Page 16 of Sugarplum

“Chace?”

Chace didn’t hear her. He didn’t even seem to notice her. He didn’t even touch his pancakes any further ever since he got his hands on his phone.

“Chace!” Julie slammed her hand on the table. He finally looked up at her but to her chagrin he had a really annoyed expression on his face.

“Huh? What?”

Julie looked at him with disbelief. “I thought you were only going to take a minute to check your email? Your food’s cold.”

Chace twisted his eyebrows and his annoyed expression only grew worse. “Babe, I’ve only been on for like a few minutes. I’ve got a client asking to organize some documents and spreadsheet files before noon so they can get started with the design.”

Chace was a web designer and a really good one at that. Some people paid him thousands of dollars for a single website. He didn’t just design them but he could code them too. One client, a fashion designer, paid him over $95 per hour. He wasn’t particularly wealthy but he was still above the median line for middle class folk. He definitely earned a bit more than I did and I was an event organizer, along with Melissa.

“I know it must all be so important,” Julie started while fluttering her eyelashes at him. “But could it seriously be any more important than spending more time with me?”

Chace stared at her with a dry expression. “Is that even a serious question?”

Julie shrugged and gave up. She knew better than to push him out. They went through that to-and-fro before and it only broke them apart. She knew better than to interfere yet again, she whipped out her phone and started to chat with Melissa.

“It’s happening again,” she told Melissa on their private chat messages.

Fortunately for her, Melissa was online and quickly responded. “Honey, do not pick up that dog no matter how cute it is.”

It took a moment for Julie to even figure out what the heck Melissa was talking about. “Shit. I don’t mean about me finding a stray puppy again, you dolt. I mean Chace is being a little… cold, again, and buried in work.”

This time Melissa managed to reply in a split-second. “Maybe you’re just being paranoid. You guys just got back together, right? Let it settle in, girl.”

“Maybe,” Julie replied. She then looked up real quick at Chace and saw he was already locking his phone and slipping it back into his pocket. “Hey, Mel, I got to go. We’re doing this stupid dance for our reunion party. Wish me luck.”

“Break a leg,” Melissa replied.

Julie then put her phone away and just in time too – Chace was pacing around the kitchen, prancing about as if mimicking some dance moves. It looked ridiculous and Julie made it very clear.

“Chace, babe, j-just stop,” she managed to tell him through the laughter bursting from her insides. “Come on, it looks stupid.”

He didn’t stop and instead came closer, held her hand, and pulled her up to dance along with him. “Okay, follow my lead. I’ll teach you the basics of Cha-cha first, okay? It’s a simple one-two, one-two-three, okay? You can do this, it’s easy as pie.”

“Yeah, if the pie was a target the size of the moon,” Julie answered in a sarcastic tone. She tried her best to follow his instructions but even with her best efforts she was still stepping on his foot. She could see the spark of frustration in his eyes but he was still being patient enough with her that she didn’t make an issue of it.

They swayed to and fro but they didn’t explore some of the more intricate moves that Julie expected from such a dance. She wasn’t too disturbed with their slow progress – she knew she was a slow learner when it came to things like this. It was just mellowing and comforting to see Chace not give in to the darkness that once pervaded his heart. Where once he would have screamed and walked out on her, he now bit down on the frustration and worked with her to iron it out.

After an hour and a half of practice they were too exhausted to do anything else but rest in the living room. Julie noticed that Chace still had the big painting she bought for his birthday a few years ago. It was hanging above the hearth.

“Hey, you still have the Lodle,” I pointed it out to him as we sat back down on the couch. He sat beside me and brought us a bowl of potato chips to snack on.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I couldn’t get rid of it. You know the day you gave it to me is my favorite birthday party ever? Like seriously, Jules, I keep thinking about that day all the time.”

Julie took a handful of chips and munched. “Really? Was it because of the sex we had in the laundry room or the kinky stuff we did after?”

A naughty smirk creased his face and he playfully raised his eyebrows. “You know you look so hot when you’re sucking my cock with a blindfold around your eyes and a collar on your neck?”

She laughed and nudged him with her elbow. “Shut up. That was a one-time thing.”

Chace laughed too but he didn’t stop at all. “There’s that thing you do with your tongue, you know, that just makes my dick harder. Like fuck, Jules, it makes me want to tie you down against the door, stand in front of you, and like face-fuck you until you drool and all my cum just blows out from your mouth.”

“Oh my fucking God, Chace,” Julie’s mouth went wide and she smacked him on the shoulder. “Stop it, I’m serious. It’s disturbing and it’s turning me on maybe more than it should.”

“Yeah it is?”

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