"Ellie. I'm so sorry. I hated to see that look on your face... and to think that I put it there. I feel awful."
Gavin's apology sounded genuine enough. He certainly did seem sorry. Ellie could understand why. It must have been quite a pitiful sight... her crumbling and drowning there in a sea of humiliation right before his eyes.
So, he's not a total monster then. He's capable of pity. And guilt. The thing is that pity and guilt wasn't what she wanted from him. She'd wanted him so badly that she hadn't realized that he'd been trying to brush her off. And that from his perspective he had to eventually relent and bed her. And now he regretted it. And boy, oh boy, did she regret it.
Ellie did know that there was an alternative scenario to consider. That he had genuinely wanted her and his ego was hurt by her being the one to sneak out. He was used to charming his way back out of his lovers' beds - and when she'd beaten him to the punch, he had wanted to make sure he'd had the last word. It didn't make perfect sense - as he was now apologizing - but he'd jammed the humiliation switch in her brain to the on position with his harsh words, and with Ellie's history she couldn't help but feel he had rejected her.
It briefly occurred to her that he might have feelings for her and that she'd hurt more than his ego by sneaking out in the morning without saying goodbye. But she quickly brushed the thought aside. Silly girl. You've already been emotionally smashed to pieces by this guy you hardly know... surely you're not going to put yourself out there again to give him another go at you? On the very same day, no less?
OK Ellie. Try to extract yourself from this interaction with some dignity, will you?
"Look Gavin. Thanks for the apology but I really didn't appreciate the way you spoke to me and I don't want to see you again, alright?"
Gavin was silent on the other end of the phone. Ellie imagined him chuckling silently to himself at her expense. He never said he wanted to see you again, did he? She hung up.
He was heartbroken. She didn't know. At least she didn't know until she started getting the pleading voicemail messages. He wanted to explain. He begged for forgiveness. He just wanted to talk to her face to face so she could see that he meant it.
Well - too bad, buster. If he did care for her and was still willing to say the cruelest thing he could think of, then he wasn't the man for her. Ellie had been there, and done that, and couldn't possibly enter into that kind of relationship ever again. That damaged part of her that she thought had been healed had actually just been forgotten. That was until he brought it all crashing back into her consciousness with one malicious sentence.
The next day at work she had tried to explain to Claudia, who seemed determined not to understand what the problem was.
"So you had a great night - including amazing sex - with a lovely, sweet, handsome man that you've wanted ever since you met? Then he found you sneaking out without saying goodbye. He was upset and let you know that. Then you left and he rang to apologize to you and you hung up on him?"
"Yes Claudia, we've been through this a number of times. Technically that's what happened, but you don't understand."
"Technically? Damn straight I don't understand. Call him Ellie and tell him you're sorry. Work it out. I've never seen you so happy as you have been since you met Gavin."
Ellie sighed and went out for lunch. When she got back she bumped into Gavin as she backed through the door with her shopping. She knew very well it was Claudia's doing, but there was no time to tell her off. Ellie had to work out how to react to Gavin.
When their eyes met any ability to think about her reaction was stripped away by the intensity of his expression. He reached out to steady her and she felt a bolt of electricity travel into her groin. Her lips parted involuntarily as he held her gaze. She managed to stop the sigh that was fighting to escape her lips but couldn't tear her eyes away from his.
It was obvious to her that he had noted her physical reaction to his presence and instead of speaking he just reveled in seeing her so aroused. Just at the moment when she felt she couldn't resist him any longer and was about to jump up and wrap her legs around his waist, the bell on the door clanked as a customer entered the shop. And the spell was temporarily broken.
Ellie managed to avoid speaking to Gavin that day, and in fact spent part of each day for the rest of the week avoiding him at the shop. It was difficult, but after that first time, she'd prepared herself better. Each day he put in a little less time as he thought he wasn't getting anywhere.
On the second night, after experiencing that bolt of electricity she got just from eye contact with Gavin, Ellie felt that she couldn't take the sexual frustration any longer. She called Travis. He was more than willing to help her out. When he'd walked into the flat and found her mostly naked he unzipped his pants and only got them halfway down his legs before he discovered how wet she already was and immediately eased himself into her. He moved slowly at first and lovingly kissed and fondled her as he went but soon lost control and was grinding her hard against the cool tiled floor.
She'd been ready to orgasm for two days and this was exactly what she needed. Travis was big and so hard and when she felt him pulsating on the verge of coming himself, she was about to go over the edge.
"Oh my god Gavin you feel so good," she panted.
