Chapter 7 : Satisfaction is Never Guaranteed

Candy walks through the door in a red silk gown with a slit so far up the side it doesn’t stop till right above her hip. I’m positive women don’t understand how powerful they actually are. If they did, they would run the world by now. The scent of her COCO Chanel perfume draws me in, and I can’t help but feel let down that she doesn’t smell as good as Ava. My mental disappointment doesn’t stop my raging erection though, as I swoop in and draw Candy in close.

“Well, someone’s excited to see me,” she says in a seductive tone, pressing her hand over my groin and teasing my bulge.

I moan in my throat while pressing into her touch. My brain tries to tell me I shouldn’t be doing this, but it’s too late now. I know if my therapist finds out about this, he will kick me out of his office for sure, but I just don’t want to be alone. I slide my hand up into her hair, causing Candy to protest.

“I just had my hair done, so you’re free to look but don’t touch,” she scolds playfully, yet very serious at the same time.

I move in quickly, kissing her hard on the mouth to keep any more complaints from coming through her lips. She tastes like cherries, not one of my favorite flavors. I’m finding myself nitpicking more than I normally would for what is meant to be a simple booty call.

My balls are starting to throb, so I move her over to the couch and turn her around, bending her over the back of the piece of furniture. Her bottom pops up into the air and I slide her red dress up to her waist, letting it bunch around her hips. Candy is skinny, with nothing to grab hold of to help with pumps.

Looking down at her back, I find myself longing for the soft curvy goodness of dream Ava. I close my eyes, hoping that will help me satisfy my longing for the mysterious secretary. Before I’m able to unzip my pants and get my fix, Candy shrieks and moves out of my grasp.

I open my eyes, looking around the room for what could have caused such a reaction.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, noticing the look of fear on the woman’s face.

She points toward the kitchen. “What the hell is that?” she yells, her voice cracking.

I look toward where she’s pointing only to find Zeus looking back at me. His face appears to be asking the same question of her.

“That’s just Zeus, my dog,” I say with a chuckle, causing Candy to scold me with her eyes.

“I don’t like dogs, Seymore. Put him outside or I’ll have no choice but to leave,” she demands, moving closer to the door.

Did I just hear her correctly? There is no way I’m putting Zeus outside, he lives here. Before I have the opportunity to shoot down her offer, Zeus picks up on the tension and lets out a low growl from his seat in the doorway.

Candy doesn’t give me a second glance as she flies out the door with her slip still bunched up around her waist. The Rottweiler prances up to the front door and watches as she jumps into her car and peels out of the driveway.

“What was that all about?” I ask him, glancing down at a very proud-looking Zeus.

He wiggles his butt, as he has little to no tail, and appears to smile at what just happened.

I close the door and walk back to the kitchen. My body still wants to get off, even if my brain was done with the whole situation the moment I had to try and imagine Ava in Candy’s place. This isn’t good. I’ve never had thoughts of another woman interrupting a sexual encounter before.

Thinking back on all the rom-com movies I’ve ever watched, I come up with a plan. I pull out my cell phone and look up flower shops near Dr. Davies’ office. I place an order for a dozen roses and a box of chocolate-covered strawberries to be delivered to Ava tomorrow. I’ve never done anything like this. I’ve always found the notion of wining-and-dining a woman to be pointless. I’ve never had to work for a piece of ass.

The women I sleep with want to climb into my bed. They usually get paid, but not in dinner or a night out. Cold hard cash has always been the compensation for staying the night. It’s not that I don’t want to spend the money on dinner, I just don’t see the point. I’m not trying to impress them, they already want to be with me. Ava feels different. She’s a challenge that requires a different approach.

I look down at my phone and consider Dr. Desmond’s proposition of deleting five numbers from my contacts. Even though I know I’m never going to call Candy again after what she said about Zeus, I still can’t bring myself to delete her from my phone.

Zeus nudges me from the side.

“Okay, don’t rush me,” I say, patting him on the head.

It’s past his dinner time. That’s probably why he had been sitting in the kitchen doorway watching Candy and me in the first place. He just wants his dinner. I pull out the fresh refrigerated dog food I order each month and open the pouch. He gets so excited he begins popping his front paws off the floor in an attempt to jump.

“Jesus, you act like I never feed you,” I chuckle while putting his bowl on the floor.

I find something in the fridge for myself and sit down to eat. I think tomorrow I will go sit outside the office and make sure my order gets delivered. I need to go into town and find a book to read anyway.

*** The Next Morning

I spent the majority of last night struggling to sleep as thoughts of Ava refused to let me. I’m looking forward to figuring out how to win her over. As I was up for the day I considered different things I could do to buy her attention. It looks like she walks everywhere, maybe I’ll surprise her with a new car. That would impress her.

I walk through the closet trying to find something to wear. I don’t want to stand out, but at the same time, I need to look nice. I decided to put on beige slacks with a dark blue polo shirt. With Zeus fed and pottied, I head out for the train station. The house feels a lot more comfortable since Doc got the spy devices out of the building. That being said, I still find myself looking around for any strange cars or people on the street.

The ride into the city feels like it takes forever as a family of eight is along for the ride. The parents are struggling to keep six kids under control. I look around at the disapproving faces as we pull into the London station. Everyone rushes to the doors in an effort to get away from the screaming kids.

I step out into the city feeling excited and ready to take on the world. I’m going to start with a cup of coffee and then sit across the street from the office until my delivery gets there. I don’t expect Ava to come running outside or anything, I just want to make sure she gets them.

I get my coffee, wondering what kind of steamy beverage Ava likes, and head for the benches across from the office. The delivery truck pulls up a few minutes after I sit down. The guy struggles with the flowers for a few minutes before walking up to the building. He isn’t inside for long before he exits and climbs into his white delivery van.

“Well, that was uneventful,” I mumble to myself before climbing to my feet.

I may as well kill some time looking for my book. I once again turn to my phone to Google any nearby bookstores. I don’t want to go too far. The plan is to wait for Ava to come out of work and accidentally run into her. Sure, it isn’t subtle, but I don’t really do subtle. According to my search, there is a book emporium down the street.

It doesn’t take me long to find the corner building. It’s a grand brown brick building with piles of books sitting in the display window. The door dings as I walk in. I’m instantly struck by the scent of dust and paper. An old man looks up from behind a makeshift counter, smiling at me from over the top of a red hardcover.

“Welcome and salutations my friend. Is there something I can help you find today?” he asks, setting down his reading material.

I want to say no, but I’m completely overwhelmed by the numerous books stacked up on all the shelves that encompass the room.

“I’m afraid so,” I reply, a look of bewilderment glued on my face.

“What are you looking for?” he asks eagerly.

“I’m not sure. Someone told me to start reading before bed to help with sleep, but I’m not much of a reader,” I admit.

The guy chuckles as he steps around from the counter. He’s a heavy-set older man with a bubbly personality. I smile as he bounces over to me.

“I guess you can read to help you sleep, but what you read has a lot to do with it. Most people find it hard to put a good book down, after all,” he says with a wink. “What are your interests?”

There is no way I’m telling this happy-go-lucky man that my only hobby is locating a good lay.

“I’m not sure. I’m a workaholic who deals in business investments. I don’t watch a whole lot of television, unless you include the news,” I reply, looking over the shelves to the right of me.

The guy is quiet for a minute while he considers what I said. He then leads me over to a table with books erratically stacked on top of it.

“These are the clearance books. I run a buy one get one on this table. I would recommend getting two that speak to you. Maybe a couple of different genres,” he advises.

I thank him with a nod and watch as he bounces back behind the counter to finish his own book. I pick through a couple that have interesting covers, but after reading the jackets I put them down. It takes me forever to finally find one that sounds like it may work. The Business of Business sounds boring enough to put me to sleep. I don’t want to spend any more time digging through stacks, so I grab a random paperback that’s sitting on the edge of the table before heading to the counter.

“Excellent choice!” the bookkeeper chirps as he rings me up. “This one here is a riveting read,” he says, holding up the paperback I hadn’t even glanced at.

I thank him and leave, finding relief in the fresh air outside. I guess I’ll head back to my bench and flip through some pages while I wait for Ava. I walk back down the street, observing the new buds popping out on the trees. As I approach my bench, I notice a car sitting idle in the street. The guy behind the wheel looks up as I get closer and speeds off.

“Odd,” I muse before dumping my empty coffee cup into the bin by the bench.

I pull out the business book and start reading. By page twenty I close it tight, vowing to try it again later. Pulling out the paperback, I find myself pulled into the story. I don’t look up until I hear the office door ding across the street.

I expect to see Ava carrying her gifts, but I’m shocked as I watch Dr. Davies struggling through the doorway with the flowers and box of sweets. He stumbles down the steps and throws the flowers and chocolate-covered strawberries in the bin. I want to yell at him, but then he will know I was there. Instead, I hide behind my book and watch.

He goes up the steps and locks the door before leaving for his car. Was Ava not at work today? I hadn’t considered she would have days off. I curse under my breath as I get to my feet. This was a waste of time. Other than finding out my therapist is a jerk, my effort had been for not.

Oh well, I won't give up. I need to talk with someone who can advise me on winning Ava’s affection. I’ll go visit Doc and see what he has to say about it. I’m just not equipped to deal with this blindly.

While walking toward the train station with my new books, I turn the corner and notice the same car that had been parked by the office earlier is sitting in the street. Had the driver sped off to park where I couldn’t see him? I look both ways before charging my way toward the car. The driver sees me coming and pulls out, peeling out down the street.

“Hey, stop!” I yell after him, but the car is out of view before I make it close enough to see the driver.