“Good for you,” he said, and punched my shoulder lightly. “I can’t believe they’d cut you off for such a reason, though.”
“They’ll come around,” I said. Mere words. My father was a stubborn and sometimes ruthless man.
His pride was at stake and he wasn’t going to bow down and retract his words. Neither was I for that matter. I’d spoken to my sister twice, and my brother-in-law once in the last six months.
What astounded me was that even after telling them that Charlotte and I were already married, they’d suggested I would divorce her in time. Clearly, I came from a family of mad people.
The afternoon was a success and, in the evening, we left in a flurry of hugs and promises to keep in touch.
“That was the nicest afternoon I’ve had in a long time,” she said.
I glanced at her. God, she was beautiful. Her face was glowing and she had a permanent smile. I couldn’t resist the urge to tease her. “You’re lucky that I’m not a sensitive man.”
She laughed. “I know. That’s why I can speak my thoughts honestly. I should have added, minus the time me and you spend together.”
“I know,” I said.
“What did you think of Helen?” she asked.
“I love that she looks like you,” I said. “Including her personality. Ed was awesome too. He and I talked a lot.”
“I knew you’d have a lot to talk about when I heard that he was a lawyer,” she said.
“That always helps. One thing us lawyers have in common is that we talk too much.”
Charlotte was silent for a moment. “He probably knows the family firm.”
I was saved from responding when Charlotte’s phone vibrated with a message. I didn’t want to go down that road as it always left her feeling shitty and guilty.
She typed on her phone and then sighed.
“What’s the matter?”
“Amy. She wants to see me. I told her we’ll be home in a few,” she said. “I wonder what happened now. Things with Simon were going so well.”
I tried to call Simon and didn’t get an answer. “I can’t keep up with Amy’s boyfriends.”
Charlotte laughed. “I don’t blame you. Amy is so pretty, I don’t understand why she picks losers for boyfriends.”
I glanced at my wife. “It’s not easy to find what we have. There’s a lot of trial and error.”
“I know. I just forget sometimes,” she said.
Alex
We got home and I parked the car in the garage. Amy was parked in the street parking and Charlotte got out and went to her. It happened while she was walking out of the garage. She tripped as she went over the ledge that separated the concrete path and the lawn.
A place where she had passed through countless times. Charlotte went sprawling on the grass, landing face first. I dashed up to her and helped her up.
“Are you hurt?” I asked worriedly.
Amy left her car and hurried to us.
“Just my dignity,” she said and giggled, but it was clear she was embarrassed.
Amy kissed her. “Are you drunk? That’s the only plausible reason that would make a person not see this ledge.”
Charlotte laughed. “I’ve had a glass of wine, but I’m definitely not drunk or even tipsy. I don’t know what happened. It’s one of those things, I suppose.”
We all walked into the house. I left the ladies in the living room and went upstairs to our bedroom, giving them some privacy. I shut the door and fished out a letter that Mary had forwarded to me.
It was an application form to take the New York State Bar Exam. I wanted to take it so badly, but this was not the right time. My working hours were crazy as one of only two clerks in the firm, there was no way I could take time off to study and travel to New York for the exams.
I folded the form and placed it back into the envelope. There would be time for all that. What was important was to earn a living for us.
Charlotte came upstairs an hour later. She jumped on the bed and bounced on it. I held on to my laptop.
“You look too serious,” she said, looking at me as she bounced up and down.
I folded my laptop and slid it under the bed. I lay flat on my back and invited Charlotte to lie on top of me.
“Are you hungry?” she asked, nibbling my neck.
She smelled of the outdoors, as if she had been walking in the woods and rolling in the grass.
“I can’t eat anything else after all that meat,” I said. “You?”
“I’m full.”
“Is everything okay with Amy?” I said and cupped Charlotte’s perfect ass.
“Usual boyfriend trouble but she’ll be fine,” she said as she slowly popped open the buttons of my shirt.
I shrugged out of my shirt when she undid the last of the buttons. She ran her fingertips over the hairs on my chest and then played with my man nipples. I inhaled sharply as jolts of desire went straight to my cock.