32. Sara
32
SARA
W alter was ecstatic about the contracts and about my invite to the Hemmingvale ball. He made sure I knew that my attendance was a networking opportunity and not a fashion opportunity. I listened to his patronizing instructions about the proper way to handle myself at such events since my behavior reflected directly on the company. I let him talk with little protest, because my only aim for the day was to get through it with zero confrontation so I could focus on getting back to my apartment to not only scrub the absolute crap out of it before Jack got there, but also to work on how I planned to actually do the job Jack had signed the contracts for in the first place.
Pitching my idea to Walter was one thing, following through and delivering was another. I knew the reason Jack enlisted my help in the first place was to get to know me better, he’d been transparent about it the day he walked into the boardroom.
Regardless, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t take the whole thing seriously. Especially now that all eyes were on me in the office to make sure I delivered.
Above all, I wanted to help Jack. Since he mentioned the foundation, I couldn’t stop thinking about what other good things he was doing from within his company. The fact that I was a part of those good things made me want to deliver even more.
The thing is, Jack was starting to feel…familiar. In a way I never could have imagined. It’s crazy how I once regarded him as the last person who could tease me from the hard shell I’ve hidden behind for so long.
The person I’d come to know over the last few days felt like someone you kept close, someone you go back to time and again because that’s where you find peace. I didn’t realize it until I spent the whole day looking forward to getting out of the office, but I can’t wait to have him wrapped around me again. Not to mention, he’s the most generous sexual partner I’ve ever had, how could I not be drawn in by that?
The day passed quickly, and now I’m putting the final sparkling touches on my apartment. My body is showered and moisturized, and I’m in the middle of selecting the most scandalous underwear I own.
Everything is ready for Jack’s arrival, when Amber shows up at my door instead.
She enters my apartment in her usual way; stepping out of her shoes in the middle of the hallway, tossing her coat over the top of the bathroom door, leaving it on the floor when it slides off, then striding to the fridge to see if there’s any leftover wine.
I follow her into the kitchen in my silk dressing gown. “You do realize turning up at someone’s house without texting first is the most grotesque thing a person can do. ”
Amber makes a disappointed sigh when she doesn’t find any wine in the fridge. “You would’ve ignored me. I had no choice but to resort to the filthiest of tactics. Besides, you left work on time the last couple nights. What the hell is up with that?” She shrugs before eyeing me suspiciously and sniffing the air. “Wait, did you just spray perfume? And why is your makeup going out makeup and not regular house makeup?”
“I would never ignore you.” I pull the dressing gown tighter around my body. “And if you must know, it’s because I’m waiting for someone to…arrive. Which means you have to leave.” I point to the door.
She folds her arms over her chest, grinning deviously. “Precisely why I’m here. What’s going on with you and the Vandenberg dude? You guys fucking?”
I groan. Then crouch into a cupboard, and when I emerge, I do so with two very large wine glasses.
Amber claps her fingers together, smiling approvingly as I open a new bottle of wine from the rack. “Okay, spill. I want to know everything about the elusive J Vandenberg.”
Thank God for the wine.
“That’s the thing, Amber. To me, he’s not…J Vandenberg.” I pour two large glasses as I remember how Amber has no idea of the connection between the guy I met on the trails and J Vandenberg.
“Remember Midas, when you pointed him out to me, and I had no idea who he was?” I say, taking a seat before realizing she probably has no recollection due to the half dozen shots situation.
“Vaguely.”
“Well, I didn’t know who he was because he changed his name,” I continue, but she’s staring at me like I’ve presented her with an impossible calculus equation. “Never mind. The point is, he’s Jack. As in Jack from my childhood. As in swamp Jack. He’s the one I met on the trails.”
She places the wine glass to her lips, watching me as she takes long gulps, gray eyes bulging. She sets her glass down on the counter, licking her lips and signaling for an immediate refill.
“You’re telling me, you shared a tent with J Vandenberg?”
“No. Yes.” I shake my head while spritzing myself with more perfume. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. The whole time we were out there, he never told me who he was.” I set the bottle down and continue to sip wine. “Anyway, we cleared that whole thing up, including how he acted like a jerk at Midas, and now…well…” I toss my head back. “Ugh I don’t know what to tell you, put the damn pieces together yourself. Anyway, he’ll be here soon, so once again, you gotta go.” I point to the door.
She doesn’t move.
Instead, her hand rests against the side of her face while her mouth gapes open. “How does something like this even happen?”
I answer with another swig from my glass.
“And now he wants to strike a deal with SB, with you, like some million-dollar apology. Oh , this is huge.” Her French-manicured fingers tap against her temple. Then she gets this crazed look in her eye. “Wait, so you’re actually fucking J Vandenberg?”
I roll my eyes. “Not if you don’t leave, I’m not.”
She expels the most maniacal laugh I’ve ever heard come from another person as she kicks her legs. “She’s back, she’s back, she’s back!” She grabs my arms. “Oh, of course you couldn’t just bounce back with a normal dude, of course it had to be a freaking billionaire. I need to know the details, I need to know how you did it, where you did it…” Her smile wi dens. “I bet he has one of those huge, swinging dicks, you know how you can just tell with some guys?”
“Jesus, Amber!” I cry, before pressing my lips together and running my fingers through my hair. “I haven’t seen his entire dick yet. I mean, he’s definitely big…”
“What do you mean? Did you do it in the dark, lights out style or something?” She frowns. “It’s not like you to be shy. I thought you said you kept your kitty waxed?”
I roll my eyes. “I do keep my kitty waxed! The lights were on. He’s seen every part of me.” I grin. “It’s just, I haven’t exactly returned any of his favors yet.”
Amber cocks a deep, golden brow. “How many favors has he given you?”
I chew the side of my lip. “Three. One was even before work this morning…”
“Wait,” Amber says, her expression confused. “You’re telling me he got you off three times already? And you haven’t had sex, or at least returned the favor? Not once?”
I consider what she’s asking, then with a little guilt, I say, “Well, technically no. But I did touch him.” I grin. “He wanted me to feel how big he was, and Amber, let me tell you, he was huge, and hard. So hard…”
“God, that’s worse.” She’s groaning into her wine glass. “You left him with blue balls! Blue balls, Sara. That shit hurts. ”
I wave her off. “He probably took care of himself the second I left. What’s the big deal?”
Amber blows out her cheeks and moves to retrieve the wine bottle. “Because you can’t expect him to do all the work.” She takes another gulp of wine. “When’s he getting here? You’re aware you have to even the playing field tonight, right? Like really bang his brains out, you know?”
I laugh as my mind wanders to the scandalous underwear I have in mind for later. “Don’t worry, I fully plan on getting to know his dick better tonight.”
She sets her glass down and sighs. “I’m serious, you don’t want him thinking it’s a one-sided thing.”
“What do you mean?” I ask cautiously.
She shrugs. “I don’t know, people probably use him all the time. For money and stuff.”
I take a long sip of my wine, draining the glass. “He doesn’t think I’m using him for money,” I say before my mind wanders to the busted Jeep he paid for, and then the fact that when we first met, that’s exactly what he thought my intentions were. He didn’t still think that, right? No, he’d set the record straight. We moved on from that. He knows I’m not full of shit.
“And stuff .” Amber pouts at me at the same moment Jack texts that he’s outside and will be up in five minutes once he’s done with a phone call.
“Shit, he’s here,” I whisper.
“Don’t worry, I’m going,” Amber calls. “Not standing in your way of getting laid after all this time.” Then, she claps for every word, “Bang-His-Brains-Out.”
I leap into action, scurrying to my bedroom. “Stay! Finish the wine. He’s not coming up anymore.”
Amber mumbles something from the other room, while I roam through my underwear drawer like a crazy person because I’ve decided not to change into scandalous underwear after all. No, because after Amber’s pep talk, that kind of underwear just isn’t going to work.
I don’t need scandalous underwear for what I have planned for Jack tonight. I need immoral underwear.
I need the set you buy just to have, the one that’s so outrageously slutty, you never actually wear because your pussy lips might escape any second, and the tiny strings of material cut into your tits like barbed wire. Yes, I needed that set. Three orgasms without returning the favor. What the hell was I thinking?
“Hellllloo!? I said, what do you mean he’s not coming up?” Amber yells.
“I mean I changed my mind,” I say as I slip into the lacey red set, noting how the transparent, strappy bra leaves zero to the imagination and how the panties aren’t really panties because they are one hundred percent crotchless. Then, I pull Jack’s sweater from the trails over the top because I decide it’s the perfect cover up, and I want to see his face when he sees me wearing it.
I slip on a pair of silver ankle strap heels with a little platform, and when I turn around, Amber is leaning against my open bedroom door.
“You’re being careful, aren’t you?”
I roll my eyes. “You know I’m on birth control.” I try to move past her, but she steps in my way.
“No, I mean you’re being careful not to replace your addiction with staying at home and being sad, with your addiction to this new guy, right?” She raises an eyebrow.
I sigh. “That’s not what I’m doing. I’m staying close to things that make me feel good.” I step around her. “Trust me, I’m taking it slow. What happened to bang his brains out?”
She shrugs, striding to retrieve the rest of the wine. “Nothing, you have my blessing.” She holds up her glass, making a cheers gesture. “And, what do you mean you changed your mind?”
I smooth down my hair as I head for the main door.
“I mean, he’s not coming up. But I’m going down there.”