11. Diving In
Diving In
Nadine was on the step stool in her pantry, looking for the Madagascar vanilla.
Although she used it all the time, she hid it from herself constantly.
Was it behind the brown sugar? The cinnamon?
As she stepped down from the stool, she heard the creak of her pantry door closing, and then the snick of it locking.
“Why’d you lock the door?”
Zaire came close to her, smelling like wildflowers and juniper berries. Every spice in Nadine’s pantry didn’t smell nearly as delicious as Zaire smelled right then.
“You know why, beautiful. Come here.” Her short, green nails beckoned her closer, drawing Nadine in like a flashing green traffic light. Her feet were moving on command. She stood in front of the woman. They were nearly the same height, so she could do nothing but stare into her big, brown eyes.
“Do you want me?”
“I want you so badly,” Nadine breathed, her hands going to the back of Zaire’s neck. Her skin was so soft, so smooth. “So badly it hurts.”
“Show me where it hurts. I’ll kiss and make it better.”
Nadine fisted the hem of her sundress, lifting it to reveal that she was bare. She hadn’t worn panties just for this possible occasion. Her pussy was dripping and her arousal mixed with the smell of spices and Zaire.
Zaire dropped to her knees, her hands gripping the back of Nadine’s thighs. She pressed her face against Nadine’s pussy and inhaled, making her whole body shake.
“This should never hurt, baby. Never.”
Zaire’s tongue took its time, parting her swollen pussy lips, savoring the flavor.
The ultimate goal of her perusal being her even more swollen clit.
As soon as her tongue swiped against it, Nadine cried out.
She lifted her foot, placing it on the edge of a pantry shelf.
The only thing she could see was Zaire’s heart shaped part in her hair as she tasted her.
“More, Zen…please…I need more.”
Another swipe of her tongue and then another. And another. That fucking barbell piercing tapping her over and over until Nadine couldn’t take it anymore.
Zaire looked up, face covered in Nadine’s juices. “Hmm.. Cum for me, beautiful…cum all over me…”
Nadine held on to the shelves in the pantry for dear life.
“Fuck…fuck…fuuuuccccck!”
Nadine woke up, sweat drenched and her heart beating a mile a minute. She tapped the lamp on her nightstand and downed the glass of water that sat next to it.
This is crazy…I’m losing it. Clearly losing it.
She’d had the same dream, or some iteration of it for the past week.
At first, she thought it was a fluke. But they started the night after she and Zaire had the encounter in her pantry.
The dreams were becoming progressively dirtier, and Nadine knew it was her subconscious snitching on her.
She felt the edge of her nightgown, which was now damp from her pussy, and her clit ached to be touched.
Nadine felt terrible. Lusting after a girl old enough to be her…
well… niece? She couldn’t think about her being in the same age group as Alex. This was weird enough.
“Deanie? You ok?”
Eddie turned on the lamp on his nightstand and turned to face Nadine, who was now sitting up in bed, staring at the walls.
“Huh? Yeah. I am fine, babe. Go back to sleep.”
Eddie sat up, adjusting his pillows. “You’re lying. You’ve woken up every night for the past few days. Is it a nightmare? Worried about the merger, maybe?”
“No,” Nadine sighed. “I mean, I am worried about the merger, but that isn’t it. It’s…just really disturbing dreams.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Nadine’s eyes widened. “Hell no…I mean….no. It’s too embarrassing.”
Eddie gave Nadine a slight smirk. “It must have been a really nasty dream. Is it about the mayor? You know, ever since you met him at that fundraiser, I knew you had a thing for him.”
“First off, I do not have a crush on the mayor. I just said he was handsome. Secondly, what makes you think that it was a sex dream anyway?”
“Uhm, you have that look. You know, like you came. You’re glowing.”
Nadine felt her face. It was clearly flushed. “That’s sweat and I’m perimenopausal.”
Eddie rolled his eyes. “Deanie, you ain’t gotta lie. It’s nothing to be ashamed about. You know about my fantasies. Why can’t I know about yours?”
“Who said anything about shame? Or fantasies? I’m not talking about this with you…just…go to bed.”
Eddie sighed, frustrated. “Fine.” He roughly pulled the duvet over his shoulders and rolled over.
Nadine waited a few beats and turned off the lamp on her nightstand. An awkward silence now filled the bedroom. She sunk into the covers, willing her brain to chill for the rest of the night so she could face Zaire in the morning. She peered over to look at Eddie. He wasn’t asleep. She knew it.
“Are you going to therapy with me Friday?” she asked, softly.
“Do you want me to? Or are you going to not talk then either?”
The sting in Eddie’s voice made Nadine wince. “I promise I’ll be more forthcoming. It’s just…it’s hard sometimes to tell the truth.”
Eddie turned, facing Nadine. His eyes, barely visible via the soft moonlight in their room, were sympathetic. “The truth can set you free, Nadine.”
“That’s what Dr. Flournoy said.”
“She’s an expert. She would know.” Eddie leaned over to kiss Nadine’s shoulder. “I promise to be there if you promise to be open.”
Nadine nodded. “I will. I promise.”
“Good. Now please, get some sleep. You don’t want to be wired when the nanny comes.”
More like Horny.
“Right. Goodnight.”
Zaire’s first full week was ending. For the most part, it had gone smoothly. She’d done drop-off and pick up flawlessly. She shuttled EJ to karate and swim classes. She made cute snacks in the shape of animals. EJ was truly smitten with her. Nadine could say the same for herself.
Unless it was about EJ, Nadine tried to avoid Zaire as much as possible, staying holed up in her office, even when she wasn’t busy.
It was silly, but she didn’t know if she could handle being so close to Zaire.
One touch, one stare…she wasn’t sure what she’d do.
It was useless. Because Zaire found a way to just…
appear. If Nadine was in the kitchen to get a snack, Zaire was there too.
They ran into each other in the laundry room.
Zaire even refilled Nadine’s coffee cup, placing it on her desk when she wasn’t paying attention.
Ok, so that was actually quite thoughtful. That wasn’t part of her duties at all.
Nadine was on the call with her team, getting the rundown on the negotiations with DigiGo. Things were not going great. DigiCo insisted that their last quarter numbers were accurate, but Nadine wasn’t so sure. Something felt off. And she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
“Nadine, we’ve gone over the numbers with a fine-toothed comb,” sighed Mitchell. “What more do you want? We need to be moving forward before DigiCo pulls out altogether.”
Nadine pinched the bridge of her nose. “Mitchell, If I say something feels off, it feels off. I am trying to assess our risk here. We could be losing money, not gaining it. It’s like you want this to fail.”
Mitchell didn’t reply, instead decided to defer to Justin. “Back me up here, Justin. What do you think?”
Justin was a VP of marketing and social media.
He had nothing to do with numbers. Nadine knew why Mitchell called on him.
He just wanted another white guy to back him up.
Justin wiped his eyes under his glasses.
“I think that’s beyond my scope. So I am with Nadine on this.
Let’s just make sure things are square before we move forward. I trust her expertise.”
Nadine could see Mitchell literally fuming, seething through the screen. She couldn’t help but gloat a little. That little troll. No matter what he did, Mitchell could never knock her off her game.
Nadine turned to her assistant. “Any word on when the HVAC situation will be fixed, Devi?”
Devi sighed. “I hate to report that the situation is worse than expected. Three weeks may be turning into a month. Or two. There are some corroded pipes that’s an issue.
Then the county has to come inspect. It’s a whole thing, according to the building supervisor.
As a courtesy, I attached his report. I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear. ”
You’ve got to be kidding me. A month or two?
How the entire hell was she going to deal with working from home for two months…
near Zaire. Nadine’s head was pounding. She looked at the time.
It was way before lunchtime, but she could use a break.
“Thanks Devi. Actually, let’s table the rest of this discussion after the R&D meeting at 3 pm.
” Nadine logged off the computer and sighed.
“You ok?”
“Shit!” Nadine nearly jumped out her skin as she looked up and saw Zaire at her doorway. Today, she wore sweats slung low at her hips and a crop top with Whitney Houston on it. No matter what she wore, she couldn’t hide any of her curves. Deadly, deadly curves…
Zaire held up her hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just noticed that you looked stressed.”
“I am,” Nadine scratched her head. “A lot of things are not going as planned.”
“What do you do to relax?” asked Zaire.
Nadine frowned. “Other than baking? Read. Ok, that’s a lie, I haven’t read a full novel in years. Uhm, I used to swim in our pool every morning.” Nadine actually loved to swim. But lately, she hadn’t had time to even stick her toe in the pool.
“So let’s do it!”
“Uhm, do what?”
“Take a dip in your pool.”
Nadine’s eyes widened. “Uhm, I don’t have time to take a dip in the pool. I have a meeting in a few hours. My hair will get all jacked up. Besides, me? In a swimsuit right now? I don’t think so.”
“It’s just us. Trust me, your body is fine.”
Nadine watched as Zaire’s eyes traveled down the length of her body. I know I’m not crazy. She’s checking me out. Fucking hell…
“Do…do you even have a swimsuit?” stuttered Nadine.