Save Me Read online

  Shannon released me and climbed up onto the bed then brought me up to lay with her. I was half-naked and she still had on her dress, but I wanted to feel her skin next to mine.

  “Take off your dress. I want to feel you,” I whispered because I was still trying to get my body back to normal.

  Shannon did as I asked and took me into her arms. I rested my head beside her breast and I could feel the soft mound against my face. I cupped the other in my hand, and I was in the place I wanted to spend the rest of my life. All that the world had to offer, I was no longer interested in if Shannon was not there with me. Our connection was instant, but we knew that we could never be. Raj was my friend for the past three years. He had done nothing for me to destroy his life the way this would. He loved Shannon and was willing to do whatever she wanted to make her happy. I could never do this to him. Shannon would never do that to him either, so all I could do was just fantasize about something I wanted desperately, but I could never have.

  Shannon must have felt my body tense because she pulled me tighter in her arms and kissed my forehead.

  “Take a deep breath,” she said and I did. “Hold it. Release. Again.”

  I relaxed my body and did as she said. I decided to make the most of this moment and not ruin it because once she left my apartment, I might never see her again.

  “You’re OK,” she said against my forehead, and with the feel of her lips against my skin and the way her breath caressed my hair, I slowly drifted off into sleep.

  Chapter 5

  I heard the sound of the buzzer, and I was as mad as hell that someone had the audacity to wake me from Shannon’s arms. I knew it was one of the girls, so I answered without looking at the monitor to tell them to get the fuck away from my apartment.

  “Hello,” I answered tightly.

  “Arien, is Shannon there?” I heard Raj’s voice, and we both jumped up in the bed.

  “No,” I replied without a chance to think because my brain had not yet come together.

  “What the hell do you mean no? Her car is here,” he said. “I have been calling you both.”

  I released the button and quickly said to Shannon:

  “Get dressed. Hurry!” then pressed the button again. “Our phone must have been on silent and we were chatting.”

  “Let me in,” he demanded.

  “She is on her way down to you. Just a minute,” I said and released the button.

  “Oh my God!” Shannon said running around in a circle. “He is going to know. Fuck!”

  “He can’t know. Just calm down,” I said fixing her dress then slipped into the same clothes I wore earlier just in case he insisted on coming up to me.

  I found my shorts by the front door and got into them quickly.

  “He is going to smell you on my lips,” she panicked.

  “Here,” I said and dragged her to the kitchen sink.

  With hand soap, I washed her mouth and dried it with paper towel. It smelled fine to me. I picked up her phone and her glasses and handed them to her then pushed her out the door.

  “Wait!” Shannon said. “Give me your number.”

  I gave it to her and told her to hurry down to the lobby.

  “Wait!” she said and ran back to me. “Kiss me.”

  I pulled her in and my buzzer went off again. I gave her a quick kiss then pushed her out the door and ran to answer Raj.

  “Hey, Raj.”

  “Where is Shannon? I don’t see her.”

  “She left her phone and came back. She is on her way to you,” I said as calmly as I could.

  “Were you girls having sex?”

  “What? No! We were just chatting. She is very friendly, and you know me.”

  “Oh, here she is. I’ll call you later,” he said, and he was gone.

  I released the button, and I was in tears the moment my finger was off. What the fuck happened today? I was walking around with my hand on my head because everything was crazy. I removed my clothes, grabbed my phone and climbed into bed. I checked to see if she sent me a message although she just left. There was none and the possibility of not seeing her again was real. The very thought broke my heart, and I started to cry. How could this have happened to me when I had no interest in love? I had lived my whole life without it and I was fine, and now I had no idea what to do with this feeling when the person I felt this way about could not be mine.

  I needed something. I needed to go to a party or...I just needed something to do. I didn’t even know what to do with the tears on my face because I had never cried. I could not remember ever crying as an adult because I had no reason to. My life was perfect for me. It was just the way I wanted it. I needed to get back to normal. I picked up my phone to call my assistant to see if there was anything I could do this evening. Just as I was about to call Lynn my phone rang. There was no name but it was a strong possibility it was Shannon.

  “Hello,” I answered and held my breath.

  “Hey,” Shannon said and choirs of angels sang in my head to hear the most beautiful voice on Earth. “Did we sleep for three hours?”

  “We did,” I said, and we both started laughing. “I had no choice. You destroyed me.”

  “The way you destroyed me before,” she said. Shannon was driving her car back and that was why she was able to talk to me like this.

  “You really can’t blame me. You are irresistible,” I said then added while she was about to say something. “What did Raj say?”

  “He was so suspicious, but I played it off well. I dropped you home, and I needed to borrow your restroom beside we were on a topic that could not be broken. He bought it, but I felt horrible. I had never lied to him before.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. I’m just happy we are away from each other for a while so that I can think. Being around you is...just so insane. You know?”

  “I know. Well, we had the most amazing sex today that I’ll be thinking about for the rest of my life. I enjoyed just being in your company. It was wonderful, Shan.”

  “Have lunch with me tomorrow,” she said, and I was so shocked that it took me a moment to respond. “You don’t want to?”

  “More than anything. I just didn’t expect to hear the words,” I said and closed my eyes. “I would love to. What will Raj say?”

  “He won’t know.”

  “Shan...I...I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Of course it is not a good idea, but I want to spend time with you,” she said.

  “Then let’s arrange with Raj to have another…”

  “No! No...that won’t work for me,” Shannon said.

  “Why not?”

  “I can’t...I just want you to myself...I don’t want to share you with him,” she said.

  “But you promised him…”

  “Then we have to make sure he doesn’t find out,” she said. “I know the perfect place. It’s private, and we could spend as long as we want there. I will tell him I have some engagements. He trusts me, so he won’t come looking.”

  “I feel bad that we are putting you in this position.”

  “You are in the same position because if he asks you, you will have to lie,” she said, and I sighed. “I don’t want to do this but not seeing you is not an option.”

  “I think we should just tell him that we are having lunch.”

  “He would be OK with that, but it opens the door for him to invite you back into our bed. I don’t want that. Let’s do it my way and see how it goes then I will listen to your suggestions,” Shannon said hastily. “I’m home. Talk to you later, Ari.”

  “Bye…,” was all I could get out before the line was disconnected.

  I pulled the lush covers of the bed up to my neck as I sunk into my pillow. I felt horrible that I was making plans to secretly see Shannon behind Raj’s back. I wished there was a way to include him, but Shannon was right. I would be sick if I had to watch him make love to Shannon in front of me. She had her life to live
and so did I, but I would not want to witness anyone touching her that way. My mind was in turmoil, and I needed some kind of distraction because when I woke up this morning, I could never have dreamt my day would end like this.

  I called Lynn, hoping she would have something challenging for me.

  “Hi, Miss Todd,” she greeted.

  “Please tell me you have something for me to do.”

  “You are clear for the next three days, Miss Todd. We have already confirmed your party with Dorsherwitz,” Lynn said.

  “Find out what is happening before that and try to get me in. I can’t sit around for three days.”

  “I have an appointment with your dad every day for the past eight months. Do you want to try that tomorrow?” she asked timidly.

  “No. I want to do something fun.”

  “You could check with your friends. Would you like me to…?”

  “No. But that’s a good idea. I will check with them.”

  “OK, Miss Todd. The limo will pick you up at eight on Saturday night for your party. I already emailed you the details.”

  “I got it. Thanks, Lynn. Talk to you soon.”

  “OK, Miss Todd.”

  Lynn was so sweet and special to me. She held all my secrets, and I trusted her with my life. Sometimes I sat with her and relaxed, talking and laughing, but the poor girl had no idea what to do because I was always so serious and to-the-point with her. Lynn suggested that I called my friends and it was a good idea, but I really shouldn’t get involved with anything or anyone else today. I should just relax and reminisce about all that happened today with Shannon.

  My buzzer sounded, and I looked at the monitor. It was Mia. Jessica must have told her about her encounter with me entering my apartment with Raj’s wife.

  “Hi, Mia,” I answered.

  “Are you busy? Do you have company?” she asked.

  “Maybe you should have called to ask instead of coming all this way.”

  “Do you?” she asked, ignoring my statement.

  “No. Come on up,” I said and released the button.

  I walked over to my phone to await the call from the security to find out if it was OK for Mia to come up.

  “Hello,” I answered on the first ring.

  “Miss Todd, are you expecting your friends?”

  “Yes, thank you, Bert.”

  I noticed the use of the word ‘friends’. Bert didn’t make mistakes, so I assumed that two or more of them were on their way up.

  I hated that I had to get out of bed to open the door for them, but I had no choice. My sheets had a whiff of Shannon’s perfume, and I wanted to just lay there inhaling until it all disappeared, but I had to now deal with my nosy friends instead.

  I opened the door and the four of them walked in.

  “I heard you have something juicy to share and since we have nothing better to do, we are here,” Smore said and walked over to the sofa with the other three behind her.

  “Those are some serious shades, Jess,” I said with a smile because they were really beautiful. “I absolutely adore them.”

  I meant to chase them all out, and I still planned to, but those glasses deserved my attention.

  “Guess who bought it? Donald,” she said answering her own question. He went to Paris for a week and asked to meet me. I said ‘hell no!’, so he sent it to my sister’s office. I guess it was just his way of saying thanks for the best fuck of his life.”

  We all burst into laughter. For a moment we forgot why we were together and found ourselves talking about all the gossip we lived for on a daily basis. The girls were so beautiful, and I hated to be a hypocrite, but they were so spoilt, except for Smore. She was very grounded and had her own successes since we met, but our bad ways had started to rub off on her.

  “So, Leah Rushdale, she decided that she was never going to have another party on her parents’ yacht because Nadeen Latchman’s friend almost died at her party. He spent two months in the hospital. Did you know this, Arien?” Mia asked me.

  “I heard something about it,” I said. “But Nadeen Latchman had a party about a month after the incident so why should Leah care so much?”

  “It was just really scary when the police started questioning everybody,” Smore said.

  “True,” agreed Lacy.

  “What’s this about Raj’s wife…”

  “Wait!” Mia interrupted Smore. “Before I forget, Arien, there will be this private hook-up at the Lockhart Estates. Of course, you know Sulivan Lockhart is a lavish party thrower so it will be his signature extravagance. You guys want to come?” she asked looking at each of us.

  “How will we go? We weren’t invited,” I reminded Mia.

  “It so happens that I took his sister to her first-ever orgy. Changed her life. She spoke with her brother and he has given us free access to the event! How sick is that?”

  They all screamed and threw their arms around Mia who had more access than anyone I knew. She had the inside scoop on everything and everyone. I was happy that they were so excited, but all I wanted was to wrap myself in Shannon’s arms.

  “What’s with you?” Smore asked, and I did not realize that they had stopped celebrating and was looking at me.

  "What?" I asked and they kept looking. "Nothing."

  "Aren't you excited about the party?" Jessica asked.

  "I'm not sure if I'll go but…"

  "You’ve never turned these down before," Lacey pointed out.

  "I know, but I am thinking about making a change…"

  "Wait...what?"

  "Come again?"

  "Change to what?" Smore asked.

  "To a better way of living," I said without hesitation.

  "What way is that?" Lacy asked.

  "Where I'm satisfied with one sexual partner…"

  "What the fuck is going on here?" Mia asked, getting to her feet. "What is better than doing whatever the hell you want, fucking whoever you want, living the good life?"

  "I'm not saying it isn't good...I just want to try something new. Something more structured," I explained.

  "Nobody parties harder than you do, Arien," Jessica said. "You are wilder than any one of us. You are always happy so what is…"

  "I'm in love."

  "What?" asked Lacy to Smore.

  "What did she say?" Smore turned to Jessica.

  "I don't think I heard. Did you...?"

  "I said I'm in love. I fell in love with someone," I said loud enough so they could not be mistaken.

  "I bet it is that fucking guy from the yacht! What's his name?"

  "Jessie."

  "It's not him," I said.

  "Then who is it?" Jessica asked.

  "When did this happen?" Smore asked.

  "Today," I said, and they all burst into laughter.

  "When did you meet this person?" Lacey asked.

  "Today," I said and they laughed even harder.

  "She's joking, you guys."

  "I'm in love with Shannon," I said and they all jumped to their feet and backed themselves into the wall.

  I stood staring at them, and they bundled together looking at me. Smore's hand was over her heart, Jessica's mouth was wide open, Mia's hand was over her mouth, and Lacey was looking at me through her fingers. They were as shocked as hell, and I couldn't blame them because I was shocked too. No one could have seen this coming.

  The more my friends stared at me, the more stupid I felt. Shannon could not even be mine because she was married to the man I was sleeping with for the past three years. I was telling my friends I wanted to give up my lifestyle for a life of misery and heartbreak, and that's what they could not understand. However, as they stood staring at me, I realized that they were more shocked that I fell in love with a woman.

  "Will you please sit down and stop...look, I didn't plan this. Raj and his wife have...a thing. They decided that the only time they can have sex with someone else is when the other is present, therefore, he and I could no longer sleep together�
��"

  "So what? You have other men at your disposal," Lacey said.

  "Yes, and I did not process that nor was I crying or complaining about it. It was a discussion that flowed into him suggesting that I join them in bed. He called Shannon and she agreed. I went there, I saw her, and I fell in love instantly," I explained and they turned to look at each other.

  "Is that even a thing?" Lacey asked.

  "Do you realize that Shannon is a woman?" Jessica asked walking away from the group to me.

  "Hard for me to believe."

  "Since when are you into women?" Jessica continued her questioning.

  "I'm not. It's just her."

  "Well, it doesn't matter," Smore said and walked over to me. "You can't be with her anyway so let's just forget about this little impossibility and talk about the party," she said and turned to Mia. "She will be there. She just needs to be reminded of how much better a single, privileged life is."

  "I don't know if I'll be there," I said and should have added more power to it.

  "Yes, you will!" Smore barked.

  "You fucking idiot!" Mia got mad. "She is married! No, she is not going to leave her marriage for you! And even if she did, you could never do that to Raj! Get your shit together, Arien!"

  "Hey!" Smore pulled Mia away. "Calm down."

  "You’re going to the fucking party! All of us are going," Mia continued.

  "Mia, stop," Jessica assisted Smore in getting Mia to calm down.

  Lacey, the youngest of the girls came over and touched my face.

  "Arien, we don't want to see you get hurt. And you will," she whispered.

  "I know...but I just feel...I’ve never felt like this before," I explained.

  "You need a distraction," Mia said pushing Lacy to the side. "Wallow in this perceived love for the rest of the day, but we are coming to get you for some emergency action tomorrow. I just need to make a few calls."