Out of Office

Chapter Sixteen

Adrián

My new cell phone ringtone. The best sound in the world. I only liked this ringtone, the one I programmed when I hung up with Genevieve last night. I put her in my favorites as my emergency contact, and programmed “Tú” from Juan Luis Guerra as the tone. I didn’t plan to miss a call from her, no matter the time she phoned. I even saved her phone number on a notepad as soon as I walked into my efficiency, and by Monday morning, I knew it by heart.

Now, it was the evening after a day of dispatching the few drivers we’d onboarded. After the Tropics contract ended, we had a couple of rough weeks where Julín and I wondered if we’d have to let the dudes go that we had just hired, but as my mother used to say, things have a way of working out. And thank God for it because my responsibilities were vast. Whenever the hostel had a bad month, the money I made from the transportation company helped filled in the gaps both for me and for Claudia’s family. The fonda usually had steady income, but it was enough for just a bit extra for groceries and the regular necessities. A few sleepless nights had pushed me to engage contacts that had remained unused for a few years. The efforts bore success.

Two days ago, Anita Johnson from the Tropics reached out and asked if we could become their preferred transportation company. Anita was as real as they got, and the offer made in a way that kept our pride intact was appreciated. Since then, we have had a steady request for airport transfers and day trips for their patrons. Enough for me to send money to Villa Bonita, which had seen no reservations since the excursion.

Brushing aside my daily concerns, I hopped in the shower, rinsing the day away. I pulled on my best basketball shorts and my favorite T-shirt, then sat on the small kitchen table and dialed Gen’s cell phone number by heart.

“Hi.”

Genevieve’s voice told me a lot about her day. I wished I was there to make her some dinner and make her smile.

“You sound exhausted,” I replied.

“You ain’t lyin’.” She chuckled.

“Should I not ask about your day, then?”

“Mmm, you can, but it was just another day, filled with deadlines and meetings and...” I could hear the clatter of dishes in the background and imagined her gliding effortlessly into the kitchen, making herself something to eat.

“Have dinner with me.”

“Uh...well, you’re a bit far.”

“I mean, let’s video call and have dinner together.”

There was a pregnant pause on the other side of the phone, and my pulse accelerated. Had I pushed too fast?

“Well...as long as you don’t criticize my dinner, I’m down.”

I punched the table in excitement and quickly pressed the video button before she changed her mind. Her face immediately appeared on the screen, the hood of her eyes dropping with the exhaustion I had heard earlier. She grinned, and her whole face illuminated; my breath caught at the sheer beauty of her.

“There you are, Preciosa.”

“Oh, here you go, flatterer. You know I look a mess.” She gestured at her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, then down to the simple white tee she had on.

“You always are beautiful to me. No matter what. So...what we eating?”

Cereal. Both of us were dining on cereal.

“And here I thought you were gonna criticize me.”

“Nah, I keep it simple on nights I’m tired, a sandwich, cereal, crackers and cheese, hey whatever works,” I told her, and she chuckled. While we both poured our bowls, she filled me in on her day, then I told her about Anita’s offer and how it had been a lifesaver.

“You know... I’ve been thinking, you could put some targeted ads for Villa Bonita on social media. Those apps have user-friendly platforms. I’ve searched everywhere online, and besides the website and your little IG account, you don’t have much out there.”

“I’m clueless with that stuff. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m good with technology, but I try my best to stay out of social media, so a lot of the new shit don’t even make sense to me.” Why be behind a phone posting and taking pictures when you could be enjoying instead? Chichi gave me a hard time telling me the new “town square” was online and that I was going to be left behind, but I guess I just couldn’t muster the energy to keep up with it all when there was so much to do around me.

“How have you managed to stay out of social media in this day and age?”

“Living life.” I shrugged.

“I sense judgment.” She rolled her eyes and kept munching on her Raisin Bran.

“Nah, I’m not judging. I know I stay out of the loop on a lot because I’m not on social media. I just worked a lot before, and now, I’m on the road or in Villa Bonita fixing things or helping in La Buenona, and I honestly don’t know how people find the time.”

I finished my Vitalisimo and waited for her response as she chewed pensively. Just watching her chew stimulated me. I really was down bad for Gen. I could imagine nights like this, the two of us unwinding after a day of work. The same sense of togetherness flowed through us just as it had done for my parents, and for Claudia and Mario. Speaking with her reminded me of my dad telling me of when he’d met Mom and in a day, he’d known they were meant to be married. I always thought he was full of it, but now...now I understood.

“I guess I make the time? I have a lot of people I’ve worked with in the past and some friends from college that are on social media, and it’s a nice way to keep up with them. I’m not on it a lot, but at least an hour a day.”

“How do you find that hour, though? You just said you have to clear your inbox before going to bed tonight. When do you do that fun stuff we talked about when you were here?”

“Time...hmm. The concept of time for me flows very differently when not on vacation. I try to squeeze in every minute of the day. But to answer your question, I check it in bed right before going to sleep.”

“If I was there...you wouldn’t have time to do that,” I murmured, helpless to keep my thoughts in.

“Oh,” Gen breathed, and her tongue sneaked out to catch a stray drop of milk.

“Yes, if I was there. After dinner, I’d give you an hour tops to check your email. Then I would find you in your office, hoist you up in my arms, and take you to bed, where I would work very hard to remove all the tension from your day. With my tongue, my fingers, and my dick.”

Gen gasped and flushed dark in the camera. I bit my bottom lip to keep from saying all the nasty things I wanted to do to her right now. Gen started fidgeting, and I wondered what was happening below, which I couldn’t see. Was she rubbing her legs together?

“Are you feeling aroused, Gen? Do you need to rub those lush thighs together? I wish you didn’t have to do that. I wish I was between them, my tongue soothing your needs.” Shit, at this point, I was just jumping in the deep end. I had told this woman I wanted to have a long-distance friendship yesterday; today I was attempting to seduce her with my words. I wanted more, but...this was as much as I could get.

Gen whimpered, and I hardened fully just with that sweet sound. To be there with her right now. To be able to touch her.

“Oh, I... I thought you wanted to be friends?”

“I think we both know I want more than that.”

“Me too but...”

“Gen, how about we let this flow? You and I? We have everything so carefully planned, but what if we jump just like we did that Saturday when you came with me to Villa Bonita?”

Gen’s intense gaze searched me, leaving me bare as if there weren’t more than six thousand kilometers between us.

“Okay.”

My heart rejoiced at her agreement, and I recognized right then and there that Genevieve would change my life.

“So what do you think? Does this look good?” Gen wore a long, one-sleeve, shimmering black gown. Her curves were lush and mouthwatering, and I was certain Genevieve had no idea of her impact on me. Every day I imagined having the honor to be next to her, in her bed, in her room, by her side. If I was there, I’d have removed the dress and shown her how good she looked with only my mouth as an aid.

“Good is an understatement,” I said through the camera, lying down on my bed while she got herself ready for a gala honoring her mother.

“You don’t think its...too much?” Gen ran a hand down her flank over her hips, and I wasn’t shy to say I moaned.

“Define too much because I’m certain we have different definitions and connotations.”

“Do you always think with your little head?” she protested but grinned, then winked. Okay, so she did know what she did to me.

“Gen, I want to make clear here and now that even though I don’t believe in size comparisons, we both know there is nothing little about my—”

“Stop!” She chuckled. “You know what I’m asking about...”

I nodded and sighed. It had been a glorious month. Every day we spoke. First, it was just at night. Then the text messages started one day, when I needed help setting up the ads for Villa Bonita’s social media accounts. In between meetings, Gen guided me through the process and suggested the best markets to advertise to.

We started calls during the day, little check-ins, like the day Gen called to tell me, ecstatic, that she’d booked her business travel for the next month, even though not to Panamá yet, she knew it was just a matter of time.

That night she regaled me with her excitement about her plans for her Jamaica, Barbados, Anguilla, and Saint Vincent tour, where she was going to meet with all the Tropics general managers. She had also planned to do some travel posts based on the journals she’d been canvasing of her journeys, and she beautifully lit up as she strategized her posts. I silently wished I had the means to surprise her but instead focused on her joy.

It wasn’t always excitement on our calls, though; one night she called me on her way home, exasperated about her mother’s machinations. She’d found out that her boss, Jan Ricard, and her mother had been in the same college back in the day. Even though Ricard had promised Gen she had obtained her job under her own talent, Gen couldn’t shake the feeling that Lissette had figured out a way to leverage her friendship. That night I stayed on with her for hours until she finally calmed down enough to eat a bite and get in bed. Her question about her mother did make sense.

“I think your mom might have a thing or two to say, but guess what?”

“I know. I’m a whole grown woman.” She laughed.

“That’s damn right, and from here, I can tell you it’s a good look.” I settled on the bed, running my hand down my T-shirt, wishing I was closer.

“Did you just...where did that hand go?” Gen got closer to the tablet she had propped up on her bathroom counter.

“Wouldn’t you want to know?” I teased.

“I do... I do want to know...” She sounded breathy; her pupils dilated in the screen, her beautiful face adorned by tasteful makeup, her plush red lips parted. My fingers itched to slide down my basketball shorts, but I refrained.

“I’m going to need you to finish getting ready and get out of the apartment before you tempt me, woman.”

“Tempt you to what?” she taunted, spurred by the arousal in my eyes.

“Tempt me to entice you to stay with me.”

“I...”

“No, I know you’ll be upset if you’re late. Go, have fun tonight. I’ll be here if you want to call later.”

“Damn, I hate when you’re right. Okay...okay, but let’s talk about this... I...yeah, let’s table this.”

I smirked as she licked her lips, then blew me a kiss goodbye. Then went to my online buying account and started plotting.

A few days later, I had my plan in place. It so happened that it coincided with her week-long tour in the Caribbean. I made sure to instruct Genevieve to pack the surprise in her luggage.

“How am I in one of the most beautiful areas in the world, and I can’t even go out and enjoy the scenery?” Genevieve complained as she settled herself on the sofa in her suite in Barbados. She propped her tablet up somewhere that allowed me to see her sitting on the sofa in her tank top and shorts, hair wrapped under her satin scarf; her luxuriant thighs opened as she sat crisscrossed.

“Did you ask your driver to take you to a cool place for dinner?” I asked from my cabana in Villa Bonita; I lay on the sofa bed, holding my cell phone, watching the night waves come in. I had come for a long weekend to take care of the landscaping, which was out of control. Chichi and Mario had done a little of the work, but with the fonda staying busy, I came up to assist. I’d just returned from taking a plunge in the ocean, and then a quick shower to rinse off. I had needed to bathe twice to calm down enough for this call.

“I should have, but that would have meant me cheating on my old driver.”

“Graciosa. You should have. You told me you figured out how to squeeze the minutes of every day...squeeze some for you. You’re as equally, actually way more, important than the work you do.”

“You’re right... I know you’re right. But this project about this expansion, it’s so time-consuming. I’m starting to think my mom is right, and I should try to find that elusive architect.”

I bolted up from the sofa, my heart thundering in my chest.

“What elusive architect?”

“This dude that did the Tropics Panamá? Ricard is hoping that we can get him to do one of the beach resorts they wanna do there. I didn’t ask the driver to stop because Ricard called me, yammering about how my mom had mentioned the thought, and it was such a splendid idea, and maybe I could put out some feelers when I went to Panamá. Maybe Anita can help me find him so I can get them off my back...”

“You’re coming to Panamá?” My chest tightened; too much activity happening in there as Genevieve dropped bomb after bomb and sat there oblivious.

“Yeah, in less than three weeks. It’s wild because I have a lot to do before that, but I don’t care because I get to see you. It’s a two-day trip, but it ends on Friday, so I can extend it.” Her eyes shined in excitement and hope.

“I can’t wait to hold you, Preciosa.” I gave her the truth, or the only one I could handle giving her right now.

My path to healing continued every day, but the thought of explaining my relationship to the Tropics and the reason why I left brought chills. Besides my family, no one understood everything that had transpired. It was so easy to open up to Genevieve, to share with her my everyday, my dreams, my challenges. But for some reason this topic stuck in the back of my throat, bringing cold sweat and palpitations anytime it came up.

Genevieve had become essential to my everyday.

In my quest to divest myself from the relentless chase for a career, I’d traded a life of lesser comforts but higher returns. Returns in the love of my family, the time I had for them, the time I had for myself, the time I had to explore and enjoy life simply.

If I had met Genevieve before my parents passed away, I’m not certain I’d have had the time to dedicate to her as I have now. There were days Gen couldn’t talk, and I just texted her through the time, funny thoughts and observations, just letting her know she was on my mind while she hopped from meeting to meeting, answering the texts with hearts and thumbs-up. I got it; I did; her day was saturated with deadlines and tasks, and her mention of her boss wanting to locate me made my palms sweat and my stomach cramp up.

Because listening to Genevieve’s goals had made me wonder if I could dive into that world again. If we could build a life together around those goals and beyond. Complementing each other’s strengths.

To produce another project, this time at home...

I hadn’t finished doing the work of balance, and it scared me to go back to a world where I knew no boundaries. But I continued to flirt with the temptation of something more permanent with Genevieve, something that allowed me to be next to her every day, even if it upended my life as I knew it...

“Hey, where did I lose you? Are you tired? I...we can talk tomorrow if you like? I think I always take for granted that you’re available to speak. Sorry for that.” Genevieve jostled me out of my reverie.

“Just imagining having you close again.” Again, I said part of the truth. Just not the whole truth. If I did, I would have answered something to the tune of, “I want you forever, to be your man, your partner and I want to spill all my secrets to you.” Best if I didn’t overshare. She’d probably run away and never call again.

“What’s in that package you sent me? I’ve been uncharacteristically patient with you.”

“That you have.” I smirked, focusing on today. Whenever I focused on today, I won.

“Should I go get it?”

“Go ahead.”

Gen smiled shyly but moved quickly, the camera bouncing about as she took me for a ride around the hotel room. She settled back against a mountain of pillows in the bed and installed her tablet in this contraption she’d bought.

“Okay, open it.” I propped my phone against a stack of books I’d settled on my bed.

Gen ripped open the package with childlike delight. Then the innocent glee morphed into giddy lust as she realized what I had sent.

“Oh... I... I’ve never bought one of these.”

“When you pleasure yourself, do you do it fast, just chasing that orgasm, or do you take your time with yourself?” I asked. Her eyes widened, and I could tell I was spot-on.

“I...well, I kinda come fast. I like to think it’s my superpower.”

“And I love that superpower, I truly do, but sometimes I wish you could take it slower. Tonight’s not that night because we both have to go to sleep, but maybe, we can explore that more together. That G-spot massager is the beginning of that exploration.”

Gen’s chest rose and fell, her nipples clearly hardening under my heated gaze.

“So, we start tonight?”

“You have to go to sleep, though—” Whatever else I was going to say vanished as she shimmied her shorts and panties off.

“I do, but it could be fun to try it out?”

“Yeah, but you gotta clean it first. With the...” I almost swallowed my tongue when a view of her plump ass took over the camera. Resisting the urge to strip, I awaited her return.

“Back!” She scrambled into the spot in front of the tablet and settled against the pillows. I could see her lush legs slightly open and the evidence of her desire between her legs.

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“No, no, I want to come with your gift.”

I said a brief prayer for resilience and temperance. This was for her, not for me. I repeated that mantra as Gen spread her legs wide-open, showing me what I was missing.

“Okay, so today we don’t have much time, but whenever you and I were together, you would hold your breath. Try coming this time but breathing through it. Touch yourself as if I wasn’t here.”

She gaped at me, then hesitantly ran her hands down her belly between her legs. Her moan traveled on a direct flight from her hotel room straight to my dick. My erection strained inside my shorts, but I refused to touch myself...yet.

“I...okay, but I need more.”

“You need more?”

“Yeah, talk to me...”

“Fuck, Preciosa. I love it when you relax enough to take care of yourself like this. You’re doing such good work.”

“Oh, oh...” she breathed as her fingers did the work I couldn’t do.

“When you’re back home, I want you to pencil in this time for you. Every night, put on some candles, some music, prop up that tablet and give me a call if you need me, but this is for you. All you.”

The toy buzzer turned on, and with laser concentration Genevieve pleasured herself. I sat there, hard as a steel pole, showering her with praises as her orgasm approached her like a bandit in the night. When she shuddered in delicious release, I realized the image of her gorgeous brown skin glowing under the bedroom lights—her face, relaxed in pure ecstasy—would be ingrained in my brain forever.

As I attempted to settle into bed after a double jerk-off session that left me drained, I knew I didn’t want to be without Gen.

No fear, no healing path would remove the magnetism I felt for her. Opening up still seemed like a daunting process but the rewards would be plentiful if it all went well. After everything my family had gone through, I had learned to appreciate life and all its facets. It was why I tried so hard for balance, but what good was balance if I was not happy with it? Gen made me happy, having her in my life for good and for worse materialized as a dream worthy of reaching. A dream worthy of fighting for.

Which meant I had to make difficult decisions very soon.