Advertising for Love (10 page)

Aisha watched her leave before turning back to Greg. He smiled at her apologetically. “I’m sorry if that was awkward for you. Occupational haz—”

“Excuse me.” Aisha got up from her chair. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

She burst into the stall and closed the door behind her. Her hands shook, and she could feel the tears threatening to rise to the surface.
Calm down. You know he’s an escort
. “A prostitute,” Tanya had said.
It’s just his job
, she rationalized to herself.
It has nothing to do with you. What we have is personal. Special.
She took several deep breaths to clear her head. She then opened the stall door and ran into Heather.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Heather’s blue eyes stared intensely into hers. Aisha said nothing, but Heather didn’t seem to notice. “How much does he charge for a casual coffee thing?” Aisha didn’t respond. “I mean, I never thought about doing that, but that is so perfect.” Heather smiled. “A quickie in the middle of the day. I mean, it’s got to be cheaper than an evening date, but then again, the pleasure of his company for an entire evening is so…” She sucked her breath between her teeth. “Mmm,” she said softly. “Hey.” She looked around the empty bathroom before leaning into Aisha. “Did he find your G-spot? I thought that it was just a myth. You know, something that those fashion magazines talk about to sell copies, but when Greg put his fingers inside of me,”—her eyes glazed over at the memory—“at first, I was like, ‘okay, this is nice,’ but he kept rubbing around in there until he found it…” Her voice trailed off, and she shuddered. Her eyes flashed. “I swear I screamed so hard when I came that I startled the neighbors.”

Aisha angrily pushed past her and stormed out of the bathroom. She wiped away the tears that threatened to fall as she blew past Greg and headed for the front door.

“Hey, wait, Aisha,” he called after her. She ignored him, pulled open the door and almost ran into several people on the crowded sidewalk. Greg grabbed her arm and turned her around. “What’s the matter? What happened?”

“I can’t do this!”

“What?”

“My God! Have you fucked half the women in Chicago?” She could see the pain on his face; it made her feel good. “You’re nothing but a prostitute! I have no idea what I was thinking. Get away from me.” She tore her arm out of his grasp and pushed her way down the sidewalk. The tears made it difficult for her to see where she was going, and she stumbled through the crowd on the way back to her office.

Chapter Eleven

“You were right.” Aisha balanced the phone on her ear as she lay on her side in the bed. “I should have listened to you.”

“I didn’t want to be right, girl.” Tanya’s voice sounded sympathetic. “And you know you should have punched that bitch in the face, right?”

“For what? She was talking the truth.”

“Just on general principle.” Tanya chuckled. “And it might have made you feel a little bit better.” Aisha said nothing. “Did he try to call you?”

“Yeah, he’s been blowing up my phone. Calls and texts. I’ve been ignoring him.”
 

“Good, it’s better this way.”

“I know, but…” Aisha couldn’t finish her sentence.

“But what?”

“But…” she paused again, “…I miss him. I was really starting to care for him.”

“I know. But you’ll find someone else.”

“When?”

“Eventually.”

“And where, Tanya?” Aisha grabbed the phone and rolled over onto her back. She readjusted her bathrobe. “You were right about me. I’m a workaholic loser with no life. I date loser men, and the one I found that I actually seriously fell for I had to buy. What does that say about me?”

“Oh, you’re not a loser. I was just teasing you before. A workaholic? Yes. But look, your hard work is about to pay off in a big-ass promotion that carries with it some serious cash. And then you’ll be so busy with work you won’t even have time to think about Greg.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll focus on my career. That’s what I do best anyway. Maybe this time next year I’ll be promoted to CEO.”

“Girl, yes. Then can’t nobody touch you. You would be so fierce. Just don’t forget the little people who helped you become the woman you are today.”

“I could never, Tanya. I know you’ve always had my back. Thanks.”

“No problem. That’s what friends are for.”

A few days later, as Aisha sat at her desk staring at her blank computer screen, Phil stuck his head into her office. “Knock knock.”

She looked up. “What’s up, Phil?”

He entered, his hands in his pockets. His pale blue eyes quickly assessed Aisha’s outfit, and she could see a smirk beginning to form. “I, uh, just wanted to say that you were stiff competition, but I’m really looking forward to working closely with you in the future.”

Aisha stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” The smirk made its full appearance. “I got Vicki’s job. I really hope there’s no hard feelings. Because I know if we work together, this upcoming quarter can be very lucrative for the both of us.”

All of the light and the sounds in the room disappeared, and Aisha’s mouth went dry. Her heart pounded in her chest, and the only thing she could focus on was Phil’s mouth—his thin lips fashioned into a sneer and the occasional flash of yellowed teeth. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear any sound beyond the whoosh of blood in her ears.

“…told me this morning…sure he informed you…tell you this way…forward to working together…”

As though under someone else’s control, Aisha got up from her desk, pushed past Phil and walked down the hall to her boss’s office. Without knocking, she opened Rob’s door and entered. He was on the phone. She barely noticed.

“You gave the job to fucking Phil?”

Rob simply stared at her, his eyes wide. “I’ll call you back,” he mumbled quickly into the phone and hung up. “Aisha, sit down, please.”

“No! You gave the job to fucking Phil? When the hell were you going to tell me?”

“Aisha!” Rob scurried from behind his desk and closed the door to his office. “Keep your voice down, please.”

“No! I can’t believe this shit! I brought in the most clients last year. Hansen wouldn’t have done half as well as it did in this economy without me. Edward even acknowledged me at the damn gala, and you promote fucking Phil?” Aisha felt like she was going to pass out. Her hands shook, and the entire room became bathed in red.

“We promoted the person we thought would be best for the position,” Rob said calmly. His deeply lined face betrayed no emotion. “Now you need to calm down, Aisha, and go back to your office.”

“No! I will not calm down! This is some bullshit! You can take my office and shove it up your ass. I quit!” She threw the door open so hard it slammed up against the wall. Her coworkers loitered in the hall as Aisha breezed past them. She stormed into her office, grabbed her purse from the coat rack, and went back toward the door. Before leaving, she paused for a moment, returned to her desk and picked up her nephew’s paperweight. She then strode back into the hallway, slammed her office door behind her as hard as she could and headed toward the elevators.

Chapter Twelve

By the time she got home, she had gone through all of the tissues she had stuffed in her purse.

Everything she had worked for was gone. The company she had dedicated years of her life to had screwed her over, and she now had nothing. These thoughts raced through her mind as she lay face down on her bed. Her head hurt, her heart hurt, and she knew that after some time, her wallet was going to hurt too. She figured it wouldn’t be long before she lost her condo and her car and had to file for bankruptcy. She didn’t know what she was going to do. And she didn’t have the energy to think about it or to even care.
 

She wanted to call Tanya and tell her, but the mere act of pulling her phone out of her purse seemed overwhelming. So she continued to lay there, fully dressed, still wearing her heels, her makeup smearing the pillowcase. Finally, she drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the spectacle of the day. Aisha had no idea how long she slept, but the muffled ring of her cell phone awakened her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, getting mascara on her fingers, before stumbling over to her purse and taking out her phone. She answered it without paying attention to who was calling.

“Hello?” She croaked with a voice still hoarse from the crying.

“Aisha, what’s wrong?”

Her heart thudded in her chest at the concern in his voice. “Greg?” Aisha felt a flood of emotion—anger, sadness, affection, relief. “I didn’t get the promotion, and I quit my job.” She couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. “I can’t believe they gave it to Phil. Fucking smarmy-ass perverted Phil whose numbers paled in comparison to mine. They gave him
my
job. And then they didn’t even have the nerve to tell me I got passed over for that asshole, and I had to hear it from that mother fucker’s mouth as he stood there smirking at me, enjoying it and thinking he’s going to have a lot of fun being my boss and making my life miserable and uncomfortable. And Mandy told me the reason Vicki left was because of some kind of ‘good old boys’ club, but I didn’t listen to her. She tried to tell me. I should have listened. And so I told the vice president off. I went into his office and told him off and quit and walked out.” She stopped talking and the words were replaced by half sobs. She covered her mouth with her hand, but she couldn’t stop the tears.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
 

Aisha hugged Greg as soon as she opened the door. His strong arms surrounded her, and she buried her head in his chest. He led her to the couch and held her as she sobbed, silently stroking her hair and rubbing her back. After several minutes, Aisha forced herself to calm down. She took a few deep breaths and looked into his warm brown eyes. “I’m sorry I got your shirt all wet.”

He chuckled. She missed that sound desperately. “It’s okay. It’ll dry.” He coaxed her to lean her head back on his shoulder. Several more minutes passed in silence. Greg finally spoke. “You did the right thing.”

“Really?” Aisha sat up. “Do you really think so? Or did I just make the most terrible mistake of my life?”

He gripped her hand. “No, you absolutely did the right thing. How can you work for those assholes after this? And I sure don’t want you reporting to Phil. I wanted to kill that mother fucker the night of the gala for the way he was looking at you.” Aisha couldn’t help smiling. Greg stroked the side of her face. “You’ll get another job. Don’t worry.”

She nodded slightly and turned away, suddenly overcome with guilt. “I’m so sorry, baby, for what I said to you. I didn’t mean to call you a prostitute. It was bitchy and cruel, and I feel terrible about it.”

“Yeah, it was pretty bitchy.” His face was serious, but she could see a smile dancing at the corner of his mouth. “You weren’t being fair to me. You knew from the beginning what I did for a living. I never hid anything from you.”

She exhaled. “You’re right. It was so stupid to go off on you. I know your job is to entertain women. I get it, and I’m not going to let it stand between us. I care about you so much and want to be with you.”

A small frown formed between his eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“I saw Heather go into the bathroom after you did. Did she say something to you?” Remembering the conversation, the words stuck in her throat, so she simply nodded. “What was it?”

“S-she,”—Aisha took a deep breath—“she said something to me about your technique in the bedroom. And how much she enjoyed it. I…I couldn’t handle it.” Fresh tears slid down her cheeks.

“Oh, baby.” Greg wiped them away with his thumb. “Don’t get upset about that. Even though I did things with other women that I did with you, what we have together is special. I care about you, and that makes it more intimate.” His eyes stared deeply into hers. “I never even think about those other women when I’m with you. Ever. When we’re together, I make love to you. With those other women, it was just sex. A job. With you, it’s different.”

“Oh, Greg.” She kissed him, and the slow kisses grew more hungry. “I missed you so much.” Her heart melted and her desire for him ignited instantly. She reached down to Greg’s lap. The feeling of his hard cock under her hands enticed her.

“I missed you too,” he whispered.

She groaned as Greg softly bit her neck. They made their way to the bedroom, groping, kissing and undressing all down the hall. By the time they reached the bed, they were both naked, and Aisha sighed when Greg slipped into the bed next to her.

As he kissed her, he ran his hand down the side of her body, stopping momentarily to cup her breast and rub his thumb over her nipple until it grew hard.

“So how many orgasms would you like to have?” Greg’s question tickled her ear.

“Actually,”—Aisha pulled back—“that’s a question I should be asking you.”

“What?”

She leaned into him, making sure to rub her breasts against him as she whispered, “How many orgasms do you want to have?” She wrapped his hard cock in her hand and stroked it from base to tip.