Insufferable Proximity (64 page)

***

Julian took the long way to work, stopping to get them both a coffee. They took their time to enjoy the beautiful morning before finally going in. In the elevator Julian could see Heaven’s nerves begin to fray and took her hand in his.

Heaven could feel Julian trying to pump his strength through his hand, reminding her that he was there to face it with her. She felt a comfortable silence sweep through her body and she exhaled the breath she had been holding for far too long. When the elevator door opened her courage faltered and she pulled her hand from his. She also made sure she was one step ahead of him as they walked down the hall. As she suspected, every available eye on the floor was trained on them, watching their every step. Julian ignored them, and Heaven wondered if he even noticed. She on the other hand had found herself returning a few dirty looks.

She took a good look at the people around her and felt an intense fury begin to develop n her. What had she been so worried for? Maybe it was the shock of being exposed in such a crude fashion wearing off that had her seeing things so differently now. Or maybe it was the fact that deep down she really didn’t give a damn what these people thought. They didn’t pay her bills, put food on her table or a roof over her head. They had no say over her life, they made no decisions for her and they damn sure had no right to look down on her. Who did these people think they were?

***

Heaven walked into the cafeteria, fully aware of the stares she received. Gloria and Reese sat at the far table, silently gawking as Juliette rose from her seat then stormed past Heaven on her way out of the cafeteria. Lila on the other hand was staring at Heaven with brimming hostility, her eyes narrowed in anger as she walked the short distance between them.

“I’m surprised to see you here today, and at the scene of the crime no less.” Lila said snidely, her smug smile making the hairs on the back of Heaven’s neck rise up in defense. Heaven had the best intentions, deciding to not engage in the catty woman’s provocations. Instead, Heaven continued to make her coffee, refusing to show the ignorant woman any emotion or let her know that she was getting to her. “But I do give you credit Ms. Deville, I mean I would have never been able to show my face at this firm ever again after everyone I worked with saw me having sex with my colleague.” Heaven felt her poker face begin to slip and the energy it was taking to not retaliate against Lila was causing her hands to shake. She knew that eventually this confrontation between her and Lila was going to happen, but now was not the time, right now she needed to finish making her coffee and leave before she smacked her.  “Now everyone knows the prudish Ms. Deville is not so prudish after all.” she taunted her and Heaven stood there feeling her adrenaline pumping through her, trying desperately to control her temper. “You may have fooled everyone else, but you never fooled me, I knew you were an undercover whore all along.” Heaven finally turned to look at Lila, tempted to slap the smile off her face.

“You sound really jealous, are you mad because I had sex with Julian or is it because Julian won’t have sex with you? Maybe you should focus less on me and think about what it is you’re doing that turns him off so bad.” she said with a calmness that turned Lila’s cocky smile into a dramatic scowl.

“If I turn him off so bad, why have we had sex so many times?” Lila asked.

“Lying only make you look more desperate.”

“It’s true, you can ask anyone, matter of fact, ask Julian himself.” she said with enough self-assurance that Heaven believed her and it took all of her might not to slug Lila on the spot. “I don’t need a tape to prove I’ve had sex with him, unlike you.”

“That’s because everyone knows you’re a slut.”

“Actually, they think you’re the slut,” she shrugged “I’m not the one with the sex tape. Now we are even beginning to wonder if you worked so hard to get to the top so quickly or were you such a good little whore for Julian that he promoted you.” she finished with a smile so smug it was Heaven’s undoing, she saw a sudden flash of Julian and Lila together right before she felt the last of her restraint explode and she drew her arm way back before slapping her with a force hard enough to take Lila to the floor.

“Oh shit!” Gloria gasped.

“Damn!” Reese yelped in shock, both of their mouths agape and their eyes wide with disbelief. “Did she just-”

“Yes she did!” Gloria shock turned to a smile and Reese followed suite. They had been waiting a long time for someone to smack Lila right in her condescending mouth. “I’m jealous, I would have loved to slug that disrespectful bitch.”

“Me too.”

Lila sat on the floor, her tight skirt had ridden up her thighs and she held her bleeding lip while Heaven stood above her, her fists clenched as she stared down at her.

“You little bitch!” Lila hissed, looking up at Heaven with fury in her eyes, but steadily scooting back from her. “I will have your job for this!”

“Go ahead, you know as well as I do I will have another job in a minute and then I’m coming back here to kick your ass! And for your information bitch, I‘m engaged to Julian King!” she held up her hand, flashing her diamond ring before she stormed out of the cafeteria and headed straight to Julian’s office.

***

Julian had run to the restaurant down the block to pick up the food her ordered, he had set up a private spot for them in his office, complete with her favorite CD and a bottle of red wine. He wanted Heaven to relax today and had all intentions of taking her mind off the stress. He was just coming back into the office when he saw the commotion going on in the cafeteria. He saw his father speaking to Lila, who had a bright red mark across her face and drops of blood down her lip.

“What happened?” Julian asked as he neared the crowd, seeing his brother speaking to two of the secretaries off to the side.

“She attacked me!” Lila cried.

“Who?” Julian asked

“Ms. Deville.”

“What?” Julian was ready to go find Heaven but his father held his arm.

“Hold on.” Ayden said as they watched Ian step towards them.

“Well those two secretaries say differently.” Ian said to Lila who raised her brows in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“They saw the whole thing and they are positive that Lila shoved her first.” Ian informed them.

“Liars!” she yelled turning to the two secretaries and saw right through the look of concern on their faces. Lila clearly saw the joy they cleverly masked. “You lying bitches!”

“No badgering the witnesses.” Ian informed Lila.

“So then it’s settled.” Ayden said.

“What? No! Ms. Deville attacked me first!” Lila yelled and Julian raised his brow.

“Do you have any witnesses?” Ayden asked.

“No.”

“Then it’s your word against Ms. Deville and her two witnesses.” Ayden finished.

“Fine.” Lila raised her chin in frustration.

“This matter is settled?” Ayden demanded an answer, already knowing what Lila was capable of after her jealousy over Julian spawned into her trying to sabotage him years ago.

“It is.” she huffed, wanting to take criminal action against Heaven, but with the two witnesses signed statements accusing her of shoving Heaven first, she knew it was a possibility she could end up in a lot of trouble.

“You let Sevigne know everything is settled,” Ayden told his son, “I will be by to see her before the day is over.” he said before he headed to his office.

Julian walked straight to his office and saw Heaven sitting behind his desk, her eyes narrowed in rage. He sat the bags of food on the table then walked over to her.

“What was that about?” Julian asked her and she raised an eyebrow.

“Lila Strain is an incompetent attention-junky with whorish tendencies who accused me of being your little slut and sleeping my way to the top.” she answered him.

“Then it’s a good thing you smacked her for It.” he grinned. “Two of the secretaries that were there said that after a verbal assault, Mrs. Strain attacked you first.”

“Did they?” she asked.

“They did. Did she attack first?”

“Verbally.” she answered honestly.

“Did she hit you first?” he continued questioning her.

“She didn’t even touch me.”

“Good girl.” he grinned coming closer to her.

“I know you had sex with her.” Heaven said accusingly, putting her hand out to hold him back and they stared at each other silently until he finally answered.

“I did.” he admitted, “When I first started working here.”

“You’re
such
a slut!” she yelled, standing up and ready to throttle him, “how could you? With Lila Strain? I have to look that woman in the face every day and know the two of you had sex! You never think Julian!” she yelled and stormed into the bathroom, he went after her but the door was locked.

“Let me in.” he said.

“No!” she said with her back to the bathroom door, thinking about how normal her life had been before the contract, it all seemed like a dream now. “I let you in once! I will never let you in again.” she said and he realized she wasn’t talking about the door. He leaned against the door, his forehead resting on the cool wood. “I asked you about Lila!”

“You never asked me if we had sex you asked me if we dated.”

“You’re so tricky! I should go have sex with one of our co-workers so you know how it feels.” she cried.

“Don’t you even think about it!” he warned her hitting the door with his fist.

“Why not? How come you get to have sex with every woman you want but I can’t be with anyone else? That’s not fair!” she opened the bathroom door angry and ready to challenge him. “If you expect me to be monogamous then you have to be too.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“Fine,” she raised her chin, “then it doesn’t work that way for me either.” she reached for the ring on her hand.

“You better not take that off.” he warned her.

“I’m done with your double standards,” she slipped it off her finger and laid it on the end table near her, “you think I‘m going to let you have sex with Lila then try to have sex with me?” she turned to leave and he grabbed her.

“I haven’t had sex with Lila in years and I haven’t been with another woman since the contract started.”

“You’re such a liar!”

“When would I have the time, I spend all of my time with you, think about it Heaven.”

“She said the two of you have had a lot of sex.”

“She lies.”

“She made everything worse, now I look like a jealous slut with a nasty disposition. They are going to think I’m jealous of her, or worse they will compare me to her.”

“You’ve always had a nasty disposition, but there is no way they would ever compare you to Lila.”

“And why not, we’re both female attorneys who have had sex with the same man.”

“And that is all you have in common with her, you’re a genius, one of the best lawyers I have ever met. And stop saying you’re a slut, I’m the only man you have ever had sex with.”

“Yeah, but all the women you have sex with are lumped in the same whorish category.”

“Not you, that’s why I put that ring on your finger.” he reminded her and she looked at him for a moment before she spoke.

“I want you to stay away from Lila.” she demanded.

“Consider it done.”

“And I don’t want you to have sex with anyone else but me.”

“I don’t want to have sex with anyone else but you.” he grinned then bent his head to kiss her. “Now if you don’t put that ring back on your finger I am going to beat you in front of all of our co-workers.” he grinned.

“After that tape I’m sure nothing would surprise them.”

“Then I’ll drive you home, tie you up and take you down to the basement then beat you.” he said and she could not stop the smile from spreading across her face as his words sent a thrill down her spine and a tingle through her sex.

“In that case, I absolutely refuse to put that ring back on.” she stood on her tip toes and leaned in close to his mouth, then slid her tongue up his bottom lip before taking it into her mouth.

“You better stop before I bend you over my desk.” he murmured against her lips before kissing her.

“Is the door locked?”

“Yes.” he answered and she slid her skirt up to her waist.

“Then why stop?” she asked leaning over his desk.

Julian felt the pre-come forming before he had a chance to undo his pants. He yanked her panties own, positioning himself at her opening before sliding into the hilt. Heaven moaned as she arched her butt, her face pressed to the desk as Julian lay down over her, one hand clutching the side of the desk while his other hand held her hips. He kissed the side of her face before she raised up enough to kiss him back, his tongue sliding deep into her mouth as he continued to slam into her from behind.

She felt his fingers gripping into her hip as she felt the tingling in her sex begin to rupture, she arched her back, trying not to cry out as she felt the orgasm explode through her sex then shoot through her body like electrified ice chips. She felt Julian tense up then felt his ejaculated seed spread through her like warm honey. They laid there for a moment, thoroughly spent and unable to move, he still managed to continue kissing her.