27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Jake
"Fuck!" Vi exclaimed.
I fell onto my chair. Vi fell on me. My cock, still half-hard, nestled against her ass and I groaned.
Vi's curse echoed in my mind as I slapped the button she had inadvertently pushed. Opaque glass protected us again, but the ghost of what I had seen through the glass left an impression in my mind. Lights were still in full office mode, all of them on, and the hallway stood in stark detail on my retinas.
No one had been there. We'd taken long enough most people had left work already, saving us from a critical faux pas.
It didn't help my heart, which had forgotten to do its job when I'd realized we were in full view of anyone passing by. It recovered with a heightened pace, and a quiet shout of panic inside.
We could have been caught. It was luck alone that prevented it.
"Do you think anyone saw us?" Vi got up from my lap and did quick work of buttoning her dress again.
I rearranged my trousers and buckled up my belt again. "No, but that was too fucking close for comfort."
Vi giggled. "Can you imagine what they would have seen? The shock on their faces?"
I clenched my jaw. All the elation I had felt from feeling Vi come around me got torn away. I couldn't focus on how losing control and subduing her had filled me with power and ecstasy, when we had almost been caught.
"Vi, that was dangerous."
"Didn't you enjoy it?"
"I did, all the way until the glass went see-through."
Now mostly put together again, she finished the look by tying a loose knot at her neck with the soft, thin fabric at her shoulders.
She looked down on me, still sitting on my chair. "That was an accident."
Her voice had lost most of the mirth it had held up to that point. My shoulders tensed up.
I stood and put my shirt back in my pants. I looked down at her now. "I know. But one with potentially terrible consequences."
"Would it be really that bad?" She crossed her arms. "I wouldn't choose it. Absolutely not ideal, but it would rip the bandage off if we're found out."
"No, Vi. No." I shook my head and clenched my teeth. "That's the worst way possible for your parents to find out. For Gabe. We're already breaking their trust by hiding this. The least we can do is tell them about us with our full chest."
"I don't want to be found out. Makes us look guilty and yeah, of course I know my family would be hurt we didn't tell them ourselves. I don't want to hurt them. Doesn't change the fact we're at the edge of having to decide what comes next. The longer we wait, the worse it's going to be, and higher the chances something like this will happen. Maybe this is the thing we need to overcome, and not a proper fight. Figure out when and how we're telling them. If you're ready to go there?"
Her gaze hardened. Her beautiful, warm brown eyes lost the spark always hiding behind them. The change poked into my bones, and a deep ache took hold of my chest. A dull knife twisted inside; I didn't remember it stabbing me, but it still echoed familiar and painful.
I gulped, trying to ignore the hurting organ throbbing behind my sternum. My body wanted to curl and make itself small, but it couldn't, and I resisted. The need to appease was strong, but even if I didn't have all the answers, I had learned enough to recognize this was older than the small argument between Vi and I.
My desk was still a mess, and I reorganized it— keyboard and mouse back to its place, papers stacked cleanly— maybe it would help clear up my thoughts.
Vi watched me, serious, but let me take my time.
I took a deep breath, in the hope it would loosen my vocal cords enough to speak again. When I did, my voice came out heavy and somewhat monotone.
"I want to be with you," I said. "Take this thing between us far— to the end. Take you out on dates, kiss you each morning before we start our work days, hell, come to work together. Sharing a car and listening to your audiobook."
The warmth in her eyes returned. The tension in her arms left.
I rubbed my hand over my mouth. "Of course we have to tell them, and soon. But I need to prepare for it. They're going to be hurt we hid this from them. If they disapprove of us, for whatever reason— to go on knowing we're going against their wishes freezes the blood in my veins."
"But you would stay with me?" She wrapped a hand over my arm.
I nodded, because the word refused to come out of my throat. "But losing your parents would cost me, Vi."
"You won't lose them!" she exclaimed, her tone earnest.
I pressed my lips together, fighting with the belief rooted in my marrow more than with her. The logical part of me might see she was right, but whatever fed my feelings wasn't so sure.
The rational voice in my head opened a memory folder and provided a quick answer. You've learned about this in therapy. It's called implicit knowledge and, when wrapped in trauma, it's hell to change .
All I could do was close my eyes and nod at Vi.
"We'll build up to it, okay?" Vi rubbed my arm. "As long as you want to tell them I'm your girlfriend and be true to your word, I can wait a bit longer."
My gaze whipped to her. She'd called me my love earlier, but that could have been a result of the heat of the moment. The girlfriend on her lips couldn't be explained away so easily.
A smirk curled her lips into a half-hidden grin. She shrugged. "We said we would hide this so we knew what to tell them. I know you asked before and I said I wanted to wait, but that's something we can tell them, right? If we both want to take this far, we might as well label it. So I changed my mind. It's the answer we wanted to have… if you like that."
The puzzle pieces inside me, big and heavy as boulders, slid into place quietly and smoothly like small, pretty marbles. Everything quieted; rational and wounded implicit parts alike. A peaceful feeling took over instead, and I sighed.
I smiled and, with hands on the soft curve of her waist, brought her close to me. "I very much like that. It's what I've always wanted, at the end of the day. To have it all— to be with you."
"Okay, then, boyfriend." She leaned on me and kissed me. "Let's go for dinner before the cleaning folk catch us and the rumor mill goes off anyway."
She took my hand and pulled me away. I grabbed my jacket and she took her purse, and we made for the door.
She gave me a flirty look, a hand on the handle. "We'll go for dinner now and marvel at being together some more. And next time we play this game at work, we'll do it far from any buttons that could get us caught by accident."
"Hands on the window is an option," I said. "Overlooking the city and far from the desk. Thoughts?"
She laughed. "I like that plan very much."
She opened the door and I chuckled, before we went out together, hands kept to ourselves.
Vi
Gabe was still on his trip, so I picked up a few things from home and went to stay with Jake. My parents knew I was seeing someone; they just didn't know it was Jake. Spending time away did not cause suspicion. Still, I looked forward to the day when we wouldn't have to sneak around. When they and everyone knew I was happy and Jake was a big part of that. Until then, I would take any chance I could to spend time with my brother's best friend.
We went to sleep late, for reasons I would flashback to for the rest of the day, I was sure. Better to think of what we did in the privacy of Jake's bedroom, than the adventure in his office. It had been amazing, but almost getting caught brought a sober feeling to it. I wouldn't have been able to look Ryan in the eye if he'd gotten a look at the spectacle of my own making.
But we hadn't been caught, and we were running late for work. Jake took a shower while I finished my makeup on the bathroom mirror. After checking my reflection one last time, I left my mascara tube next to the toothbrushes. A small sign of my presence in Jake's condo, and the kind of thing that made me feel like his girlfriend.
The idea put a big smile on my face.
"I'm going now!" I approached the glass shower and opened the door. "See you later in the office."
His hair stood on spikes from him rinsing it off, a darker shade than usual. He leaned down and gave me a wet kiss. "Maybe we'll meet at one of the flex offices later?"
"It might be risky. We'll text, okay?"
He nodded and closed the shower door. With no notice, his voice filled the bathroom.
My dear Vi You want my D
The ending notes for each verse were long and dramatic, echoing off the walls as if sung by an opera singer at a large stage.
I laughed and left him to his dramatics. Soon, purse and briefcase in my hand, I made it out of the condo.
I didn't bother locking the door. No one could access the floor without a fob or a code, and Jake would use his keys on the way out. I let it close behind me, and I marched into the hall and toward the elevator. Except Gabe's condo door opened in a fast swing, and I froze midway.
Lina came out of the condo with her purse hanging from her elbow. She startled when she saw me, her free hand flying to her heart.
"Vi! What?" Lina shook her head in confusion. "I didn't expect—"
Still frozen, I watched her connect the dots, her thoughts evident in a series of micro gestures— a fleeting frown, an eyebrow twitch. A measured blink.
She glanced at Jake's closed door behind me, then back at me. A slow grin took over her mouth.
"You're sleeping together!" Now both of her hands clutched together at her chest, and she did a small happy jump in place in her excitement.
A tiny spark of celebration flickered behind my breastbone, but I ignored it.
"Uhm… that's not…" My voice came out thin and I cleared my throat. "Funny story, what really happened is…"
"How long has this been going on? Violeta! This is amazing! How come I didn't know? Gabe didn't say anything!"
"I was just… A meeting…" I tried, the words still high-pitched. "What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were with Gabe!"
I stared at the elevator and willed it to come and opened its doors for us. Maybe if I pretended there was nothing of the matter…
Yeah, no. Lina was too smart for that, and I was too bad of a liar.
Lina gave me an incredulous look. "You're not pretending that coming out of Jake's condo first thing in the morning means nothing, are you?"
I let out a long-suffering sigh. "I'm not. Shall we talk on the way to the car?"
Lina locked the door to Gabe's condo. "I was happy to come stay here even when Gabe is away but, right now? I'm downright thrilled."
"You can't tell him about this."
She spinned to face me. "What? He doesn't know?"
I smirked. "You're the only one who knows."
Her mouth went slack. I laughed and looped my arm around hers.
"Lina, Jake and I didn't plan to share with anyone yet." I guided us to the elevator, where I pushed the call button. "In fact, Jake may panic when I tell him you know. I'm in shock myself, look."
I showed her my trembling hands.
"You can't tell anyone about us," I insisted.
With our agreement and each of our stories as they were, the sudden change could put an unwelcome strain on us. I didn't think this could trigger Jake into anything particularly alarming, but I could see it adding to his trepidation.
"How am I supposed to—" She frowned, her gaze a mix of confusion and amusement. "Wait. Start at the beginning. How long has this been going on?"
The elevator arrived, and we stepped into the car still arm-in-arm.
"Since the gala," I replied. "What parkade level are you in?"
"The gala?! That was a month ago!"
I nodded with as much irreverence as I could add to it. "Floor number?"
"Minus two. The fuck! You've been keeping it quiet this whole time?"
I nodded again, my eyes on the decreasing numbers on the LED screen. "Yep. And we want to keep it quiet for a bit longer, if you don't mind."
"Why? I mean, I'm going to do my best, just out of respect for you guys, but it would really help if I understood the reason."
I bit the inside of my lips. "There's the VP issue— it's not a good look on us if we got together as soon as we could. It may not be the same scandal as if we'd gotten together before he became a VP, but still. We don't want any suspicion on us that way."
"Okay… yeah. The owners' daughter and the man who's another son to the family and also a new VP— I can see a few eyebrows arching your way."
We got to Lina's floor and I came out of the elevator with her. I was parked on the floor below, but I needed to finish this conversation. We faced each other now in the small elevator lobby.
"But that's not even the main thing, is it?" Lina asked.
There was a certain tension on her lips, like she had a thousand thoughts she planned to keep back. It didn't take away from the patience softening her eyes.
She was shorter than I was, but I still felt like I looked up to her.
I crossed my arms and gazed at the polished concrete under our heels. "I wanted to make sure we could test the waters safely. Privately. If one of us made a mistake or wanted out, or if it fizzled out before we knew it… I wanted to lick my wounds in peace."
"I can't think of a single person in the family who would not want to hold you while you licked your wounds, Vi."
She was right, of course. Still, my stubborn streak had me lifting my chin in defiance.
I took strength out of the resolve carving knots into my bones. "I adore you, Lina. You're a fave, and also you were ready to marry Jake and I even before we got together. Remember lunch before the gala?"
Her face took on a more sheepish look. It took the fight out of me.
I put a hand on her arm. "I didn't want those kinds of expectations on us. To worry about what other people thought. I wanted all my attention on Jake— and all his attention on me."
"Okay, I can see that." She sighed. "I shouldn't push, really. Weirder things have happened."
I raised an eyebrow; that was a strange way to talk about it, but I didn't call it out.
I smiled. "I'm happy that if anyone caught us it was you. I finally have someone to squee with about how much I like Jake."
She laughed. "That might be a benefit to it, yes. I'm happy for you two."
"Thank you. I'm happy, too."