Chapter Fourteen
The moment the words come out of the kid’s mouth I want to put my fist through his face. Then I see the look on Holly’s face and I want to tear him apart piece by piece. Settling for sending the kid face first into the floor wasn’t nearly satisfying. Until then, I would have called the evening one of the best I’ve had in months. Holly clinging to me in the elevator made my cock hard enough it hurt. Yet, it was worth it to have her in my arms. Damn, she felt good against me. Then the fucking kid’s words brought me back to earth with a crash, reinforcing all the reasons why I originally believed she isn’t for me.
Over the next week, I try hard to go back to normal. Every night I go out, telling myself this is the night my cock will get hard again for a woman other than Holly, only it doesn’t. Frustration has me tense, it’s only been three weeks and she’s driving me to drink.
Every night I take home the woman I’ve called, then head to the cigar bar, sipping on scotch, and brooding over Holly. It doesn’t help I’ve managed to pick up four new clients. For the first time, work isn’t giving me the refuge I need. Once a week, I have lunch with Amelia, the whole time she chatters about Holly—who has now become her best friend somehow.
It should but doesn’t help Holly is like a ghost in the condo. Except for the morning I rarely see her, even if I can hear her in her room. Tomorrow is Sunday and the prospect of being in the condo with her all day has me wondering where the hell I can hide out. My cell rings, it’s Amelia, “Hello, brother dear! I’m proposing a movie day tomorrow. The Godfather trilogy it is, I’ve got the DVDs. I told Holly, she made all these noises about not wanting to intrude. Of course, I told her that was nonsense and she would be joining us. See you tomorrow at noon. Holly will make us lunch then we’ll start in on the movies and yummy lasagna will be made for dinner.”
Before I know it, she’s hung up. Fuck! What the hell is Amelia doing to me? My favorite dish is lasagna and Amelia knows that. An entire day with Holly, fighting to keep my cock down, with my sister there.
My work phone goes off, the caller is an important client. Finally, my focus is on work instead of Holly.
****
I wake up without an alarm on my lone day off. This is also the one day I don’t work out. It’s a little after eight. Not surprising, since I hadn’t been able to fall asleep until late last night. Coming home around midnight, I was half way down the hall when I heard the noise and went still as a statue. Holly was using a vibrator, the one I told myself I hadn’t seen her pack. My cock went hard then my knees weak as I heard her moaning and gasping. My legs wouldn’t move until her final gasp told me she had hit her orgasm. I pushed away from the wall and went into my room, careful to close the door without a sound. Then I made it to my bathroom and proceeded to jerk off until I came to the memory of Holly’s moans. It isn’t the first time I’ve done it. I know it won’t be the last.
Dressed in jeans and a plain white tee shirt, I leave my room to make myself some breakfast. I walk into the living room to see Holly in the kitchen, humming along with the radio she liked to listen to. She’s scrambling eggs in a bowl. When she sees me, she smiles, and fuck, I go still at the punch to my chest. With the shades wide open, the light reaches her showing off her glowing hair and bright sparkling eyes. In jeans and a black tee shirt with red lips on the front, she looks good.
“Good morning, I’m about to make myself an omelet would you like one?” She’s relaxed and happy. It’s hard not to stare.
“Depends, what kind of omelet are you making?”
She shrugs, “Mine will be goat cheese and spinach. Yours can be that or whatever we have in the fridge.”
“What you’re having sounds good to me, thanks.”
The Wall Street Journal is waiting at the dining table. I’m reading when she brings a plate over to the table and cup of coffee. I notice it’s only my plate though. “Go get your plate and sit down.”
“Such a sweet invitation. I will, thank you.”
I ignore her reply and dig into the omelet. She brings over her own plate and coffee. We eat without talking. When she’s done, she takes her plate into the kitchen. I hear her rinse it off then her cleaning up. Only five minutes later, I hear the door to her room close. Fuck, the cherry scent that belongs to her lingers after she is gone.
Done with my omelet and paper, I rinse my own plate and put it into the dishwasher. I dump the paper into the recycling bin. Then wonder what the hell I’m going to do until noon. Normally, I read up on case judgements, only I know I won’t be able to focus today. So I catch up on the things on my recorded cable box.
A little after eleven, Holly comes out of her room and heads straight to the kitchen. I can hear her prepping lunch. It isn’t long before heavenly smells fill the living room, hell, she’s making mushroom risotto. Risotto is a favorite of mine.
Amelia does her usual knocking as she unlocks the front door. “Hey guys! Holly, it smells divine in here. What are you making?”
“Mushroom risotto and a spinach and romaine salad with the choice of a few dressings. The bowl you’re holding is honey Dijon dressing, the other dressing is balsamic vinaigrette. I’ll let everyone dish up what they want. Ethan, lunch is ready.”
Knowing I’m going to need it, I open a bottle of wine. “Holly, did you want a glass?”
“No, thank you. I’m fine with water.”
Turning, I find Amelia already holding out a wine glass with a smile. I fill her glass and my own. Her salad isn’t just romaine leaves and spinach, there are cut up boiled eggs, red peppers and cucumbers. In small bowls beside it are croutons and fried onions. They look good and I add both then top it off with the honey Dijon, carefully so it wouldn’t get into the risotto.
Amelia is on the left of me, Holly on the right as I sit down. I see Amelia handing over a folded sheet of paper to Holly. “These are the best schools online. I put them down in order of the best at the top. If you’ll notice, some of them are real state universities who have gone completely online for some degrees. Penn State is online and top rated for the last two years, they seem expensive but they are only a few dollars more than the University of Chicago. Also, hello, it’s Penn State.”
I’m glad to hear Holly wants to go back to school. “I didn’t know they went online. They’re worth every penny when it comes to an employer looking at degrees.”
Holly looks embarrassed. “I’ll look everything over later. I know I have a little time until the summer semester starts. I’m really trying to get a plan in order first, you know, work out my budget first. My expenses will be few, COBRA being the biggest part of it. While I’ve priced out some other plans, they aren’t as good.”
“Add your bill for the COBRA to my expenses.” I tell her. “This is excellent risotto. Where did you learn to cook?”
“I’ll take care of the COBRA, I didn’t mean to complain. My mom, she made all of us kids help in the kitchen so we could learn to take care of ourselves. She enjoys cooking and with all of the places we’ve been, she would learn to cook like the locals.”
“I paid for Cora’s insurance, I’ll pay for yours too. I’m glad to hear you’re thinking of going back to school. Online is a good way to go. You can go at your own pace and you’ll also be able to work around your current duties.”