Page 5 of Felonies are Forever

I frown as she throws a playful right hook into my gut.

“Okay, look, just mind your own business.” I swat away her second fist thrust, but can’t help grinning.

I’m not this friendly with most of the workers at the stores, but these folks here are my family. We came up together, struggled together, made some damn horrible donuts together in the beginning and these folks stuck with me during the hard times before the business took off like a rocket. So Angela gets a free pass. But right now, I need details.

“So she comes in every Friday after work? Every Friday?”

Angela takes a second to answer and I seriously start to consider fucking waterboarding her if she doesn’t hurry the fuck up with my answer.

“Yeah. Pretty much like clockwork. She takes a bus from where she works to here, then catches the next one to wherever she lives… so she runs in around 5:05 or 5:10 between the two routes. She looks at what we’ve got, chooses, then she’s off.”

“Why haven’t I seen her before?”

I’m at the front windows, pretending I’m inspecting the displays, but really I’m just trying to grab one last glimpse ofthose pink jeans, watch her sway in that way that has my balls tight and heavy with what I want to put inside her.

There’s a low buzz filling my chest. A tingling in my fingers.

Thousands of filthy thoughts are playing fast and furious around in my head. I want to know everything about her.

“Uh huh. And you haven’t seen her before because you’re always gone by five. You’re a creature of habit, boss.”

The fabric of my dress shirt tightens across my chest as I draw in a slow, deep breath and hold it, letting this moment sink in. My world has just changed, I can feel it. Something crackles to life in the air and in some deep part of myself that until now has lain dormant.

Letting out the breath as it burns in my lungs, I turn and see Christopher come out of the back room wiping his hands on a white towel.

Angela slips on some plastic gloves and arranges the colorful, iced donuts inside the case, humming and grinning to herself. Something about this moment feels profound. I’ve come so far. Gone through so much shit. But right this second, right now, I realize how empty I’ve been. The chasm of a hole that’s inside me.

I clear my throat then look at Christopher. “Hey, both of you, listen. Just you two working until evening shift comes in?”

Christopher nods, totally unaware of how my life just changed. “Yep. Margaret and Tracy are finishing up decorating, they’ll leave after lunch. Then Lucy will be working six ‘til close. Norman comes in at seven and helps close up and start prep for morning.”

“Great. How’d you two like a couple paid hours off today? I’ll cover.”

Christopher narrows his eyes, like I just started speaking in tongues or something. “Boss?”

“Sure.” Angela giggles and nudges Christopher in the gut.

“Good. I’ll bring in lunch at 12:30 for all of us, then you two can cut and run around four. Sound good?”

The voice inside my head grunts. My dick is throbbing, the vision of CeeCee playing over and over in my imagination, her dark hair spread under her head as she screams my name.

I’ll be waiting right here, little bird. I need to tell you who you belong to now.

THREE

CEE CEE

The office is almost empty.Friday nights almost everyone leaves early. There is a medicinal smell of a dentist’s office that even seeps into my clothes. First thing I do when I get home at night is strip down and run a nice bubbly bath.

The excitement of my Friday night routine is quickly fading.

“I need you to stay, CeeCee. I have two investors coming and I don’t speak Mandarin, do I?” Doctor Stinson’s picks his fingernails as he speaks, not even bothering to look at me.

The pressure builds. The tightness in my jaw only adds to the sensation that steam is about to shoot out of my eardrums.

I glance over for the tenth time in less than a minute to see the clock above the chairs in the reception area ticking just passed 5:02 PM. I’m supposed to be out of here on Fridays at 4:45 PM.

“No you don’t.” It’s all I can muster. I need the money, and that sucks, but my rent is due and the thrill and adventure of having nowhere to sleep at night is not on my bucket list. “When will they be here?”

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