I woke up slowly. It was a Monday morning, and I knew I had to be at work. I didn't want to go anywhere. I just wanted to hold on to Harry and cuddle him forever, as impossible and impractical as that thought sounded.
As I tried to slip out of his arms, Harry stirred. I stilled, not wanting to wake him up. I knew he was going to go on about me staying in his arms and not going to work. When he stopped stirring, I lifted his heavy hand and tried to slide out of bed sneakily.
"Where do you think you're going to?" Harry asked, his voice raspy with sleep as he whispered in my ear. I shivered.
"Harry I'm going to work, just like I am supposed to," I said patiently. Nothing was going to come out from me whining or screaming. I knew Harry enough already.
"Skip."
"Unlike you, I am not some hot shot company owner. I need to earn my money, you know."
I knew Harry wanted to say something but to my surprise, he removed his hand from around my waist. I narrowed my eyes at him but I wasn't going to stall. I walked quickly to the shower and when I turned around, Harry was just behind me.
"Where are you going to?" I asked.
"To shower," was Harry's innocent reply.
I groaned. This man was going to be the death of me. We both knew that the last thing we were going to do was shower. So I didn't know why he had that fake innocent look on his face.
"Harry, nothing extra. We are going to shower and that's it. No touching," I warned as we got into the bathroom. I put my hair up into a plastic cap and walked into the shower cubicle.
I knew it was a waste of time but I needed some kind of justification so that when I got late to work, I could tell myself that at least I tried.
***
Harry was the most insatiable man I had ever met, not that I had met a lot. I was pretty sure that the whole office knew that I had had mind blowing sex before coming to work because I was very certain that I was limping.
By some twist of fate, I wasn't late. And I thanked every God known to this earth for that. Harry might have been my boss and the person who hired me, but I wasn't about to make my co-workers and superiors hate me even more than they already did.
The day went easy. I actually enjoyed my work and I wondered how I had even contemplated quitting. No matter how bad some people had been, working here was great. And it didn't hurt that I was in close proximity with Harry and so I could tease him as I wanted to, knowing that he was going to punish me when we got home.
I sighed happily then blushed when I noticed Pearl standing above me. She had a big smile on her face and I gave her a shy one in return.
"Hey. Want to go out for lunch?" she asked.
"It's already lunch break?" I exclaimed, looking at the time. And indeed it was. I had been so busy catching up with all the work I had neglected that I had forgotten about lunch. My stomach chose that moment to growl noisily.
"I guess that's a yes then," Pearl said, laughing again. I joined her.
"I would love to, but I'm sure that Harry will want us to have lunch together," I replied, skiing apologetically.
I knew it wasn't fun to blow off your friends for your man. But I was in love with this man. She had to understand.
Pearl's smile tightened a little, so imperceptibly that I almost thought I imagined it. "Harry stepped out for lunch with a client. So you're stuck with me."
Her words were uttered playfully so I brushed off the smile. I had probably imagined it. I didn't think she had any reason to be mad at all this. Unless she was still in love with Harry?
I observed her for a few seconds and cocked my head. Then I said, "Okay. Let me get my purse."
What appeared to be a genuine smile crossed Pearl's face and I brushed off my earlier thoughts. I was being paranoid. Right?
"I'll wait for you by the elevator," she said and bounced off.
I put my computer on sleep then picked up my purse and phone and walked towards the restroom. After freshening up, I went towards the elevator. Pearl smiled when she saw me and I returned it. I was just being paranoid.
"So, do you have anywhere in particular you want us to go?" I asked curiously once we were on the road.
She hadn't asked me and like the dumbass I was, I hadn't asked her a thing either. Just went with the flow.
"Yeah. That place we went to last time? The one where we got the muffins. That way you can get chocolate cupcakes for your Harry," she said teasingly.
I laughed and shook my head. My Harry. It had a nice ring to it. Then I shook my head when I remembered Parker.
"I—Pearl can we go somewhere else?" I asked, biting my lip.
She looked at me with a concerned look on her face. "Why? You didn't like the coffee? Or the cupcakes?"
"No! I mean it was all very good but..." I shook my head at myself. I was so stupid. I could have just pretended not to like the food so we would go somewhere else. For some strange reason, I didn't feel like telling Pearl about Parker. I couldn't explain why.
"You know what?" I started brightly,"Never mind. Let's go."
"Okay?" Pearl said with a confused look.
I shook my head and closed my eyes. I was just going to have to pray that Parker had mysteriously fallen sick or something.
***
Parker hadn't mysteriously fallen sick. He was right there behind the counter and he was smiling at one of the customers. As soon as we got in, he looked up and our eyes met. I swallowed and looked away, fighting the urge to drag Pearl and leave.
I knew it was a bad idea to come here and I knew it was a bad idea to sit there like a fool and pretend I was okay with Pearl's choice. But speaking up sounded pretty stupid so I just shut up and ordered when a server came to our table.
I smiled. Parker had surely gotten over me. After all it had been months since we had had a decent conversation and a while since we had seen each other. So I got into the conversation with Pearl, listening to her as she spoke about how much gender roles were ignorant, stupid and discriminatory.
"I mean, I had this man tell me I couldn't get a promotion because I was a woman. According to him, I was going to use up the time I could be taking care of my family to work instead. I wasn't even married at the time!"
I frowned. What the fuck. To think there were still people who thought like this. "It's so stupid though. I read this quote that said divorce rates have gone higher because women decide to work now, instead of taking of the home like they were supposed to be doing. That's the most stupid thing I have heard all year."
"Exactly honey. And these are the same men who will tell us not to be liabilities. And call us materialistic when we ask for money to do shit."
I opened my mouth to respond, when I heard, "How are you ladies enjoying the coffee?"
My mouth went shut. I looked up. It was Parker with a smirk on his face. I swallowed and looked down again, deciding to let Pearl answer. It was bad enough that I was here. I didn't want to talk to him too.
"Great, thank you," she said. I could hear the smile in her voice.
"I'm glad. Iris, can I talk to you for a second?"
I looked up, shocked. I didn't know why though. He had been direct since the time I had met him. So this wasn't supposed to be surprising.
"I don't have anything to say to you Parker," I replied. I didn't want to be put in a position where I would have to explain or justify myself to Harry.
"I have a lot to say. You could just listen," he insisted.
"I'm okay, thank you."
"Just fucking one minute," he pleaded in a desperate voice.
I frowned. I wanted to listen to him but I remembered what had happened last time. He knew this place and I didn't. This was literally his coffeeshop. He could harm me and nobody would know about it.
"I said I don't want to talk to you Parker. Leave me alone!"
I wasn't aware I had screamed it until I looked around. A lot of people's eyes were on us and Parker was really red.
I removed a few bills from my purse, left them on the table and urged Pearl to stand up so we could go. Thankfully, as we were leaving, Parker made no move to stop us. I looked back as we were getting out and his eyes were trained straight on me. I swallowed and walked even quicker. I would forever curse the day I met that dude.
"What happened back there?" Pearl asked when we got into the car.
I quickly explained everything that happened to her. "It's not that he's a terrible person. But I don't want to talk to him or be near him. I don't know why he keeps insisting."
"I'm sorry I forced you to come there with me. That dude is sick."
I swallowed. "It's not your fault. I could have spoken up at any moment. I just—I just went with it I guess." I sighed and pressed my hands to my cheeks.
"He sounds obsessed with you," Pearl said softly.
I shook my head. I hoped not. I really hoped not. That was the last thing I needed.