Page 12 of Mr. Big Stuff

“Thank you but I’m sure you can get along without me.”

“But I don’t want to get along without you.”

I remained silent.

“You have a fear of presenting?”

“I’m presenting too, now?”

He chuckled and I wanted to smack him.

“No, baby. You’ll be my sidekick.”

I knew the term of endearment meant nothing to him, but my heart didn’t know the difference. My body didn’t either. It wanted him to show me I meant more than a fuck on his desk. None of this distracted me from the man wanting me to go back to the place I’d thought I left behind.

“I’d rather not go tomorrow. I think you’ll be good without me.”

“This is where I’m going to have to use my “and other duties as assigned” card.”

I grumbled.

“It’ll be fine. Come on. Let me follow you home.”

“Oh alright.” I just had to hope no one, including, Khalil Berry, recognized me.

That night, I didn’t need Raymond my toy because I had had Raymond the man and he was better than the fantasy that played on loop in my psyche. Having exchanged numbers after I started, he made sure to send me a good night text while I was settling in bed. I tried to push away that feeling of being special because the man said good night. How many of those texts had I received by men only to find out they were sending them out to their rotation? How many times had I found out that they sent it while lying next to someone else? Yeah, so his good night really shouldn’t have meant shit. But … my traitorous heart smiled and responded.

Good night, Raymond. ??

Chapter7

Tracey

As promised, Raymond arrived at my house to pick me up at eleven. Shyness took over when he helped me down the three steps leading to a short walkway and to the curb where his black Infiniti Q50 awaited us. After he helped me in, I took in his vehicle as he got in behind the wheel and started up his car. His cologne mingled with the smell of his black leather seats and the hanging cherry air freshener began to relax me. I had an odd feeling of beinghomebut wouldn’t explore why when clearly that was going too far over some forbidden moment dick.

But his presence was dizzying. It was hard to not start thinking of drawing hearts with our initials inside when his closeness made me feel … like a woman. There was no better way to describe it either. He was a man’s man and I sat here next to him in all my woman-ness.

His eyes watched my legs as I shifted in the seat, and I observed him as he licked his lips reminding me of how he’d licked and sucked me the night before. Mr. Raymond McCullough was talented in the art of cunninlingus. Mygod, his mouth was marvelous. And I wanted more.

Even so it was time I got my head and heart on straight because here I was, feeling as if he was taking me on a date when it was everything but. He was taking me back to the place I thought I’d escaped. The place where I last felt like a failure.

We barely spoke in the car, instead choosing to listen to XM radio that played everything from Summer Walker, to SZA, to Beyonce. Outside of talk about traffic on Saturdays and what we liked to listen to in our free time, finding out we had similar tastes in music despite the age gap with me being thirty-three and him thirty-eight, we seemed at peace to observe with little to no remark.

Ignoring the way my pussy thumped inside my panties, I focused on the mundane. Things like how I liked his driving. He kept a smooth and steady speed as he navigated his way down Penn Avenue heading towards the Strip District section of Pittsburgh. When we passed Art and Crafts Botanicals, I chose to share my love for their crystals and incense that I kept on hand to help me find my center. He smiled, glancing over at me long enough to make me feel heat, letting me know he appreciated more insight about me.

When we arrived at the building I worked in for over five years, he selected the valet at the parking garage next door and we trucked our way to the building with the sun shining upon our faces. Even though we were downtown on this perfect late spring day, it was quieter than you might expect. Quieter than it ever was when I was coming to and from work here.

Our hands brushed against each other’s while we walked side by side into the skyscraper building. When we arrived at the floor the security team provided us access to, a young woman with curly hair piled into a bun on top of her head was waiting. I didn’t recognize her but there were lots of floors I didn’t have access to while I worked here.

“Hi, Mr. McCullough, I’m Vorhees Mitchell, the PR person your assistant was trying to reach before. My apologies for the disconnect.” She looked embarrassed. I wondered if she had been reprimanded when the message got to Mr. Berry his PR person was blocking the connection.

“Are you, Vanessa?” she asked with a fake smile.

“No, I’m Tracey. Vanessa was fired when she couldn’t get Mr. McCullough a meeting with Mr. Berry.”

Her expression would have been comical if not for the fact that she was truly gatekeeping. Who knew how many other opportunities were being missed because she deemed it unworthy of Khalil Berry’s attention. I didn’t even know the man personally, but the way he ran his company told me he’d want to be involved in more community initiatives.

I felt Raymond’s eyes on me and thought he might not like my unprofessional response, but his eyes smiled with humor which made me smile in return.

---