Space.
She was floating through space. It was peaceful and quiet in here; she never knew space could be like this. She could spend every moment in here, lost in its eerie gentility, and she would never regret.
"How're you feeling, sunshine?"
A voice sounding more like God spoke to her.
Ellen's eyes twitched open and then she remembered where she was—in her boss's bedroom, lying on his bed of course. It took less time for her mind to recall what she'd come there for: I was going to confront him about what happened here between us last night ... but instead I'd given my body to him on a plate and he had in turn given me another royally well-fucked episode ... and I had enjoyed every second of it! Oh God, I'm such a slut!
She was lying on her left arm, turned away from him. She felt his arm come over her and then turned her around till she was facing him.
"I thought you were asleep," Gerald said to her, giving her a kiss.
"I thought I was too, until you said something."
He felt his hand over her hip. She brought her arm to his shoulder and caressed his muscles. "I'm glad you dropped by. I was feeling a little lonely in here."
"How about that skinny broad you said was keeping you company?"
"Who, you mean Mabel? Nah, she's just a cute neighbour who does a little house keeping for me sometimes. Besides, she ain't got nothing compared to you."
"Hmm, that's some house-keeper you've got," said Ellen. She couldn't believe she was talking like this. Was she suddenly getting jealous over him being with someone else? "Maybe I shouldn't have come here after all."
"But you did, and that's all that matters. How's your husband doing, by the way?"
She flinched when he said that and withdrew her arm from him as if his skin had suddenly become hot. "None of your business, Gerald."
"It is my business as you're not out there with him," he said.
"He's out of town—you already know that, so don't bother asking about him. He's got nothing to do with you."
"You think so? I've just fucked his woman, and you think he's nothing I should know about?" he took her hands into his, caressing them. "What're the chances that he's going to be happy knowing what we just did?"
"Stop being such an asshole, Gerald." She pulled herself from him and got up from the bed, feeling angry and used. "I never should have come here—God, what was I thinking. We never should have done any of this. I'd better get dressed and be off—this was all some big mistake, and I know I'm going to regret it till the day I die."
"What's done is done, Ellen," he smiled at her. "There's no need for regrets. We did do it last night, remember? First we had dinner, then a bottle of wine, and then we came over here and we fucked. At least that was how it went for me. And we both got our rocks off, too. Don't go telling me you didn't have fun."
Ellen was struggling to wear back her panties and bra. "You're such an arrogant bastard, Gerald. First, you seduced me, but before that you lied to me about some job offer. You still going to lie there and tell me all of that wasn't some bullshit lie?"
"I've never lied to you, Ellen." He got up from the bed and came to her. His huge frame seemed to dominate her in every way. "I never lied about that job, and you know it. I showed you proof about it, remember? What I want you to do is to start getting with the program here."
"And what is the so-called program, huh, Gerald? What?"
"That you're one fine woman, and you're a horny white slut, that's what," he said to her matter-of-factly, without mincing any words. "You're a white slut in love with black cock, and that's what you always have been, so don't fight it. You got your first taste of it last night, and since then you've been dreaming and thinking of it—don't lie about it or pretend you don't know what it is that I'm talking about, because you do. Since you left my pad last night, you've been craving for it. It's the craving that brought you back here today, and if you keep denying it, the craving is going to keep at you until you learn to accept it."
Ellen stopped what she was doing and looked at him with dismay. "Who the hell do you think you are, Gerald? I'm a married wife, for God's sake! I've got kids and a home to take care of!"
Gerald raised his hands in mock surrender, chuckling. "I know that, Ellen. And I'm not stealing you from your man or your kids—those are stuff you can keep. What I want from you—no, what I desire from you—is your sex, and your body."
"That's a solid no, Gerald."
"Don't try fighting it, Ellen. Less than an hour ago, while I was fucking you, you should have heard all the nasty stuff your ass was hollering. You kept begging me to fuck you harder, and I did, and you did cum, too. I'll bet it was unlike anything you've had in a long time—even better than your pussy-ass hubby must given you all this time, and I can tell he ain't doing much in the sack."
"I told you to leave Tim out of this," she said.
"You want him out of this, then he will be. You can keep being his wife and mother to his kids, I don't care. That ain't my line of work. But I do care about you, and it's you I want."
"I'm not going to be what you want me to be, Gerald. I don't care about last night or about what we've just done ... but I'm not going to be anybody's slut. Especially not yours."
"Ohhh, but yes you are, Ellen. Starting now."
He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, holding her tight. Ellen struggled to be free from him, but he began kissing the sides of her chin and neck, making her melt once again to his sly charm. She hated it that her body was wilfully responding to his touch without even putting up a fight.
"Remember I told you that you're going to be my favourite slut," he whispered while he nibbled on her ear lobe. His hands caressed her bottom, fondling her ass cheeks. "I'm going to own this pussy, and I'm going to fuck it from six ways till Sunday. And who knows, one of these days, we'll let Tim in on the action. I'll bet he'd love to watch."
Ellen pushed him away from her and he fell to the bed shaking with laughter. She gathered up the rest of her clothes and her handbag and went into the living room where she continued dressing up. Gerald came in search of her, though he didn't make any attempt at stopping her. He was still laughing even as she finished putting on her blouse.
"Come on, Ellen," he said in the midst of a chuckling fit. "You know I was just playing with you. I'm sorry, okay. Come on, let's be friends again."
"Go fuck yourself, Gerald." She pushed her hair back in place and finished buttoning her blouse. "I hope I never get to see you again."
She wore on her shoes, slung her handbag over her shoulder and rushed out of his apartment door.
---------
What do I do now?
She was back to that age-old question, the same one she'd asked herself last night when she returned home after Gerald succeeded having his way with her. The question was back at her now, knocking with a vengeance, as she lounged in the backseat of the taxi that was driving her home. So tired was Ellen, her mind wasn't on top performance at the moment. She could do nothing except curse herself for being so stupid. Why did she venture to his place once again, after what had happened the previous night. She felt stupid and dumb, like a criminal revisiting the site of a committed crime. How could she ever have thought of such in the first place? Still as she made the journey home, her mind kept drifting.
The taxi deposited her in front of her house. Her SUV still remained parked in the driveway. She let herself into the house and was glad to find it quiet just as when she had left it. The kids were probably still playing at their friends' across the street. That was good. She stopped to view herself in a wall mirror hanging by the foyer and was surprised by what she saw. Her hair was dishevelled; her makeup was just about ruined. She was staring at a shadow of the same woman who'd left her more than an hour ago with the thought of confronting her boss. That was some confrontation, alright.
She sauntered towards the bedroom and when inside slumped down on the bed. She sat there for a moment then fell on her back on the bed, slapping her left hand over her face.
At first she didn't notice it, but a moment later when she held up her left hand and looked it over, she then realised that something was missing. It came to her like a surprise when she realised her wedding band on her third finger wasn't there anymore. The imprint of her ring was there alright, but no ring.
Her mind screamed at her: Oh my God, I've lost my ring!
She sat up and started riffling through everything in her handbag. When she became desperate, she turned it upside down and emptied its contents on the bed and searched through the lot. Still her ring wasn't there. She picked up her phone and tapped a finger to her temple, trying to recall anything she could about the taxi service that had brought her home. But the ring couldn't have slipped out of her hand while in the taxi ... could it?
As if on cue, she jumped when her cell phone suddenly started ringing. It was Gerald calling.
"What do you want, Gerald?"
"That's no way to talk to your boss and would-be lover, is it, Ellen?" his voice floated into her ear.
"I've got nothing to say to you, Gerald," she said.
"But yes you do ... not unless you want to get your ring back."
* * * *
