His (Hers #5) (10 page)

Journey shrugs her shoulders, “But I don’t love him.”

Seven

Present

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Levi asks as I grab my keys from the counter and pick up my Coach bag.

“I think I need to do this alone. It’s only Maggie’s.” I make an excuse. I don’t want Levi to know exactly how nervous I am to meet this woman who very well could be my long lost biological sister. The thought alone is enough to send me into a panic attack, but I don’t let it. Being able to finally control that is a rewarding feeling too. I shouldn’t be so scared of building more meaningful relationships in my life. But, it seems like every time I let someone in, it is so much harder to let them go when the time comes. And the time always comes.

“Are you sure, Seven?” Levi asks me again. I just nod in reply this time.

“I’ll be fine.” I smile an unsure smile and walk out of the door.

On the drive to Maggie’s, I think about all the details I know about Lyric already. She is young, only twenty two, and eight years my junior. Not much older than Journey. Young girls scare me. They can be so overly emotional, just like Journey was last night. It drives me crazy because I was never like that at her age. I was always able to keep my emotions in check. Kids these days!

I wonder to myself if Journey knew her. Did they go to school together? Did Lyric’s mother stay in the area because of my father in Hopes that he would actually step up to the plate and be a real father to her daughter? Did my father even know Lyric existed? It’s a heartbreaking thought because I’ve seen women waste their entire lives on a man that would never invest in them as anything more than a piece of ass.

It was just Did my father know Lyric existed? more family secrets. Shit they were all so good at. I jwish they were half as good at taking care of their kids as they had been at hiding shit. We would have all been so much better off. Especially Blu.

As I mull over my thoughts, I find myself in the parking lot of Maggie’s. It’s a Monday night, so not too many people are out and about around town. I think that is one of the things I have found most comforting: the quiet of Woodstock. There are a handful of cars in the parking lot of the tiny diner. None familiar to me though, except the disaster Volkswagen in the corner that belongs to Cindy, the evening waitress.

“Let’s do this.” I say aloud to myself as I finally climb from the car. My mouth is dry and my heart is racing. I keep telling myself I’m not nervous, but that is a lie. I begin to walk up the stairs of Maggie’s and immediately turn to walk back down them. I need to go home. This was all just a bad idea.

Get over yourself, Seven. Walk through that door just like you would walk into the fuckin
’
boardroom. Don
’
t be a bitch, go meet this chick and get it over with!
I laugh to myself, what a pussy I’ve become. I can’t even meet someone new without unraveling like an ugly Christmas sweater.

A few steps into Maggie’s, I see a young woman sitting alone in a booth. Her hair is long and dark and that is all I can see as her back is towards me. I slowly walk to the table, pausing for a minute before moving into her line of sight.

“Are you Lyric?” I ask as I make eye contact with a twenty two year old version of myself. The only difference is the small hoop in her nose, blue eyes, and her lack of visible tattoos. Her lips match mine in fullness, covered in a pale pink lip-gloss. Her dark eyelashes are a mirror of my own. If there was any doubt that we were related, simply looking at her has made that completely disappear. I’m relieved and pissed at the same time. My emotions are getting the best of me as I try to stay happy in the moment.

“Seven?” she replies in a quiet feminine voice with a thick New York accent.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lyric.” I say, extending my arm and shaking her hand. We stare at each other for a minute without another word before I slide into the booth across from her.

“I’m sorry to stare. I know it’s rude, but my god. You… we…” I pause trying to get my statement out, but I am still somewhat in shock as we eye each other.

“Look so much alike?” She finished the statement for me with a shadow of a smile spreading across her face.

“Yeah.” I say in my daze.

“It’s kind of reassuring in a way. I thought my mother was lying about who my father was. But, now that I’ve met you, I feel better about it all,” she blabs. I can tell she is just as nervous as I am.

“I can’t say I was sold on having an actual sister when you contacted me. If I’m being honest, I’ve had a couple of these over the years. Mainly people trying to get ahold of my money because of who I am and what I own. But, seeing you here in Woodstock in the flesh, I’m pretty sure we are related. You remind me so much of myself when I was your age.” I admit.

“Your money?” Lyric looks at me with a strange look.

“You don’t know much about me huh?” I ask

“No, I just looked up the name Seven James on Facebook because I couldn’t find a name in the phone book,” she admits. She is naive and sweet; something I don’t think I ever was. Instantly, I want to protect her from all the bad in the world, take her under my wing and shield her from the ugliness of the world. Just like I do with my own daughter. A quick Google search of my name could have told her all she needs to know about me and in that case, I’m sure she would have never contacted me. She isn’t the kind of person looking for a payday opportunity. She is just looking for a connection.

“I own a big company in Manhattan. I only recently moved up here to get away from the big city life.” I leave out a lot of the small details. I just don’t want to talk about. At least not right now anyway.

“Oh, that’s neat. I write a blog. It doesn’t make me a lot of money, but it pays my bills.” She shrugs and the waitress stops to take our order. We both fire off our choices for the evening, and go back to our conversation.

“So tell me about your childhood?” I ask, nervous to learn more about her or what she has been through.

“Well, I grew up with my mom. She never really dated, just worked a lot to make sure I was taken care of. They were long shifts and I spent a lot of time with my aunt before she passed away. I graduated high school and went to the state University at Albany and graduated this past May. My mom lives in Jefferson now, but I rented a small little house over behind the art shop. It’s small enough for me and it’s affordable. Ummm…” she pauses, wracking her brain for something else to spill, but comes up with nothing.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me your entire life story in a single statement.” I laugh.

“What about you?” Lyric asks, and I pause thinking about what exactly I can tell her about me. Who I am today. Who I’ve become since I went out into the world on my own, separating myself from the Seven James I was as a child and Seven James the adult.

“I am married and I have a daughter.” I point at my belly and laugh. “And I am having a son soon. I own a company called White-Woods Global, but work remotely from home up here now. I’m kind of a work-a-holic but after my pregnancy with my daughter landed me in the hospital, I’ve had to tone it down a bit.” I laugh. If she really only knew what kind of hospitalizations I meant.

I slide my cellphone unlocked and show her pictures of Levi and Marley. We eat and chitchat for two hours before my phone vibrates against the table again with a text message from Levi.

“Just my husband checking in on me. I was nervous coming to meet you when I left the house. I didn’t tell him, but I think he picked up on it,” I surprisingly admit to her. I’m not one to share those intimate details, but something about our time together clicked for me. Is it the connection I never had with Blu? Is this what Star has with Paisley and Journey? I only hope it is the beginning of a wonderful relationship between my long lost sister and myself.

“I should probably let you get home to your family. I’m sure your little girl misses you. And I have some writing to do tonight so I can finally update my website. The fashion world calls!” She laughs, talking about her fashion blog. Whoever thought that those things could actually make money? Not me. It certainly is something I’m going to have to pick her brain about.

“It was really nice spending this time together, Lyric. Maybe you can come over to the house sometime and meet Levi and Marley?” I don’t want to scare her away, but from the sounds of the stories she has told me, she is lonely just like I was all those years ago before Levi bulldozed his way into my life and made me realize I needed him in the worst way possible.

“I’d like that.” Lyric says with a smile. A smile that warms my heart, just like Marley’s does. Family, this is what it’s like. This is what it’s meant to be and how I’m meant to feel. I smile to myself as we both rise from the table, her moving much faster than me.

“Sure you don’t need some help?” she laughs, extending her arm to help pull me free from the booth.

“Just wait. One day you will be in my condition and I will be sure to laugh at you too.” I say, poking fun at her and realizing I plan on keeping her around in my life for a while.

“You invited her over to the house?” Levi asks while I strip my clothes off. “Are you feeling okay? You don’t let anyone into your inner circle. What made you feel so differently about her?” he asks. I know he’s worried about me. Worried about someone taking advantage of us.

“Levi, if you could have seen her… she was me: Eight years ago with no tattoos. She is me in the flesh.” I stand in my bedroom, naked. I know Levi is watching me and I am baiting him. He wants to be supportive and hear about my dinner. I want to drop the subject and distract him with sex. It is a win-win for both of us.

“You know you can’t use sex to distract me all the time. I’ll let it go tonight because I don’t want to pry. Plus, you have therapy in the morning, so it will be good for you to get out.” He smirks.

“I hate that you know my therapy schedule so well,” I say walking toward him, step-by-step, slowly taunting him.

“Don’t you have a therapy session tomorrow too?” I counter him.

“Yes, right before yours,” he winks and drops his pants to the ground, pulling the blankets on the bed down and sliding into our giant bed. “Why don’t you come join me? Don’t put anything on though.” He laughs.

“Is that what you want tonight, Levi?”

He nods without speaking a word.

“What do you want?” I ask him. “You may speak, Levi.”

“I want to make a video of you riding me.” His words take me off guard. Nothing too kinky, but it certainly is far more lively than the vanilla sex we’ve been having lately. I walk over to the bed and pull the sheets back slowly, exposing Levi’s naked body. Ready and waiting for me. His impressive cock standing at attention, just waiting for my touch. I would never tell him this, but I love how brazen he is getting with me, how bold his requests and actions in the bedroom are becoming.

“Get your cell phone and turn on the video.” I instruct him. I take a couple steps back and watch, waiting for him to complete my instructions. He fumbles with his phone, quickly trying to get it recording for me. He nods in my direction and I know I am front and center, completely naked.

I don’t feel sexy at all. I am about to pop and this baby keeps doing flips in my stomach, but my husband can’t get enough of me. And for that, I will reward him.

“Stop it. You look amazing, Seven,” he says as I take a couple steps towards him.

“I’m fat.”

“You’re pregnant. You aren’t fat and it’s not much longer. Weeks Seven, just weeks. You can do it. Don’t let it bother you. You’re beautiful.”

He admires me so much and I know I should cherish that because not all women get that type of treatment when they are pregnant. I think that if Levi had his own way, he would keep me knocked up all the damn time.

“Stroke your dick for me.” I say, turning my attention from the emotional connection. I want that gone. I want to be two strangers for the night. Connecting like we did so long ago. Strangers that wanted nothing but a quick fuck and to be on our way.

“Record it. Tonight, you don’t know me. I’m not Seven or your Mistress. I am not in charge. I am just some woman…someone you picked up on your way home from the office. Or your co-worker’s hot pregnant wife. I’m not yours to keep. I’m not yours to have. I’m nobody to you but a quick fuck. An itch to scratch. Filling your fetish for a hot pregnant woman.”