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“That was so fucking hot. I haven’t had a blowjob like that in a long time.”
She stood up, and he kissed her. Kaycee took him by the hand to an upstairs bedroom and proceeded to remove her bikini. She lay naked on the bed waiting for him to decide what he wanted to do. They spent the next two hours in bed with lunch long forgotten.
She was showering in the en suite when he started to feel horrible. Why the hell am I feeling this way? He could easily answer his own question. He still loved Ava. No matter how much blame and guilt she piled on him, he still loved her. She was never going to want him again, so this was good for him. He needed someone else to make him forget. But would he be able to forget? Time would only tell.
* * *
After the Labor Day weekend, he started seeing Kaycee on a more regular basis. He enjoyed her company, and she seemed to enjoy his. It wasn’t merely physical, but they had several common interests. She loved New York and had been there many times. They both loved going out on the water, and she was teaching him how to surf. She loved sports and could hold her own in a conversation. She was intelligent and beautiful with a great sense of humor.
He had gotten his hair cut, and it was now short and back to the style he had years ago. His father had shipped him several of the suits he left back in New York. They all fit well and were still in style. His friend from Duke had gotten him an interview with a large advertising company. They were looking to fill a position for in-house counsel. It was the easiest way for him to be an attorney without having to take the California Bar Examination. But, Xander wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to stay in California.
He loved the weather here and was overjoyed to be spending so much time with Lidia and Brett, but he missed the seasons. He missed the fall time that was taking place in New York at this time. He wanted to walk through the area parks and see the changing of the leaves, feel the crisp chill in the air as fall passed into winter. He missed his parents and the vacation house in Lake George. Most of all he missed Ava, even if she hated him and never wanted to be with him ever again. He knew his initial reaction to her email was out of anger, but as he adjusted to the news, he realized he was never going to be over her.
As the third week of September started, he settled into his new job at the advertising company. Everyone was very welcoming, but the work was boring corporate stuff. He liked meeting new clients and with this position that didn’t happen. His responsibilities were oriented around company policy, contracts, and liability. But the pay was good and eventually he would be able to move out of Lidia’s into his own place.
Brett had started driving right after he got his cast off and Lidia was mobile again. She was eating regular food now that they had taken off the wiring on her jaw. Fortunately, no other surgeries were required for either of them. Lidia needed physical therapy on her leg, but it was coming along well so far. She was able to help bring in more graphics design business, and they had plenty to keep them busy.
Xander paid Lidia rent, but she insisted that it only be two hundred dollars since he had been so helpful when they were both incapacitated. That left him with plenty of expendable income to take Kaycee out and to save for his own place.
* * *
The work weekwas not going well. It was Thursday afternoon, and Victoria had already yelled at Ava more than once this week. Her hangover had followed her into Tuesday before it became dull and nagging. Maybe it was time to switch back to wine? She didn’t care about work and wanted to go home. She grabbed her purse and left promptly at 1:00 PM hoping she could take a long nap.
She was on the subway when her phone chirped with an email. It was from Michael and she had just enough connection to open it.
Button,
Congratulations! You are now an Aunt, again. Alicia just gave birth a little while ago to your new nephew, Jackson Andrew Keene. Yeah I know, his initials spell JAK, but we wanted to name him after Alicia’s father. I just wanted to send you a quick email with a picture attached. Call me when you get a chance. It would be great if you could come for a visit to see him and us. Elizabeth and Mikey miss you (not to mention everyone else, too).
Love,
Michael
Ava openedup the picture attached and saw a baby that looked very much like her niece and nephew when they were born four years back. The last thing she wanted to do was go down to Georgia. Being in her father’s house would be the worst thing, especially if she kept drinking the way she had been. She would have to make an excuse to get out of it somehow.
She went home, stripped naked, turned the air conditioning on high and snuggled under the covers. Three hours later, she woke up feeling refreshed and ready to… to do what? What exactly did she have to do? Her apartment was relatively clean except for the mound of dishes that she let pile up. Luca was busy working out of town for the next few days. She wasn’t in the mood for Tim and his passes at her, and everyone else seemed to be busy. Well, she could work out. Then she laughed to herself because she hadn’t worked out in over two weeks. Her endurance was probably shot from drinking.
She got out of bed and noticed that she looked a little paunchy. She padded down to the bathroom and pulled the scale out of the drawer. She wasn’t surprised that she had gained four pounds. Her recently steady diet of junk food, Ben and Jerry’s and alcohol was taking their toll on her body.
She went to her bedroom and pulled on some clothing. She had an idea, something that she had wanted to do for a long time but never had the nerve. Xander had told her it was a mistake, but she was going to do it anyway. She checked her phone and found a shop with good reviews on Yelp.
When she got to the place, she went in and described to the artist exactly what she wanted and pointed to her hip. He assigned one of his female artists to draw her a picture for her approval. It was tiny, no bigger than a thumbnail but it was what she wanted. It hurt, but when it was finished, she looked in the mirror and smiled. No matter what, he would always be with her. The woman instructed her how to care for the tattoo as she applied disinfectant and a bandage.
At home that night, she couldn’t take her eyes off it. She squinted to see if she could notice the initials woven into the lavender rose. There they were, on one petal were his, ARW and on another were hers, AEK. The skin was red around the edges of the tattoo, but it didn’t hurt. She applied some moisturizer before she went to bed. The next morning the tattoo had oozed some, but it looked okay. She was careful not to mess with it too much when she was in the shower.
She made sure to wear a loose fitting skirt with no underwear since the tattoo near her pubic area needed to breathe. A couple of hours into work and she went into the bathroom to clean it and apply more moisturizer. When she got back to her desk, there was an email from her uncle. All it said was
Come to my office immediately.
She wentto his office expecting him to congratulate her on becoming an aunt again. When she entered his face had a stern look, and he asked her to shut the door. Shit, this can’t be good.
“Ava, can you tell me what this is?” He held a couple of contracts in his hand that he handed to her. She looked at them, and they were ones she had drawn up that very morning and given to Victoria.
“They’re contracts that I drew up for Victoria this morning. They look fine.”
“Do they? Look closer, please.”
She perused them and then she spotted the mistake which caused her to giggle.
