Star Bright (28 page)

“
You are the
one who always stops me from throwing him out.” Dave spoke,
amused.

“
Dave, you are
such a bad host.” Carol feigned disappointment, slapping his arm
lightly.

“
To people I
don’t want around, damn straight I am.”

“
It’s not that
I don’t like having him around, I just don’t like cleaning up after
him.” Maria placed Izzy in her chair, “I already have two babies
I’m not looking for a thirty year old one. Let him do the signing
thing.”

Dave sighed, and turned
to Carol, “You heard her, let Todd do it, and if a single thing
goes wrong, as little as it may be, call me. How about my court
cases, what’s my load?”

“
Only two
industrial ones, the load a partner should have, but next week your
calendar is clear. I’m not going to risk missing the birthday
party.”

Dave smiled,
amused, “Of course, we wouldn’t want
you
to miss
our
kids’ birthday party.”

“
Dave, you are
so thoughtful. I’m going out to lunch now, bye.” With a short wave,
she left the office.

Dave turned his attention
back to Maria. He pulled her back and placed his face in the nape
of her neck to breath in her jasmine scent. Sighing pleasantly,
Maria leaned back into him, fitting in the curve his body had made
around her. She lifted her hand and brushed the back of his neck
with her fingertips and finally resting them in his hair. Dave held
her tighter and tickled her short neck with his nose, breathing in
more of her jasmine scent.

Dave stood there like a
caged man, with his one craving in his arms. He couldn’t see how he
could resist her anymore, especially now that her body loosened at
his touch and not tightened as he had grown so accustomed to. He
felt his body tickle with yearning as he pulled her closer into
him. He was an opportunist and a capitalist at work at some parts
of his life and he wasn’t ashamed of it, it got him what he wanted,
and now he was going to shamelessly try his luck with Maria, he
would stop only when she asked him to, not a moment
before.

Maria closed her eyes and
enjoyed the intimate moment they were sharing. She felt Dave’s
fingertips under her chin as they pushed her head gently upwards,
then she felt his hard soft lips capture hers in a slow sweet kiss.
Most women may not think much of it, some may forget it the second
it was over, but she wouldn’t. Every close, loving moment she and
Dave shared, she stored in her heart. She hadn’t experienced...
whatever this was, neither had she experienced receiving
tenderness, without paying for it with so much more, nor kindness
that would instantly turn into pain filled wickedness. No, unlike
all the other women she’d met and known, unlike Jane and Edna who
found men who truly loved them, she hadn’t experienced the true
meaning of love, this was special to her and she was going to
treasure it for the rest of her life.

She didn’t protest, nor
pull away when she felt herself lifted up, then laid down on her
back before something weighty lay on top of her, all the while
Dave’s lips still slowly dancing with hers. She didn’t feel dirty,
nor suffocated when his hands travelled all over her, exploring her
body, instead, felt a new fire of desire burn inside her. She loved
it, she loved him.

Dave pulled reluctantly
away from her lips, “Do you want me to stop?” he asked, in between
the kisses he planted on her neck and down her open shirt to the
mid of her breasts. When he reached a crescent long scar, he let
his lips linger there longer, replacing the pain she must have felt
with love.

Maria fisted her hand in
his hair, as her other hand latched tightly on his broad shoulder,
“That depends.” she gasped out. She wished they didn’t have to
stop, she was enjoying the electric volts his lips were sending
through her body.

“
On what?” his
breath got more raged, his body tightened even more when he
unfastened one more button with his tongue exposing more of her
soft skin. There was no going back, he was a lawyer convincing
people is what he did for a living.

“
On how long
you want Izzy to be in therapy.” a chuckle managed to escape past
her gasps as she silently encouraged him to keep making his way
down her torso.

“
What?” he
looked up at her, his chin resting on her chest.

“
Look behind
you.” she said, opening her eyes.

Dave turned to find Izzy
knocking the spoon and fork on the table. She didn’t look at all
disturbed, as she went on with her loud drumming, which he hadn’t
noticed. For the first time he wished she wasn’t around. With a
frustrated groan he sat upright pulling Maria up with
him.

“
I forgot she
was here.”

“
I didn’t.”
she sat there, her hands limp in his as she waited for her body to
recover, “Especially with all the noise she’s making.”

“
I didn’t hear
it.” the side of his lips rose naughtily, “I was too... engrossed
trying to have my way with you.”

Maria moved closer to
him, her lips close to touching his, “I didn’t, I’m a
mom.”

“
I’m a dad.”
he felt the fire waken at their closeness. He wanted to kiss her
again and forget his daughter was there, again.

“
That’s
different. Apart from the baby oven and the feeding system in our
bodies, we also have a baby sensor installed in our
heads.”

“
So, you are
the parents and we are just the assistants, is that what you are
saying?” he placed his hands on her back, and pulled her closer to
him, her legs wide and he in the middle.

“
I’m just
calling a spade a spade. We make, with your help and God’s
blessings, babies. We protect and feed them while they are inside
us.”

Dave put a hand on her
belly, “Inside here? This is where the magic happens?” he said,
interrupting her.

She combed her fingers
through his hair, “Yes. Then we birth, feed and nurture them until
they are old enough to be independent.”

“
That’s where
we come in and do all the hard work.”

“
No, just a
quarter of the hard work. Half of it is already done and the other
quarter we do.”

“
We really do
have it easy, don’t we?” He brushed her long hair behind her
shoulder.

“
Very easy.”
she looked up when she heard Izzy fuss. Her face was beginning to
crease as she was about to start crying. She was tired of being
ignored, “I think it’s time you do your assisting job before Izzy’s
whimpers become wails.”

Dave moaned, “We should
have had her go out to a very long lunch with Carol.” he captured
Maria’s lips and pulled her down for a kiss, “Maybe she’ll sooth
herself if we completely ignore her.”

Maria punched him in the
shoulder and pushed him away, easily sliding off him, “Would you
go!”

Dave stood up and went to
Izzy. He lifted her out of her chair and held her, “What’s wrong
with my little princess?”

“
She’s
hungry.” Maria buttoned her shirt as she stood up, “Where did you
learn to unbutton shirts with your mouth?”

“
It’s all in
the tongue.” he declared proudly, “I learned it in
college.”

Maria moved to the table
and stood in front of him. She picked up Izzy’s food and began
feeding her, “You must have had a lot of practice.” she baited him.
She wasn’t jealous, just curious.

Dave chuckled, “Lots...”
he stopped, catching himself. Tensed, he looked at Maria who had an
amused look on her face, “You are smooth.” he said,
relaxing.

“
Your daddy
left you starving to do one of his college tricks.” Maria spoke to
Izzy putting another spoon full in her mouth.

“
Her mommy had
me distracted, and I’m still distracted.” Dave’s smile faded when
he saw Maria’s face dull, “You still aren’t comfortable with
it?”

Maria wiped Izzy’s chin,
“Not really. It just feels weird.”

“
What do you
mean weird?”

“
Like I’m
counting my chickens before they hatch weird.” When Dave didn’t say
anything, she went on, “I keep expecting something to go wrong,
like at any moment I’ll be robbed of everything I’ve grown to love
over the past few months.”

“
No one is
going to rob you of anything.” Dave said, decisively. He knew what
she was scared of, and he was scared of it too. Ricky was about to
pounce and destroy their lives, but Dave was determined not to let
him.

“
Ricky will.
He’s waiting somewhere, planning how he’ll hurt me the most.” Maria
spoke quietly, momentarily submerged in her pain, “He’ll go after
Michael first, that I’m sure of.” her eyes trailed to Izzy, “And if
he knows about you, and Izzy, he’ll go after her then
you.”

Dave wiped the tear away
from her face, and then settled his hand on her cheek. She leaned
into it, “He’ll torture me by taking all of you away from me before
he kills me. I’m sure of it, I’m very sure of it.”

“
Let me handle
Ricky, you have a birthday party to plan, remember?”

Maria smiled, “You always
handle everything. You’ve made my life so very different, and so
much easier since I met you.”

“
I’m the
assistant, I’m just doing my job assisting you.”

Maria took Izzy from him,
“Okay, but first, you need to eat.”

Chapter
Seventeen

Dave walked out to the
driveway, to welcome the kids and their parents as he waited for
his own parents. Maria had done a great job with the party.
Everything inside and out was blue and pink, she went as far as
getting him a blue shirt and herself a pink one, why, he had no
idea. She was still very nervous about meeting his parents and was
even more nervous when her mother hadn’t shown up yet. But he was
sure she was coming, with a companion he was anxiously waiting to
talk to, face to face.

Dave pulled out his
ringing phone from his pocket and answered it, “Hello?”

“
Hi, it’s
your
favorite
jeweler.”

“
Hi, where’s
my stuff?” Dave moved to the curb when he saw Carol’s car
approaching.

“
Your
secretary has them. I thought I should keep it safe and just inform
you who has them presently.”

“
She’s very
trust worthy.” He opened the door for Carol and greeted her with a
smile as she got out.

“
Whether or
not she is, that’s your business. You would have been paying for
those for years, that’s how expensive they are.”

He hugged her and took
the two boxes she offered him, “Good thing I got you out of jail
and you owe me a favor.” He put the boxes in his pocket without
checking, he was sure Carol had already done so.

“
That
concludes our business Greer.”

“
That is until
you get arrested again.” he hung up the phone and stashed it back
into his pocket, “Did you look inside?” He asked Carol as they
walked towards the noisy house.

“
You know I
did. They are beautiful, but I don’t see Maria letting them wear
them any time soon.”

“
I can be very
convincing.” he stopped when he heard a car pull up, it was his
parents, “Go in and help Maria out.”

Carol’s face creased
fearfully, “I don’t particularly like kids, except your
two.”

Dave chuckled as he
walked backwards away from her, “I know that, their parents are
around, she just needs help with the food.”

“
Can I get one
of those shirts, they are pretty stylish.” She yelled.

“
Ask Maria.”
he turned around and walked faster to his parents, a huge smile on
his face. He picked up his mother and hugged her tight, spinning
her around, “Mom, I’ve missed you.”

“
Oh my baby,
I’ve missed you too.” kissing the top of his head before he put her
down, “you’ve let your hair grow out.” She said as she ruffled his
hair.

“
I haven’t
gotten the time to cut it.” He laughed, pushing his hair back in
place. Then he turned to his father, his cheery mood dissolved,
“Dad.” Dave said with his professional tone, extending his hand to
his father for a hand shake.

“
Son.” he
responded in the same tone, “And who’s that?” Raising his
eyebrow.

“
Maria
Martinez, Mr. Greer.” Maria offered her own hand. She had seen them
from the window and ran out to greet them, after a long debate with
herself.

That morning she was a
nervous wreck about meeting Dave’s parents. Even with the little
she knew about them, she was still scared to death about meeting
them. She even had a hard time deciding how to style her hair, to
hide her scares and yet look good and proper for them. She had
decided on putting a head band on and letting some front hair loose
to cover her scars.

She could see Dave’s
resemblance to his mother, all his looks he got from her. It
explained why he looked like a pretty boy when he wasn’t so
serious. She was an inch taller than Maria, with a tight figure
that was outlined by the sun dress she had on and had a short blond
bob which seemed to suit her well. Her blue eyes were what pulled
at Maria most, they were exactly like Dave’s, if it was dark and
all she could see were the eyes, she would mistake Dave for his
mother. He got a lot from his father too. The serious no nonsense
look, that was accentuated by the brown cardigan and khaki pants he
had on that screamed snob, and most probably his temper too, Maria
thought. They had matching physiques, and a certain distance
between them which she was sure must have occurred due to a silly
argument. Dave was a stubborn, strong headed man, and she knew his
father was exactly the same.