Love Lost (Love's Improbable Possibility) (42 page)

After pulling up, w
e dashed into the airport not sparing a second. He traveled with me as far as security would allow. I knew once he left me he’d hurry back to his hotel suite, pack and return right back here to depart Phoenix himself. We stood off near a wall, away from the traffic flow of travelers and gazed into each other’s eyes for quite some time. I felt a magnetic pull to him and couldn’t break away from his compelling draw even if I wanted to.

“And so we part,
again
,” he said as his eyes danced between mine.

Though my heart rate was stable my mind churned questions of passion with what my heart held. 

“Yeah,” I murmured. I had to say something. I didn’t want the rapture to end; I wanted our connection to linger. I fought through it. “Azmir, this has possibly been the most adventurous…” I chuckled at the thought and he did, too. It felt great to laugh together, at the same thing. I continued and my smile disappeared, “…and exhilarating experience of my life.” So did his smile after that. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“No. I’m the only one indebted here. You’ve put a much needed spark in my monotonous travel. I owe you for this huge inconvenience.” Azmir shifted in his stance and with his one hand brushing the back of his head while letting out a deep exhale. I got the sense that he wanted to say more but decided against it and settled on, “Thank
you
.”

“I actually owe you for the cool
rigs!” I beamed as I held the shopping bag that now consisted of my clothing from the day before.

He flashed a
panty-snatching smirk that sent shivers up my spine. I could feel the ache between my legs from him having been inside me over and over and over again. “You can keep those. They’re not exactly my size if you hadn’t noticed.” We laughed in unison again—I laughed,
Azmir chuckled
.

“You have to go, Ms. Brimm. There will be a car waiting for you at LAX to whisk you to work.”

“Okay,” I whispered because my throat constricted from the disappointment of parting ways with him.

My eyes fell to the floor as I tried to regain myself. The next thing I felt were his hands on either side of my face lifting me into an impassioned kiss that caused my heated blood to rush through my veins. His tongue was needy and the combination of his firm grip, his delicious aroma
, and the agility of his tongue was heady and knocked me off balance and into his strapping chest. When he released me, I was appreciative of his arms balancing me until I was able to do it myself. He smiled his coochie creaming smile that made me wonder if he knew how I’d nearly lost all gravity. I smiled back at him not caring. I walked off and didn’t turn around until the checkpoint only to find him still standing in place surveilling my every move.

My flight seemed shorter than the previous day and although I’d slept very little the night before I was
nowhere near tired. My mind kept replaying my time with Azmir, visions of his smiles, pensive expressions,
erotic faces
. Flashbacks of our talks, our embrace, our
lovemaking
. There was so much to consider and sift through. I could come to no conclusions, couldn’t make any declarations because I’d never in my life experienced anything similar to that of Azmir Jacobs.

As soon as I was out of the terminal I powered my phone back on and watched my missed alerts load. There were calls from Michelle
and Sebastian!? What in the hell does he want?
Also, there were texts from Michelle, Jimmie, my stylist Adrian,
and Azmir
.

I went into my texts, hit Azmir’s first and saw:

I just want you to know that when I called to invite you to dinner yesterday sex was not an ulterior motive…just your company. In the end I got that and more. I hope you have no regrets. Again I owe you.

My body heated and the beat of my heart accelerated as I marched through the airport to find my car service. He wouldn’t drop his gratitude. His expressions were thoughtful…but his constant mentioning of owing me didn’t sit well. I decided to reply right away.

Mr. Jacobs, I appreciate your clarification though it was not needed. We’re consenting adults and behaved responsibly. What concerns me is your second mention of owing me. It sounds very formal…and professional - as in escort service’esque. Here’s a little secret: you don’t owe someone you bestowed several orgasms upon in the span of a couple of hours. Have a good day and enjoy your time in the Big Apple. I hope your landing was as smooth as mine.
;-)

I hit send and found my way to transportation where I located my driver. As soon as I hit the interior of the car
, I called Michelle. 

She was anxious to hear from me and of course wanted to know every blow-by-blow detail of my trip. I promised to give her the specifics later that evening after we attended Erin’s dance recital, something that had actually slipped my mind. It was on my calendar but my unscheduled jet-setting excursion knocked me off kilter.

What was odd was that for the first time in the course of my friendship with Michelle, I didn’t want to tell all of my intimate details concerning Azmir. Some things I wanted to keep to myself feeling they were personal
shared experiences
, that being with him in Arizona actually had meaning, far more than our first time. But I knew I couldn’t hold out too much from my best friend. She would never have it.

I was slowly regaining my wits on my ride to Long Beach City and when I hung up with Michelle
, I decided to return the texts sent from Adrian and Jimmie. As blissful a mood I was in, the sentiment was challenged by the fact that Sebastian called. I felt revulsion in the pit of my stomach at the sight of his name. I checked the time and figured eight twenty a.m. was too early and eager to return his call. He’d have to wait until after my first cup of java to hear from me.

It was just before
nine when I arrived at the practice. Sharon was at the front desk and wore an anxious expression as I ambled over to her.

“Good morning, Sharon. What’s wrong?”

“Did you finish up those reports yesterday?” Sharon’s eyes bulged with urgency.

“Nearly half, why?”

“Remember that new format coming down the pike from headquarters?” The higher ups were implementing a new spreadsheet program for our reporting. As with any change, it was unwelcome and dreaded by managers who had to learn a whole new system.

“Yes…”

“The latest quarterly reports must be submitted using the new software that you were trained on a few months ago. I got a call from Sandy yesterday, about an hour after you left. She was calling to see how you were faring with it because the Woodland Hills practice submitted theirs early and was nearly severed at the head because they were not in the new format. Jeffery Baker had them all prepared days early hoping to leave for Hawaii with his family for his anniversary. He had to cancel and they’re fighting against the clock now to have them correctly done by tomorrow’s deadline.”

Shit!
This was just my luck. I was hoping to have the other half of my reports done on my lunch so that I could leave at a decent hour tonight to make Erin’s recital. I exhaled deeply accepting my fate.

“Okay, I’ll just have to work around the clock to have them completed.” My tone sounded of defeat. I enjoyed my job but the paperwork that came along with my manager’s role could be extremely taxing.

“Do you still have the application disk?”

“Yes, I downloaded it onto my desktop when we received training on it.”

“Do you recall how to use it?”

“Not really, but I’ll have to relearn it on my own and soon. Let me go and get started. What time is my first patient this morning?” I was sulking and quickly questioned whether this was my punishment for having jumped up and abandoned work yesterday for a whiff of Azmir Jacobs. No matter how much I tortured myself with such a trivial thought, I had no regrets waking up in his arms that morning.

“At nine thirty, Mrs. Ginn.”

“Okay. I’ll go grab a cup of coffee to get started.”

I went into my office to let down my things and start up my desktop. I dropped the shopping bag filled with my clothes and toiletries from my overnight stay in my small office closet and before I could sit down there was a knock at my door.

“Come in
,” I granted mindlessly as I clicked the icons on my computer for programs I needed to fire up to use right away.

Sharon poked her head in, “Peter, the head cook from the rec is here with a delivery for you. He said he doesn’t want it to get cold so I have him right here.”

A delivery? I didn’t place an order
. Confused and interested in getting to the bottom of this I nodded tentatively. Sharon moved aside and Peter, an average height Caucasian man with beautiful grays eyes, strolled in and handed me a clear plastic bag wrapped with two tan Styrofoam containers inside. My eyes bounced around in bewilderment as I accepted the bag from him.

“Ms. Brimm, Mr. Jacobs called first thing this morning and asked that I deliver this to you by nine. I hope you enjoy
,” Peter explained expeditiously before turning on his heels. The sound of Azmir’s name made my insides clench and right away I felt the soreness from him being there
again and again and again and again
mere hours before. Peter’s presentation was brisk but not exactly rude.

“Thanks
,” I muttered while eyeing the bag. That quickly, Peter exited my office and Sharon closed the door behind him but not before giving me a knowing grin. She knew better than to ask about my affairs with Azmir. She was always professional and as a woman of a certain age, she was filled with etiquette to my benefit.

My stomach growled as the aroma from the contents of the bag filled my nostrils. I
’d totally forgotten about breakfast after hearing the news of the new reporting format. I opened the containers to find a cheese, tomato and onion omelet, home fries potatoes and turkey sausages. My stomach suddenly felt ravished so I picked up the utensil set that was nestled in a nicely folded napkin and set about feasting until my appreciation of the mouth-watering smell brought back my manners. I grabbed my phone and took a picture of the food. Checking the time again and realizing Azmir hadn’t returned my previous text, probably because he was still in transit to New York, I decided to send the picture to him anyway and include the caption:

A girl can get
used to getting fed…and so well. :-)

After hitting send
, I barely tasted the food as I nearly swallowed it whole while playing around with the new reporting software before heading into my first patient.

My morning blurred past and before I could sit down and exhale at my desk
, I heard my cell phone ring. I had a singe of enthusiasm in my belly wondering if it was Azmir calling since I hadn’t heard from him all morning. Thoughts of hope and all things merry came to a screeching halt when I saw Sebastian’s name displayed on the I.D.. I’d totally forgotten he’d called. As much as I didn’t want to hear from him, I had to face the music sooner or later and decided to get it over with.

“Rayna Brimm.”

“Oh! She finally answers my calls.” His slimy voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Sebastian always sounded as if he had a reservoir of saliva stuck in the back of his mouth. I loathed the sound of it.

“Sebastian. How may I help you this fine afternoon?” I tried keeping the derision out of my voice. I just wanted to get this brief conversation over with.

“I’m cashing in a favor.” His tone was condescending.

“Oh?”
No…God, no!
I cried deep inside.

“Yes. An associate of mine is
hosting an album release party on Sunday at a lounge he runs. He’s invited me to come and check it out a few times but I’ve declined until now.” My heart dropped. I knew where the conversation was going at his first sentence. What got me was the way he tried to word it as though he was in high demand by this associate when in reality Sebastian was too corny to be begged to show to any social event. I checked back in to hear the last of his torment. “I’m sure you can make yourself available on Sunday evening to join me.”

There was silence on the phone. I hated being coerced into going places with Sebastian and he knew it. I think he sometimes sat and thought of ways to harass me knowing that my obligation to him would force me to relent to his torture. At least a half a dozen of excuses came to mind but there was no reliable one that Sebastian would buy. After expelling a lungful exhale I answered, “I’ll move a few things around. Text me the time and address and I’ll meet you there.”

“Oh, no. I’ll pick you up at nine. Be on time, sugar.” I shivered at his term of endearment that wasn’t meant to endear at all. I had nothing but disdain in my heart for Sebastian and the worst part of it all was that he knew it and didn’t care.

I quickly ended my conversation with Sebastian after arranging for him to pick me up at Michelle’s. My mood went from tense to somber in the matter of a phone call. Not long after that conversation Sharon called me on the office line asking if I wanted to order out Japanese, to which I agreed seeing that I would have a working lunch. I got off with her after giving my order and called to inform Michelle of my cancellation of Erin’s recital. With her being a colleague
, she totally understood the restraints I was under and offered to break the news gently to Erin. My heart tore at that prospect but I accepted the fate of my evening and dug straight into work.