55 - Sweet Thursday

“Untie me,” he requested quietly.  “Please.”

Leaving one last kiss on his flat stomach, Petey reached for his wrists and unbound them.  Two seconds later, she was flat on her back with him crouched over top of her, one fist planted in the pillow at each side of her face. 

“Never tasted it, huh?”  His eyes were curious, yet there was something he was keeping hidden in their depths.  “Too nasty for the Lone Lover?  He turned up his nose at a blow job?”

She nodded silently, unable to keep her hands away from him.  The smooth skin over his ribs warmed her palms as she glided her palms up and down his sides 

Jon snorted with disgust.  “He’s an even bigger putz than I thought he was.”

“Mm.  He deemed any oral activities ‘unsanitary’.”  Her hands continued to roam, curling around to his back.  The feel of him against her skin had become addictive.  She pulled, trying to bring his stomach in contact with hers, but he refused to budge.  Petey’s gaze was quarrelsome when she peered up at him, until she realized he was staring at her mouth.

“What?”

Still remaining intently focused on her lips, he put all his weight on his left hand so that he could stroke his thumb across her bottom lip.  “Poor fucker has no idea what he missed.  What you can do with your mouth is… mind blowing.”  Now his eyes slid up to hers.  “When are you going to let me kiss you?”

Don’t ask me this now.  It’s not fair.

“I’m not.”

He leaned to the left, collapsing to the bed and using his hand to prop up his head.  Jon scowled at her even as he ran an easy palm over her midriff.  “Why not?”

“I told you already,” she reminded him patiently.

For once, he didn’t seem mad.  He just calmly reiterated, “Because it’s too intimate.”

“Yes.”

“Baby, you just swallowed my cum.  I don’t think it gets any more intimate than that.”

Her face burned crimson, knowing that on one level, he was right.  But, in her mind, that was different.  She couldn’t explain why, it just was.  Perhaps the illusion of being in control made the difference.  Whatever it was, Petey just knew that if they ever kissed, Jon would take more of her than she was willing to give.

“Hey.”  He angled her head on the pillow so that she was looking at him.  “You said he didn’t condone ‘any oral activities’.”  Jon’s eyes narrowed with confusion even as enlightenment spread across his face.  “Baby, have you ever been kissed?”

“Are you kidding me?” she scoffed.  “What thirty-eight year old hasn’t been kissed?  Of course I have.”

But she hadn’t.  Not really.

Oh sure, there had been a handful of awkward, close-mouthed encounters, but even most of those had come in the past three years.  At no time in her life had there been anything that necessiated an open mouth. 

Petey’s eyes flicked to Jon’s  wide mouth, knowing full-well what was hidden inside. 

Nor had there been anything that necessitated another tongue in her mouth.

She fully understood that, at this stage of the game, there wasn’t much left of herself to save.  She was screwed up on more than one level, and God knew all of her innocence, trust and virginity had been stupidly squandered on Daniel.  He would’ve had this too, if he weren’t an insufferable prig. 

But he didn’t have this.  She did, and she was holding onto it.  Petey had sort of decided to save her first ‘real’ kiss for when she fell in love. 

Like that’s going to happen at your age. What a stupid, romantic notion.  That’s what you get for reading trashy romance novels.

“Spend the night with me,” he drew her from her self-recriminations with his soft urging and embarrassed grin.   “Give me a chance to even the score.”

His hand still lay on Petey’s stomach, and she covered it with her own.   She’d fought to be here.  There was no way she was going to pass up that offer. 

“Okay.”

☠ ☢ ☠

Arriving at home the next morning, Petey put away her coat and bag – a new messenger-style bag to replace the dilapidated backpack – and slipped out of her shoes, the heels dangling from her fingertips as she padded into the bedroom.

Jon had fulfilled his promise to even the score - multiple times.  By her count, she was way ahead now.  They’d fooled around until the early hours of the morning, keeping things light and playful.  No more seriousness.

A playful Jon was almost as breathtaking as a brooding Jon.  The lines in his face all but disappeared and he shed twenty years when he smiled so effortlessly and his eyes crinkled in merriment.  Why he had decided to move past ‘I can’t do this anymore’, Petey didn’t care.  She only knew that they turned some kind of corner last night.

Velvet corset and skirt back on their hangers, she walked naked into the bathroom for a hot shower.  While the water was warming, she pulled out her contacts.  Sleeping in them made her eyes scratchy.  Today she would revert to her glasses, since she was working at home.

Tonight, however…  She had a new pair to taunt Jon with.  They were pure black, giving the appearance that her iris was one huge pupil.  Glancing into the mirror, she was startled to find herself with a superior grin on her face.

Since when had she enjoyed provoking quarrels?  Ever since she was a small child, she’d always done her best to avoid confrontation.  She certainly wasn’t afraid of it, just preferred not to provoke it, despite all outward appearances.  Petey merely kept to herself and tried to avoid as much human contact as possible. 

Until Jon had come into her life.  Since day one, he’d ignited sparks in her, and she now evidently craved those sparks – even provoked them. 

This is the last night.  Don’t screw it up now.

Keeping that thought foremost in her mind, she decided maybe she would just wear some of her 'normal' lenses.  Then she hurried through her shower and pulled on some yoga pants and a t-shirt before firing up her laptop. 

Work needs your attention.  You’ve given Tony enough problems; now give him something he can use.

She slogged her way through the graphic creation process – one of her least favorite things to do – and started the animation process.  Spurring the famous red Bon Jovi icon into motion, she found herself sharing its smirk when it shoved the bright yellow smiley face out of the frame and the lyric “Have a Nice Day” splashed across the screen.

By noon, it was ready for Tony’s review and she clicked the Send button, leaning back on the sofa with a sigh.  A quick trip out for a salad and she’d get started on the next one.

Her tennis shoes had just been tied when the phone rang with an unfamiliar number.  Petey counted to three before she braced herself and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hi.  Could I speak with Petey, please?”

A woman’s voice.  It wasn’t Daniel.  Returning herself to a more normal state of being, Petey cleared her head with relief, saying, “This is Petey.”

“Petey, this is Dorothea Bongiovi.  Have I caught you at a bad time?”

Awk-ward.

“No, Dorothea, of course not.  I’m working from home today and was just going to run out and grab a salad, but I’m not on a strict schedule.  What can I do for you?”

Jon’s wife sounded sincerely concerned when saying, “Tony mentioned that.  I’m sorry things are… complicated for you right now.  Are you doing okay?”

Tony told Dorothea?  What… Why… HUH?

“What exactly is it that Tony told you?”  No amount of effort could keep the chill from her voice.  Tony didn’t have the right to say anything to anyone.

“Shit,” Dorothea swore softly.  “Don’t be mad at him, Petey.  He was worried about you and all bent out of shape over that man showing up at the studio.  I was just there when he needed to vent.  I assure you the little bit he told me won’t go any further.”

“I appreciate his concern,” she forced herself to infuse a little more warmth into the words.  “But I’m a very private person.  My business is my business.”

“Oh, honey,” Dorothea chuckled.  “I’m so well versed in ‘keeping it in the family’, it’s not even funny.  I don’t talk out of turn, I promise.”

The humor finally hit Petey, and a reluctant smile eked out.  “I forgot who I was talking to.  Of course you can keep things private.  I’d still like to know what he told you though.”

“Nothing really.  Just that a man showed up with the life-or-death story, and a crazy business card saying he was your fiancé.  That’s all.  Well, besides the fact that Tony wanted to beat him to a pulp, but that’s the Italian in him.”

Again, Petey couldn’t hold back the smile.  Dorothea Bongiovi was a very likable woman.  From what she said, it sounded as if Tony had kept their second conversation about Daniel confidential, as requested, so Petey felt a little less violated.

“I haven’t run into his temper yet,” she admitted.  “I’ve heard some stories about his brother though.”

“Jon?”  Dorothea groaned.  “God, he’s the textbook definition of ‘hot-head’.  The only good thing is that, after he blows up, it blows right over.  Once he’s had his say, he lets it go.”

You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.

“All the same, I think I’ll give him a wide berth on tour.”

Laughter tinkled across the line.  “Probably not a bad idea.  Actually, he’s the reason I called.”

Petey froze.  “Oh?”

“Yes.  Stephanie was going to call, but I didn’t want to let her bully you into something.”

Petey’s shoulders relaxed back into the sofa.  “I appreciate that,” she said lightly.  “What exactly did she want to bully me into?”

“She’s just determined that we should schedule with you in advance, so that she can tell Jon ‘here’s your gift, and the magician will arrive on this date and time to make it work’.  I tried to tell her that you and Jon could work it out after Christmas, but she insists its part of the gift.”

The child was so much her father.  Even as little as Petey had been exposed to Stephanie Bongiovi, she could see it.  She only hoped she didn’t share Daddy’s mean streak when she was angry.

“Dorothea, that’s fine.  We can set a tentative date, and if that doesn’t work for Mr. Bongiovi, he can contact me with a time that better suits his schedule.”

“Mr. Bongiovi is Jon’s dad, and you’ll just confuse him with it,” his ex-wife declared affectionately.  It sounded like they’d been through that multiple times throughout their time together.  “Jon will work just fine, and if he gives you any lip over it, blame me.”

But Petey was noncommittal.  “What day did Stephanie want this magic to take place?”

“Christmas Day,” was Dorothea’s dry response.  “I told her that was absolutely out of the question.  I’m sure you have a family to spend time with just like we do, so I was thinking Wednesday around noon?”

“That would be fine, except for the fact that I have to work.”

“I should have mentioned that your time is Tony’s present to Steph.  He was more than happy to give a day off for this adventure.”

Petey was now more convinced than ever that there was something going on between Tony and Dorothea.  Not that it mattered to her, but she was fairly certain that this… thing wasn’t public knowledge. 

God, I hope Jon doesn’t have a stroke when he finds out.

“Well okay then.  I can work with that.”  Another thought flashed across her mind.  “Oh, and Dorothea?”

“Yes?”

“I wholeheartedly understand if you think this is way too far across the border to Bizarre, and I won’t be offended in the slightest if you tell me I’m nuts.  But I was out doing some Christmas shopping yesterday, and saw a really pretty, fuzzy scarf that was just the color of Stephanie’s eyes.  Would you mind if I gave it to her?  It doesn’t even have to be for Christmas.  I just saw it and thought she should have it.”

The silence made Petey think she had leapt across the chasm of appropriateness, landing firmly in the creepy stalker colony.

“I never doubted it, but Tony was right,” Dorothea said thoughtfully.  “He said there was a lot more to you than meets the eye.  I think Stephanie would love that you got her a gift, so yes, by all means give it to her.”