BOMBSHELL (17 page)

SAMANTHA:

I told Joshua what Craig had implied and he agreed with him of course. There was no point in hiding, but he also said he understood where I was coming from, especially after the Holden situation. However, he said, people would talk anyway, even if she had 18 degrees, no man or money. People always had their speculations. He was right, so I told him I’d think about it some more. 

The weekend had come for us to travel to Aspen, Colorado and meet his parents. He was not kidding about this at all. We rode on the private jet and joined the mile-high club, well I did at least. It was amazing. Joshua was an amazing lover, but I could tell he was holding back. Things were good between us, but I didn’t want to broach the subject just yet. The whole BDSM thing was a nagging endless song in my head and I just couldn’t get over how he might not be fulfilled with just me or as it was termed,
vanilla sex
. He assured me that we were beyond
vanilla sex
, but I was not convinced.

His mom and dad were so funny, happy to see him, and seemed ecstatic to meet me. They asked me a lot of questions, which I gladly answered. They wanted to know how I met Joshua, what I saw in him, was he treating me right. They showed me pictures of Joshua and he cringed at every one. They wanted us all to go skiing, but Joshua had refused, but encouraged me to go. I had only been skiing a few times, but I was no pro and was sure I’d hurt something. This was their specialty, so I went. His mom immediately took me under her wing, introducing me to all her friends as Joshua’s girlfriend. She seemed proud of him, but also proud of me.

That felt good.

Skiing wasn’t a total disaster. I fell seven hundred times it felt like, but I got back up and started again. Well, I had no choice, if I wanted to get back down the hill. I finally remembered I need to make my legs go in, like I was pigeon-toed in order to stop. I crashed into many people and Joshua’s parents got a kick out of that. I’m glad they had a sense of humor at my expense. I had to laugh myself, as I almost went over a cliff into the trees, because I couldn’t steer myself to turn. It was atrocious. Everything hurt.

We arrived back to Joshua’s family house around 5 PM, and I limped out of their Lincoln Navigator. I made it into the living room and saw Joshua watching the football game on TV. He saw me limping towards him and jumped up. “What the fuck?”

“Oh, I’m alright,” I said.

“Honey, calm down, she fell a few times,” his mom chimed in.

“More like every time,” his father snickered.

“What the fuck, this is why I didn’t want to go. Why the fuck didn’t you stop her if she didn’t know what she was doing? You had to insist that she do this? What the fuck?” He picked me up and took me upstairs while his parents stood there with their mouths open.

When we arrived back to the room, I chided Joshua.  “You shouldn’t have talked to your parents like that. They didn’t make me do a damn thing; I got out there, fell down and kept getting back up. They did encourage me to stop, but I wanted to learn. How dare you try to have them attempt to control me too?”

“Put me down,” I finished.

He immediately put me down as he was shocked at my response.

“You owe them an apology,” I said as I limped to the bathroom and locked the door.

I heard a faint, “What the fuck?”

I turned on the shower, stripped of my clothes and took a nice long hot shower. I stayed in there until the water started to cool, because my body was aching that much. When I finished, I walked out of the bathroom to an empty room. Hoping he was apologizing, I started to put on some clothes as I was very hungry.

“You got in trouble didn’t you?” I heard Joshua’s father say as she stood on the steps ready to go down.

There was a chuckle. “You could say that, but she is so damn stubborn. I wasn’t mad at you guys, just angry with her for being so independent sometimes.” It was his dad’s turn to chuckle.

“I hear you son, she reminds me of your mother. Did I ever tell you how I got your mom on the slopes and she kept falling, but refused to give up? To this day, that woman works her ass off to outshine me on those slopes, because I laughed at her the first few times she went out there. She took classes, joined groups, and even started to compete. She can run circles around me now, shit, and she does. That’s the resilient type of woman you need. When the shit gets tough, that’s when she lights up and goes to work. You don’t want no patsy gal or someone who is completely submissive that she can’t think for herself. Cause if you lose your shit, you want a woman that can take the reins and steer the damn ship. That’s what your mother is for me, best damn thing I ever done was make her mine. Smartest decision in the world, makes me feel like a fucking genius.” He chuckled.

The leather sofa creaked, like someone was getting up or shifting. “Be a genius son. That woman up there, don’t tolerate your shit, don’t let you talk any type of way to your folks, won’t just roll over and die when shit gets tough. That’s what you want. Not that entitled chic you brought here in graduate school. You want a fighter. She going to irk your damn nerves, but she’ll have your damn back. Be a genius.”

The leather sofa creaked again and then a door closed. I figured I should go down stairs now, just in case someone saw me eavesdropping. I saw Joshua sitting on the loveseat with his head in his hands and elbows on his knees. I tried to make some noise, so he knew I was coming. He looked up at me and he smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.”

“Dinner is almost ready,” he said. I walked towards him and he patted his knee indicating that he wanted me to sit on his lap. I obliged him and he pulled me closer to him.

“Are you hurt badly?” he asked.

“No, just sore. I’ll be fine in a few days. I just need to take a bath in Epson Salt.”

“I can help with that,” he smiled. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing to me for?”

“Because I shouldn’t have snapped at my parents, when I was upset with you.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay.” I was waiting to hear the rest.

“I was upset with you, because I don’t want to see you hurt, but it seems like you put yourself in danger, against my wishes.”

“Joshua, I’m a grown woman, who can take care of herself. I have for this long and I will continue to do so.” He looked up in the air, like he was trying to gather his patience, so I continued, “I like this protectiveness you have over me. I’ve never had it before and sometimes I’m not sure what to do with it.” I caressed his face. “I will, however, work really hard to help you help me.”

He pulled me closer and I touched his face with both of my hands and kissed him on the lips. I pulled back and he said, “Mama, I’d never want anything to happen to you.”

I nodded my head.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He kept going, searching my eyes. “You know I love you right?”

Quickly looking away, he brought his hands to my face and turned me back towards him. “Answer me.”

“Yes, you’ve said it,” I replied.

“Do you know?”

I stared at him. “I’m not familiar enough with the concept.”

“I know you love me.” He smiled.

“How can you tell that?” I asked.

“I see it in your eyes, your smile, your touch, your moans,” he kissed my lips, “your reaction to me.”

I moaned low and moved my hips in his lap. He pulled my face closer and put his tongue between my lips and I started to suck on it, attempting to get closer to him, to pull his tongue out more, so I could get it all. Then, I heard someone clear their throat. I nearly jumped off of Joshua and was across the room. His father chuckled and said, “Just wanted to let you love birds know dinner is ready.” He grinned from ear to ear and walked back into the other room. I held my chest in my hand, because I was thoroughly embarrassed. I turned to Joshua and said, “I’m no longer hungry. Take me home now.”

He closed the distance between us with a smile on his face. “Babe, we weren’t naked.”

I looked up to him and said, “I don’t care. It’s bad enough your parents seen me in your house with your t-shirt on sitting on your lap, now your father catches me in his living room, sitting on your lap, sucking you damn tongue. I can’t.” I shook my head, “Can’t handle it.”

“Mama, calm down. I’ve seen worse from them.” He shuddered.

“He has,” Joshua’s father yelled from what sounded like a couple of rooms over.

I threw up my hands and stomped up the stairs. Then I heard simultaneous laughter from both men. Goddamn. I needed to get home, so it was just one of them.

******

Dinner turned out to be really good and we went to church on Sunday with his parents. I met a lot of people, was ushered around for a long time until Joshua told his mom we had to get back. She reluctantly let me go, but not before I met their Pastor. Our trip back was uneventful, as we were asleep most of the time and cuddled the rest. I was still very sore and it must have been apparent, because Joshua didn’t make one move to do anything, but provide me with comfort.

When we arrived back, Joshua dropped me off at my door, because I really wanted to recuperate and have some alone time. He did not like this much, but I really needed to just be me. When I entered my apartment, there was envelope on the floor, with my name written on the front. I opened it and read:

Sam,

I know you don’t want to hear from me, but I had to explain some things to you before you made your decision. I’ve never made it a secret that I was interested in you. You are beautiful, smart, sassy, witty and just a good friend. I ruined that and its eating me up inside. Your man was right to a certain extent, I wanted to groom you for a Dom, not specifically for me, but I was hoping I would have my chance. That was wrong and I’m sorry for betraying your trust.

I have really grown to like you, not just as a woman, but a real friend. I know that may sound like a line, but in all honesty, I’d come to think of you as one and hoped you had done the same. I would love the opportunity for you and me to rekindle that friendship. I miss my ice-cream and avocado budd
y

Missing you,

Trevor

Wow.

I didn’t know what to say about that. I tucked the letter in my purse and went to take a bath in Epsom Salt. I contemplated about telling Joshua, but he’d probably blow a damn gasket. Then I was reminded that Joshua said, he would “end” Trevor. Maybe not.

******

The next few weeks went by in a blur. Joshua and I decided not to announce our relationship per se, but we talked more and didn’t avoid each other. People made comments to me, never to him, and I just brushed it off like I didn’t hear them or didn’t understand what they meant. The launch of Stark was a huge success. He received a record breaking response and was praised in all of the magazines, newspapers and Internet on his wise strategy of when to release, how he released and who he marketed. Craig and I celebrated with everyone. Joshua gave us all bonuses and rented out a really nice Italian restaurant and treated us all. All that hard work paid off with no leaks and no mishaps.

The week after the launch, Joshua reinstated Larry, my driver, gave me a key to his apartment, and demanded a key to my apartment. I shook my head at him and kept doing what I was doing. This was his so-called compromise, because he wanted me to move in. I told him it was too soon in our relationship to move anywhere and honestly, why I wouldn’t give him the milk for free. He growled and said then ‘marry me, so I can get my damn milk when I want.’ I laughed at this, but still didn’t give him the key to my apartment, just because he demanded it. I had nothing to hide, but I was trying to make a point.

Joshua decided to make another type of point. I went home after work one evening and as I was catching up on Hulu, I heard my door knob rattle. I immediately thought it was some drunk neighbor’s friends or someone playing around. So, I started to tip-toe towards the door to look out the peep hold, when the door popped open. I screamed and backed away from the door to run into the kitchen and get a knife. I turned around and saw Joshua saunter into my apartment, lock my door and smile, “Good evening.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” I screamed.

He frowned, “I was bringing you some dinner. I know you had a long week and you wanted to have your ‘me time’, so I figured I’d bring you some sustenance.”

“How the fuck did you get in here?” I exclaimed.

“With my key,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What key, I didn’t give you a key?”

“The key I took off your key chain to have duplicated.” He smiled, “That key.”

“Son of a bitch,” I murmured. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not, you are an ass,” I said and walked into my bedroom, loudly closing and locking the door.

I thought I heard chuckling, but if he was, I’d go out there and pounce on his ass.

Motherfucker.

About an hour later, he knocked on the door gently and said, “Mama, I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.  I want to be able to get to you if I need too, to ensure your safety, and I can’t do that without access to you. This Stark has gone viral, people are taking greater interest and now that you and I are together, my enemies have grown and I have to keep your safety my top priority.”