The Dramatic Spiel of Arthur and Chardonnay~ (7,127 views)

Adelaide wondered where Chardonnay got this car! It was new – it was so shiny, it had to be new – and when she opened the door and slipped inside, she looked at the layout of the inside. Woah... this was so cool. Her uncle got to ride in this car?! No way! This totally wasn’t fair! She could just imagine herself flying down the highway in this car, with cool sunglasses over her eyes and the top down, her hair whipping behind her in the wind as her music blasted at full-volume from the speakers. Someday, she thought, a car like this would be hers. She could save up enough money! She knew she could!

Chardonnay’s comment just made Adelaide puff her lips out in the woman’s general direction.

”I am not drooling! And I will so get a car like this when I am old enough! Just you wait! I’ll save up enough money and drive around town and be richer than you!” She enthused. That sounded like a good goal – to become richer than Chardonnay! Then, she could just buy whatever she wanted and live in a fancy mansion. She wondered where Chardonnay lived, and if her uncle had ever been there. She knew that this woman had been to her uncle’s apartment – no doubt that new mattress had been from her, and no doubt that the soap had been hers – but then, did her uncle leave stuff in a fancy mansion, too?

”Hey, how long have you been my uncle’s rich lady?” Adelaide asked, bouncing back from the annoyance she’d felt before. Her natural curiosity gave way to any real irritation she might feel. She looked out at the crowd of people watching the car and grinned and waved. She felt famous! She glanced back over at Chardonnay, wishing she had a cool pair of shades like she did! The question for instructions to Dairy Queen made Adelaide smile and she pointed to the road. ”Take two lefts and a right at the next light and that’s the plaza where Uncle Artie’s theater is! Dairy Queen is like, a few stores down. And you gotta come in to buy me the ice cream, duh! That’s the point of me taking you. You could even get an ice cream too! It might make you ease up and stop being such a grump-ass.”

Adelaide was content in Chardonnay’s car, watching as people gawked and stared. She wondered how much this car cost. Maybe she could convince her momma or uncle to buy her one! Or buy one in general! She could definitely see her momma riding in a car like this with some cool shades on her face! Her momma would no doubt look into it – if anyone was going to stop the deal from going through, it would be her uncle! Adelaide wondered if she could get Chardonnay to buy her momma a car... that might be for later, though.

First, she had to see how much she could get away with. That much was very important.

Adelaide watched the scenery go by until Chardonnay spoke up. When she said she wasn’t her uncle’s rich lady, Adelaide looked over at her with her eyebrows raised. Seriously? She wasn’t his girlfriend, she wasn’t his friend, what the heck was she?!

”You are too! You’re not his girlfriend, you’re not his friend, so you’re just his rich lady! Uncle Artie’s so mean, he gets to take rides in this car without me!” She frowned, wondering what other cool rich-person things Chardonnay let her uncle do. Maybe he only acted so stingy because he got spoiled elsewhere, with this woman! What a liar, if that were the case! Adelaide hated secrets being kept from her... and being lied to. Especially by her uncle. The only person who it would hurt more being lied to from would be her momma. When the car breaks were slammed Adelaide whined in protest and rubbed the back of her neck.

”Ow! Who gave you a license?!” She complained, and glared over at her when she refused to get an ice cream. But then the confident smirk was back as she put her hands on her hips, arm tickling the fabric of the seatbelt. ”Okaaaay. Then I guess I’ll just tell my momma all about you and my uncle! Not a problem! Just drop me off at Dairy Queen if you don’t mind that happening!”

Adelaide took Chardonnay’s insult to mean that her blackmail was working and that she was going to be getting exactly what she wanted out of this situation. She grinned at the thought, and didn’t mind being called a little shit. Oh, she’d been called worse and it wasn’t like Chardonnay’s opinion really mattered to her! Now, if her uncle had a girlfriend and introduced her to the family properly then this would be different! If that were the case Adelaide would want to get to know his girlfriend and like her! But if she was just this mean rich lady? Nope! What was the point? Obviously her uncle was just bored or confused or something. He didn’t like rich people, he always complained about them.

So why was he seeing this lady? Adelaide glanced over at her, and observed as she sneered at the pedestrians crossing the street. She was pretty, but mean. She knew her uncle had a short fuse, but he wasn’t a mean person. No one who really knew him would say he was. He was smart, and liked kids and wanted a bigger family. So why would he be doing anything with someone who was obviously a colossal bitch? Her opinion of Chardonnay was decreasing more and more as she thought about it. Especially when Chardonnay said they led separate lives and were never in public?! Why! Obviously her uncle was ashamed of this lady. Adelaide could definitely see why he would be.

”Well that’s probably ‘cause you’re a bitch and he hates you.” Adelaide informed her, as she unfastened her seatbelt and trotted towards Dairy Queen. She looked over at her uncle’s work with a smile on her face. She wanted to go over but knew Chardonnay wouldn’t go. Not that she wanted her to! But when Chardonnay left Adelaide knew she’d go over. She’d go to watch a movie and talk to her uncle and ask for a bag of free popcorn!

Adelaide entered the Dairy Queen and smiled at the cashier. She ordered the largest size ice cream they had, with three extra toppings that each cost extra. She was purposefully racking up the bill for Chardonnay, and smiled over at the woman when her order was done. ”Thanks for getting me an ice cream by the way! And I’ll call you later for... the next time!”

Oh, Adelaide was already beginning to form her next big blackmail idea. This one would be more complicated, more of a hassle for Chardonnay... and whether or not she actually did it would prove a lot about how much she was actually willing to go through to keep this secret.

Pretty soon, Adelaide would have to see when Annabelle was next available.

After Adelaide got her ice cream from Chardonnay all paid for, she thanked the cashier in the woman’s steed before she headed outside. She could have demanded another ride from Chardonnay, if she really wanted to, but where would she go? If she went home, her momma would wonder why she was coming out of some rich lady's car. Nah, she could get a ride from her uncle today! She licked her ice cream as she walked in the bright sun. She watched as Chardonnay drove away, her car sticking out like a sore thumb among the other cars on the road. Salem might be known for Metric Academy, and wealthy, but it certainly wasn’t as wealthy a district that warranted her car driving around. Or, at least, cars that fancy usually stuck around Metric and the immediate vicinity to there – not driving around Salem angrily.

In the parking lot, Adelaide could see her uncle’s car parked beside the theater. He still had the Jeep, which was still nice and function even after quite a few years of use. It was new when it was bought, after all, and no doubt her uncle planned to keep it in use for another few years.

She opened the doors to the theater and smiled at the familiar smell of popcorn that graced her nostrils. She walked through the theater, and waved at all the workers, bypassing the ticket seller who knew who she was by saying she just wanted to talk to her uncle. She was directed to go to his office, and Adelaide knocked on the door and danced on her feet. When the door opened, it was Jasmin smiling down at her, and she said hi to the familiar face and then snuck inside to her uncle’s confused face. When she asked him for a ride him home he rose his brows, but she gave him a pouty face and, eventually, he relented. See, she thought, her uncle loved her. She didn’t have to blackmail him because he loved her!

She didn’t pay attention to her uncle’s thoughts or mindset aside from what he overtly told her. After dropping Adelaide off at her house that evening after he left the theater (giving closing duties to Jasmin that night) he exhaled and tried to forget about the fact that Adelaide knew anything about him and Chardonnay. It was very easy to forget that when Chardonnay next texted him, asking if he could go to her place. He had lately been going to her place more often in case Adelaide snooped around and, unfortunately, he understood the worry.

And that time they had sex he had been pretty much dominated by her right from the very beginning – and though he fought back for some control at first, eventually he let her win and gave into the pleasure. As much as he loved to steal control from her in bed, when she knew exactly what she wanted and demanded control like that... it was incredibly hot and left him gripping at every inch of her he could get his hands on as he met her movements. By the time they were finished he took a second before he cleaned up to catch his breath, and then once he was washed up he flopped back on her bed, face and torso glistening with water and sweat.

When she mentioned his niece he froze and the blissful feeling of post-orgasm faded into anxiety as he found out his niece had blackmailed Chardonnay. He asked her for more details and when she exaggerated certain points unfortunately, Arthur had no reason not to believe her. Adelaide could be cunning if she really wanted to. That was a trait she, unfortunately, got from her mother.

After that, Arthur told Adelaide to stay over at his apartment one night. She did so, happily, but what she wasn’t expecting was for her uncle to ask her about what she was doing to Chardonnay. She was flabbergasted when her uncle told her to stop it, and she pouted and tried to convince him to just stop seeing some rich lady but he shook his head, and when she referred to Chardonnay as ‘rich lady’ he informed her that she had a name, and that just made Adelaide more infuriated. She pouted and stormed to her bedroom, and Arthur exhaled but assumed that would do the trick.

It hadn’t. A few days later, Adelaide was standing on the edge of the mall, waiting for Chardonnay to give her another expensive makeup pallet. When Chardonnay arrived, Adelaide eagerly took the makeup pallet and demanded another ride around town – this time, she wanted to go to the local McDonalds to pick up a burger. She finally let Chardonnay go after that and walked the way home.

When Arthur next went over to Chardonnay’s place, he assumed that he had gotten through to Adelaide. Except that time, after he was lying down beside Chardonnay blissful because of the sex, she mentioned that his niece blackmailed her. Again. And unfortunately, it made him think. If he was seeing Chardonnay behind his sister’s back, it was different than before. Before, it didn’t matter because they were both adults and could sleep with whoever they wanted. But if he had to keep this a secret from his sister, the woman who did nothing but love him and wanted to know about any women he was seeing, it made him feel... he didn’t know.

He wasn’t going to be in his twenties forever. He couldn’t hide this forever.

He confronted Adelaide again, stricter this time, and told her to stop. Adelaide frowned and stormed off after the confrontation – again – and Arthur was left sighing in his living room with his TV on for background noise. Obviously this was hurting Adelaide, even if she was acting out by blackmailing Chardonnay. And she was going along with it, too. This whole situation was forcing him to think about his and Chardonnay’s relationship, and he hated it. He knew it would end soon. But when it would was the real question.

But that hadn’t stopped Adelaide. Adelaide, now more determined than ever to make a demand so unreasonable she forced Chardonnay to give up sleeping with her uncle, walked to the mall. She saw Chardonnay there early and grinned, walking over. She was dressed up – wearing a black and white dress with her hair held back by a white headband. She wore flats on her feet. Her makeup was done with one of the new pallets she’d gotten from Chardonnay – and she looked awesome! In her opinion. She came to a stop in front of Chardonnay and smirked.

”Hi, rich lady! I have a request for you today.” She fingered the small black purse she had slung over her shoulder. ”I want you to take me and my date to your restaurant! For free! It’s really, really fancy so it’s like, the perfect place to go on a date! I’ll give you the instructions to pick my date up when we get in the car – ooh, I want to sit in the back with them too!”

As expected, Chardonnay was not happy about this idea. Adelaide watched as her face went red and she sputtered out a response in fury. Adelaide wondered if this would be the final straw – she hoped it was. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Chardonnay, waiting for her to finish, before the people who were observing them slowly went back to whatever they were doing, but not without spared glances over at Chardonnay and Adelaide. Adelaide frowned when she said the car only had two seats – really? Adelaide hadn’t noticed. Lame! She wanted a car like that, but with more seats. How was she supposed to take Annabelle, her uncle, and her mom cruising with two seats?

”Okay! If you’re not going to let me go to your restaurant then I have another condition – stop sleeping with my uncle!” She took a step closer to Chardonnay, a fire starting in her eyes. ”If you’re so concerned with your reputation and me not telling momma about this then stop sleeping with my uncle! Then there’s no secrets and I don’t have to keep doing this! You’re just holding my uncle back and it’s not fair! You’re not fair! If you don’t actually care about him then get the fuck away from him,” she hissed dangerously, protectively, as she jabbed a finger in Chardonnay’s direction. ”Or, if you want to continue this, go ahead. Take me and my date to your fancy-pants restaurant. And I’ll get what I want from you until you stop using your weird seduction on my uncle!”

She continued to frown up at Chardonnay, not sure if she was going to give her the dinner, but goddamn she wanted it! She needed to take Annabelle somewhere nice – but if Chardonnay just decided to end everything where would she be? Well... square one, she guessed. But what was more important right now was getting this rich lady away from her uncle – at any cost.

She waited for a response as their onlookers kept stealing glances over. Adelaide walked towards the car, expecting Chardonnay to follow.

”My date’s waiting by the McDonalds!” She said.

When Chardonnay reminded her that it took two people to have sex, and said that her uncle initiated sex sometimes, Adelaide made a face. Ew! She didn’t want to know that! Obviously given this whole situation she knew that her uncle was having sex – apparently pretty frequently too – but that thought was just so gross! She didn’t want to think about what things he did with this rich woman behind closed doors, when no one was watching. She knew enough about sex from sex-ed and her own research that it was just something she didn’t want to image her family doing. Her mother didn’t have a boyfriend, so that was fine. But her uncle... now she found out he had someone he did that with and it was just so gross!

”Ew, gross! I don’t wanna know about my uncle’s sex life! It’s gross enough I know it’s with you.” Adelaide said. She just wanted this lady away from her uncle but, unfortunately, she seemed to not be going anywhere. Why was she so attached to the idea of sex with her uncle? Why wasn’t she jumping with joy at the opportunity to leave him alone, and stop this stupid blackmail? No doubt her uncle would be mad but he would get over it eventually – she was so mean, she obviously meant nothing to him.

When Chardonnay said she had no room, Adelaide pulled her phone out and hummed. ”I guess, then, I’ll just call my momma and tell her to pick my date up! Or you could call a taxi... and pay for it! How else is my date gonna get there? It’s too far away to walk! So you gotta do something!”

Chardonnay’s retort for when Adelaide said sex was gross was totally uncalled for! She made a disgusted face when she brought up her uncle’s virginity. What the heck would she know if he was a virgin or not?! He was her uncle! Like her momma, they weren’t allowed to have sex lives, or at least, no ones that Adelaide knew about. It made her shiver to think about. She glared over at Chardonnay as she brought up sex, and that he enjoyed it, and that thought just made her visibly cringe and make a ‘blegh’ noise in the back of her throat.

”Well why wouldn’t I?! He’s been single for five-ever, except when he went out with Erin!” Adelaide pointed out, angrily. Why would she know if he was a virgin! Why was Chardonnay saying he liked it? Ew, ew! As if anyone could enjoy anything with this rich bitch lady. ”You are so gross! Ew, ew! No wonder Uncle Artie never talks about you!”

When she called her out on having a ‘work-in-progress’ plan, Adelaide narrowed her eyes. ”Hey! I had this worked out but you’re the loser who doesn’t have four seats in their car! Not my fault. And I want it to be right now! Or, uh, however far away your restaurant is from here! I want to go right now and I want to eat all the fancy food. Hey! Do you serve lobster?”

Even though she said she couldn’t believe that she was letting this happen, Adelaide sneered, and leaned over to her. ”Maybe I’m not, but apparently Uncle Artie is,” she said, figuring this was proven when Chardonnay was willing to go as far as feeding two teenagers to keep sleeping with him. ”I wish I could kick you out of this car and just make you take the taxi.”

Adelaide totally didn’t believe that Chardonnay was going to go through with this. Even when she called a taxi and drove to McDonalds, Adelaide was expecting her to be like, ‘you know what? Fuck it!’ and tell her to get out of the car. Then, Adelaide would be able to know this was over between her uncle and this crazy lady! But despite everything – the annoyance on her face, the way she clutched the steering wheel, the way she dialed her phone angrily – she was still doing this. To keep the secret of her and Adelaide’s uncle.

When Chardonnay told her she’d be in jail Adelaide stuck her tongue out. As if! She was too young and besides, maybe Chardonnay wouldn’t even care as long as she continued to sleep with Arthur. It disgusted Adelaide to think about it.

She hopped out of the car and bounced into the restaurant, spotting Annabelle there in something nice, looking beautiful. When their taxi arrived, Adelaide took her best friend to the vehicle and sat with her in the back. Annabelle’s last relationship had flopped and this was, of course, a friendship date to make up for it. But it meant more than that to Adelaide – this was her real, first date with Annabelle. She had to make it perfect and show her that she could totally get the best date in the house! The ride to Chardonnay’s place was so long Adelaide began to fear maybe Chardonnay was actually deporting them to Mexico or something, but eventually they pulled into the exit that signified Chardonnay’s city. Awestruck, Adelaide pointed out all the beautiful scenery that she saw to Annabelle, until their driver pulled into Chardonnay’s restaurant with a smile. Adelaide threw the guy a dollar and said the rest was on Chardonnay’s tab – then stepped out and admired the beautiful building.

It was so much fancier than any place she’d ever been to. Adelaide reached over and tugged her best friend in by the hand. When she got inside she smiled over at Chardonnay and asked for a table for two. Once she was seated, Adelaide continued to remark about the gorgeous location. It was completely empty, sans the two and Chardonnay in the back. The way the light flittered in through the windows made the décor glisten like it was covered in ice.

Of course, the best part about going to a restaurant was the food. When presented with the menu Adelaide gasped at all the food options. She ordered a pasta and sausage dish for herself, and whatever Annabelle ordered, and waited for Chardonnay to bring it out. To pass the time, Adelaide tried to play a game with the center pieces with little regard to hall valuable they were. Once the food came out Adelaide dug in with little concern for how messy she was being. It was delicious and of course, she ordered dessert. She demanded the most expensive looking thing she saw, and told Annabelle to choose whatever she wanted.

Of course, Adelaide divulged the details of her uncle’s ‘secret girlfriend’ to Annabelle when Chardonnay wasn’t there. This, she explained, was how she got here. But it was a great opportunity, she thought. She got to see the way Annabelle looked all dressed up, with jewelry glistening off of her body to match the décor. She didn’t even notice when employees of Chardonnay’s came over and made note of their presence – none of that was her business.

Adelaide of course complimented the food – whether or not Chardonnay cared was another thing – and when they left, she didn’t get a ride form Arthur. Hell no! He’d kill her if he knew what she’d done. So, she got a ride from a taxi to get back to Salem. She dropped Annabelle off after their date, bid her adieu, and then went to her uncle’s to stay the night.

Of course, he asked her why she was dressed up. Adelaide said she’d taken Annabelle out and that she didn’t want to talk about it. As she expected, Arthur took that to mean something had gone wrong and didn’t press her for information. Instead he let her stay in her room at his apartment, and play games on her iPhone all evening until he cooked her dinner. When she had leftovers for once, Arthur was confused, but Adelaide said she’d had a big lunch with Annabelle. He bought it and didn’t press, again.

For the entire time she was there, she wondered why her uncle was seeing that lady. She wanted to ask but knew it’d be too suspicious to bring it up. Still, when she was cleaning up the kitchen and watching Arthur click around on his laptop, she wondered. That lady had said something about him enjoying the sex and that made her shiver – ew – she didn’t want to picture her uncle in that illicit a situation! But it still made her curious about sex. So curious she googled it, and immediately regretted leaving images on.

Adelaide left Chardonnay alone – for a bit – and focused on the first week of school. Arthur continued to text Chardonnay every night she got home from work and, that weekend when she asked if he was busy, he answered no and that he could head down. In regards to the Adelaide situation, he was completely oblivious. He believed she’d stopped since last time, and Chardonnay hadn’t said anything more. He locked the door to his apartment behind him and headed down to his car, heading to the highway and to the city he knew Chardonnay lived in. He navigated the familiar roads and turn signals until he came to her condo complex. He pulled into the first available spot and began to head into the building.

He was dressed in a pair of slacks and a dark green shirt – he had gotten into the habit of wearing slacks to nice places rather than jeans when he bought the theater – and tried to ignore the looks he knew were sent his way by the people in the lobby. He’d been coming here for years – nearly a decade – and multiple times, he’d heard whispers of people talking about him behind his back. They wondered who he was, where he lived, and if he spoke English. Arthur decided to ignore these people and let them think he didn’t understand what they were saying, even going as far as to just feign ignorance when one of the men tried to ask him what his name was while waiting for the lift. That way they couldn’t talk to him and find out he was screwing Chardonnay. Adelaide knowing was bad enough.

But then, in the elevator, it made him think. This wasn’t going to go on much longer. He couldn’t just... lie to Susan and allow Adelaide to take advantage of Chardonnay. But at the same time, he thought about Chardonnay, and about how he didn’t want to give her up. It was more than the sex – it was the squabbles, the bantering, and the foundation of friendship they’d somehow formed with one another despite everything. But he knew how Chardonnay worked. She didn’t do friends, boyfriends, or significant relationships. They only fucked, in her mind. When they stopped fucking, they’d stop talking... completely.

He brought his hand up to his forehead and sighed. Well. That was all the more reason to make it last now, wasn’t it? To take advantage of the time they would have together and just... fuck her until she moaned in his ear and clawed at his back, until she moaned out his name and made him feel like the sexiest man alive, until she wrapped her hands around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair. Until they were both done, satisfied, and fell asleep facing one another. Until they were done... and stopped texting one another... when one of them told the other that they were done... until that happened, he just... –

He barely had enough time to think before the door opened and he was on Chardonnay’s floor. He walked to the door and knocked on it, took a deep breath, and fingered the spare condoms he knew were in his back pocket. He usually remembered to bring them despite the fact they each had a box of condoms at one another’s place – just in case they ran out.

While he waited for Chardonnay to open the door – which always felt like such a daunting length of time to him no matter how quickly she took – Arthur started to think about what he was doing here. With Adelaide knowing about them sleeping together, there was a part of him that just didn’t want to do this anymore. Was it worth keeping a secret from Susan, deliberately withholding information from her? Before, when no one knew, Arthur was just... not telling her something. And why should he have to? His sex life was his own business. But with Adelaide knowing, his first instinct had been not to let Susan find out.

And Adelaide had her own damn price for keeping her mouth shut.

She got so much more out of him now, and from what Chardonnay said, she was now moving onto bothering Chardonnay. Arthur wasn’t sure how much she was bothering Chardonnay and assumed she hadn’t done anything in a while, but how long until a while ended? How long until Adelaide did something that caused Chardonnay to re-evaluate this, and determine it wasn’t worth it. Arthur knew he should just end things and then Adelaide would have nothing to hold over the two of them. He loved her, but goddamn was she annoyingly stubborn sometimes...

Arthur could remember the last time he was over at Susan’s house for dinner. Susan was on her laptop, clacking away at something with a magazine in front of her. Her brows were furrowed and her eyes were narrowed. Adelaide was in her room. The second Arthur sat down in the chair beside Susan’s, his sister whirled around to face him and brandished the magazine in his face, demanding if he had heard anything about Chardonnay lately.

That was enough to make Arthur panic, had Adelaide mentioned anything? Oh, fuck, please let her not have mentioned anything. He, somewhat scared, replied that he hadn’t and that was when Susan thrust the magazine in his face – a magazine that claimed Chardonnay had two ‘secret daughters’ that no one knew about. The claim was so ridiculous it made him snort, and even the picture of Chardonnay with two random girls in her restaurant didn’t faze him. They were probably her cousins or something. Though Chardonnay didn’t seem like the family type if she loved her parents so much, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had some cousins over as their request to eat. That would explain why they were there before opening, too – if they were supposed to be going there secretly. Susan pursed her lips and examined her brother for a moment before she went back to her angry typing – no doubt writing a post defending Chardonnay’s honor and insisting there was no way she had any secret children.

Reasonably, the idea of Chardonnay having any children made him squirm.

But it also made him thing about her wants, about his wants, and when they would end. He knew he wanted to make a family someday and she knew it too – judging by what she’d said to him when she was staying over at his apartment and trying to get him to stop smoking. When you get a wife and kids... and she definitely wanted nothing of the sort. He knew that but at the same time he didn’t want to quit. He was addicted to her, and comfortable with her and her body. And even if he tried to watch porn with audio, it wasn’t as arousing to him as were the noises that came out of her mouth. He didn’t know what he wanted. He just didn’t know. All he knew was that he wanted her.

Finally, the door opened, and Arthur expected it to go the way it usually did. She’d grab him and pull him into a kiss, he’d grind his lower body against hers and open her mouth with his, and the two of them would stumble to the bedroom undressing each other the whole way down. But instead of a fully clothed Chardonnay, Arthur was greeted with the sight of her body, barely clothed.

The first thing he noticed were her breasts, pushed up due to the bra she was wearing and slightly accented given the way she was leaning on the doorframe. His eyes traveled to her navel and then the black underwear covering her crotch, and then they followed the suspenders down to her thigh-high socks and heels. His eyes panned back up her body and took in her hair, then – the strands were curled in a way which looked very attractive on her, at least in his opinion. Her face was half-hidden by her hair and the mystery only made her sultry expression more alluring. He barely registered her lips moving as his eyes did another pan down her body and back up to her face.

Holy shit. This was new. This was new, but definitely not unwelcome. She’d worn attractive underwear before, but it was only revealed when he got under her shirt and into her pants. She had never greeted him in lingerie before, and looked at him with that expression, like she was trying to make their foreplay longer, like she was trying to make their sex last longer than it usually did to build up the tension. He blinked and made eye contact with her, unaware his own were wide and bouncing between her cleavage and eyes.

”Hey.” He echoed, forcing himself to look back up at her face as he did so. He cleared his throat and looked beyond her – not sure if she wanted him to kiss her or just to step in – but she was in the doorway. He took a step closer to her, which reminded him that in her heels she was a few inches taller than he was, and before he could stop himself his eyes went back to her cleavage and his hands went to her waist, brushing the skin of her side. It was smooth to the touch, and he wanted to run his hands all across her body at that thought. ”You, uh, you’re – I mean...” he forced himself to stop talking and looked back up at her face despite his mind telling him he wanted to kiss her breasts, ”The uh... you look..,” he said, his eyes leaving her face again and wandering to her breasts. Jesus fucking Christ, his eyes didn’t usually wander that much, even when he got her bra off. Why was this so much... sexier than actual sex? He couldn’t explain it. ”I... I mean... wow.”

What the fuck else was he supposed to do?! He would start kissing her, but he didn’t want her to take the lingerie off for a few minutes – he definitely wanted to appreciate the sight before he took the underwear off of her when they had sex.

When she called him smooth Arthur wanted to protest – how the fuck else was he supposed to react to this? Like some... someone who’d experienced a girl standing in front of him in lingerie before? He’d never been in this situation before. Especially not with someone who he knew or who he was sleeping with. He might have seen pictures of women in lingerie but there was something way more enticing about having someone be in front of him, right here, right now – swinging her hips and smirking over at him.

Oh, he wanted to bite a quip back over at her and rile her up. But as much as he wanted to do that, when he looked down at her body again, he got distracted. He couldn’t remember why he was annoyed, all he could remember was that he really wanted to touch her boobs. When she leaned in closer he got a whiff of her – that scent that was so familiar to him, that he had smelled on his second pillow so many times, wafted into his nose. He wanted her to kiss his skin when she oved close but she didn’t – she teasingly pulled away and turned around. He watched her spin in heels and he would have been very impressed with the fact she could do that in heels if he hadn’t been so distracted by the underside of her ass, which he didn’t get to see very much. Usually when they slept together he felt her up, squeezed her ass, and saw her front but he only ever saw her back when she was going to the bathroom or when it was covered up and here, with the way the lingerie was, it gave him a different view that he usually got when she was wearing a baggy shirt and panties at night.

When she gestured for him to follow her, he assumed she meant to go to her bedroom. That was weird – usually she would have kissed him by now, and started to undo the buttons of his shirt one by one, rubbing her fingers across the skin of his chest. His throat clenched at the thought, and his palms suddenly felt clammy, but he followed her anyway and furrowed his brows as she spoke... though his eyes were on her ass and he only half-registered what she said.

”Different? You’re already half undressed, I mean, I’m not complaining, the view’s nice –“ As he spoke she bent over to adjust the music and he appreciated the view, almost snorted at the irony, but didn’t. She wanted... longer foreplay? Wasn’t that treading on dangerous territory to Chardonnay? He tore his eyes away from her ass (it was hard to do) to look at the setup she had in her. He blinked. Jazz was playing in the background, and she said something about needing foreplay... he noticed there were no longer any pictures hanging up in the room. He turned back to Chardonnay as she turned to face him and told him to sit.

Wait. What?

He looked at her, jaw popping open, as he stared down at her chest again. Sit? He’d have to do something later? What was this about? Was she – was she going to give him a strip show or something?

He hadn’t ever been to a strip show – though Maxine had taken him to clubs where girls happened to strip a few times – and he’d only gotten a lap dance one other time in his life, from a Drag Queen at a show Maxine dragged him to. Never, in any pit of hell, had he expected Chardonnay to offer either of those things. How long had she wanted to do this? Was this some... secret fantasy of hers?

He slowly took a seat on the couch, a little uncomfortable not because of the material but because the room felt hotter than it should have been.

”Wait. So. I can’t touch you? I’m... just going to watch?” He repeated her instructions, with a little half-laugh at the end of his statement. It wasn’t because the situation was funny. It was because he was nervous and he shifted slightly, not sure what kind of face Chardonnay expected to see from him. He bit down on his lower lip and scanned her body again. ”What... are you going to do to me? Or, do, in general?”

This was... so out of character for her to do. Arthur blinked as he looked at Chardonnay’s pout and heard her whine, but she didn’t usually whine about things like this. Sure, she’d maybe whine a little bit if he pulled away from her too soon after a kiss, or if he teased her too much, but it was just so... odd in this situation. She hadn’t said anything about this, ever, and he had a feeling whatever he was doing was wrong. He wasn’t smooth – he didn’t know how to be sexy! Not unless he was stripping Chardonnay and rolling with her in the sheets anyway! He just wasn’t seductive... and he’d tried that before. It just always made him blush profusely – the same way that watching Chardonnay swing her hips and approach him made him blush. When she chastised him for asking questions and swung a leg up to his side – brushing her thigh against his – his shoulders and arms stiffened. He glanced at her leg before he looked over to her hands, which were hooked into the waist of her panties, which made him curious to see the underneath without immediately slipping a finger inside her. He never really looked, he just kind of... stripped her, and then began to work her body. They weren’t the type to send one another nude photos – he would never do that and didn’t exactly see the appeal in getting off to just a photo anyway – and he didn’t stare because he knew he’d be flustered if the situations were reversed and he caught her staring at his intimate area too much. But, still, he was curious and in a situation like this...

He glanced back up her body at her face, his hands stiff at his sides when she told him not to touch. She was... she was going to... give him a lap dance.

This was much different than the Queen who had grinded on him. That was in a loud and crowded environment, with the crowd howling in laughter as they watched the very beautiful queen bob up and down on his lap. The queen had grabbed his face and shoved it into her fake tits, and then finished off with a quick kiss to his forehead before she went back to dance to “the Bad Touch” by The Bloodhound Gang. It left Arthur blushing and giggling at the awkwardness he felt, and Maxine had the whole thing on video to show Susan later. He had a stain on his forehead from her lipstick and the queen cracked a joke about him popping a boner after her performance.

That had been in a club, with people all around them and the purpose of the show not being sexual arousal but entertainment. But this time... this time was extremely different. Chardonnay moved slower and more intimately, grinding against him in the ways she knew he liked from their previous sexual experiences. His cheeks immediately started to flush as he tried not to think about sex, or about anything, and just waited for the dance to end. He didn’t... know how to feel about this. This was too much like a couple, wasn’t it? The room was dim and a lap dance was so, so fucking intimate, that he couldn’t just – he didn’t know! She was so sexy, but he was so nervous, he just didn’t know what he was supposed to do!

At one point, he reached over to touch her, to try and get this to stop being one-sided and to be more sexual, but she swatted his hand away and he gripped the armrest of the couch so tight he thought he was going to rip it off. When she was grinding against him he opened his eyes and looked at her, her expression distracting. The way she was biting her lip and moaning against his ear was so, so distracting, and all he wanted to do was grab her waist and hold her in place – but she swatted him away again. Watching her dance was very hot, but he kept thinking about how he looked and how he just wanted to start taking her clothes off and his and start having sex.

He didn’t realize how hot he was until he felt Chardonnay’s hands start for the buttons of his shirt. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, his breathing after that coming out in labored pants that made his cheeks flush even darker. He could feel her moans rumbling against his skin and that just made him squirm. He couldn’t touch her! What was he supposed to do? He felt her hands glide down his torso and his breathing hitched. He felt stiff in all the wrong ways, but when he felt her hand ghost down to his belt and undo it, he realized he was stiff in the right way, too. When had that happened? That was probably why his breathing was so labored and he could barely complete a thought. He stared at her chest in his face, and wanted to touch it, but when he tried to Chardonnay slid off of him and moved around some more and he was a fucking mess. He tried to sit up straighter.

When she turned around to grind her ass against him, he felt like he was going to explode. Not necessarily in the ejaculating way, but just because there was so much blood in both his cheeks and his dick that he was going to explode. He could feel her fingers threading through his hair and he flushed darker, his head leaning against her touch unconsciously, his expression squirming. He was so bad at this. She was being sexy and enticing and he was so bad at this. She probably expected him to jump her by now. He was doing this all wrong, he was sure.

When she turned back around and pressed her chest against his, kissing his ear, he bit back a groan when she started talking. He felt her hand slide down his chest and into his boxers and then he couldn’t bite back the moan that came out of him, but that only made him more nervous as he forced his eyes open and looked over at Chardonnay.

”I don’t – f—fu—ah, ahhh—cking, know,” He probably could have said something sexier there, and to top it off, he wound up half-moaning in the middle of his sentence! Another wrong strike, right? He took a few labored breaths before he felt her hands around him and his breath hitched again. She had to be just as bothered as he was, right? He looked at her face as he debated what to do and, he figured Chardonnay wanted him to fuck her now, right? So he shifted and groaned again at the way that made her hand rub against him, and reached forward to grab her hips and slide a hand up the fabric of her panties. He reached his head forward and buried it into the crook of her neck, his breathing labored but easing up slightly as her gaze was no longer on him. He felt a little more confident as he moved his hips against her hand and smelt her perfume in his nostrils. His voice was extremely husky by this point, and his breathing was still labored as he muttered out, ”Sex?”

Arthur didn’t know what to expect her reaction to be. He wondered if she’d get mad, or jump him, or start slowly taking off his clothes from here on out. He was comfortable with his head rested in the crook of her neck – it was warm, and smelt pleasant, and he could feel her breath rising and falling. He was less uncomfortable than he was before when she was just dancing. This was something he knew better, now he was allowed to touch her, and he could only imagine that she had the intention of having sex with him shortly. He wanted to start – he wanted to undress her, get her out of that bra and set of panties, and take her right here on the couch. His mind wasn’t thinking about finding her bedroom or condoms – he just wanted sex.

When she said she wanted him – that was what he heard anyway – he bit back a small moan and he looked at Chardonnay’s face. Her sweet tone of voice was also lost on him – he was too in the moment to think of it as odd. If she wanted to talk to him so sweetly, and look at him like that, he didn’t have any objections.

Until, of course, he felt her hands tighten.

His half-moan turned into a little yelp at the unpleasant feeling, and he opened his mouth to tell her to be gentle when he saw her expression and his blood ran cold. He was still hot and bothered but he deflated, just slightly, just enough to really focus on her as she spat that this was about Adelaide. And, for some reason, that made him feel relieved. He was glad she wasn’t mad at him for doing something wrong or for reacting wrong. His breath was labored for a different reason for a second. He could still feel her hand on his dick, too tight for pleasure, even when she ripped her hands off of him and got up off him and began pacing the living room.

He watched her move, opening his mouth as though he wanted to speak, but then closing it again. The relief he felt quickly dissipated to frustration. Obviously she had planned this through. She obviously never intended to have sex with him and was just trying to lead him on, to just... to just... frustrate him! And that did frustrate him! Didn’t she know how... shitty that was?! Now he was all hot and bothered and she wasn’t going to do anything about it! Her and her fucking spoiled bitch ass...

He grumbled something and sat up a bit straighter, narrowing his eyes over at her.

”Come on, Chardonnay,” He moaned out, purposefully exaggerating the last syllable of her name, it coming out like a half-whine. There were shitty things she could do, but giving him blue balls? Purposefully? Seriously? Could she be any crueler? He groaned and lifted a hand up to his hairline, running the fingers through the strands, taking a few deep breaths. He felt so embarrassed, because he was bothered but she obviously had controlled herself to the point that she didn’t need or want to sleep with him.

When she mentioned Adelaide had done something about her restaurant, he paused. What? The hell had happened? But then it clicked – those magazines, where it had been her and her ‘cousins’ – that was Adelaide. And when she mentioned another girl, it wasn’t hard to imagine that the other culprit was Annabelle. He groaned and tightened his grip on his hair. Thinking about his niece was definitely helping kill his boner. He was still frustrated beyond belief, but he wasn’t desperate anymore. He was bothered, sexually frustrated, but not desperate.

He narrowed his gaze over at Chardonnay again, who was now getting angry over this! She was angry?! She had no right to be angry right now!

”You could have fucking told me to talk to her! But no, instead your spoiled ass decided to give me a case of blue balls! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” He snapped. When she mentioned the audacity of her ever having kids, he snorted. ”Oh, calm down! Who the fuck would believe you’re a mother?! You’d probably be an awful one!”

He couldn’t deny the twinge of... something that spread in his chest when she said this wasn’t worth it. He, honestly, felt the same way. Lying about their fuckbuddy relationship, no matter how good the sex was, wasn’t worth the heartache and drama. But to hear her say that this wasn’t worth it just really... put it into perspective for him. He wasn’t worth it to her. He wasn’t worth anything to her and she had no problem riling him up to get what she wanted from him. He was only good for sex and when he caused too much drama for her, damages to her ‘precious reputation’, she wanted to cut it off. He looked away from her and glared at the radio playing.

”This was all just some fucking setup, wasn’t it?! You ‘trying something new’ and giving me a fucking lap dance! Do you think I want to deal with Adelaide’s fucking nosy ass getting involved in our sex life?! Fuck no I don’t! And I had no idea she was jeopardizing your restaurant! You sure as fuck aren’t worth all this trouble, and if Susan finds out, I – “ What would he do? Call it off? Tell her it was his business and that he did what he wanted to do? But, then, if he did that... ”God fucking damn it! You never think of anyone but yourself! Fuck no I’m not sleeping here! I’m leaving!”

He spoke as Chardonnay stormed to her bedroom and felt his eyebrows twitching in anger. When the walls shook he twitched slightly and was left by his lonesome in her living room, sitting on her couch with his knees bent. His boner had gone down considerably –the arousal he felt was dimming as he thought of the gravity of the situation. He rested his elbows on his knees and ran his fingers through his hair again.

He could still hear the jazz playing, no so out of place among the anger he and Chardonnay both had for one another. He felt strangely... hollow as he just sat there. This was going to end. Maybe it should end right now. He could tell her this was done, that he’d be back for his things soon, and they could call this off. If it caused problems for her restaurant, and his family, this was a problem. As much as he hated to admit it, Chardonnay was a bit more famous than the average woman. It was easy to forget that any lover of hers – fictional or not – would be exaggerated out of proportion and his family would no doubt come under fire. He couldn’t do that to his family. He just couldn’t.

He took deep, labored breaths as he tried to calm his body and think about un-arousing things, like ketchup and graveyards. And about this ending soon He wanted to leave but didn’t, for some reason. He stayed there for a few minutes, listening to the music playing, lost in thought. He had made the drive out here, just to be teased, and to be led on, and then yelled at all because Adelaide couldn’t keep her nose out of anything. God, he was so pissed off. At not only Adelaide, but at Chardonnay. How fucking stupid did she think he was?! She could have just talked to him about this! But instead she just pulled this shit and left him more angry and frustrated and just – Jesus Christ! ”You’re a fucking cock-tease! I should have never said I’d come over!” He spat, not even sure if she was listening. He didn’t bother to turn off the music – but he did blow out the damn candles. ”Adelaide’s never going to bother your ass again.”

Whether he meant that as in he’d talk to her, or as in he wasn’t going to sleep around with Chardonnay, was up in the air. Right now Arthur just didn’t know what he was going to do. He got up and headed towards the main door to leave, hating the fact that he could navigate Chardonnay’s condo just as familiarly as he could navigate his own apartment. Maybe even more familiarly.

There was no response from Chardonnay. Arthur wasn’t sure if he expected one but for some reason the silence just pissed him off more. He wanted to talk a cold shower, he wanted to curl up in her bed and grumble something about telling Adelaide later. He wanted to go to her door and tell her that he was going to tell her, and that she didn’t have to worry because he would make Adelaide stop. He wanted to stay here. He didn’t want to drive all the way home, even if he wasn’t going to have sex. He just... didn’t want to go...

He clenched his head as he heard nothing from the bedroom. The nothing continued and he made a ”tch” noise. He didn’t expect her to run out and apologize, or run out and kiss him again, continue to rile him up, and fuck him.

He got up and headed towards the door, not hearing Chardonnay finally emerge to go to her bathroom. He was out the door shortly after and slammed it shit behind him. He was still uncomfortable and sweaty, but he no longer had an erection and no longer would look quite as haggard as he had earlier. The thoughts swimming through his mind right now were sobering and unrousing. He needed to get home and take a shower. He passed the people in the lobby, ignoring their odd looks at his disheveled hair and sour expression. Fucking let them stare. Right now, he didn’t care.

He opened the door to his Jeep and got in, exhaling and starting up the car. He drove home and the ride felt longer than it should have. He listened to the radio and tapped along to the beat, admiring the nighttime roads on which traffic was barren and the moonlight cast beams. He didn’t usually travel back home this late and though the thought made his stomach churn, he had to find something to appreciate about it.

The next day was a Saturday and, when he got back from the theater, he called up Susan. He asked if Adelaide wanted to spend the night at his place and Adelaide eagerly agreed, oblivious to what was going to happen.

As mad as Arthur was at Chardonnay, he had to agree that Adelaide jeopardizing her business was too much. He would never want any harm to befall her restaurant, though he didn’t personally understand the appeal of a fine dining restaurant. She put a lot of work into that place, he knew, and she loved it almost as much as she loved herself. He would never expect her to purposefully harm his business, so for him to do that to her – albeit indirectly – was bad. He could call this off with Chardonnay, and end it like he’d been thinking of, but... he didn’t want Adelaide to win. He didn’t want her to get them to stop screwing, which he had a feeling was her ultimate end goal. Clearly, she didn’t much like Chardonnay.

When Adelaide came over he kept this peaceful at first. They played some games and he talked about school with her, helped her with her math homework, and asked about Annabelle. That was the Segway, because as he expected, Adelaide blushed and tucked some hair behind her ear. She shifted in her chair like a schoolgirl and said that they’d actually gone on a date! Arthur paused then, and leveling his gaze over at his niece, he asked if it was at Chardonnay’s restaurant.

As expected Adelaide was caught off-guard, and didn’t realize he knew. Arthur didn’t stop talking and told her that she couldn’t do that to Chardonnay. Her restaurant was something Adelaide wasn’t allowed to touch, just like she wasn’t allowed to weasel anything out of Arthur’s business that wasn’t the occasional free movie. Never before had she tried something of that scale. He confronted her about the article and asked her if it was her and Annabelle. He got her to admit that it was her doing, and he reiterated that interfering with Chardonnay’s business was off-limits.

When he said that, Adelaide’s brow twitched and she leaned forward, glaring at her uncle and asked ”why not?! She’s the one who let me do it!”

”Blackmailing her into it is different than her just doing something out of the kindness of her heart,” He snapped back. Adelaide snorted at that comment and looked away, and Arthur frowned. ”Look at me, Adelaide. This has to stop.”

”You have to stop.” She snapped back. Her sassy retort wasn’t appreciated, and Arthur slammed his hand on the table.

”Adelaide Lynn. This has to stop.” He repeated. Adelaide flinched at the anger in his tone and turned to look at her uncle, her lips lifted into a pout. It didn’t work and Arthur looked just as mad as he did before.

”But Uncle Art—“

”Do you know the consequences of what you did? You got the press to spread rumors about her having kids. If the press ever saw me around her, what do you think they’d start saying about me? Besides that, any blackmail you’re doing, it needs to stop.”

”I’ll just tell momma that—“

”Who I have sex with is none of your mother’s business!” Arthur snapped, feeling his temper rise. The bluntness of his comment caught Adelaide off guard for a second and he continued, ”I am single. I’m not breaking any promises or lying. I’m sick of acting like I am. If you tell your mother, do you think she’ll be angrier with me for just not casually mentioning Chardonnay, or do you think she’ll be angrier at you for deliberately withholding this from her and blackmailing not only me, but Chardonnay and almost causing a scandal?”

Arthur definitely did not want Adelaide to tell Susan, but saying that, reminding Adelaide that she was now the liar, made her pale and look away from her uncle. He felt a little bad when he saw the way her shoulders shook and the emotions that swam across her face, but he held firm.

”You need to stop this. If I catch you doing this again, I will tell your mother about this whole situation myself. I’ll explain what I’ve been doing and I’ll explain what you’ve been doing. I don’t want to have to do that. So this ends, now.” Arthur said. Adelaide didn’t look like she was listening, and she hopped off of her chair and tore down towards her room. ”Adelaide—“

”I HATE YOU, AND I HATE HER!” The teenager burst, before she slammed her door shut behind her. Arthur let out a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. This wasn’t the first time she had declared hatred for him. Adelaide could be spoiled – when she was denied things as a child, she had a habit of bursting out with hatred for whoever kept it from her. Though it hadn’t happened in years. Arthur groaned and rubbed his forehead, flopping down onto his living room couch.

He felt so... drained. Just drained. Of everything.

The next day, Adelaide went back home. When she left she had red-rimmed eyes and didn’t look like she slept a wink. Arthur tried to get a hug from her before she went back to her house but Adelaide just stormed off, and when Susan asked why Arthur said that Adelaide was sad about something and not to press her. Susan felt bad afterwards, and offered for Arthur to stay, but he refused and drove to work. It went by slowly, and he looked so drained Jasmin asked him about it. Arthur didn’t elaborate, but thanked her for her concern.

When he got home he noticed, then, he spent the night smoking out on his balcony and playing with his phone. He noticed a few texts from his friends but nothing from Chardonnay, and that stressed him out more. She still pissed him off. She had led him on, purposefully, and he had half a mind to call this whole thing off just because she would do that to him. What kind of a person did that to someone else? She could have talked to him about the severity of the situation with Adelaide. Arthur wasn’t dumb. He would have listened to her if she had a serious issue, she should know he had enough respect for her to listen after everything he’d done for her. She should have known. She should have known him better than that by now...

He took another drag of the cigarette, letting the smoke swirl around his lungs and ease the tremble in his body as he thought about what his life was becoming. No matter how good the sex was with Chardonnay, it wasn’t worth hurting Adelaide. It wasn’t worth her telling him she hated him and leaving his house after crying the whole night. He loved Adelaide, more than anything, way more than some fuckbuddy he had.

Why then, still, did he hesitate to call this off?

The next day he went to Susan’s house. While he was in the kitchen with Adelaide, cleaning up their dinner, he tried to talk to her. She was still just as grumpy as she was before. When they were cleaning he splashed her each time he handed her a wet dish, until Adelaide eventually started to splash him back, which got her giggling and happy again. When they were finished she suddenly remembered that she was mad, but rather than snapping at him angrily, she just seemed to get sad. In the silence they had while Susan prepared the guest bedroom for Arthur’s stay that night, Adelaide turned towards him with narrowed eyes and asked her what the heck was so special about Chardonnay that he didn’t just agree to stop. Arthur’s response was a shrug, as he handed her the last plate to be dried. He came up with a lame response that it was ”his business” and he wanted Adelaide to stay out of it.

That night went by pretty smoothly after that, spent with his sister and niece. By the time he got home from work the next evening, he was tired, but he found himself staring at his phone, which had been void of texts from “spoiled princess” for about five days now. He chewed on his bottom lip and debated the pros and cons of calling her.

He lit a cigarette and sat in silence for a half hour, looking at the night sky. She should be home from work by now, he knew. Would she go to sleep? Was she even thinking about this? Had the press gotten worse? He didn’t think it had. The story had faded out of public interest by now, overtaken by more drama with the Kardashians and whoever the hell else was famous and stalked by the paparazzi.

Before he could stop himself he hit talk on the phone and pulled it up to his ear. He exhaled some smoke from his lungs, the grey swirls ascending up towards the sky. He waited for someone to pick up and, when he heard something other than the ringing, he let out a ”hey” and waited for a response.

Arthur knew that Chardonnay would be mad at him. He hadn’t contacted her in days and she hadn’t texted him to let him know she was safe. He couldn’t deny the slight worry he had – what if she wasn’t – but as the years went on, the threat of Andrew was diminished. But that didn’t diminish other threats. Other men like Andrew existed, with perhaps even less moral standards and even more inhumane methods of ‘persuasion’. Aside from that, there were just... monsters in the world. People who could and would shoot or stab someone, or mug them. Chardonnay was wealthy and well-known... if a mugger wanted money, what would stop them from going after her? Knowing she was home safe meant more than just protecting her from that creepy stalker guy she’d had.

But he’d gotten through the days and assured himself, she had to be fine. She was fine. He could hear breathing on the end of the line and watched the stars twinkle beyond the trees of Salem. He could see downtown glittering like a rung of blurry pearls hidden beyond a throng of trees. Somewhere in those beads of light was his theater, with Christian the manager working the closing shift. He told the guy to text him when everything was locked up and, as of yet, he hadn’t received any texts. That was fine – he had another hour until the last show ended. Then they had to clean everything. That would easily take a few hours.

He heard Chardonnay’s voice in his ear and shifted, almost having forgotten what her voice sounded like over the phone. It was scratchier than it was in person, and higher pitched, but still distinctly her. When she asked if this was over, Arthur blinked, and stared at his ash tray.

It seemed like it was over, wasn’t it? And maybe he should just... just say it was, and that he was calling about getting his stuff. When could he come over, when worked for her to come here to get her things, when would they completely erase one another from their lives? He wanted to say that... he should say that.

But, instead, what came out was ”I talked to Adelaide. She’s not going to try and blackmail either of us anymore.”

That still wasn’t an answer to her inquiry. He remembered the last time he’d been with her, that dance she gave him, and the way her body felt brushing against his as she teased him and the way her breath and lips felt against his skin. He didn’t want it to end. He knew it should, but... ”If you want it to be...” but there was something... he didn’t know what he would call it, about his tone. Pathetic? Sad? Constipated? He didn’t know. He groaned and leaned back in his chair. ”If Adelaide is the only problem between us, it’s fixed. But I’m still not over you purposefully getting me hard and storming off. The fuck? If this isn’t off, if we’re not over, you owe me for that.”

But if it was? He didn’t know what she was going to say, if she was going to say that it was over and she didn’t want to keep this going anymore. Then he’d just... he didn’t know. It was up to her right now. He brought the cigarette up to his lips and tried to calm himself by taking a drag. But, for some reason, his heart was still pounding at the thought of Chardonnay saying ”it is over” and hanging up.