Waiting for Us (24 page)

Chapter Thirty-Six

June 2015 - Cory

I’m sitting on a barstool at Big D’s, trying to drown my sorrows with copious amounts of whiskey. It’s not working too well for me, though. I was hoping to forget about Hailey for a little while and lose myself in an alcohol induced state of bliss, but so far no such luck. She’s in my every thought like she’s ingrained in my brain and I can’t put an end to it.

I’m pretty pissed with the way things ended between us this afternoon. I can’t believe she just walked out without a word. I assumed she went to use the ladies room and would be right back, but she never returned. I haven’t heard a peep from her. She never called, texted, emailed...nada. If this is the way she treats the people she cares about then maybe I’m better off without her. I run my fingers through my messy hair and lean my head on my hand. I know I'm not better off without her. I suffered through the past five years missing her every day. I toss back the rest of my whiskey, enjoying the burning sensation in the back of my throat, before signaling the bartender that I want another one. I sit and think about Hailey some more, as I wait for my drink.

  Goddamnit! She really pissed me off today. We had joked around in our texts last night about her calling me sir and it was funny as shit. She took me by surprise when she first called me that this morning and I’ll admit, it was hot as hell. But then she kept it up for the rest of the morning and it was obvious she was trying to provoke a reaction out of me...exactly what kind of reaction, I’m not sure. I held it together until after lunch when she started filing away papers in the lowest cabinets. She was kneeling in that tight skirt, with those red fuck me pumps on, looking back over her shoulder at me while calling me sir…. I’m only human. I think I ran across the room to get to her and I dragged her to my love seat like a caveman. I threw her face down on my lap and spanked that delectable ass of hers. Jesus my cock is hard right now just thinking about it. I’ve never felt such a powerful desire for another woman as I did for her, at that moment, with her sprawled ass up, across my thighs. It took every ounce of my willpower and strength to push her away. I know she’s not ready for us to have a physical relationship yet and I’m trying to remain respectful of that. That’s why I got so pissed off at her when she was teasing me and toying with me. She didn’t give any thought to how it would make me feel. She wanted her fun even though it was at my expense. It was hurtful and made me question whether she cares about me as anything more than a friend, or even cares about me at all.

“Hiii Cory.” I hear a whiny voice say my name. I make the mistake of turning to see who it is. It’s Gen, one of the mistakes from my checkered past.
Why me God?
Why can’t I go out for one night and not have to deal with her clingy ass? Even drunk, I’m questioning my judgment and wondering how I ever slept with her.

“Whatcha up to sugar?” I don’t answer her and I’m wondering how long she will keep having this one sided conversation with me.

“Are you lonely baby? You want Gen to keep you company tonight?” She asks in a nauseating baby voice. What makes grown women think it’s attractive to us when they sound like infants? She presses her silicone filled breasts against my arm and slides her hand along my thigh. Okay, that’s it.

“Gen, knock it off,” I say, removing her creeping hand and hoping she will get the picture.

“What’s wrong sugar, are you having a bad day?” I guess this bitch is thick as a brick so I have to speak slowly and simply.

“I. Do. Not. Ever. Want. To. Sleep. With. You. Again. Go. Away!” She looks at me and blinks a few times before turning and walking away.
Hallelujah!

Alone at last. Look at me, turning away a sure thing. I’ve really matured in the last six months. Not that Hailey can see it. She thinks I only want to have sex with her
. God, do I want to have
sex with her.
She doesn’t know I love her and I’m not going to tell her until she’s ready to hear it. This girl has had my heart for the past six years. Why did I have to fall in love with her? I drop my head down on my folded arms and find it surprisingly comfortable. I think I could fall asleep.

Gage the bartender pokes me on the shoulder.

“Cory, I’m gonna call you a cab.” I lift my head up and look at him.

“Okay Gage, don’t ever fall in love man.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

June 2015 - Marcus

Today was my first day of work at my dad’s architectural firm. It went pretty well, as good as can be expected, anyway. Everyone seemed really nice and I’m sure the fact that I’m Mike O’Connor’s son doesn’t hurt, either. My workload was fairly light and I hope that will change. If I’m going to be stuck here indefinitely, I want to be busy and learn as much as possible. I might as well get something good out of this horrible situation.

I spoke with Hailey last night, but it was a really brief conversation. She didn’t seem like herself and I’m wondering what’s wrong. I tried to call Shelby to see if she knew what’s going on, but she didn’t answer. I’m feeling pretty helpless right now because I can’t do anything about it, with me being so far away. My hands are tied and I’m hoping she’s going to want to talk to me when I call her in a little while. Maybe I should make her skype with me so I can see her face. Then she can’t lie to me and act as though everything is fine. How can everything be fine with me so far from her? I miss her every single second of my day. Last night I barely slept because she wasn’t tucked up against me, burrowing into my side, like she has a habit of doing. The bed in my dad’s guest room felt too large without her and I woke up this morning with my dick in my hand from the erotic dream I was having about her. I couldn’t get my hard on to go away so I fisted my cock and replayed the dream out in my mind until I came all over my stomach. It’s only my second day here, I’m so screwed. Two depressing months of whacking off stretches endlessly out in front of me. I don’t have a problem going without sex, I’ve done it for long periods of time in the past. I have a big problem going without sex with Hailey. We’ve been having it regularly for the past year and our lovemaking is intense. It’s not something you can find with just anyone. We may have to get creative and have some sexy skype sessions to help me through my time here.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

June 2015 - Hailey

  After I had walked out of work, yesterday I felt like an asshole for over reacting. I should have stayed and immediately apologized, but I went into my typical panic mode and ran. I really have to find a better method of dealing with things that make me feel bad or anxious. It’s not healthy to run from your problems and in the past when I’ve done this, I don’t really deal with the issue at all. I just sweep it away until it comes back to bite me in the ass at some later date. What happened with Cory and I after we had sex is the perfect example of this. I was so upset the next morning and instead of confronting him, I pretended nothing happened. From that moment on I shut out every guy that ever tried to have a relationship with me. Just look at poor Marcus and how I’ve strung him along for the past year. He deserves so much better than me, but I can’t seem to let him go. I also have all these feelings for Cory that I’m not prepared to do anything about. He says he wants more with me but how do you give the one person that hurt you more than anyone else another round with your heart?

***

  It’s not until I’m knocking on Cory’s office door that I feel as if I need to vomit. All morning I’ve been able to keep myself busy and not think about the conversation I need to have with him. Now it’s the moment of truth and I hope he’s in a forgiving mood.

“Come in.” I walk in with my head held high, but it’s all an act. I’m really shaking in my boots or should I say my leopard print stilettos?

“Hey.” It’s the only word I can think of to say at the moment.
Pathetic, I know
. I glance at him and try to gauge his mood by his expression, but I can’t really tell where his head’s at. I stand in front of his desk, nervously wringing my hands and gathering my thoughts. He doesn’t say anything, he sits there silently staring at me, making my anxiety level rise so high my knees actually quiver. I take a couple deep breaths to compose myself before beginning.

“I owe you an apology for yesterday.” I pause to take a breath and keep my panic at bay. “You were right when you said I was toying with you. I was. I meant for it to be funny, but I carried it too far. I’m sorry for pushing you and trying to provoke a reaction. I also regret running off like I did. I have a problem with facing things that upset me, but I’m working on it.” I finish speaking and stand there with my hands still clasped, waiting for him to say something. *Crickets* I gnaw on my bottom lip hoping he’ll break this awkward silence and put me out of my misery. After standing there for a couple of minutes, I’m starting to get really pissed and I don’t want to, especially after I just choked out one apology. If I go ape shit on his ass, I will have to apologize all over again. I can’t handle two in one day. I’m sick of standing there so I finally break the silence.

“Do you want me to go? I can ask my dad if I can work for someone else if you don’t want to be around me.” I try to keep my voice as emotionless as possible. I don’t want him to know that he’s getting to me.

“No, don’t go. I accept your apology. Let’s just forget it ever happened and get back to work,” He says coolly. He seems like he’s still upset with me but I already apologized and what more can I do? I hope he has a lot of work for me so I can stay busy and avoid his company.

***

  The next day passes by fairly uneventfully. Cory continues to be distant and I continue to ignore that he is, in fact, being distant. It’s a lot of fun coming to work under these conditions. Not! If it wasn’t for Sean, I’m not sure I would be handling Cory’s cold shoulder as well as I am. Sean has taken me to lunch both days and regaled me with amusing stories from his misspent youth. He was quite the hell-raiser in his younger days which doesn’t really surprise me. He still gives off a similar vibe, but he’s really a great guy. I have to set him up with Shelby. She will die when she sees how hot he is. She loves the black haired, blue eyed boys.

I think it pisses Cory off when I spend time with Sean because I caught him clenching his jaw when we were all in the elevator together, on the way back from lunch. Of course, Sean was making me laugh and probably doing it just to piss Cory off. He knows what our history is like. I confided in him and he’s actually a really great listener. He gave me some great advice too. He said to take my time with Cory and not to make any rash decisions. If Cory wants a relationship with me, then he’ll patiently wait till I’m ready. It sounds good in theory, but I’m not sure that any guy will willingly sit around and wait for a girl.

By the end of the day, I’m so relieved the work week is over and I can get away from him for a couple of days. This has been a horrible week between Marcus leaving and Cory being mad at me. I just want to go home and cuddle up with my kindle and a decent glass of wine or two or three. Unfortunately, when I get home Shelby is there waiting and she has already made plans for us to go out. It’s not that I’m not happy to see her, I just really don’t feel like going out tonight. Especially, after the week I’ve had.

“Hailey, I’m not taking no for an answer. You can go back to being a hermit and hide away in your bedroom for the rest of the weekend. But tonight your ass is mine biatch!” She slaps my ass for emphasis as I walk past her on my way to the kitchen to get some wine. I don’t even react because this is typical Shelby when she’s in a good mood. She gets very handsy, sometimes with guys too and she acts wild and crazy. She usually tries to involve me in some way so I have to watch how much I drink. If I stay sober, I can avoid any of the embarrassing situations she’ll try to drag me into.

I reach up into the cabinet for a clean glass to pour my much-needed wine into.

“You want any?” I ask, gesturing at my beverage of choice.

“Hell yeah. Do you even have to ask me that?” She scoffs and rolls her eyes at me, before making her way over to where I’m pouring the wine. She takes her glass as I raise mine up to my lips for the first glorious sip. I swear I can hear angels singing
as I swallow the first taste of it. Wow, I really needed that.

“That’s some good shit.” Shelby jokes in an imitation Cheech Marin’s voice. She considers all the old Cheech and Chong movies to be classics and as her best friend I have had to suffer through them numerous times, even when I’m sober. I like to tease Shelby that she is really an eighteen-year-old dude wrapped in the sexiest, girliest package you can imagine. She has long curly, golden blonde hair and when I say curly, I mean long, loose curls. The kind that I can spend an hour trying to achieve with a curling iron and still not look like hers. She has big chocolate brown eyes that always look so innocent even when she is up to no good, which is most of the time. She’s a little taller than me at five feet, five inches and she is model thin. She can wear any outfit and totally rock it. She has never had to ask that dreadful question that I always have to.

“Does this make my ass look fat?” Nope, her ass is tiny and her legs are long. She has the most adorable dusting of golden brown freckles on the bridge of her nose, but it’s her mouth that drives the guys really wild and I don’t mean that in a dirty way.
Although I know
she’s a big fan of giving blow jobs too
. She has what author’s always refer to as “bee stung” lips. They are very full and naturally red and even I can understand their appeal.  

I’m sitting on one of our barstools at our kitchen island enjoying my wine when there’s a knock on our door.

“I ordered some Chinese takeout,” Shelby says as she opens the door. She grabs the large brown paper bag by the handles and hands the young guy some cash along with a flirty smile. He smiles back at her albeit a bit dazedly as she closes the door.

“I got all your favorites and mine too. Eat up Hailey because you’re not going to go all lame ass on me and insist on sticking to your ridiculous two-drink rule. Tonight you are going to let your hair down literally and figuratively speaking. We are going to remove the stick that has been embedded in your sexy ass for far too long and you are going to go back to the fun Hailey that you used to be back in our college years.” I look at Shelby skeptically as I chew up a bite of chicken Lo mein.

“Shelby, you do know that we’re twenty-three now and not nineteen, right? I don’t have a so-called “stick embedded in my ass,” as you so eloquently put it. We are adults now and as adults we have responsibilities. I can’t hang out with you at frat parties, even if you want me to. I am working full time right now with this internship and as soon as school starts in the fall I will be swamped with my course load and working part-time. I don’t give you shit for still going to frat parties, so I don’t think you should be giving me shit over being responsible and what you consider uptight.” My voice is rising in volume by the end and she looks somewhat shocked. I hardly ever get mad at her but with the week I’m having, all my patience is gone.

“Ok Hailey. I won’t tease you about your pet stick any longer.” She says in a deceivingly innocent tone.

“Fuck off whore.” I yell at her before we both start giggling.

“Is that supposed to be an insult?” Shelby asks. “You know I’m proud of every one of those notches on my bedpost. I worked hard for those and my knees bear the scars to prove it.”
Oh my God.
There’s no shame in her game. She is who she is and she will never apologize for her behavior. She’s a handful, that’s for sure.

We finish cleaning up the kitchen after we’re done with dinner and Shelby shoos me away to take my shower. I turn the temperature as hot as I can stand it and let the water pressure beat on my tight neck and shoulder muscles. I could really use a massage and that thought makes me think of Marcus. If he were here, he’d give me a massage. Hell, if he were here, he’d be in the shower with me giving me a massage right now.
Don’t think about sex, don’t think about sex.
I’ve never been someone that misses sex unless I’m not having it!
Ha-ha!
Seriously, though, I can usually go without sex with no problem. Now that I’ve been having it on a fairly consistent basis with Marcus, I’m craving it. He’s only been gone for four days and I’m already all horned up. I’m going to have to stock up on extra batteries for my battery operated boyfriend for the next couple of months.

By the time, I exit the bathroom I’ve done everything but put my clothes on. I notice that Shelby has left a dress on my bed for me to wear. It’s navy blue and has a halter neckline that fastens high in the back. I’m so glad it has a built in bra because this dress is backless, so there’s no way to wear one and with my sizeable chest, I can’t really go without one. I’m feeling pretty skeptical just standing here looking at the dress she chose, but I will reserve judgment for when I see it on me. She also pulled my shiny red stilettos out of my closet and a small red leather clutch. I notice she didn’t choose my underwear for me and I’m sure that’s because she thinks I should go without. No thanks. This dress is fairly short and I don’t need my va-jay-jay showing at some inopportune time. When is it really an opportune time to flash it in public, though?

I shimmy on some black, satin, seamless boy shorts before pulling on the dress. I love these panties. They don’t show under your clothes, so no worries about “visible panty lines” or “not getting laid lines” as Shelby calls them. I fasten the halter top on the back of my neck and smooth the soft jersey like material down my hips, before putting my heels on. I always wait till my shoes are on before looking in my full-length mirror. I have to make sure the extra height of the stilettos isn’t going to raise the hemline up too much. I like the way the dress looks from the front. The length is only to mid-thigh, but it’s flattering on my short frame. I turn to get the side and back views before deciding that I’m going to wear it. Shelby will be thrilled. She loves to dress me up when we go out and sometimes I refuse just to piss her off. Tonight it seems like less work to just go with what she picked than to have to find something else to wear. I add some dangly silver earrings and clasp a silver bracelet on my wrist before shutting my bedroom light off and closing the door behind me.

Shelby is standing in the kitchen sucking back more wine when she notices me.

“Holy shit Hailey. You are seriously hot.” I self-consciously look down at what I’m wearing.

“Are you sure I don’t look to Hoochie mama in this? The skirt feels really short.”

“The skirt length is sexy, Hailey. You have amazing long legs. You need to show them off.”

“I just feel like I might be showing off too many of my assets in this dress,” I tell her, gesturing at my butt and boobs.
“Haven’t you heard of that saying - when you got it flaunt it? What’s the point of having it if you’re not using it?” I laugh at her answer because it is typical Shelby logic and only makes sense in her warped mind.

“Shelb, let’s go before I chicken out and stay home instead.”

“Okay, chickie let’s go paint the town my favorite color, Ring Around His Dick Red.”