Rebound (32 page)

“
Because I have my own
place, and I haven’t been there since Saturday morning.”

“
That’s not much of a
reason.” He sipped. I cocked my eyebrow.

“
It’s a pretty big reason
to me, Matt.” I replied evenly.

“
Don’t you like being with
me?” He said with a tone that elicited immense guilt.

“
Of course I do, but I
don’t need to spend every moment in your home to prove that to you,
do I?” He put his mug down and walked over to me.

“
Consider this your home.
I’ve tried to make it as comfortable as possible so that you want
to make it yours. Stay here until . . .” He started calculating,
rubbing my shoulders.

“
When? A month from now?
Six months? When . . . when you get tired of me?” His eyes widened
at my clipped tone.

“
I’m not going to get
tired of you.” He looked shocked and hurt.

“
You won’t because I’m
going home. A little separation is good for relationships, or
whatever it is we have together.” My voice went to a whisper as my
head lowered.

“
Who said? I say, I want
you here with me, which is good for our relationship.” He lifted my
head by my chin. “I like having you here. It’s not logical for us
to spend time at your place because there’s no parking. Your place
is too small for two people. Also, we’re closer to our jobs here.
Please don’t go.” He whimpered.

“
I think I made a mistake
. . .” His hands gripped my arms. I saw the look of shock and
concern. “I should’ve told you on Sunday my plans to leave today.
You would’ve been more prepared and not reacted like this.” He
sighed.

“
Did something happen on
Sunday to make you want to leave?” He asked concerned.

“
No. No. I decided when
you took me home. I looked around my place and I realized how much
I miss it. I plan to come back on Saturday before we go to your
sisters. I’ll spend the night, if you want. Then I’ll go to work as
usual on Sunday. Come back here if you’ll have me. Then I’ll go
home. We can see each other at the gym. Maybe dinners? And I can
spend weekends here if you’re not traveling.”

“
It feels like you’re
trying to pull away from me.”

“
Matt, no, I’m not. We’re
two independent people. I think we can continue seeing each other
and live our independent lives during the week too.”

“
What about us? Are you
planning to be so independent that you see other
people?”

I sighed. “Matt, I never, ever, said
that I wanted or would start seeing other people.” I cupped his
face. “What’s this really about?” I searched his eyes as if the
answers would appear like the responses of an eight
ball.

He pulled away and walked off to the
master bedroom. I heard the door of the master bathroom close. I
found his reaction abnormal. I knew he wouldn’t like my leaving,
but I had no idea he would excuse my need for normal ‘single
person’s space’ for wanting to see other people. I’ve not had to
deal with a man’s temperamental personality for a couple of years,
so I wanted to just run and never turn back. However, Matt was
worth it. I walked out of the kitchen and went to his room and
waited for him to come out of the bathroom. I heard the shower
running. I stood there waiting for him to be finished. The
anticipation was killing me.

He walked out of the bathroom wrapped
in a towel. His body glistened with water drops from the shower.
His long hair slicked back. He looked like a Roman God. His face
showed his disappointment in me. Without thinking, I pulled off my
nightgown and walked up to his body. I reached up, placing my hand
around his neck, bringing his mouth to mine and I kissed him. He
tried to resist, not returning my affection, until my hands glided
down his body. He shivered underneath my touch. I wrapped my
fingers on his towel, pulling it off of his body and let it fall to
the floor. His kisses became more fervent, as my hand cupped his
sack, a full erection awaited me. He moaned into my mouth. I
stroked his cock, touching the head with my thumb, feeling the
juices of his arousal.

I wanted to taste him, pulling away
from him and dropped to my knees. I took his cock into my mouth,
sucking him as I drove him in and out. My hand stroked him as I
sucked. I gently squeezed his sack. It was a sequence of maneuvers
to give him pleasure and reassurance that I wanted him and only
him. I licked the underside of his cock, and took him back into my
mouth, attempting to take him as deep as possible, getting closer
each time.

His groans and moans of pleasure with
each bob of my mouth let me know that he was enjoying my
ministrations. I tried to deep throat him and again, succeeding in
getting my lips to the root. He yelled, “Fuck!” And I knew he was
close to coming. I stroked him faster as I bobbed and suckled. “I’m
gonna come, babe.” He said to alert me, but his hands on my head
urged me to continue. I had no intention of stopping. I kept
working him until I tasted the salty cream that spurted into my
mouth. I swallowed and licked him clean as he came down from his
orgasm.

He pulled me up by the arms, and
picked me up in a bear hug. Our naked bodies pressed together. “I
would never do anything to dishonor you. I think everyone needs and
wants space in a relationship. I’m not talking about breakup-space.
I don’t want anything to come between us. I just want to take it
slower, get to know each other, work on making this a long term
relationship. We moved too fast, and while that isn’t bad, it isn’t
the way I would prefer to work toward longevity.” I kissed him.
“Babe, we should get breakfast. It’s in the warmer, getting tough,
and we both need to go to work.”

“
Let me get you off
first.” He offered.

I held his face. “You don’t have to do
that. I’m great. I’d be even better if you’d eat the breakfast I
made for you.” I gave him a kiss. “Let’s get dressed, okay?” He set
me down and I pulled him to the walk in closet to dress. I dressed
quickly, wearing my customary blouse, skirt, and low heeled shoes.
I rushed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my makeup. I
went to the kitchen to place our meal on the counter.

“
Who’s going to make me
breakfast the rest of the week?” I smiled, as I pulled out the
warmed syrup from the microwave.

“
Fresh coffee or do you
want me to heat up your coffee?”

“
I’ll heat it
up.”

“
No. You sit. I’ll take
care of everything.”

“
You spoil me, then take
it away.”

“
Tsk. Tsk. It’s the condom
thing all over again. You like to give me guilt trips when I make
decisions you don’t like.”

“
Okay.” His hands rose to
the air, yielding from argument. He took a bite of food and moaned.
“This is great.” I handed him his reheated coffee. He pulled the
chair next to him so I could sit and eat. I was hungry and pancakes
are my Saturday breakfast favorite, but I decided it would be a
comfort meal for the both of us.

“
I used to make pancakes
for me and my mom. She only allowed me to make them on Saturdays,
which is why Saturdays are my only day off. I’d get up early and
make them from scratch. The recipe is seared in my memory; a splash
of vanilla, a dollop of molasses, and on special days, mashed
bananas.” I took another mouthful and savored the sweet taste of
the fluffy pancake.

“
I love it.” With syrupy
lips, we kissed. Once we finished eating, I cleaned up our plates
and the mess I made from cooking. Matt went to finish collecting
his things. Once I was done in the kitchen, I went to the closet to
get my jacket and purse. I put my trench in my overnight bag. With
everything packed, I was ready to go to work. I waited for Matt to
be ready to go.

“
Ready?” I sat in the
corner of the sofa thinking. I nodded and smiled. “You sure like
having quiet time. Is that why you’re going home?”

“
Hmm. I don’t mind it. I
had to learn to enjoy being alone and just be with my ‘self’ and my
thoughts.” I kissed him. He helped me with my jacket. As I went to
pick up my bag, he grabbed the handle and took it for me. “Thank
you.” I smiled.

“
You’re getting used to
it. I like that.” We smiled at each other.

***

The day was long and boring. There
wasn’t much to do. No tours and no sales pitch. The weather is
getting better, which means that people are taking their fitness
routines outdoors. I expect getting an influx of members cancelling
or suspending their memberships. This is the time of year, between
May and September, when I’m least satisfied with my job. During
this time, I yearn to do more, be more, and have more. In July,
I’ll have reached my year of working at Duration. I thought I was
happy, but since meeting Matt, my dashing doctor, I realized that
I’m not one hundred percent content with my career. I haven’t met
my full potential. Sitting around Matt’s friends, listening to all
their trips and adventures, their projects, the people they’ve met,
I haven’t come close to having reached that level of wealth and
power. I vowed to reevaluate my future, whether or not I’m with
Matt.

I checked my week’s schedule online
and was reminded that I have a scheduled fitting with Chelsea at
eleven in the morning on Saturday. I had intended on seeing Matt on
Saturday. We’re to go to his sister’s house for dinner, but the
fitting shouldn’t interfere with our evening together. Chelsea gave
me a plus one for her wedding reception, but I never intended to
use it because dating someone was not on the radar. I responded
with just myself taking a place setting. She invited my father and
a ‘plus one’. He accepted both and will be taking Rubi, rather Rubi
will be taking him. I decided I should go to Chelsea’s office and
ask her for permission to take Matt. If she agrees, then I will ask
him to escort me to the wedding. If she declines, then I didn’t say
anything and I won’t feel guilt for not inviting him.

I walked over to Chelsea’s office. She
was inside working on the computer. I knocked, “Hi
sweetie.”

“
Hi, lovey. How’s my love
struck best friend doing?”

I smiled. “Still trying to figure out
if she’s in love after a little over two weeks of knowing
him.”

“
I take it he came back
home from Spain safely?”

“
Yes. He surprised me and
came home at around three in the morning. I was supposed to cook
dinner, but I met his best buddies, four of them and their
girlfriends. I thought it would be a disaster . . . there was an
incident that I still can’t shake, but I’m trying to stay positive
and let this relationship blossom with time.”

“
What
happened?”

“
Some high school type
shit. One of the friend’s girlfriend, she was at Lumiere that
night, was talking to two other dates in the bathroom. She sounded
very tipsy, but she said so many cruel things about me not being in
his league, fat, and the ultimate statement that I can’t suppress
was ‘he’s just using her’.” I admitted.

“
Wow.” She whispered. “Did
you tell him?”

“
No. Before we went to
dinner, he warned his friend Brady, the bitch’s boyfriend, that the
‘hens’ should be controlled. One girlfriend, Jenna, was great. I
don’t even remember the other two girl’s names. Matt told me not to
memorize their names because they wouldn’t be attending the next
dinner. His friends are still playboys. One more thing, his friend
Brady, really creeps me out. He looks at me like a starved dog
trying to reach a spoiled piece of meat. Like he’d like to fuck me,
but is disgusted at the same time. I’d like to stay away from him
at all cost, but Matt and his friends have dinner at least once a
month with their significant others. I don’t know.” My voice
trailed off to a whisper as I mentally reviewed the entire
situation. I shook all thoughts to get to the task at
hand.

“
I wouldn’t let anything a
drunk girl says freak you out. Did you confront her?”

I grinned mischievously, “Yeah. After
she questioned what we had in common, I came out of the stall,
fixed my makeup as they sat whispering and eyeing me, I told them
that what we have in common, we just did upstairs in the
office.”

Chelsea and I burst into wild
laughter, “Sorry. You know I don’t like talking about sex. But that
bitch had it coming.” I said, the laughter dissipating. I got
serious. “I have a favor to ask.”

“
Okay?”

“
I meet his family this
Saturday. It won’t interfere with the fitting. I will be having
dinner with his sister, her husband and his niece in the evening.
But if all goes well, and with your consent, I’d like to ask him to
escort me to your wedding reception.” I asked meekly.

“
Perla. Of course. I have
room. Perfect timing actually, I’m setting up the seating chart, so
I’ll add him to the list.” She pulled out her planner and wrote
down a note for herself.

“
You’re the best friend a
girl could ever have. Thanks so much.”

“
One question, why would
you ask him to the wedding only ‘if’ all goes well at the dinner
with his sister?” She quizzed me.

“
I don’t know Chelz. I’m
taking this slower. I’m going home tonight instead of spending the
week again. He was not pleased. I told him I will see him Saturday,
but expect he’ll show up here all week and still take me to the Inn
or home. I intend to push him back from that.”