Page 60 of Affliction

Chapter Twenty-Six

Mia

The next day, when I was getting ready for work, I took extra time in my appearance. I wore a red, body-hugging sheath dress with some black high-heeled booties, from my collection, of course. My short hair was straightened and my jewelry was minimal—only a pair of silver earrings hung in my ears.

I felt like a million bucks. I was hoping I would see him today. I hadn’t noticed him at all yesterday, but he’d said that he saw me. I was hoping I would come face to face with him today. See his reaction to the way I looked. The thought of dressing for someone, for Terry, had made me giddy this morning as I got ready. The feeling carried on as I went into the office.

No one was in the office when I finally reached my desk. It was barely seven o’clock in the morning. I was usually the early bird, in before most of my staff and still there long after they were gone. I sat quietly, sipping my coffee, checking emails, and looking out my window, checking to see if I noticed Terry’s car appearing in the parking lot.

My office had a nice view of the front of the building, allowing me to track the comings and goings of the employees. Not that I ever did. I only checked periodically to see when Ally arrived or if she was still there before I buzzed her on the intercom system. But today my thoughts were preoccupied with a tall southern boy with wild brown hair. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see him more than I wanted to run my company. The thought both scared and thrilled me.

“Geez, get it together, girl,” I said out loud to no one. I picked up the latest designs from the design team that were sitting on my desk. Red pen in hand, I began making slight marks on the areas I thought could be improved.

This was the part I missed the most about running Shoegasm: the designing. In the beginning, it had just been me working on the designs and working with the manufacture to produce them. But when the company took off, there was so much to do—meetings with investors, marketing to consider, meetings with distributors. None of this allowed me to be as involved in the design as much as I used to be. But the design team still worked closely with me. I reviewed the designs, and we met to go over improvements or suggestions that I had. They were pretty top-notch, so it was rare that I rejected a design. I treasured our meetings because it still allowed me to maintain a connection of the designing that I truly enjoyed, all while living out my dream of bringing affordable designer shoes to women.

“Good morning, Mia,” Ally said. I put my red pen down to meet her eyes.

“Hey, girl. How are you this morning?” I said, trying to sound as friendly as I could. Ally still appeared to be on eggshells with me since Terry had returned to town. Yes, she had known that he was here, and she’d also kept in touch with him. But now that I was calmed down from it, I understood she was only trying to protect me and look out for me. Just like she had always done.

He wasn’t worth wrecking my relationship with Ally. I knew our business relationship would remain intact, but our friendship was what I was more worried about.

“You look hot! I didn’t see anything on the calendar. Is there something I should know about?” she asked, looking at the tablet in her hand. It held all of my appointments and helped us go through emails and schedule appointments.

I laughed. “Thank you. No, there isn’t anything you’re missing work wise. But there is something personal I need to talk to you about. Could you please close the door?”

Ally nodded and quickly scurried over and closed the door. Returning to her seat in front of me, I smiled widely at her, trying to ease the fears I could see building in her eyes.

“Mia,” she began before I could get a word out. “I can’t apologize enough for having kept the appearance of Terry from you and his reasons for leaving you. I’m sorry. I thought I was doing what was best for you. After all you’d been through, I was just trying to keep you above water.”

“It’s fine,” I said, standing up to come around the desk so I could sit at the other chair beside her. I didn’t want her to feel like this was a conversation between a boss and assistant. In this moment, she was my friend. “I’m not mad about that anymore. I was hurt at first, but I understand why you did it. I don’t know everything there is to know about Terry yet, but we’re getting there.”

My face flushed at the words.

“What’s going on?” Ally said, leaning in toward me, ready to hear the dirt.

I laughed at her stance. “Okay, I’ll dish. Terry and I have spent time together since he arrived in town. He showed me where he is staying. We spent the night talking and looking at the stars. Shared a sweet kiss.” My face heated again at the mention of that kiss.

“Ooh. Wait, have you two...” Ally’s voice trailed out. I knew what she was getting at.

“We’ve had sex. Twice.” I paused for effect. I was rewarded with a squeal from Ally.

“Spill it. Spill all the details.” I was so happy to share this with her. It felt wrong not to. Ally was my person. She was my safe place, and she had been since college. She always would be.

I giggled and told her all the sordid details about the sex in the Art Room, our phone conversations, and last night’s sex in my chair. Ally was bouncing up and down in her seat when I finished. She was definitely as happy for me as I was with this new development.

“How is he? Is he good? He looks like he would be good.” Ally giggled.

I laughed right along with her, my cheeks heating at the memories. “He is,” I confirmed. “But he always was.”

“Has he learned any new moves since you were with him last?”

“Terry’s definitely gotten a little more primal in the way he fucks,” I admitted.

“Primal, huh? What does that mean? Is there biting, hair pulling, and spanking?”

“Ally,” I shrieked. “Stop it. No, there was none of that. It’s just the way he was with me when we were in the Art Room. He took me from behind in such a forceful, powerful way. I mean, he’s primal in the way that he held me to him and drove in and out. It was just...wow. There is no other word to describe it.”

“That sounds so yummy, Mia,” Ally gushed right along with me.

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