“It’s 5 a.m. Mom,” I mumbled on to the phone. “Can I call you back?”
“I’m sorry for waking you up, sweetheart, I just wanted thank you for the 10,000 dollars that you paid to the hospital on my behalf. I’m glad your loan went through.”
Wait, what was she talking about?
My loan never – Oh. I sat upright, suddenly understanding.
“It was paid?” I asked stupidly.
“Of course, from your name.”
“I know, I meant to ask if it went through alright. I’ll call you later okay, mom? Don’t worry about it too much, I got you. Love you!”
I dialed Zayden’s office number and immediately hung up remembering what time it was. It would just have to wait until I got to work. I couldn’t believe what he had done. I felt a sense of warmth and affection throughout my whole body.
The contract was real.
I tried going back to sleep but spent the next few hours thinking of him and just how underrated he was as a person. I had expected him to be upset with me, given the rejection from Saturday night. He hadn’t tried to get in contact with me all of Sunday and I assumed he was miffed. Instead, he had decided to go on and make the first payment early. And the way he had fought for me at the gala. Perhaps I had judged him unfairly, but I would never think he would jump to defend me against his own kind. His business and reputation, I assumed, were way more important than some girl he was trying to seduce, yet I was wrong, as I seemed to be on many accounts when it came to Zayden. I would have to find something nice to do for him, soon. For the first time in a long time, I could not wait to get out of bed and get to work.
Which is why I was very disappointed when I got to work and Zayden was not in his office. He usually got there before everyone else, and I was convinced that he slept in his office most days. I wondered if everything was okay. I thought about writing him an email and drafted something:
Hi,
I wanted to thank you in person but you seem to be out today. I hope everything is okay. My mom called me about the hospital payment and I wanted to thank you for going ahead with that way earlier than our contract demanded. And for sticking up for me in front of Mr. Kirk the other day. It meant more to me than you ever imagined.
So I was thinking, about that pizza, beer and Netflix thing, do you want to come over some day this week?
I would love for you to join me…
No, not that word. I would “like.” I went ahead and scratched the whole email off. I had to tell him in person.
The day got more and more agonizing, as I kept my eyes straight on the door, waiting for him to walk in, with increasing disappointment. At five, I made a final glance, at this point assuming there was no way he would show up at work, but I still couldn’t help but feel utterly disappointed. I didn’t work on Tuesdays and waiting until Wednesday to see him would be too unbearable. I started packing up as slowly as I physically could, while everyone else began walking out of the office. What was I expecting? The day was over, he wasn’t coming. And maybe I had something to do with it. Maybe if I hadn’t pulled away the other day... Ugh. I didn’t owe him anything physical.
But I wanted to so bad, so what was I even fighting for? Right now I couldn’t think of a single reason why I wasn’t in Zayden’s arms.
Trudging out of the office, I wondered if I could skip some classes to come to work tomorrow. As soon as I got to my car, however, I saw Zayden’s silver BMW pull in and my heart jumped. I stood there, feeling completely paralyzed, and when he got out of the car I could barely keep up with what I was doing.
I ran to him as fast as I could and planted a kiss squarely on his lips. He stepped back for a second looking completely startled and as Ned started driving away, he pulled me towards him and kissed me. His hands were on my face and when his mouth began to part mine, I forgot everything about the world. His tongue entered my mouth and started exploring, and one of his hands were now on my back, almost lifting me up. I tried to kiss him back with everything I had but it wasn’t enough, I wanted more, I wanted every bit of him. His hand was now inside the back of my dress, grabbing my ass firmly, and I felt like I could explode from that sensation alone. It felt like an eternity when we finally broke apart, gasping for air.
“It’s nice to see you too, Aria,” he grinned at me. I was still trying to remember how to breathe.
“I-” I tried to speak. I had never realized how difficult that process could be. My eyes were still on his mouth. “I wanted to thank you. About the payment. And about Kirk. And I wanted to-”
He cut me off with another electrifying kiss. He tasted like expensive scotch, just like I had imagined; a little smoky, and the faintest hint of sweet. When his mouth left mine and he proceeded to kiss the side of my neck, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Let’s take this inside,” I heard myself saying.
We were completely intertwined, yet somehow we made it inside his office. He shoved me against the glass door and continued exploring my neck with his warm tongue, making circles with kisses. I was about to pass out already when he lifted my skirt and lightly brushed his fingers against my pussy, and I let out a loud moan.
He broke apart. “Is everything okay?” There was concern in his face.
“Huh?” Keep going. Just do whatever you were doing, Zayden. Don’t stop. I wanted to convey that with my eyes. “Everything is… perfect,” were the only words I could manage.
“Listen, Aria,” he said sincerely. “As much as I want to rip apart that dress of yours and fuck you mindless, I have to ask: are you sure about this?”
“You know what it looks like when I don’t want it,” I said, boldly removing the top part of my dress, revealing a red lacy bra. “This is obviously not it.”
“I know,” he said, his eyes now fixated on my bra. “I know you want it right now. But you’re a fucking virgin and I don’t do virgins normally. But I’m willing to taste your pussy.”