When You Now

Vicky drove her luxury sedan down the Atlantic City Expressway, on the way to her shore house. To be honest, she never really spent much time there. She really bought it for Emma, Jack and the kids to use. They loved spending a few weeks every summer by the Atlantic Ocean. She came with Richard a few times, but he didn't particularly like the beach or water, and every time they did he invariably would get called back halfway through their vacation for an emergency surgery.

But it was private and quiet, away from a particular set of prying eyes that had already called her several more times today trying to pin her down for a meeting with Trip James. It was the perfect place to spend her first moments with Joe as a couple.

Couple, she thought with a smile. It had never felt that good to say it before, even if she was just saying it to herself at this point. They were a couple in her mind; she was Joe's girlfriend now. The thought gave her a warm feeling all over. At that moment, a favorite Backstreet Boys song came off the speakers on the 90's channel on satellite radio. She started to bop her head and hum the lyrics happily, momentarily oblivious to the other occupant of the car.

"Why are you snickering?" Vicky admonished Joe, as his laughter broke her from her happy thoughts. "I'm not allowed to like music?"

"I guess I didn't peg you for a Backstreet Boys fan," Joe replied. "I figured you were a classical music type, though I guess Backstreet Boys is classic pop now."

"Hey, watch it, they were big when I was growing up," she replied.

"Yeah, in the last century maybe," he retorted.

Vicky reached over and punched his arm for that comment, then turned down the radio.

"Ok, well if you're going to mock my choice in music, I have a few calls to make anyway."

"Seems like your mother is calling a lot," Joe replied, having seen Caroline Mullen's name flash up on the dashboard caller ID screen at least 5 times since they started driving an hour ago. "Maybe you should call her back."

"I know what she wants, and I'm not interested," Vicky said.

"But think of poor Trip, he'll be heartbroken," Joe joked. "Who names their kid Trip anyway?"

"Trip for Third," Vicky explained. "His real name is Jonathan James III. You seriously didn't know that?"

"We don't have a lot of thirds where I come from, I guess," he laughed. "Never put that together before."

"Well, that's probably a good thing," Vicky replied. "Definitely a good thing. Now let me call my assistant and tell her I'm not coming in this week."

"This week, huh?" Joe said. "You'll probably be sick of me by Wednesday tops."

Never, thought Vicky to herself. At this moment, she couldn't imagine being tired of Joe Chambers. She put in her Bluetooth and voice dialed Rebecca.

"Hi Becks, sorry to bother you at home," Vicky started when she answered. "Just wanted to let you know I've decided to take the week off. Feel free to take it as well, I already cleared it with the partners."

"Really, Vicky Mullen taking an unexpected week off?" Rebecca asked. "I've worked for you for 5 years, this is unheard of."

"Yeah, we're done with depositions for a while, so I wanted to spend some time at the beach house, I never get the chance," Vicky answered.

"The beach house, this early?" Rebecca questioned. Suddenly, it dawned on her though. Like Emma, she was well aware of where her boss was yesterday. She smiled broadly into the phone.

"Oh, I think I get it," she teased. "There's another reason you want to go. I'm guessing he has big brown puppy dog eyes and just graduated law school yesterday. He's sitting right next to you isn't he?"

"You know me too well, Becks," Vicky answered. "I'll see you next Monday."

"Have fun, boss," Rebecca said with a laugh. "Seriously, have a lot of fun kid, you deserve it. I know I would with him if I were you."

"Ok, bye," said Vicky uncomfortably. How did her assistant know more about her life than anyone, save Emma? Speaking of Emma, she was the second call that needed to be made. A promise was a promise after all, and she knew Emma would pester her anyway until she did.

"Just one more call, ba--Joe," Vicky stammered.

"Were you just going to call me baby?" he asked with a chuckle.

"No...maybe...yes I guess," she replied with a hesitant smile.

"I love it, pet names!" Joe said happily. "I'd love to be baby."

"OK, well then, I have one more call to make, baby," she teased. "I promised Emma I'd call her today."

"Oh, put her on speaker phone," Joe replied. "It's time I get exposed to this Emma experience you kept talking about last night."

"Uh, that may not be the best idea," Vicky said. "I should probably warn her first. She's liable to say something you might find...what's the word I'm looking for, oh yeah...freaking nuts."

"OK, but I'd rather get the unfiltered Emma experience, I'm dying for it," Joe insisted.

"Let me talk to her first, and I warned you, please remember that after," she said nervously. None of her other boyfriends could ever tolerate Emma for long stretches, she worried Joe would eventually be the same.

But Joe was different, and no other boyfriend had ever begged for the "unfiltered Emma experience." This was a week of challenging her instincts, so Vicky thought, why not? What's the worst that could happen?

She dialed the phone and crossed her fingers. "Finally you called me, bitch. I've been waiting all morning. What happened?" came the loud voice over the phone.

"Yeah, Ems, I'll tell you but first..." Vicky started.

"No 'but first', details Vic. I want to know every detail of your day with Mr. Hot Bartender/Lawyer. Did you talk to him, or did you just stalk him and then chicken out? Or did you tear his clothes off right there on campus and take him like I suggested?"

"I wish!" said Joe out loud. Oops, he looked at Vicky apologetically.

"Who's that Vic?" asked Emma. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Mr. Hot Bartender/Lawyer at your service," responded Joe with a laugh. "But most people know me as Joe."

"AH-AHHH-AHHHH," was the high pitched squeal from the speaker. "Vic, you really did it! How many times did you come last night? More or less than 5?"

"Ems," said a beat red Vicky. "I was trying to tell you; you're on speaker and Joe is in the car with me, I'm taking him to see the beach house."

"Oh, you guys want privacy, I get it," Emma responded. "But you still haven't answered my question?"

"The answer is none, we just talked Emma," Joe piped in, enjoying every minute of this. "I wasn't allowed to make her come yesterday. But it's been promised to be scheduled in for later."

"This one's a keeper Vic, I like him," laughed Emma. "Let me talk directly to Mr. Hot Bartender/Lawyer though for a minute."

"Or you can just call me Joe," he responded.

"You have to earn me calling you by your name first, Vic can explain," Emma started. "You need to know a few things about me. I've known that girl sitting next to you for over 30 years. She's the closest thing to my heart, other than my two babies and my husband. I've been waiting almost that long for her to stop dating that endless string of Caroline-approved robots and take a chance on someone she was really interested in, someone who could grow to love her like she deserves to be loved."

"For some reason, I'm still not sure why," Emma continued. "She has chosen you to take that chance on, Mr. Hot Bartender/Lawyer. So you better not mess it up, or I will hunt you down and chop your balls off myself."

"Duly noted," Joe responded. "I promise to do everything I can to be worthy of her. And you of course, I could tell from the minute you walked in the bar that you were not someone to be on the wrong side of."

"OK, that wasn't so hard, right?" Emma asked with a laugh. "Now, I know I'm not gonna get the real skinny on just what happened to lead you down this path, at least not now. That's fine, but Vic call me when you get back. That's not optional, honey."

"I promise Ems," Vicky replied. "We'll be back in a week."

"A whole week off work, is this really Vicky Mullen?" Emma gasped. "You're quickly earning points with me, Mr. Hot Bartender/Lawyer, for pulling that off. But I can't call you by your name until we meet in person. Which will be as soon as you get back, no getting out of it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Joe said. "I look forward to meeting you and your family."

"You would be the first boyfriend who was looking forward to meeting us crazy people," Emma cackled. "But I'll let you go, see you Vic, definitely do a lot of things I would do this week." With that, the phone clicked.

"Well?" Vicky asked, fingers still crossed.

"That was, something," Joe said with a smile. "She's...something. I like her, she's real and honest, and she clearly adores you. What more could you want in a friend? But are you positive you two grew up in the same environment?"

"Amazingly, yes," Vicky laughed. "Everyone else in that environment is surprised too. But I wouldn't have Emma be any other way. When you get through all her bluster, she's good people."

After another hour, they arrived at the beach house in Stone Harbor. It was a nice place, 3 bedrooms and plenty of room with a beachfront view. It was still much too cold to go in the ocean, or even lie on the beach, but Vicky figured they would be spending most of the time lying somewhere else.

Joe wasted little time trying to make that happen. As soon as the door closed, he pushed Vicky against it and began kissing her passionately. She began unbuttoning his shirt and rubbed his chest, wanting to feel every inch of him that she wasn't able to the first time.

Joe began reaching under her dress to remove her panties, causing her to moan. But she realized they couldn't do this yet, as much as she wanted to.

"We can't baby, not yet," she breathed.

"You're giving me a serious case of blue balls here," Joe complained, as good naturedly as possible. "You're one heck of a tease Vicky."

"I don't mean to be," she replied. "Well maybe a little, but I promise once we get started we won't stop for a long, long time."

"But right now there's nothing in this house," she said as she pushed him away, going into full Vicky Mullen mode. "No food, no water, no toilet paper. We need to go shopping first."

"We don't need any of those things for what we want to do," Joe laughed. "I think it can wait an hour." He closed in and kissed her again, breaking her immediately from the mental shopping list she was making in her head. After a few minutes of kissing, she remembered another important, and relevant, item on the list.

"No condoms?" she said, pushing Joe away with great effort yet again. "That's something we do need."

"Ugh, you got me there," Joe relented. "On the other hand, I can be really careful and..."

"Shh..." she said, putting his fingers to his lips. "Condoms are non-negotiable, at least for now. I have to test drive the equipment for longer until I'm comfortable enough for that."

"That's fair," he replied. "But I want you to know, the only woman I've been with in a very long time happens to be the one standing right next to me."

"Really?" she said not believing him.

"Honest, I've been too busy with school and work," he replied. "And after you, well, let's just say no other opportunity measured up. You've probably slept with Richard more in the last 18 months than I have other women."

"If that's true, I feel sorry for you," she laughed. "But we're still buying condoms first. Come on, there's a big new supermarket on the mainland side."

Vicky and Joe rushed through their shopping list, as quickly as possible. All necessary items for a week's stay were obtained, or at least everything that could get them through the next 48 hours or so. With that, they rushed back to the house.

With everything put away, they stared at each other for a long moment.

"Ready now, no more distractions, no more chores?" Joe asked.

"None," Vicky replied, swallowing hard.

"Good, because now I'm carrying you to your bedroom upstairs, taking all your clothes off, and not letting you leave there for the foreseeable future," he said.

"Is that a threat, or a promise?" she moaned.

"Both," he replied, and then he made good on it.

Once in the bedroom, they each indeed ripped their clothes off. They would explore tender love making later, right now both of them were too worked up, and needed to get one out of their system.

So that's how they found themselves in a few short moments, with Joe pistoning his hardness in and out of a euphoric Vicky below him.

"UH-UHHH-UHHHHH," he groaned as he picked up the pace.

"That feels so good baby," Vicky moaned up to him, continuing to rub her hands up and down his chest and around to his back. Then she pulled him close as they both reached their own personal finish line.

"This feels so good, so good!" he breathed into her ear. "I love your pussy, baby!"

"I love your dick, it feels so good in me!" she moaned right back at him. "Oh, I'm so close, I'm so close!"

"Me too, me too, ahh here it comes," Joe yelled out, as Vicky felt him moving faster inside her, seemingly getting bigger. It sent her over the edge.

"I'm coming, yesss..." Vicky screamed out as her orgasm hit. "I love it...I LOVE YOU!" She screamed it without even thinking.

"Urghhhh god yes!" he bellowed, as his sperm shot forcefully into the condom. "I LOVE YOU TOO!" he screamed out as well.

Vicky held Joe close as they both recovered from their fantastic orgasms. She lovingly caressed his back as he remained inside her. But as her wits came back to her, she realized what she cried out at the end. And also, what he cried back to her.

Joe pulled his condom covered cock from inside Vicky, and rolled off her to the other side of the bed, exhausted and completely satisfied. He was seemingly unaware of what happened at the height of their passion.

"Um, should we talk, about what we said?" Vicky approached the subject carefully.

"What, what did we say?" Joe asked dreamily.

"You know, at the end," she started. "It was just really intense, the most intense I've ever felt. I didn't really mean that I..."

"What, that you loved me?" he turned to her with a smile. "I meant it, every word."

"You did...but you hardly know me!" she replied shocked.

"I know enough, and when you know, you know," Joe said. That really must be the Chambers family motto, thought Vicky.

"It's just, I'm not ready for that yet," she explained. "I like to take things slower, get to know you better, see if we're compatible and everything."

"That's fine, I'm not putting any pressure on you," Joe responded. "I'm just telling you how I feel. I was always taught to do that, and I want to always be that way with you. I'm in this, Vic, for the long haul, I can wait for you to say those words and really mean them."

"That's the first time you called me Vic," she said with a smirk. "Only Emma calls me that. Everyone else calls me Vicky, or Victoria."

"Oh, it just felt right to me," he replied. "If that's between you and Emma I won't say it again."

"No, I like it, it makes me feel like I'm different with her than with everyone else," Vicky began to explain. "Like I'm not Victoria Mullen, daughter of Caroline and Henry Mullen; that I'm my own person. I'd like to be that way with you too."

"Ok, but still, after this you better clear it with her first," he joked. "I don't need her having it out for me already."

"I will, but she'll approve, I promise," Vicky said.

"So what's with her name thing?" Joe asked. "I have to earn the right to be called by my name?"

"It's a game she likes to play with my boyfriends, all of whom she has hated, well at least until now," Vicky explained. "None of them knew about it, because invariably it was some kind of derogatory name, and none of them ever earned the right to end it."

"So what did she call them then, if she didn't use their names but also didn't use the nicknames in front of them?" he asked.

"Hey you, or hey man, something like that," she said with a laugh. "You're the first one who ever learned their nickname, congrats...most of them didn't want spend time with her any more that she did with them, so it was never a problem."

"What did she call Richard?" he asked with a smile.

"Dr. McPricky," they both laughed out loud at that.

"Well, I got off easy I guess, but it's my mission in life now to earn the right to retire Mr. Bartender/Lawyer permanently," Joe said with confidence.

"I think you're off to a good start on that," Vicky said, pulling him in to an embrace. "Let's rest a bit; then we can start having fun again..."

For the next few days, Vicky and Joe happily slipped into a particular pattern. Wake up, have sex, eat breakfast. Have sex again, then shower. Have lunch, spend the afternoon sightseeing, come home and have sex. Eat dinner, then have sex again. And so on, and so forth.

But they also fit in time for talks, long talks deep into the night, naked in bed. Sometimes lying next to each other, sometime holding each other, leisurely exploring the other's body. Neither of them wanted to sleep, because sleep took away from their time together, even though eventually sleep won out. It was during one of these talks that their very first fight emerged, about 4 days into their adventure.

"Are you happy Vic, with your job I mean?" Joe started innocently enough.

"Yeah, I love the law, I've always loved it," Vicky replied. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Joe responded, not sure about pushing this at first, but he couldn't help himself. He had been observing Vicky for many months, and had come to certain conclusions about her. He wanted to help her see some truths about her life.

"It's just, at dinner the other night you told my sister you always wanted to teach," he continued. "Do you still want to? Also, you said you loved the law, not your job."

"I mean, I did always see myself teaching, being a law professor, when I was younger," she replied. "But I quickly realized there was no future in it, so I changed to corporate law. Why the third degree here?"

"Don't worry about it, I shouldn't have brought it up," Joe began to back down. "I don't know you well enough yet for that."

"No I want to hear it now, what do you mean?" Vicky said, raising herself up in bed.

"It's just..." Joe continued reluctantly. "I've been able to watch you over these last few months. You're a great lawyer, the best one your firm has. Everyone said so where I worked; they were most afraid of you."

"But I watched you closely during that time, probably too closely," he admitted. "I could tell your whole heart wasn't in it; in many ways you were going through the motions. And still you were great in there; imagine how much better you'd be if you were doing something you really wanted to do."

"I wasn't going through the motions," Vicky replied softly; her mind was shifting to the idea that Joe was studying her all those months...the thought excited her greatly.

"But don't you get tired of defending the bad guys all the time?" he asked. "Wouldn't you rather be using that brilliant mind for good, like putting bad guys away, or even teaching the next generation of legal minds. You would be great at that and you could really leave a legacy that way; that would last long after you. Wouldn't that be so much more fulfilling?"

"Look, defending the 'bad guys' is a cornerstone of our legal system," Vicky said, anger rising again. "Everyone is entitled to the best defense, even companies accused of doing bad things. It's easy to be idealistic when you're out of law school for 5 minutes, but you quickly realize the world works differently."

"I'm sorry, forget I said anything," Joe apologized.

"No, you don't respect my work, what I do, do you?" she retorted.