The Christmas Exhibition (20 page)

             
“No, baby, no.”

             
The tranquillity her denial promised promoted only transparency in my trust.

             
“Nothing like that... I... I...”

             
I believed nothing could be more difficult to consume than the unknowing. “What, Jill? Tell me what happened. What did you do? Why have I your permission to kiss another girl?”

             
“Because Matt... I... I sort of made out with him.”

             
The wondrous revelation of truth detonated internal surprise despite my mental meanderings towards more. Excitement boiled in my chest, fizzling and fermenting through my anxious disposition. Jealousy and fury were married and marred, then burned and charred within the grasp of an incredible, desperate hunger for more. For my woman. For my slut. For my whore.

             
“I'm only playing with him, Matt. It wasn't serious.”

             
Do you think it's possible to want to fuck someone you don't even like?

             
“He was
very
aroused.”

             
Realism released fear and fright slicing through my fantasies, raging and careering from my head to my toes. “How the fuck do you know that?”

             
“
Ba-by
,” Jill spoke so slowly, so playfully, so downright seductively, “I could see him grow in his trousers.”

             
I felt a sickening bulge grow in my own. “You could
see
him?” I was shortening of breath. “Jill, tell me the truth, did you
feel
his cock?”

             
Red, blue, green and yellow flashed across her high cheekbones, the festive lights feasting on her beauty. “No, baby, I promise... I wanted to... I
really
wanted to... I wish I was bolder... But I couldn't bring myself to do it.”

             
I hesitated. How could I hurl abuse at someone so beautiful? My testicles tightened, implored by betrayal to surface. Who did she think she was? My balls bloated suddenly in my groin. Embarrassing me in her place of employment? Humiliating me by kissing the son of her boss? My free hand formed a raging fist. Her colleagues blurred behind her. Aggression pumped through my veins, seeking my pride and finding only respect denied.

             
“But I did do something else, Matt.”

             
I paused. “What?”

             
“I told him to meet me in the storeroom in twenty minutes.”

             
Were my ears deceiving me? Would her words never cease to pierce me? “When?” I asked. “When did you say this to him?”

             
“About fifteen minutes ago.”

             
I recalled Sean's body language as he had left the office for a smoke. Were the pack of cigarettes in his palm a decoy? His sign to Jill that he was on his way to meet her? “What were you planning to do with him when you met him? Were you going to kiss him again?” I looked down her outfit, resting my eyes on the brass buckle that fastened her belt around her waist and dreaming of her delightful pussy underneath. “Or did you plan on more?” What if that pussy was no longer mine to pleasure? To purloin. To penetrate.

             
“He
is
leaving the country, Matt.” Jill drew her forefinger to her mouth and tantalisingly tongued the tip, as if pausing for thought. “I didn't know
that
when I suggested we meet in the storeroom.” The music played in the background. Tins of beer and bottles of wine flowed for the workforce. All seemingly paling into insignificance. “I
could
get away with one fuck.”

             
“No!”

             
Sharon surveyed the brewing storm between us.

             
“Aw, come on, baby, you and I both know you'd love to watch me with someone else-”

             
“No, no, no!”

             
Tracey watched the growing tempest unfold.

             
“Putting on a little porno show for you,” Jill added, then drained the last drops of wine from her cup.

             
“No!”

             
Nici noticed the kerfuffle, drawing the unwelcome attention of George, Billy and Dave.

             
“Not with Sean,” I said. “No way. The cunt is right up his own massive arse.”

             
“Then come with me,” Jill said. “Come with me downstairs to the
storeroom.”

             
I shook my head, my hands shaking in unison. “I don't want you to do anything with Sean.” My true desires reddened my face before her. “I don't want to watch it happen.” My denial giving rise to lies. “Please, Jill. Enough is enough.”

             
Jill motioned her face to her left, then to her right. “It is not enough, Matt.
He
thinks he got the upper hand on me. I can't let this lie. Not now I know he's leaving. He called me a slut. He thinks he can have me.” She shook her head vehemently. “I'm not having it.” She squashed my hand in hers. “Come with me to the storeroom, Matt... We might still have time.”

14

We stepped quietly down the steel steps which led to the reception. My eyes darted to the glass front, searching for Sean. It was difficult to see, as the interior lights reflected and masked the darkness outside.

             
Jill gripped my hand. “Come on,” she said, and led me through the reception to a corridor behind the main desk.

             
“Does this lead to the storeroom?” I whispered, wondering what she had planned.

             
“Yes.” Jill stopped suddenly, turned and leaned forward to kiss me.

             
I turned my face to her.

             
Her lips gently grazed my cheek.

             
I was too hurt to accept her with passion.

             
“I'm sorry, Matt.” She attempted a smile which faded within seconds. “You've got it all wrong, though. You'll understand one day. This isn't about my lust for Sean. This is about control. His wealth versus my sex. And I'm going to win.”

             
The corridor was extremely cold and silent but for our breath which was just about visible. “I
don't
understand,” I admitted.

             
Jill reached behind her, hit a switch and pushed open a door. Fluorescent tubes one-by-one lit up the room inside. “This is the storeroom, baby. Sean isn't here yet.
If
he even has the balls to come.”

             
“What did you tell him you'd meet him for?” I demanded.

             
“I didn't, Matt. I just told him to be here. I left the rest dangling out there for his imagination.” Jill walked into the storeroom.

             
The temperature inside was no warmer than the corridor. I shivered and wondered if Jill wouldn't catch a cold in her outfit.

             
She was looking around the room, taking note of files, folders, chairs, desks, filing cabinets and supplies of hundreds of various everyday office equipment.

             
“Jill, where did you kiss Sean?”

             
Her back remained to me. “Outside.”

             
“Did anyone else see?”

             
“No.”

             
“Are you sure, Jill?”

             
“Yes.”

             
I walked behind her, reached out and caressed her lower arms, revealed from her elbows by frilly edges of her black top. “How did you kiss him?”

             
“Baby, don't. It was nothing.” Goosebumps highlighted the deplorable nature to her lies.

             
I released one arm, gripped tightly on the other and spun Jill around. Her heels clicked as she stumbled. I steadied her. “I don't fucking believe you. Do you want me to call you a slut?”

             
She shook her head.

             
“What about a whore?”

             
Jill's eyes pleaded.

             
“Then show me what happened. You can't have long til he shows up anyway-”

             
“
If
he-”

             
I pulled her to within inches of my mouth. “I said show me.”

             
“It started when Tracey fell, baby. He swooped his arm around me and offered me a cigarette. While everyone piled to the middle of the room, he led me to the steps-”

             
“He led you?” I asked, my ears pricking at the merest suggestion of sound from outside in the corridor.

             
“He had my hand. He... He
held
my hand. I pulled it away when someone looked.”

             
“Who looked?”

             
Jill blinked. Her eyelashes were sensational. “It doesn't matter.”

             
“It
does
matter, Jill. I want to know who saw Sean holding your hand and leading you out of the office.”

             
Her eyes fell to my chest. “George. The guy who danced with me last week. The one who dry-humped me in front of everyone.”

             
The humiliation was staggering. The realisation that every glance he had given me had been with the knowledge I now learned. “Continue.”

             
“We walked down to the reception and outside. Sean lit a cigarette, passed it to me and lit another. We didn't really talk. I said something about the party being good and he nodded. His eyes were all over me. He was staring at my breasts for ages, when I joked that he could get arrested. He said I should tell him not to do it if I didn't want him to. So I told him not to do it, Matt. I asked him to stop staring. He came closer. He slipped a hand down to my leg and seized my flesh-”

             
“Where?”

             
“Just above my knee. I told him to be careful. If he marked my skin, someone would see. He was careful not to. He just ran his fingers around my flesh, working his way higher, then lower when he would get too close to my thighs. I smoked quicker, eager to finish and get away from him. He noticed and called me on it. I denied what I was doing, baby. I said it was his imagination. He smirked. A real knowing grin.” Jill looked over my shoulder.

             
I whipped my head around, glancing to the doorway.

             
“It's nothing,” Jill insisted. “I'm just checking. I've a plan, baby, and I don't want anyone ruining it.”

             
I cleared my throat.

             
Jill recognised my intention for what it was. “He played with the insides of both my legs, not too far up. He wasn't
that
bold. I did nothing to stop him. I was getting excited. It
was
exciting. This big brute doing things to me without even asking my permission or looking for signs of encouragement. He took my cigarette out of my mouth before it was finished and flicked it away. He looked to the reception. He spat his smoke onto the ground, looked into my eyes and leaned suddenly forward.”

             
My head was grabbed in Jill's palms and pulled down to her. Our mouths met. I took her rampant muffles as an indication to kiss her more roughly, and complied.

             
Her sounds fell to silence. Her tongue came to life. Reluctant at first, unfamiliarly compromising. I was allowed to take the lead. To seek out the corners of her mouth. To explore the regions where alcohol dried saliva. Where sweet breath caught emotion. And lust. And fire. There was a sudden spark inside Jill. It was as if her kiss finally came to life. Sturdy sacrificed shaky. Mighty annexed mellow. Prey pilfered hunter. Was this how she had been with Sean?

             
Jill broke the kiss after only a few seconds. Her eyes looked lustfully into mine. Her arms were by her side, thrusting her breasts together into a breathtaking cleavage. “Meet me in the storeroom in twenty minutes... If you want more... If you want... To go... Further.”

             
My cock was erect.

             
“That's what happened,” Jill said, standing with her legs parted as cold air whipped between her thighs. “Then I told him to go on about his business and he headed back upstairs.” She brushed a stray strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, catching and swinging a gold hooped earring as she did.