An inaudible gasp escapes El, my teeth graze her neck, her shoulder and she sucks in a sharp breath. My hand slides between her legs. She shudders. I tug on the tiny, elastic waistband of her panties and release it without notice. El whimpers. I don’t care if it hurts, I repeat it again and again until she grabs my hand. She was with T. She should be punished.
“It hurts,” she cries. Her eyes beg for mercy and my chest falls in defeat. What are we even doing?
“Take it off,” I order. Her hesitation irks me, my jaw ticks. If she didn’t want to be here, she would have left. She wants me too, not that fucker. “Now.”
El gives a shaky nod. I step back for her to pull off her panties. The stirring in my groins intensifies at the colour of her underwear. Red. The colour of sin. Does T also know the colour? I stretch my hand for it, she drops it on my palm and I sniff it. Amazing.
“You smell good,” I
We cut the cake, take tons of pictures. My parents manage to sneak into a few. I clench my jaw as they pose for a picture with Joshua. He is all smiles as he stands in their middle, hands around their shoulders. A wave of anger sweeps over me. I want to march there and slap the smile off his face. He keeps acting like they are the best parents a child can wish for. They ruined us. I turn away while their photography session is still ongoing so I won’t be forced into the picture. Where’s my wife? We are not done talking. Maybe we are. El is with T. They might be discussing business but she’s staring hard at him and her brows are furrowed in concentration. She nods at something he says, barks out a laugh and punches him slightly on his arm. We fuck and she returns to her buddy, is that it? Am I a fuck buddy? Or, fuck husband? Changing direction to an empty tent, I grab a saucer with a slice of moist cake to eat away the jealousy
I didn’t dance with El. I danced all night with Mother, stepping her a few times like the awful dancer I am.Mother is feeding Brianna when I arrive downstairs. I toss my briefcase on the table and give Brianna a peck after bopping her nose. Mother watches our exchange. She is still taking it all in. The videos and pictures. She hasn’t spoken about them or what she feels about Brendan’s actions and I doubt she will.“We will be leaving in a bit,” she says with a side glance at Father who has his phone pressed to his ear.“Good morning.” My hand covers hers resting on the dinning table and I give it a small squeeze. “You can stay for dinner. The twins will be here.” I get them for the rest of this week and next until El arrives. She left with her mother while I danced with mine. A crash sounds, we dart a look at the balcony. Father tugs on his hair from the roots. He turns to us and waves, I
“Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you, Mummyyyy...” the twins flanked on each side of me drag the words out in a sing-song voice. El rolls her eyes but her smile never falters. I tilt the screen of my laptop to have a better view of her face. Her smile is not directed at me but the sight of it warms me. Our eyes meet briefly, she looks away. “Happy birthday to you.” They look at each other. “Hip. Hip. Hip.”“Hurray,” El finishes for them. She yanks her robe close and I smother a groan. I loved the view. “Thank you, my loves.”Wyn pries the laptop from my laps to hoist it on her legs, Bren relocates to her side of the couch. They cradle the laptop like a toddler, careful to keep it on their knees. “How old are you, Mummy?” Wyn asks.“I’m plus one.”“What’s plus one?” Bren asks.The laptop returns to my legs, the twins prop
My first instinct is to call T and punch the living daylights out of him because every bad thing that’s going wrong in our lives is his fault. I run my fingers through my scalp until the tremors wear off. El squints.“Why?” She’s too calm. Too collected for someone who talked so much about wanting this. I will lose my shit if I have to reschedule the launch of Project El. Heck. I lose my shit each time I have to tolerate Jei’s arrogant ass. It is not my place to ask, not with our pending issue but I whisper, “Did something happen?”“It’s one of the things we need to talk about.”The phone on the heap of file pings. I ignore it. “Why can’t we talk about it now?”She shrugs off her robe to reveal a black top that exposes her midriff. I lick my lips. That banging body is one of the many reasons we need to get back together. With the amount of stress I am passing through
Everything fades as Vincent and I observe each other in silence. Did he follow me? Why is he smiling so much like he won a lottery? That same sickening smile that was on his face that day in the elevator is present. I flex my fingers to remind him what can happen if he makes the wrong move and he arches a brow as if telling me to try. He tips the bottle of wine to empty the content into his glass and takes a long sip.After another sip, I throw caution to the wind and ask, “What do you know about Sofie?”Vincent spits out his drink, leaving a red stain on the tablecloth. He recovers quickly and lowers his glass. A smirk curves his lips, chills race down my back and my spine stiffens. My hand tightens around the handle of my briefcase sitting at my feet, I force my breathing under control and level him a stern look.He can’t do shit. I beat him once, I will do it again.“If I were you, I would be more worried about the things
Sophia is still not picking. I pinch the bridge of my nose and release my breath slowly. It can’t be that bad. If he releases the video, I will get a few hate, maybe more than a few but there’s nothing to it. It will pass. A lot of people have videos of them spurting their cum over other women’s faces all over the internet.Yeah, right.The slab that separates me and Enzo is still up, I don’t need him offering me pitiful looks but my nerves are frayed to the point I’ll accept a smile from him. Sophia’s text comes in seconds later, I look out the window to see her waving at me. I take a moment to study her and my chest tightens with each second. I get out of the car to wait for her.This lady has been my friend for so long. She knows almost everything there is to know about me, she won’t do something as stupid as giving him that video. She won’t betray me. I should have asked her to delete it. I kick the
Over the week, the weather worsens, so does my mood. Christmas and New year passes without El. The blizzard caused some road damages, travelling was put on hold. Maybe it’s a sign. Every time El and I plan to get back together, the universe responds with something beyond our control. It has to be a sign.We are not meant for each other.I shove a handful of popcorn into my mouth as Wyn flips the channel. I am not sure what is on but I have been sentenced to watching cartoons with them. The current cartoon has a pink panther as the main lead.Bren dips her hand into my bowl of popcorn, ignoring the untouched bowl between her and her sister. I don’t know why they do that. Make me get popcorn for all three of us and eat only from mine.The panther darts across the screen, I prop my legs on the coffee table and push the bowl to Bren’s laps. The light from the television illuminates her face and I catch the scowl directed at
Seconds after the call, I remain on the couch, feeling like an asshole. I was too harsh. Maybe I wasn’t harsh enough. El has always been a cry baby. She is the type to cry when shouted at even when at fault. I groan into my palms. I never wanted this. Faint footsteps echo in the background, I straighten up and force a smile on my lips when I see Bren. She stops in front of me and my heart breaks at her tear-filled eyes. I am not given a chance to talk, she crawls to my laps and hides her face in my chest. My arms tighten around her, I rest my jaw on her head. “Don’t be so mad at Mummy,” Bren says against my chest. After the initial annoyance of knowing she eavesdropped passes, my hands flatten on her lower back. She looks up to me. I try and fail to smile. Her brown eyes so eerily similar to El’s peer deep into my soul and I press a kiss to her hair. “Please. Forgive her.” Like she forgave me for stepping in to help her company