hot. I don’t know what you have to do Friday,
but what you need to be doing is Mr. Stone.” Taryn retorts from the driver’s seat.

     “You two are
cock crazy! If he is serious and calls me, I will go out with him Friday.” I state then lean my head back on the chair of the backseat.

     “I hope he calls me.” I think to myself as my heart jumps
eagerly and skip a beat.     

Chapter Six

All Work and No Play

     I complete my shift at the diner. Then I go home to take a quick shower and go straight to my second job.

     I enter through the glass do
ors of the Millard Gazette. The sound of groups of people chattering and individuals clicking on the keyboards at their desk is all that I can hear. I walk over to my cubicle and start to turn on my Dell computer. I would much prefer working on a Mac PC but Millard Gazette is not quite up to date with the latest technological advances.

    
Just as I am about to sit down in my chair, Dan, the editor-in-chief, calls me over to his office.

     I
dread going into his office because I am sure that he wants me to add or remove something from the article that I did for Brent and Emily’s anniversary celebration story. The spread will run tomorrow in the Friday’s edition of the newspaper. I took the time to complete the story and add my finishing touches during my shift at the diner earlier today and emailed the story to Dan after I was done. I don’t want to spend another minute writing about the love life of my ex and his real life Barbie.

    
Dan is so anal which is a pain in the ass. I hate having to rewrite a story over and over again. Nonetheless, I love that he is tough because his strictness will only make me a better writer.

     I enter the office and take a seat at Dan’s executive style wooden desk.

     “Star, I just wanted to say that I love the story. I have sent it to the printers so that it will be ready for tomorrow’s run. You keep this good job up, one day you will have my position.” Dan praises me. I just knew that he had a trillion things that he would say that he
hated
about the article.

     “I am glad you liked it.”
I am ecstatic. Now, I don’t have to devote another minute of my life to that awful love affair and gaudy revelries to celebrate it. Being the editor-in-chief is a dream job
but not my dream.
I refuse to be stuck here in Millard. I am going to do everything in my power to make dreams of becoming a
published
romance author a reality.

     “Since you did so well on that story
, I have two more stories that I want you to cover. One is about a young soldier whose love story mirrors that of his parents that have been together 85 years. The other is a fun piece where you get to have a get together with some of the gals in Millard to discuss love and relationships. It will be a question and answer session. We are stepping it up and will have a videographer capture the event.” Dan tells me fumbling through some papers on his desk. The elderly man is always doing something. Dan has been here for 45 years. I am sure that he could most certainly retire if he wanted to.

    
“All right, I will prepare myself for the soldier’s story after I get done with the Love Notes.

    
I depart from Dan’s office. I see Hayley, Brent’s best friend Jax fiancée, enter the building. She works here as an executive assistant to the owner of the newspaper. I don’t talk to her much. It is usually hi and bye. She was one of Emily’s many minions in high school which meant that she hated me as well.

     I walk past Hayley’s office to get to my cubicle so that I can get started answering some Love Notes.

     “Hey Star, can you come here a sec?” Hayley inquires as I walk past her office door. I see her motioning me back through the all glass office space.

    
“I wonder what the hell she wants.” I snipe inwardly.

    
I walk back to her office and stand by the door never

entering
her work domain completely.

    
“I just wanted to know if you were going to the shindig on Saturday.” Hayley inquires with her thick southern accent referring to Brent and Emily’s anniversary celebration.

    “No, I actually have plans.” I reply with a devilish grin. I don’t have any plans on Saturday. Saturday is actually a rare day for me since I don’t have to work. I plan on laying around in my Pj’s, watching reruns of Sex and The City, eating some of my favorite ice cream “Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie” and getting some writing done for my romance novel I am working on.

     “Aww, I thought you were going.
A lot of our peers from high school will be there. Well, you have fun doing whatever you will be doing.” Hayley responds in her annoying voice. Her phone starts ringing and she answers it. This gives me the smooth exit I was hoping for.

     I know she had a crush on Brent back in the day. She was on the cheerleading squad as well. She was always cheering extra hard when Brent would make a touchdown or score some points for
the football team of my high school alma mater.

     I
get to my desk. I sit down and open my email. I have 58 unread messages in my inbox so I get straight to work.

      A couple hours later, I am finishing up the response

to the last Love Note that was in my inbox. I hear my

cellphone
ringing in my purse. I dig deep down into my

purse
, moving the mountains of junk to locate my phone. I quickly retrieve it to stop the call from going to voicemail or before the person hangs up.

     I see an unfamiliar phone number on the caller id.

   
“Hello,” I say in a curious tone wondering who this may be.

     “Hey, may I speak to Star?”
The man on the other end states. I am trying to catch his voice but I don’t know who it is.

     “This is Star. Who is calling?” I inquire removing my heels and slipping on my ballerina slippers. Between
the hooker heels I wore last night to the dive bar and the heels I just had on, my feet are throbbing.

     “This is Stone.” Stone states his cheerful voice being felt through my end of the phone.

     “Oh hey Stone, how are you?” I inquire feeling butterflies in my stomach all of sudden.

     “I am doing well. I would be doing much better if you tell me that you will go out on a date with me tomorrow.”
Stone says vehemently with a deep amatory tone.

     “How bad do you want me to go?” I state flirting with Stone through the phone. Ever since I was a teenager, I always felt that it was easier to interact with the opposite sex if we weren’t face to face.

     “I want you to go real bad. But if you don’t want to
come
then I completely understand.” Stone responds playing my game flirting right back with me.

     “I will go out with you tomorrow night. Where do you

plan on taking me?” I ask wondering what he has in mind.

     “I want it to be a surprise… Just wear something sexy.” Stone instructs
in a lascivious manner.

    
I hear someone talking to Stone in the background. There is a lot of commotion as well.

     “I have to go. I will pick you up at 8pm. I will
call you tomorrow to get your address.” Stone says in a rush yet seeming as if he isn’t ready to end our conversation.

     “Ok, I will see you tomorrow.”
I reply then disconnect the call.

     I exhale. I swear I don’t think I took a breath the entire time I was talking to Stone.

     One of my coworkers, Will, comes over with an

icy
cold 20oz bottle of Lipton Brisk Iced Tea. He knows that it is my favorite beverage. Will is a dashing man. He would be the ideal mate. He is sweet, kind, a great listener, supportive, honest and a whole bunch of other admirable characteristics— too bad he is gay.

    
“What are you up too?” Will ask handing me the much needed beverage.

     “I am about to start a new story.” I
reply opening the bottle of tea.

     “Not surprising.” Will remarks as he shakes his head side to side with
one of his eyebrows raised.

    
“You know what they say… Work now, play later.” I chuckle.

     “No, what they say is All Work
and No Play will make Star a rich old lady with nothing but cats to keep her company.” Will jokes then walks off towards his manager who is calling him.

      The way I see it, I have to sacrifice now so that I can enjoy the fruits of my labor
in the future. Besides, it isn’t like I have someone to go home too… Although that would be so nice.