Hailee
I’m having a better time than I expected. Maybe it’s because my expectations were so low when I first stepped off the elevator. I’ve had four delicious glasses of champagne, and everybody is way more friendly than I anticipated.
How could they not be? We all look so damn good, and the drinks are free. I guess that’s probably not much of a pro to all these rich people, but an open bar is a big deal to me.
Alex has gotten on my nerves more than anything else about this event. Who does he think he is to act like he owns me? We arrived together, sure. But I don’t think I’d be mortally offended if I saw him talking to three women.
Okay, maybe it would bother me a little. Still, we’re under no obligation to act faithful to each other.
If he wants me to act that way, he could’ve kept his hand on my thigh a little longer in the car.
Directed his fingers inward on his own without me moving my leg towards him. I’m not his and he’s not mine, and we both know it. We’re strangers who have now been forced to live together.
I know this can’t be easy for him. But if I can’t so much as talk to other guys without bothering him, it looks like this next month is going to be another dry one. I’m not sure I can deal with the thought of that right now. I whisk another glass of champagne off a platter carried by a cute waiter instead of whisking the waiter to a stairwell.
I look around the room, and it doesn’t take long for my eyes to freeze.
Speaking of men… I’m not surprised when I see him here, but the anger that simmers my insides needs some dousing. I down half my champagne, but I fear it may be an accelerant in this situation.
Ford isn’t as good-looking as the last time I saw him. He looks like he’s aged three years since this winter. I think it’s the ten or so pounds he put on. Looking at him now, I don’t know what I saw in him.
Funny how that is. Once you see a man’s true colors, whatever little bit of handsomeness he had falls right the fuck away. Ford’s cheeks aren’t as defined anymore. They have the puffy, bloated look of a drinker. His hair is still thick, but it’s retreated a half inch back. His widow’s peaks are pore-less and shine under the bright lights above.
He sees me, and I look to find Alex. I don’t want him seeing me talk to another man right off the bat. Especially one he’ll be able to tell I have a history with.
“Well, well, well.” Ford’s already in front of me, and I stand my ground. “How come I never saw you this dressed up?”
“Because you never bought me a Versace dress.”
Ford recoils from my first uppercut. He must’ve thought I was the plus one for one of my fancier friends tonight. Sophia, that is. She gets free plates to these events every now and then, being in the art world.
Ford didn’t guess I had a date. Which… I only kind of do. But when God gives me ammunition to fire at my exes, I’m not one to let the bullets fall in the mud. Breakups are the trenches of the dating world, and trench warfare is to be expected.
“I unfollowed your socials. I guess I wouldn’t know who the lucky man is.” Ford looks left and right as if this lucky man might be watching.
“Ford… I blocked you. You kept commenting on my photos. No hard feelings. I thought it was doing you a favor.”
“That’s not how I remember it.”
“That’s fine, Ford. Great. I’m going to be forward right now. I really have nothing to say to you.”
“I have something to say to you.” He grins, and my skin goes cold with anticipation about whatever shitty thing he’s going to say.
“I ran into your cute friend the other day.”
“Sophia told me.”
“Did she?”
“Yeah. I heard you followed her for a solid mile.”
Ford frowns. “ That’s what she told you?”
“What are you going to try and tell me, that she followed you ?”
Ford shakes his head. “Forget it. Never mind.” He grits his teeth like he knows something bad. I should just let him walk away. I already know what he’s trying to insinuate, and I know that it’s bullshit.
Sophia would never sleep with an ex of mine. Or a guy as boring as Ford. Then again, didn’t she show up singing his praises after they ran into each other?
Suddenly I’m not so sure. I feel my forehead flush. I can picture the little beads of sweat building. I haven’t been friends with Sophia very long in the grand scheme of things. Maybe she would…
“She’s not as good of a friend as you thought. Sorry,” says Ford.
“You lied to me when I was your girlfriend. Why do you think I’d believe you’re telling the truth when I’m your ex?”
“She has a mole. Right…” Ford holds out his index finger and slowly guides it like an incoming missile to the inside of his thigh. “Here.”
I freeze. I don’t think he’s lying about that. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen her change plenty of times, and I do have a slight memory of a mole. But I shouldn’t buy it. For all I know, he saw it in a swimsuit picture on her Instagram.
“Anyway, I thought I’d be doing you a favor. You know. Best to know who your friends really are.”
“Walk away.”
He holds up his hands like he’s the innocent one here. Like it was never his intention to come over here to piss me off.
I don’t even believe him. I know he’s manipulative. But to lie about something that implicates another person… How low can you go?
Sophia has a reputation, too. One that is arguably more important than Ford’s. If she gets a bad rap, she can’t be saved by Daddy and plopped down safe and sound at a different bank branch.
I despise this man, and just when I think he’s getting away, I feel my skin cool. There’s a little draft on my shoulders as someone comes up quickly behind me. I see Ford’s eyes gaze over my shoulder. They fill with worry. Bewilderment.
“What’s going on here?” Alex doesn’t ask but demands. I feel like we’re two students getting caught by the teacher. Luckily, I’m not the one in the wrong here. Besides, as it turns out, I’m the teacher’s pet.
“My ex was just leaving. But not until after making an ass of himself.”
“You used to date Chester Ford?”
“That’s right, buddy. Been there first,” Ford says.
Alex takes a quick step forward like he’s going to hit him.
“Alex!” I yell under my breath, not wanting to cause a scene.
He grabs Ford by the throat with one hand and pulls his head closer to his own with his other. Ford is frozen. He stares at the ceiling with the wide, terrified eyes of prey caught by predator. He’s a stumbling wildebeest in the mouth of a crocodile.
No, not a wildebeest. Weaker.
A squirrel in the mouth of a wolf. The sight is entertaining. Big tough guy Ford was always one to boast of being able to fight. I guess that was just compensating. Alex is whispering something in his ear that I can’t hear. He finishes and lets Ford go roughly, knocking him back a foot.
Ford doesn’t stick around to try and play it cool. He ducks his head and practically jogs away.
Alex turns to me. “You dated that snail?” He levels the question like I committed some kind of crime.
I’m already ashamed of it. I don’t need Alex Blackwell insulting me for it. “Yeah. I did. And I paid the price. You really don’t have social media, do you? You never knew that?”
Alex shakes his head. “How long did you date?”
“Not long. A few months. But I take it you two have a history?”
“His father and me. Unfortunately, that history has carried over. What did he say to upset you? Did he insult you?” Alex’s blue eyes flame like burners. It looks like he has blood lust. If I told him yes, he’d find Ford again, and this time he’d stick a cocktail skewer through his eye.
“No. He was just making shit up about himself. What did you whisper in his ear?”
“What’s it matter? That’s twice now you’ve talked to boys.”
“I’m not under your roof.”
“The rules extend. For the next several weeks you’re under my protection. That’s what matters.”
“So what? I’m only allowed to talk to girls?” I say this a little too aggressively. My nerves are shot from my conversation with Ford. “I’m a human with needs. I’m not going to become a nun for you, Alex.” I immediately know I made a mistake.
Alex’s blue eyes bore into me. His anger is shifting from Ford to me. But there’s something about that danger that sets me alight. My breaths become shallow.
Alex takes my hand hard and walks with me trailing behind him.
“Where are we going?” I ask, but he doesn’t respond. His silence makes me woozy. I’ve been close before but this time I’m certain—I’m in trouble.
We leave the ballroom and wind down the hall until the sound of chatter is a faint white noise. He starts trying doorknobs. “Alex?” I ask again, but he’s still quiet.
The third door opens. He flicks on a light. It’s a broom closet. Carpeted and clean, but in the back, there is literally a broom along with a stack of cleaning supplies.
He drags me in, throws the door closed and sticks the broom stick through the handle so it’s locked.
In this tiny space we’re forced chest to chest. He towers over me, and I look up at him, helpless.
“Fine,” he says, his voice heavy. Angry. “You have needs and I have my word to uphold. But…” He slips his hand onto my bare crotch. His fingers are warm on my labia. “We can find a solution to both.”
I gasp as he presses his fingers inside me. His hot breath is like a feather on my neck. My clavicle.
He didn’t even ask. He didn’t have to. He knows how much I ache for it.
I whimper as he works his fingers harder. A minute passes. Maybe two. He presses his palm firmly against my clit. “Rub,” he commands.
I listen and start to grind against his hand in little circles. It’s demeaning. Pathetic. Yet I tremble from the pleasure of it.
It’s all too much. I burn for a release. I’m afraid I’m going to start screaming and I put my mouth on the lapel of Alex’s tux and bite down.
I keep grinding and go harder when the world starts to whirl. The orgasm explodes out of me. I didn’t even feel it build. It blew up. A fuse reaching gunpowder. It’s quick but violent and I quiver on Alex’s hand, my eyes closed, his thousand-dollar jacket still in my mouth. I stay like that for several seconds until the aftershocks pass. He gently removes his fingers. Brings them to my lips. I take my mouth off his tux and suck them clean.
When I’m done, he moves them to my chin. “That’s a good girl. Are you going to behave better?”
I stare up into his eyes. Twin glacial lakes. Turquoise. “Yes.”
He looks at the stain of my spit on his jacket. “Good.” He flicks at it, but of course it won’t come out. And that’s that. He removes the broom handle and we both leave the little closet.
The whole episode was embarrassingly quick. I lasted three minutes. Maybe four before I became a puddle. I feel owned. Like I can’t hide just how much power he has over me. Sexual and otherwise. I walk on his arm, my hand slightly hiding the dark fabric that I bit. Again, I’m being obedient without his asking.
There’s no one in the hall to see that we had wandered off alone together and instead of returning to the ballroom we go straight to the elevators. I gulp as we descend.
That incident is not going to make it easier to behave. If anything, I feel like I’ve just been tossed out of the frying pan and into the fire.