Chapter Six

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"All alone in my room, think of you at a rate that is truly alarming. I keep looping my memories of you,  in my head I pretend that you want me. And I fall asleep and dream of alternate realities..." ~Can't Stop, by Maroon 5


CHAPTER SIX

The moment Vesper got inside her apartment, she ran to the bathroom and frantically shed her clothes, scrubbing her skin raw as the water's temperature scalded her skin.

Yeah, as if I could scrub away the fact that I let Andray finger-fvck me.

She changed into a pyjama set afterwards and skipped dinner. She logged into her social media accounts and scrolled through it, seeing nothing interesting. Feeling a bit curious, she searched for Andray Walsh on Facebook. Several results appeared and it took her a few clicks before she reached the right account. His profile picture must have been taken a few years ago for his hair was shorter than what it was now. Clearly, Andray knows his privacy settings and she can't see anything. She opened a new tab and typed his name in the search box.

Her jaw all but fell when she saw the top result, complete with a photo of a much younger Andray.

He's a songwriter. Scratch that, he's not just any songwriter—he has Grammy awards to his name!

It turns out that Andray has 3 Grammy awards associated with his name. The awards were shared with huge pop stars. His short biography revealed that his song writing ability was noticed when he was a teen and that he graduated from UC Berkeley. He was also a music producer. He started working with various artists since then—Maroon 5, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Adele, Justin Timberlake, and Usher, to name a few. His songs charted in numerous countries, seven of which topped the charts. Two songs reached the top 1, three entered the top 5, and two entered the top 10. The latest photo of him was at the 2012 Grammy Awards, his hair was shorter, just reaching below his ears, and he's wearing a black three-piece suit.

Vesper gulped at the sight of Andray in a suit. He's a good-looking man in a suit. I'm a red-blooded woman. Sue me.

It was stated that the music industry has been missing his services since 2012. It seemed that he quietly slipped off and stopped writing music due to unknown reasons.

She closed the Andray-related tabs and took a deep breath, trying her very best to calm herself down despite today's events. Her mind suddenly whirled up the images of Andray and her in Laine's bathroom earlier. Heat immediately blossomed from the pit of her stomach and spread all over her body. She can't comprehend why the feelings that Andray were evoking seemed to be stronger than what she felt for her past boyfriends—and to think that she's only known him for a short while and practically knew nothing about him. If it's only because of the intimacy she's shared with him, she didn't know.

She's had a few boyfriends before—two to be exact. The first one was when she was 17—the guy only hit first base and they had lasted for about 3 months before finally breaking up. The next one was Richard. She was in college back then and they had lasted for about 7 months. A few days after reaching the 7th month of their relationship, a friend had invited the both of them to his birthday party happening at his house. After a few drinks, Vesper got the courage and finally agreed to do the deed with Richard. They had ended up in a room upstairs. They made out for a few minutes before undressing. Richard was already positioned between Vesper's legs, the head of his sheathed erecti0n poised to enter her when he suddenly threw up all over her. Richard's stomach had expelled all the shots that he took, along with the chicken sandwich that they had earlier that day. Vesper was mortified at what happened. She rushed to the en suite bathroom and washed the disgusting stuff off of her. When she came out of the bathroom, Richard was slumped on the bed, complete with his puke-covered mouth. Thankfully, he didn't puke on their clothes so she dressed up and hoisted Richard to the bathroom. Being the decent girlfriend that she was, she washed Richard and dressed him up and then drove him home. Richard had profusely apologized to her the next day but her mind was already made up—she broke up with him. That incident spoiled many things for her and she hasn't had a boyfriend since then, only casual dates with a few guys.

After deciding that she's had enough for this day, she turned her laptop off and went to bed. She tossed and turned for a while, the memory of Andray's lips on her and his finger inside her burning through her mind. She clenched her thighs together at the memory of her 0rgasm. Shaking the carnal thoughts away, she focused on trying to get a good night's sleep, but every time she closes her eyes, she sees different images of Andray and her in an obscene position. She kept on tossing and turning but sleep won't still come to her—and the ache between her legs was still ever-present.

Slowly, she let her hand drift down her stomach until it entered the waistband of her undies. She hesitantly pressed a finger against her cl!t. Taking a deep breath, she slowly moved her fingers, rubbing circles on her now sensitive nub. She rubbed herself faster, but still there was nothing.

Dishonor! Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your family! Dishonor on your cow! She quickly removed her hand out of her panties and chastised herself more.

Another hour passed after her failed attempt to pleasure herself when she finally drifted off to a not-so-peaceful sleep.

~*~*~*~*~

"What's eating you up, Ves?" Margo chirped. It's already Monday and Vesper's in a foul mood because her Sunday was spent trying to force the thoughts of Andray out of her head—and trying to keep herself from nasty business—instead of enjoying her time with her parents.

"Nothing," Vesper grumbled.

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, nothing." Vesper gave Margo her best smiley face.

"Hey, what happened that night? At the dinner with your new friend?"

Vesper groaned. That certain event was the one causing her to be in a pissed mood and she's trying so hard to forget it—forget him. "I left before dinner. I was experiencing uh... dysmenorrhoea."

Margo raised her hands in surrender. "Uh-oh, Shark Week is the reason why you're pissed. I get it."

"Yeah," Vesper replied. She's feeling guilty for lying to her best friend but it's not the right time to tell Margo about her getting-finger-fvcked-by-a-guy-in-his-mom's-bathroom incident. For the first time, she was glad that lunch break was finally over.

The new book that she'll be reviewing was already sent to her e-mail and she was thankful for that will be a good distraction to her traitorous thoughts. This work week was blessedly busy because she has new material to be written about. She already set up an interview with an emerging artist for her music column and she's hoping that the singer would agree to it.

Vesper went home after work and cooked dinner. After eating, she changed into her nightwear and curled up in her bed to read the new book. Fatigue took its toll on her after reading a few chapters of the book. She slept soundly—well, after tossing and turning for a while due to memories that seemed to be forever etched into her mind.

The next day, after work, Vesper called Laine and apologized for her unexpected exit. Laine dismissed her apologies, saying that she shouldn't even apologize in the first place for something she had no control over. She promised to make it up to Laine so she decided to bake cookies and to just drop them off tomorrow before work.

After coming home from a long day's work and after eating dinner, she still decided to bake the cookies even if she's quite tired.

The results of her baking were three trays of chocolate chip cookies. She set the cookies aside to cool and then put them in plastic containers. She'll keep one container for herself, and maybe give some to Margo, too. After finishing everything, Vesper rested for a little while and showered before going to bed.

In the morning, Vesper left her apartment earlier than usual so she could drop the cookies off at Laine's house.

"You're such a sweetheart. You didn't need to do this," was Laine's response when Vesper appeared with the cookies. Laine was wearing a lavender dress today.

Vesper was of course, a bit nervous that a certain green-eyed devil might appear so she made the necessary precautions and made sure that Laine was the only one in the house. "I enjoy baking so this didn't bother me," she replied.

"Would you like to come to dinner this Saturday?"

Vesper almost choked on her own saliva. Sure, she liked Laine, but the possibility of another encounter with Andray and the possibility of what her body's reaction would be to that encounter were not very appealing to Vesper's mind—her body on the other hand has different ideas, judging by the heat that's creeping up her neck. "I... I have, uhm, plans on Saturday. I'm sorry." Vesper felt bad when Laine's expression fell. "I'll visit some time," she amended.

"That would be very lovely! I'm afraid I have nothing here to give to you in return. I'll definitely return the favour in the near future."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary." Vesper glanced at her watch and decided that it's already time to go. "I need to get going, Laine. Hope you'll like them."

"I'm sure the cookies would be delicious. Thanks again. Have a nice day at work, Vesper!"

"I'll see you some time. Have a nice day too!" Vesper bid her farewell to Laine and drove to work.

At work, Vesper received an e-mail stating that her interview with the emerging artist had been approved. The interview was scheduled the day before the singer's show at a theatre in Los Angeles. She sat down her chair and started to read the book while jotting down notes for her review.

~*~*~*~*~

Andray had already taken three showers—three for Pete's sake—and one was taken in the middle of the night at an ungodly hour. He took the cold showers to keep his d!ck from throbbing.

This is all your fault, Vesper.

Being a stay-at-home single man surely has its downsides—like having nothing to distract his carnal thoughts of Vesper's raven hair spread out on his cream pillowcases, her sultry voice moaning in his ear, begging him to make her come.

He had woken up with his head feeling light from the lack of sleep. He took Ellie out and cooked breakfast when they went home. He noticed that he had been productive for the past few days—he cleaned his apartment, bought groceries, brought Ellie to the vet, bought new sheets, replaced broken light bulbs, and read a new book. Today, he changed the curtains around the house and changed the sheets and pillow cases in both his room and the guest room.

Who am I trying to impress? he asked himself. He only shrugged in response, not wanting to think of an answer.

After being satisfied with his work, he showered and went to bed.

The image in his head started to become extremely vivid for he can feel his boxers constricting again. Cursing, he got up from his bed and went to the bathroom to finally give his d!ck what it wants. He groaned when he saw the time—it's 2:56 am for fvck's sake! And here he was, in his bathroom, jerking off to the memory of Vesper's walls clenching around his fingers—only this time he's imagining her walls clenching around his erecti0n. After finally getting his release, he took a cold shower. Damn you, Vesper.

The days flew by so quickly he didn't notice that it's Saturday already, and he will be visiting his mother again.

He put on a striped black-and-white shirt and layered it with a long-sleeved blue denim polo. A pair of black jeans that's ripped on the knee part and a pair of black sneakers completed his look. He took his car keys with him and fed Ellie before going out of his apartment. He felt skittish when he arrived in front of the house.

What if Vesper's inside?

He parked his car and decided to man up. He took a deep breath and went out of his car.

"Hi, mom."

"I thought you won't come to dinner. Good thing I decided to cook or else we'll be eating heated leftovers," Laine nervously joked. She knew that the relationship between the two of them was still quite rocky even though many years have passed.

"Anything you cook is fine, even leftovers." He strolled to the living room and saw no sign of Vesper. "Is anyone here with you, mom?" he asked, looking around.

"No. I haven't invited anyone tonight. But if you're referring to Vesper then I'm afraid she can't come tonight. She told me she has other plans tonight."

"I'm not referring to her," he said defensively. He went to the kitchen and sat down. He didn't see the grin on his mother's face when she noticed his defensive stance.

"Sure you don't," Laine replied. Andray rolled his eyes at the mocking tone of his mother. He focused on eating the cream of mushroom soup in front of him while occasionally taking a bite of the baguette on his plate.

"Vesper dropped by last Wednesday," Laine casually informed him.

"Sure." He shrugged, pretending to be uninterested. He failed at his pretention. "What did she do here?" he asked, surrendering to his curiosity.

"She gave me cookies and apologized for her untimely exit last time. Really sweet girl."

"I know," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Laine asked.

"Nothing." He brought his attention back to his meal.

"Actually, I'm planning to give her something in return. What do you think, Dray?"

"Maybe some sweets, too?"

"Yeah, that's a brilliant idea. I was planning to give her another piece of jewellery but I guess sweets would do."

"And when are you planning to give her sweets?"

"Tonight." Laine stood up and fetched her phone from the kitchen counter.

"What will you do?" he asked his mother, whose eyes are squinting against the bright screen of her Blackberry.

"I made strawberry panna cotta a while ago. That would be perfect for her. I'm going to text her to see if she's available."

He watched as his mother slowly typed her message and then sent it to Vesper.

How comical, my mother has her number while I don't. And to think I met Vesper before her.

Laine's phone pinged.

The words tumbled out of Andray's mouth before he could stop himself. "What did she say?"

"She's still awake and I could definitely drop the panna cotta to her tonight."

"You'll do no such thing," he said. "It's already dark outside."

"But I already told her I'll drop by."

"It's already late."

"Andray, I'm not a child."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll just do it myself if you're so keen on giving her the panna cotta." He didn't know why he said that, but one thing's for sure—it seemed that he's going to like the path that this situation's heading to... The path to Vesper.

"Thanks, Dray. Let me text her about it." Laine started to slowly type her message to Vesper.

His mind immediately devised a plan. "Let me do it. You have no glasses on so you can't see small letters that much."

Laine gave him a confused look before handing him her phone.

"What do you want to say to her?" he asked, and he started to type the message, carefully leaving out the part that it's him rather than his mother who'll be dropping by tonight. He also added that Vesper should inform the receptionist in advance so that she won't be bothered anymore. Satisfied at the message, he hit send and deleted the sent message. He handed the phone back to his mother.

The phone pinged and his mother told him that Vesper's a bit worried because it's already late. Laine handed him the phone and told him to type her message, which he did, but of course, the message was a bit altered.

He washed the dishes after finishing their meal. He thanked his mother for dinner and waited for the panna cotta.

Laine handed him a plastic container of the panna cotta, along with a paper that had Vesper's address scribbled on it. His mother also added a plastic container of the cream of mushroom soup. He bid his mother farewell and walked to his car, smirking in delight.

He can still remember the way to Vesper's apartment block so he didn't need the paper with her address scribbled on it. The only thing he didn't know was the exact room of her apartment. Glancing, at the paper, he noted that Vesper's apartment was located on the 7th floor of the building. He continued driving until he reached his destination. He parked his car and went inside the building. The receptionist immediately let him in when he said Vesper's name for Vesper already informed that she's expecting someone. He thanked the receptionist and made his way to the elevator.

He just stepped out of the elevator when his phone rang. Damn, he silently cursed, startled. He fumbled with his phone and answered the call instead of rejecting it.

"Andray Walsh," he bit out.

"Andray, man, how have you been?" the voice from the other line chirped.

Andray cursed under his breath when he registered that the voice belonged to Jed Norris, his friend, and a well-known music producer he had worked with on several projects. "Jed?"

"Yeah, it's me, Jed Norris. The one and the only!" Jed replied, his voice too enthusiastic for Andray's ears.

Andray rolled his eyes for he knew what Jed will be asking him later. He also knew what his answer will be and it would only consist of two letters—and a period, for good measure. "Hey, Jed, how can I help you? It's been a long time." He impatiently tapped his foot and stared at the hallway, anxious that Vesper might appear in any moment.

"Man, Adele asked me about you. She wants you back for the new album she's making."

There it is, Andray thought drily. "Jed, you've asked me how many times already? You called me a few weeks ago and my answer was no. It's still no, man." Jed had called him before, informing him about the new track he was working on along with some new artist and that the said artist wanted his insights because Jed recommended him. He declined before and he sure as hell won't be agreeing now. Not for all the Grammy's in the world.

"Come on, Andray, you're still not over it? What are you gonna do for the rest of your life? Mope around because of what happened to you? Write sad songs about it then," Jed continued.

Andray's vision darkened at the mention of his past. Jed was one of the few people who actually knew why he stopped creating music. He's a really good friend, but sometimes he can be a real d!ckhead. Tonight was one of those times. "Jed," he said in a low voice.

"Sh!t, sorry man. I shouldn't have said that. I'm real—"

"If you're going to call me again, make sure it's not about bullsh!t like this," Andray spat before cutting off the call and turning his phone off.

Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair, pinching the bridge of his nose. The mention of the music industry never fails to bring back dark memories in his mind. He took deep breaths and focused on what he's supposed to be doing.

Think of her.

Positive that he's already calmed down, he headed for Vesper's apartment.

He walked past four doors before reaching Vesper's. He knocked and waited for a few seconds. He heard the distinct sound of feet shuffling to the door. The door swung open and revealed

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