Date Night

At five o’clock Friday evening, Jennifer took her garment bag out of the closet, grabbed her stuff, fully intending to head down to the second floor where the main command center desk was. The second floor had full locker rooms, as the staff there often pulled all-night shifts. Before she could get into the elevator, though, Howard stopped her.

“Jennifer,” he said, “you haven’t come back to see me.”

“Howard, I am not in the mood,” she said snottily. “I have a date tonight that I am already late for because of the stupid trading issue that should have been resolved by lunchtime.” She sighed. “Look, I’m not prepared to quit today. I am also not prepared to take any bullshit from you and Legal. You decide if you trust me or not. If you don’t, I’ll give you my resignation willingly. If you do, back the fuck off and let me do my job.”

“Fair enough,” Howard said, shocked at her language. She never talked like that at work. “For what it’s worth, I personally don’t have a problem with you. If it were up to me, this never would have come up.”

“Howard, you are the COO. It was up to you.” She thought back to her conversation with Richie. Dammit, she thought. “But, I do know where you’re coming from, I guess. You have to protect the company’s reputation, no matter what. I get it. I don’t have to like it, but I get it.”

Howard smiled a little. “Have a nice weekend.”

“Back atcha, Howard.”

After showering and changing, Jennifer felt better. She wrapped her long tresses up into a chignon, though she knew Richie preferred she leave it down. She put on the jewelry he had given her, slid on flip-flops that would be hidden by the dress, applied minimal makeup, and went down to the lobby. The evening guard whistled as she went past, and she waved a thanks to the man. She smiled when she saw the stretch Humvee outside. She was getting excited now, to see what he and Vincent had cooked up.

“Vincent!” she called from the stairs. “Good evening!”

“Evening, Ms. Petruzzo,” he answered. “You ready for your date?”

Jennifer laughed. “You gonna tell me what the hell is going on?” she said as she approached the car.

Vincent put his hand on the door handle. “Nope. You’ll find out in a second.”

He whipped the door open, and handed Jennifer up into the car. She saw a flash of black out of the corner of her eye and turned. Her heart leapt up to her throat, and her pulse kicked into overdrive. It was the closest to an actual swoon as she had ever come.

“RICH!” she shrieked and threw herself across the car to sit in his lap, and held him close. “Is it really you?” she asked, touching his face, his hair, and his shoulders. She barely registered the car starting and pulling away from the curb.

“It’s really me, darlin’,” Richie said. “You look amazing.” He framed her face and kissed her long and hard, pulling her very breath from her lungs until she thought she’d be permanently dizzy.

Jennifer pulled back. “So do you.” He was wearing a black tux over a stark white shirt. Deep, royal purple tie, cummerbund, and pocket square provided splashes of color. His hair was mussed now from their kisses, and a discreet gold hoop hung from his piercing. “God, I missed you,” she said, and kissed him again.

Richie wound his fingers into her up-do and pulled the pins from it. “You promised you’d always wear it down for me,” he admonished, unwinding her hair and letting the damp tresses fall around them.

Jennifer’s fingers went to Richie’s tie. She had it undone in seconds, and the first few buttons of his shirt open before he could protest. The words dried up when she wormed her hand inside the shirt and stroked his chest. It was smooth and warm, and Jennifer thought the very best thing she had touched in a week. Her other hand cupped the back of Richie’s head and brought his mouth to hers. With tender, loving strokes, their tongues danced for long minutes until they felt the car make a turn. Jennifer pushed back, flushed from their kisses, and looked out the window.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I couldn’t bear to wait until we got to your house to ravage you, so I took a room downtown” Richie said. Looking down at his exposed chest, he added, “And I see you couldn’t even wait that long.”

“Nope, it’s never too soon,” Jennifer answered, doing up his buttons. “But I can put my hormones on hold if it offends your delicate sensibilities,” she said, re-tying his bow tie. She kissed the tip of his nose. “There you go.” She settled in to his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe you’re really here,” she said. “What a wonderful surprise.”

“I missed you,” he said simply, and tightened his arms around her.

Minutes later, they were pulling up to the Copley Plaza Hotel. A uniformed man opened the car door and Richie got out, and leaned back in to hand Jennifer down from the car. He tucked her arm in his, and she leaned on him for support, leaving her cane behind. Richie led them into the elevator, and up to the top floor. They stopped outside his room, and this time the key was in his hand before they even got to the door.

After Richie had the suite’s door open, he scooped Jennifer into his arms and brought her into the room. He went straight to the dining area and deposited her in a chair. Jennifer giggled when Richie flamboyantly shook out a napkin and draped it in her lap. He went to the sideboard and brought over a silver-lidded tray. He bowed and lifted the cover.

Strawberries and cream.

“Darlin’, the first course.” Richie winked and sat next to Jennifer. He took a berry, swiped it through the freshly whipped cream and held it in front of her mouth. Jennifer slowly stretched her tongue out all the way to lap at the cream with just its tip, and Richie groaned. Jennifer locked eyes on Richie and grabbed his wrist with both hands. She brought his hand closer to her mouth and put the berry in it. Without breaking eye contact, she sucked the whipped cream off it, leaving the berry intact. When she backed away she saucily wiped at the corner of her mouth with her tongue and smiled.

“More,” she said softly. Richie dipped the berry again, and this time Jennifer took it to the stem with one bite. Richie squirmed in his seat, but fed her berries until he thought he was going to shiver himself out of his chair.

“Are you ready for the next course?” Richie asked heavily.

“Is it you?” Jennifer asked.

“Don’t you want the bruschetta?” Richie leaned forward so his lips were a micron away from hers.

Jennifer smiled. “I do like Italian.”

Richie laughed and kissed her softly. “Me, too.” He tapped the end of her nose and crossed the room to put on some music. He came back and held out his hand. Jennifer slipped her hand into his and he eased her up and into his arms. They swayed back and forth while Richie sang a little Nat King Cole in her ear.

It’s very clear
Our love is here to stay
Not for a year
But ever and a day

The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies
And in time may go

But oh, my dear, our love is here to stay
Together were going a long, long way

In time the Rockies may crumble,
Gibraltar may tumble
They’re only made of clay
But our love is here to stay

Richie let his hands wander down to Jennifer’s ass, and pulled her gently against him, letting her feel his arousal. “That’s all for you,” Richie said, kissing her neck. “Only for you.”

Jennifer took one of Richie’s hands, and brought it up to her breast, whose peak had pebbled up. Richie could feel it thorough the chiffon of her dress. “And that is for you,” she answered.

Richie reached behind Jennifer and lowered the zipper on her dress. She gave a little shimmy, and the dress fell to her feet. Richie gasped when he saw she was wearing the thong from the photos she had sent. He helped Jennifer step out of the puddle of crepe and chiffon. He smiled at her, and plucked the gown from the floor and draped it over one of the chairs. He let his fingertips trace a line from her neck, down over her shoulders, and around the swell of her breasts. He traced her ribs and ran them along the sides of her thong. He slid his fingers into the elastic, and pulled, kneeling to allow Jennifer to step out of them.

He stood slowly, now trailing his fingers up her legs, skimming up her thighs to their juncture. He felt her moisture and smiled at her. He opened his arms and she melted into him, her skin pressed up against the fabric of his clothing. “You’re far too dressed,” Jennifer said. She slid the jacket off Richie’s shoulders, and turned to toss it on the chair with her gown. She again pulled the end of his bow tie, and unbuttoned his shirt. This time, she pulled the tails out of his cummerbund and slid it off his shoulders; the waist adornment following. Jennifer groaned appreciatively at the expanse of wide, brown chest. She traced her fingernails over his pecs, tickling the top of his ribcage. She scraped down his abs to the button of his pants. She flipped that open and slid down the zipper. She gave a push, and Richie helped push them to the floor.

Jennifer greedily wrapped her hand around his cock, glad he went without boxers today. Richie toed off his shoes and kicked them and his pants away. He hauled Jennifer to him, lifting her and carrying her to the bed. He laid her down gently and slowly slid into her body. “I love you,” Richie said, as he started the slow roll of his hips that he knew drove her crazy.

“I love you too,” Jennifer growled as his pumping grew more insistent, and her breathing grew more ragged. She gripped Richie’s shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss as she shattered beneath him. A moment later, he did too.

Several hours later, they woke from a sated slumber, showered, and had something to eat. They cuddled together, kissing tenderly and stroking each other lovingly. “Darlin’,” Richie started, “did you decide what you were going to do about work?” He was stroking a finger up and down her arm, watching the gooseflesh rise.

“Mmmm, I can’t think when you do that,” Jennifer said, “but don’t stop.” She leaned her head back against Richie’s shoulder. “I’m not going to change anything right now,” she said. “That would just give credence to the rumor. I will handle it like I do everything else: with a little bit of decorum, and a whole lot of sass. I am NOT going to let those bastards drive me from a job I love.”

Richie smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. Jennifer had closed her eyes, so she didn’t notice. He thought of the small box he had packed in his luggage: a box with the keys to his house in LA and the Philly condo. He wanted to ask her to consider moving to LA with him. If she had been on the fence about leaving her job, he was going to try to persuade her to do it. She sounded really adamant about keeping her job, though, and decided that this wasn’t the right time to ask.

The entire flight home, he wondered if he had made a mistake.