As a boy, Jairus recalled how comical it was to watch his father, the strongest man he had ever known crumbled under the pressure of his mother's glare whenever they went to the supermarket. Now, he was at the receiving end of that glare as Olivia's daggering stare down of getting the box of green tea in her hand began to waver.
"Just throw it into the cart already," Jairus eventually said to which the brunette grinned with the satisfaction that she got her way. He loved coffee and so did Olivia, but the brooding mechanic for the last month and a half had come to realize that Olivia liked drinking tea whenever she was working and going over case files.
The couple has been exclusively for a month and a half now.
Olivia’s response to Jairus’s declaration for her had cemented any lingering doubt about her feelings for him when she spoke about loving the rain and storms. Their first official sleepover was three weeks ago and he had unintentionally grabbed Olivia by the arm, twisting it when she unexpectedly walked in on him in the bathroom. Besides his military training, being in prison had taught him to always be on his guard.
Unfortunately, Jairus, for a second forgot he had another person with him that morning. Olivia had groaned in pain and her wrist was swollen with a bruise for a couple of days but she never once said anything about it or looked at him differently which led him to confess he was an ex-convict, leaving out the part that it was her parents who had him imprisoned.
Olivia sat down quietly and listened to Jairus retell his unpleasant encounters in prison. Such as the time they had to transfer him to maximum security due to a fight in the lunchroom where he had beaten another inmate severely with his food tray, and the man had temporary memory loss.
"Memory loss is a bit extreme, but he did start it and you had every right to defend yourself," Olivia had responded to Jairus's confession and he'd looked at her like she was crazy. Since then they've shared bits and pieces of each other's lives from childhood to their teenage years. Jairus felt bad for Olivia's teens, her voice would lower whenever she talked about that part of her life. The only time she perked up was at the mention of her best friend Molly, whose wedding was in two weeks---one he had flat-out refused to attend.
"Oh my god, Jairus?" A familiar voice exclaimed from behind making Jairus groan in frustration before turning around to face the annoying blond of a mistake, only for his eyes to widen. "I guess we have something important to discuss," Alicia finally said after an ironic pregnant pause.
"Babe, look what...oh, hey Alicia?" Olivia politely greeted the woman in question, the six-pack of light beer Jairus preferred forgotten at the sight of the woman's obvious baby bump in the skin-tight royal blue, off-the-shoulder dress that seems suffocating.
Olivia recalled how drunk off her ass the blond was at Jessica's party, today, however, she appeared more sophisticated.
Alicia's blond hair was neatly tucked away into a bun. Her face was caked in makeup but oddly suited the woman, Olivia observed as the smokey eyeshadow complemented her amber eyes, along with the sultry red lipstick glued to her naturally pouty lips. She looked sinfully beautiful and it made a less stellar-looking Olivia body-conscious even though the feeling was ridiculous considering they were only shopping and a pair of sweats and an oversized t-shirt seemed more logical in getting groceries.
"I'm sorry, have we met?" Alicia asked Olivia even though the two had met at the party before she started polishing off the eggnog. "Jairus, I've been trying to get in contact with you since your sister's party but your number is disconnected and Jessica rejected the idea of passing on the current one to me without asking you first," Alica said, turning her attention back to Jairus without acknowledging Olivia a second longer.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, a wave of dread swept over Jairus as he desperately tried hard to recall his couple one-night stands with Alicia. The only thing he managed was a brewing migraine. The woman was telling the truth, Jessica did, in fact, mentioned Alicia wanting his new number but he had responded with a sharp no and that was the end of that brief conversation the sibling had two weeks after the party.
"We can talk within an hour if you're not busy, meet me outside the mall three blocks from here," Jairus replied when he found his voice, to which the blond squealed in satisfaction, throwing her arms around his neck while Olivia stood back piecing her own conclusions.
It became clear they were something more than before she entered Jairus’s life.
"Okay, I'll meet you in an hour," Alicia answered back before going about her business as Olivia gawked at Jairus.
"Well?" The now furious brunette asked placing the beer inside the cart before folding her arms to her chest, waiting expectedly for Jairus to answer.
"It's nothing, let's get what we came here for and go home," Jairus snapped much to Olivia's surprise.
Instead of creating a scene, Olivia swallowed her pride and proceeded forward in getting the items off the list she had written before they left the apartment.
Jairus knew snapping at Olivia was a dick move but his brain was still processing the possible evidence of his stupidity and recklessness. The couple maintained silence throughout their first shopping spree together right up until they were back in the safety of Jairus's apartment.
"Are you going to tell me about you and Alicia, or is she one of the secrets I'm not allowed to know about? Surely my father can't be accused of your actions this time." The words were out of her mouth before Olivia could properly phantom what she was saying because of her anger and jealousy until something crashed loudly resulting in her screaming.
What Olivia said hit a nerve which caused Jairus to flip the glass table normally in the middle of the living room aside as if it weighed nothing. "Fuck!" The furious Frenchman growled as he grabbed his motorcycle keys from off the hook beside the door before storming out off.
It took Olivia a few minutes to control her breathing and accelerated heartbeat when it finally hit what she had said to Jairus and she couldn't help the sob that threatened to choke her came out. Sliding to the floor, Olivia looked at the mess that was once the coffee table, a piece of furniture she had grown accustomed to whenever she brought work with her. The sparkling fragments of glass stared back at her in mock laughter as she continued to silently sob.
Seeing the blatant desire for Jairus in Alicia's eyes made Olivia jealous that the blond seemed like the perfect match for him. She recalled Jessica's introduction of Alicia so clearly. The woman was a thirty-year-old successful businesswoman with her own company, mature, and sophisticated in all the right places compared to Olivia who still wanted to party and was barely a full-fledged lawyer.
Feeling sorry for herself was getting her nowhere. Eventually, Olivia got up to her feet and started packing away the groceries before tackling the task of cleaning up the mess that was once the coffee table.
*+*
"You did what?!" Molly screeched through the laptop. "Why would you say such a thing to the man, Olivia? You know how he feels about Thomas," the petite towel-clad woman with her honey skin tone further chastised with a scowl on her now moisturized face.
Olivia flinched from the hardened glare of Molly's mocha eyes, it was as if they were piercing her in place on the bed where she sat crossed-legged. "I know it was stupid, but seeing Alicia with him made me feel incompetent and out of his league," Olivia tried explaining her actions.
Scoffing, Olivia watched Molly strip naked in front of her mirror. Both she and Richard were attending Richard's parents' annual fundraiser and Olivia had caught Molly getting out of the shower when she accepted the video call a half-hour ago allowing her to retell the ordeal.
"I'm yet to meet your man but from the way you ramble on about how he cares for you, Jairus doesn't sound like the person who would screw you over Oli," Molly stated while blow-drying her raven-black, shoulder-length hair.
This was why the soon-to-be Mrs. Molly Sutherland-Vance was Olivia's best and only friend she truly treasured. Though supportive and protective of Olivia, she had never once sugarcoated anything and was most of the time the voice of reason.
"Listen, babe, I gotta go. Make your man some I'm sorry dinner with a dessert of makeup sex and talk it out. We'll talk more when we meet up for brunch tomorrow to go over the final touches to the dresses. I love you, and makeup with your mechanic, bye!" Molly yelled before the screen turned blank breaking off the end of the communication.
Talking with Molly made Olivia feel better, she even managed a giggle at her sultry tone at the mention of the word mechanic. It remained Olivia of the time they both happened to watch a porn movie involving a greasy and well-built mechanic. Contemplating Molly's suggestion, Olivia plugged the laptop to charge before making her way to the kitchen.
*+*
The candle she had lit finally melted to its last drop of wax along with the hope of making things right with Jairus. The clock on the wall above the flatscreen now read 10 pm and there was no sign of Jairus coming home. He wasn't at Jessica's because Olivia had called to check, and he hadn't answered or returned any of her calls or text messages. Pushing back the chair, Olivia cleared the table, throwing away the meal she had prepared, and tidied up before retiring to bed.
Stripping down to her laced underwear, Olivia snuggled under the cover willing herself not to cry. Just as she was about to welcome the sweet caress of sleep, she heard the door downstairs open and close, then the beeping of the buttons belonging to the alarm system being punched in.
After a minute or so, she could smell Jairus's ax cologne the moment he entered the bedroom. Olivia didn't dare veer around, instead, she heard Jairus' heavy boots against the wooden floor before they disappeared into the ensuite bathroom.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Olivia sat up straight into the bed and waited for her lover to explain where he was until now. She didn't have to wait long once her eyes clashed with the icy baby-blue gaze belonging to an incredibly mouthwatering Jairus, who had one towel wrapped around his waist and another to dry the excessive water trickling down his chiseled six-pack of ripped muscle.
Tossing the covers aside, Olivia confidently sauntered her way toward the giant of a man who remained where he was, standing in the middle of the room. "I'm sorry for being a jealous brat-" whatever speech Olivia had to say got cut off by the sheer force of Jairus's bruising kiss.
He allowed her to breathe a little bit before recapturing Olivia's lips, Jairus paws of a hand wandered down her perfectly sized ass, squeezing it that triggered a moan out of Olivia as he lifted her upwards causing Olivia to secure her legs around him.
Walking them backward to the bed, the Frenchman gently rested Olivia in the middle of it before dragging her lower half at the end, peeling off her panties. “Fucking beautiful,” he complimented as he lowered his head.
The divine sensation of pleasure Olivia's received from the stroke of Jairus's tongue on her clitoris, the only thing she could do was wrap her legs around his head, rooting her fingers deep into his slightly graying wet hair, bringing him even closer to her womanhood. "Jairus," Olivia drawled out when she reached her climax at that final pull of her clit.
Jairus was the one who removed Olivia's chokehold from his head because she didn't have the strength to do so herself. Letting the towel pool around his feet, Jairus blindly reached for the bedside drawer for a condom and that's when Olivia stopped him. "I wanna feel all of you inside of me, please," she begged.
Jairus hesitated for a moment before he parted Olivia's legs wide open to accommodate his larger frame. Giving his erection two long strokes before entering Olivia, a satisfactory moan came out of the adonis's mouth as he murmured something in French once Olivia adjusted to his size and showed her impatience. Meeting her lover thrust for thrust, the couple explored each other's bodies like never before, and deep down Olivia felt as if it was the end.
*+*
"Magnificent, simply beautiful!" Maxine, the store owner of the bridal store praised herself for the finishing touches to both the bride and maid of honor's dresses. "A lot of heads will be swerving on your wedding day my dear, both of you," the short and slightly plump woman continued to gush.
"You're a genius, Maxine!" Molly squealed and twirled in her white dress as Olivia wished she could do the same right now, but not in her current state.
Olivia was certain she had entered another realm for sure by the time Jairus was done with her rounds later down in the night yesterday. She had never been satisfied to the point of blackout before. Jairus became a beast after the first three rounds and she not only has the bruises along with hickies to prove it, Olivia was sore and achy all over.
Thankfully, Olivia had help getting out of her dress. All she wanted to do today, was to go back to her own place and rest. But she was Molly's maid of honor and she couldn't simply abandon her best friend so she allowed herself to be dragged from store to store until they ultimately settled for lunch at their favorite deli.
"Alright, I've been patient enough. It's obvious you had makeup sex by that enormous hickey plastered on your neck,” Molly blurted out. “Then why the long face and depressing mood?" she asked her friend once they placed their orders.
"A Cohen and a McQueen shouldn't be together, there are too many lies and secrets between the two families. The only thing that will come out of this will be pain because we'll end up hurting each other eventually," Jairus had coldly said to Olivia this morning before he left for work.
"We broke up, " Olivia replied as her voice cracked at the end.
Sensing the vulnerability in her friend's voice, Molly didn't elaborate. Instead, she changed the topic to how much fun the bachelorette party promised to be while silently pledging to herself to make Olivia enjoy it and forget her personal problems for a while.
_____________