“I told you about my boyfriend,” I say.
“Oh, boyfriends come and go, you know how it is.”
“No, I don't. I have a serious boyfriend and I have no interest in anything happening with you.”
“You know, you would be a lot more fun if you weren't such a bitch,” he says, pointing his finger in my face.
He takes a step to the side and trips.
“And you would be a lot more fun if you weren't such a drunk,” I say, walking away from him.
I'm relieved by the fact that I never told him who my boyfriend really is, and I hope that he doesn't remember any of the details when he interviews Henry tomorrow morning.
I walk out of the gala completely disgusted.
I'm angry with my mother for asking me to go there. I'm even more angry with her for setting this whole thing up.
Why did she think that he would be such a great date? Why does a man like that even have a job at Tate Media?
Haven't they been paying attention? The world is changing.
Men like that are going down for doing exactly what he has done to me; made me feel uncomfortable and humiliated at the same time.
And I'm not even someone who works for him. Hiring him, and giving him a position of power, is asking for a lawsuit. Don't they know that?
Sitting in the back of the cab on the way to my apartment, I wonder if my parents just don't see the tide rising. They are so ingrained into the minutiae and the rhythm of everyday life at the company, they are not seeing the big picture. Men like him should not only not be put in charge of new departments, they should be fired from their jobs.
I grab my phone and dial my mom’s number. She picks up on the second ring.
“How is everything going?” she asks in an upbeat tone.
“Not very good,” I say. I tell her what happened and how rude Franklin was to me. She listens intently and I feel like I'm getting through to her, but then at the end she throws a curve ball.
"That's just how men like him are, Aurora. Don't you know that by now?"
“Of course, I do. But that doesn't mean that they have to work at Tate Media.”
“Well, that's a much more complicated situation than you know it to be.”
“What are you talking about?" I ask. “What's so complicated about that? He threw himself at me and even kissed me without my consent and that's not good enough for you to get rid of him? Do you want him to be another Harvey Weinstein or Matt Lauer? How much more do you want him to do before you think it's reasonable to get rid of him?”
"Aurora, please don't blow all of this out of proportion. He asked you out, you were probably flirting with him, I'm sure that you looked beautiful. Just take it as a compliment.”
I shake my head, at the same time shocked and completely surprised by the words that are coming out of her mouth. It's not that she doesn't believe what I just said, it's more that she thinks that it's okay.
“The thing that you just have to understand, Aurora, is that boys will be boys. It has been this way for centuries if not since the beginning of time, and it's not gonna change anytime soon.”
“It will if women in positions of power and women everywhere say that it's unacceptable.”
“Well," she says, “that's not gonna happen anytime soon, is it?”
I shake my head and stare at the phone.
“You know that you have the opportunity to change this. He came on to me and when I pushed him away, he came on to me again. I'm your daughter. He works for you, my parents. What could be more simple than that?”
“Aurora, what you don't know about our business could fill volumes,” Mom says. “It's very complicated and, no, we cannot just fire him over something like this. And if you are smart, you won't tell Henry about this either.”
I bite my tongue. I want to tell him, of course I do, but if Franklin will still be his boss tomorrow morning, I don't think I can.
“I have to go,” I say and hang up.
Taking a deep breath, I look out of the window trying to decide what to do.
22
Henry
She comes home late at night in a strange mood. I can tell that there's something on her mind, but instead of talking about it, she just wraps her arms around me and kisses me as hard as she can.
Once my lips drift down her neck and further down her body, we no longer talk. Instead, I take her to the bedroom and show her how I feel about her. It has taken a long time, but she finally relaxes enough to actually reach that point where she lets go.
When we first met, I didn't think that I would be able to get her there, but as long as she was okay with me trying, I kept at it. It doesn't sound very romantic, because in romantic stories, things like this are supposed to happen spontaneously. But that's not real life.
Our attraction for each other is innate and comes from some deeper place. But something like this, taking her out of her head, required some work, work that I am completely willing to do.
Tonight, our bodies move as one. She lets me into the most private part of her being and I appreciate the invitation. Again, I tie up her hands and again she lets me blindfold her.
This time, however, I make sure that the front door is dead bolted so that we do not have any interruptions. I spread her legs to each side carefully, taking my time as I kiss the inside of her thighs. She tastes like heaven.
If it were up to me, I would live in this place between her legs. But as my fingers speed up, her body tenses and I feel her getting close. This time, however, despite how much I want to thrust myself inside of her, I do not.
Patience is a virtue for a reason.
Anticipation takes time to build up, but it is worth it in the end. It's Christmas morning again and I have been watching the presents piling up under the tree for two weeks straight. I have touched them and rattled them, trying to figure out what is inside and finally it is time for me to rip into that beautiful wrapping paper and tear it apart as quickly as possible.
As soon as she reaches climax and yells my name at the top of her lungs I push myself inside of her. She moans again and again but I keep my movements slow and deliberate to take her there again. I'm not sure if it will work, but I give it my best shot. I feel her body relaxing again. I know that this is the first step.
I have learned to appreciate and love her body, not just for how beautiful it is but for everything that it can do. I press my hands over her breasts and pinch her nipples in between my fingers.She arches her back and raises her chin into the air.
Another breath and she presses her back into the sheets.
“Come for me,” I whisper through my moans. “Come with me.”
With the blindfold still on her face, she moves her head up off the pillow as if she were opening her eyes and giving me a wink. I can feel what she is feeling. Her body is tensing up again, building up steam.
My movements become even stronger and more deliberate. With each thrust I go deeper and deeper inside of her, and she takes me further and further into herself. And then, when my heart rate speeds up, so does the movement of her hips. We grind against one another until I finally feel gravity pull away from me.
“Aurora!” I yell.
“Henry!” she screams back.