PART 3: The Hermit
***
Everything was calm in my home when I came through the door. Edward greeted me and Dorothy asked if I would like anything. I waved them both off with curt nods. They took the hint and melted into the background. Setting my jaw, I strode directly for my private quarters.
Taylor was still awake and curled up in my bed, sort of half gazing at the ceiling contemplatively. Her face brightened when she saw me and she began to get up to welcome me.
But then she caught the serious expression on my face, maybe even the anger in my eyes and she stopped, sitting upright on the bed with her legs tucked beneath her. "Johnny, what's wrong?" Her face was compassionate and concerned.
"Taylor, I know you were the leak to the press." She gasped immediately. I pressed on, "I don't know if you did it yourself or if George was their contact. But I know you were responsible." My voice was steel and serious.
She was instantly defensive and properly shocked. "Oh, Johnny... no! I mean, how could you think that I-" she began.
"Stop it," I cut her off. "I found out. I KNOW."
The tall, statuesque fashion model seemed to shrink three inches in a matter of seconds. I simply waited for her response as her gaze drifted downwards, her lips sagging into a pained frown. In the end, she sat down on the bed and hung her head. "How did you find out?" she asked the floor.
"That's not really the point. The question is, why?"
Taylor didn't answer. She kept her gaze on the floor, her bangs falling down and hiding her eyes as she sat still as a statue.
"Taylor, why?"
Still no answer. But a shudder went through her body.
"How could you do that to me?" I stepped forward until I was standing right next to her.
Still, she didn't answer. But after I waited another minute, silent and seething, she finally looked up at me.
Her hair was still in her face and tears were running freely down her cheeks, smearing her mascara. Her eyes had dimmed until it seemed like there was no light left in them, a navy blue so deep they almost seemed black. And in a breathy voice I could barely hear her, she whispered, "I'm sorry...."
She looked so pitiful, I didn't want to make her feel any worse than she already did. And yet the pain in my own heart wouldn't allow me to let her off that easily. So one more time I barked, "WHY?"
"I'm sorry!" she wailed, squeezing her eyes shut. And then bawling, she curled over into a fetal position on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.
Ten minutes earlier, Kaitlyn crying while I reamed out her asshole was a turn on. Now, I felt my resolve crumbling watching Taylor like this. As angry as I was with her, I couldn't stand to see her this miserable. But I couldn't cave. And so faced with an inability to stop and comfort her and the same inability to keep pressing, I made the only decision left.
I walked away.
I'd gotten as far as the bedroom door when Taylor called out, "Johnny!"
I stopped, but did not turn around.
"I love you..." she said softly, her voice cracking.
Without answering, I gritted my teeth and opened the door. I slammed it behind me, closing it with finality.
I stalked down the hallway and went to my office. At least, it was supposed to be my office. That was where all the financial records and computer equipment were stored. But Cassandra used it far more than I ever did.
Cassandra was actually in there when I walked in, plugged into the network and catching up on a week's worth of documents. She looked up and immediately took note of the flames shooting out of my eyeballs. And immediately she asked, "Jonathan, are you alright?"
Despite what had happened between us, her first instinct was for my welfare. But this realization passed and irritably I waved her out of the office. "I need the privacy."
Unconvinced that she couldn't serve me better by staying and lending her support, she hesitated. After all, she'd always been there for me in the past. But when I waved her away again she obeyed and quickly packed her things.
Once Cassandra had left, I settled into the luxurious deskchair she'd just vacated, feeling the warm leather surrounding my body. And staring into the far wall, I began to recall everything that had happened to me, starting with Nicole, continuing on to Paris and Cassandra, and finally to my long time friend Taylor.
It had all started with Jonathan Kendall's will and this inheritance. It had already killed my father and now I truly began to wonder if I'd also inherited a curse.
***
The knock at the door shook me from my reverie... mostly. I'd been such a fool, running around like a chicken with my head cut off ever since I'd left my old apartment to go to lunch at Geno's Café with Taylor. In fact, since the news broke about my inheritance, the only time I'd stopped to think had been those first few days holed up inside my own home.
Staying inside and ignoring the rest of the world was starting to sound like a very good idea. Hell, staying inside this office so I could ignore Cassandra too didn't sound too bad.
The knock sounded again, louder this time. This time I completely returned to the present and called out, "Come in!"
Edward popped in. "Sorry to bother you sir. But Miss Brynn's car has arrived to return her home, and she wanted to speak with you before she left."
I sighed and sank deeper into my desk chair. "Tell her I'll call her later." And with that I swiveled around, looking away and effectively ending the conversation. Behind me, I heard the door close.
I didn't really intend to call Taylor. After all, what would be the point? How could I ever trust her again? Maybe she had been sincere in her feelings for me. Maybe not.
Certainly, I had been a casual friend and a convenient fuckbuddy who didn't complain for years. Only when I struck it rich did she suddenly want to be in every moment of my life. First she wanted people to reference her as my girlfriend. Then she wanted to spend the night with me after years of always heading back to her own apartment after she was done using me.
How could I NOT believe everything had just been an act to get at my money and leech some media exposure?
I spun my head in circles for the next hour, and at some point I figured if I kept up my obsessive attempts to understand, I might actually go insane. It was quite late in the evening, and after my stomach started growling I decided to get dinner now, lest I have to wake Dorothy to get something to eat.
I ate and then eventually, sometime around midnight, I finally exhausted myself and collapsed into bed, sleeping fitfully.
***
***SUNDAY***
Consciousness seeped into my brain slowly, and through my still-closed eyelids I could see the red haze of morning light. And as various nerve endings awoke along my body, I felt a familiar sensation.
Someone was sucking on my dick.
Before the sandy crust would allow my eyelids to open, I smiled and reached up a hand to touch Taylor's head. And under my fingers, I felt the tight locks of her braids as they ran past her scalp and longer towards her shoulders.
Wait, Taylor had short hair. Cassandra?
The morning sunlight blinded me for a few moments as I cracked my eyelids open, but eventually I was able to focus on the blonde braids and lower down see Kaitlyn's smiling face stretched wide by my cock in her mouth.
Supple touch, no teeth, ticklish tongue along the sensitive underside of my shaft... she was getting MUCH better at this. I glanced over her skimpy lingerie set, bra and panties designed to be seen and be seductive, and then another figure caught my attention and I almost crawled out of bed in surprise.
There was a cute redhead sitting in the plush armchair next to my bed, clad only in the thin cotton of pajama shorts and a tank top. Her large breasts strained at the thin fabric, threatening to snap the delicate shoulder straps. Looking upwards I finally recognized the youthful face as Lindsay, Kaitlyn's best friend whom I'd met at the Reynolds' house party.
She was breathing heavily with one hand in her shorts, frigging constantly and her nipples were hard cones poking through the thin fabric of her tank top. And then Kaitlyn made another long sucking motion as she shoved more and more of my meat into her mouth until I felt the head nudging into her throat.
Still inexperienced, Kaitlyn gagged and then popped off me, flashing me a silly grin. "I'll learn, I promise. We'll just have to keep practicing and practicing until I get it right!"
I just nodded my approval and held her head when she went back down on me. And this time, Lindsay spoke up. "Go ahead and try your hand now. But remember, keep your grip loose enough that you don't hurt him."
On command, Kaitlyn brought up her right hand, circling around the shaft and pumping slowly while her lips stayed up around my crown. Lindsay kept up her instructions while Kaitlyn worked closer and closer to bringing me off.