Cutting Loose (27 page)

Sabrina knew there was no way on earth
she was going to allow Camille to steal this from her. Hell, Sabrina seriously
doubted Camille had any knowledge when it came time to think on her own at the
drop of a dime, let alone have any kind of originality in her work. Sabrina
laughed on the inside because she knew she had it in the bag.

 “This is going to be like stealing
candy from a baby,” Sabrina whispered to herself as she glided out of Camille’s
office and headed over to her own. There, she sat down at her desk and began
calling up every available resources she had. This was war and Camille was
going down.

Nassau, Bahamas was the perfect place
for the shoot and with the sunny weather in the forecast everything was looking
good. She didn’t waste any time booking models and flying everyone down to be a
part of what Sabrina considered was going to be a historic event. Well, not
really. But it was really special for her. She could not afford to let Camille
knock her down by coming up with the some lame-ass idea that had nothing to do
with fashion, or even the season for that matter.

She knew the photo shoot was going to be
long and grueling but she didn’t expect it to last so many long, exhausting
hours, where at the end of the day she was totally wiped out. But it was all worth
it once all of her brilliant ideas came together before her eyes as the
Caribbean scenery made for the perfect backdrop.

She hired Cassandra’s beau, Chad, to
bring some pieces form his spring collection to be featured in the coming issue
and it was spectacular. The clear ocean water, the sun, just everything about
the Bahamas was perfect, yet romantic. After about a week of shooting on the
beach, Sabrina changed locations to the city and took bits and pieces of
inspiration from local residents to create a scene that portrayed a
sophisticated woman loving life and living in the moment.

“This is going to be a nice feature,”
Sabrina said to Chad at the end of the shoot. “I can already see it now.”

Chad smiled. “Yes, I agree. I don’t
think anyone could put my work to such good use. And I think Cassandra will be
happy when she reads your next issue.”

Sabrina paused for a moment. It was hard
to be hearing that Cassandra was reading anything but Cosmo or some trashy
tabloid magazine.

Sabrina asked, “When did she start
reading the magazine? She told me she wasn’t into those kinds of magazines.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that was until I
convinced her. Plus, she likes seeing my stuff and knowing that she can get it
exclusively before anybody else does.”

“No wonder. Well, it’s about damn time.”

They both laughed.

Just as she promised, by the end of the
month, she had her layout completed and ready to present to Sean. She just knew
that whatever crap Camille came up with was going to be blown out of the water
and had no chance with Sabrina’s. So when she walked into the staff meeting
with her ideas, ready to pitch her brilliance to Sean, she was baffled to see
that Camille was looking too damn cheerful for someone who was about to
crushed. Or so she thought.

The table was filled with pleasant
faces, everyone was talking quietly until Sabrina introduced her layout to Sean
and the staff to deliberate over and after realizing that they had already her
Camille’s idea, she knew for certain that Camille had to have fucked up major,
as usual, and had no reason to be in the room in the first damn place.

Then out of nowhere, Sean stood up at
the head of the table and said to Sabrina, “You both worked very hard on your
features for the next issue and as I said, whoever came up with the best
layout, gets to go to print.” He held up Sabrina’s layout and said, “I love
your ideas about the beach, and the whole spring break idea with the twist of
the Caribbean entwined throughout. However, I was disappointed that you didn’t
take advantage of all the island colors and natural lighting you could have put
into your efforts. I am sad to say that this was by far the least creative work
you have ever contributed to this magazine. I’m sorry, but we have decided it
is best to go with Camille’s layout instead.”

Sabrina felt as if her heart had skipped
a beat. Or maybe even a couple beats. Nothing was making sense. How the hell
could this happen? They chose Camille’s idea over hers?

This is total bullshit!

Sabrina tried her best to conceal her
anger as she saw a creepy, satisfied smile crease Camille’s ugly face.

The bitch had the nerve to stand up and
try to apologize. “Sorry, but I told you it wasn’t going to—”

“Shut the hell up, Camille!” Sabrina
blasted, cutting her off. “Don’t say another word to me.”

Sean tried to squeeze in an apology as
well but she just threw him a look of disdain before she stomped out of the
room before she let her temper get the best of her. She needed to cool off.
Needed to go where she felt she could vent and cry her heart out. Anywhere was
just perfect, just as long as the aching she felt growing inside her chest
stopped; it was so unbearable and unreal.

 She got into her car and drove
somewhere. She had no absolute point of destination in mind until she arrived
at Brett’s work place. She ran inside, well not really, just walked really
fast. She walked to the back to Brett’s office and knocked on the door until it
swung open and Brett’s look of shock and concern made her feel awkward.

He was wearing his usual suit and tie
attire, but his hair was different from when she last saw him, as it was
slicked back and looked really good with his trimmed goatee.

Sabrina fought to hold the tears back
and failed miserably as she began sobbing.

Brett walked over to her and cupped her
face in his huge hands and asked, “Baby, what’s wrong? Did something happen to
you?”

She shook her head. “Not really,” she
said quietly. “I had a really fucked up day and I don’t want to be alone right
now. I’m sorry if I’m interrupting your work.”

“It’s okay. Actually, I was just
finishing up for the day and was just about to head home.” He sat her down in a
leather chair in front of his desk and asked, “Mind if I ask what happened?”

Sabrina rubbed her eyes. “It was
horrible.” She went on to explain what happened when she went to the meeting
after working her ass off on a project only to get slapped in the face by
Camille’s stupid idea that she didn’t bother to stick around to hear because
she knew it was all bullshit. And because she thought she deserved the feature
in the magazine, not Camille. The stupid bitch must have conjured some plan and
got Sean to feel bad for. Whatever she did, it worked.

“Well,” Brett said after she finished
explaining everything. “You win some and you lose some.”

“You’re so not helping.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

She looked into his green-eyed gaze and
knew he was trying his best and she was being all difficult. Then she drifted
back to her trip to the Bahamas and how relaxed he felt after the days when she
went back to her suite to relax or lounge on the patio, the warm, crisp air
blowing through her air; serenity at is best. Then an idea struck her.

I need to get the fuck away from Miami
for a while.

She smiled at Brett and asked, “Have you
ever been to the Bahamas before?”

“Nope. I’ve always wanted to though.
Why?”

“Well, I was thinking that since you
haven’t been, maybe we can take a trip down there, like a vocation or
something. I’m sick of Florida right now.”

He considered her words; she was
definitely serious and there was no talking her out of it. Before he could open
his mouth to decline his offer Sabrina cut him off.

“Don’t worry about expenses or whatever.
I’ll pay for it. And I won’t take no for an answer.”

Seeing that he wasn’t going to be able
to wriggle his way out of it, he smiled and asked, “When do we leave?”

 She grinned. “Just say the word.”

He returned her grin. “How about
tonight?”

When the plane touched down in Nassau,
Sabrina could tell that Brett enjoyed the first-class ride a little more than
she did. The island was beautiful, even though she had just been here, she felt
like it was her first time. After she and Brett got settled into their suite at
The Cove Atlantis hotel, they stood on the balcony that had a breath-taking
view of the turquoise waters and it felt like they were floating between sky
and sea. Inside the suite there was a king-size, lavishly decorated bed, two
high-definition plasma TVs hooked up to cable and DVD/CD player. The wet bar
was fully stocked with glassware and gourmet treats. The bathroom had marble-floor
and two granite vanities, a deep soaking tub, and separate frosted glass-tiled
enclosed shower with rainfall showerhead and plush bathrobes.

It wasn’t long before the relaxation
period started and they began taking full advantage of all the luxurious
treatment the hotel staff were treating them with a bunch of activities to keep
them busy. They went sightseeing, shopping in the local stores, and even
snorkeling and kayaking. Sabrina was never they type to like being near water
but since Brett was so into it, it sort of made her forget all about her fears
of drowning.

At the end of the day they relaxed on
their bed and cuddled all night. Sabrina was all too excited to get a full body
message from one of the masseuse but then she remembered the bet she made with
Brett and how she had been holding out on her end of the bargain for so long.
She decided it was finally time to treat him to a mind-blowing message that he
would never forget. So she waited for him to return from his golf game and had
everything set up. She could tell he was caught off guard by the astonished
look on his face.

Brett looked around at all the candles
scattered around the room. “What’s all this?”

Sabrina grabbed the Terrycloth towel off
of the bed and handed it to him. Then she said, “Throw this on and lay on the
bed.”

Looking confused, Brett half-smiled and
replied, “Okay.”

Moments later he was stripped down to a
towel as Sabrina told him and was lying on his stomach as Sabrina rubbed his
hard body with boy that smelled of Jasmine and lavender. She wasn’t a pro, but
she was definitely doing a great job mimicking the skills of a masseuse’s
techniques; she rubbed his neck, back and started all over. She knew the
message was supposed to be for him, but she was enjoying it more than she should
have.

“How does this feel, baby?” Sabrina
asked, rubbing the oil over his chiseled chest and maneuvering her hands down
to his ripped abs. She didn’t have to go any lower to know he was getting
excited from her touch.

 “It feels great. Way better than
professional.”

Sabrina smiled and kept on with her
work, even though she thought it was pretty damn ironic that as she listened to
the radio the song switched to Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body.”

Once she finished with his massage, she
couldn’t resist not to pull him into the giant tub, where she experienced one
helluva out of body experience and climaxed more times than she could count
with both hands.

 The next day they slept in mostly. By
the time Sabrina woke up around mid-morning Brett had ordered room service to
top off the morning. They went out on the balcony and ate with the warm breeze
and tropical scents flowing around.

After breakfast they lounged around and
cuddled between the cozy sheets. Sabrina adored the way she felt in Brett’s
arms. It was like she could block out the world and forget about all the
bullshit that had been going on. She didn’t even want to think about what was
going on at the magazine without someone to baby sit Camille. Hell, she was on
vacation and didn’t need the added stress. So she put it out of her mind and
let herself melt into Brett’s warm embrace and the rush that was spreading
through her body.

She hadn’t realized he was talking until
he asked, “What about you?”

“Huh? What about me?”

He maneuvered around to face her. He
said, “I was saying that I thought about having a bunch of kids running around
behind me. I’m approaching thirty and my mom keeps reminding me she wants more grandkids.
Do you ever think about having kids?”

Immediately, it was as if a bomb had
went off inside her head and images of her younger self began to overflow with
things of the past that she thought she once put behind her. And before she
knew it, tears were running down her cheeks at an uncontrollable rate.

Brett sat up and pulled her close. He had
a worried look on his face, as if he sensed something wrong.

“Was it about kids? I didn’t know it was
such a sensitive subject. We can talk about something else if you want.”

For a moment or so, Sabrina continued to
sob. She couldn’t believe after all these years how such a word or even mention
of kids could trigger a distant memory she once locked away.

It was as if he had struck a nerve and
she was reliving the past. Something she never wanted to, and up until this
moment, thought she would never have to. For a while she was scared to tell him
what was on her mind and why she was crying so hard like a big baby. Then she
looked in to his soft green-eyed gaze and knew no matter what she told him, he
would understand and he wouldn’t judge her. After all, it was in the past and
it was something she couldn’t go back and change. The damage had already been
done.