Reasonable Doubt(22)

Wiping away my tears, I turned off the water and stepped out. I wrapped myself in a towel and did what I always did when I felt sad: ordered a sandwich and made myself a couple of stiff martinis.

Just as I was downing the first one, there was a knock on my door. I noticed the pink Barbie keys on the counter—courtesy of my forgetful and “never here” roommate and knew it was her.

She always leaves something...

“Would it kill you to double check for these before you—” I stopped when I opened the door.

It was Andrew, and the look on his face was one of pure anger. He wasn’t dressed in a suit anymore, just a simple, thin white T-shirt that slightly clung to his chiseled abs and a pair of faded blue jeans.

I tried to slam the door in his face, but he held it open and forced himself inside my apartment. I started to step backwards and he matched me step for step, backing me against my living room wall.

“We need to talk.” His voice was flat, emotionless.

“No, we don’t. You said plenty earlier.” I looked down at the floor. “Don’t worry, I’ll be resigning in the morning. Please leave.”

He tilted my chin up and looked into my eyes. “You’re not quitting.”

“Watch me.” I swallowed. “I want you to leave...”

“I would believe that, but you say things you don’t mean all the time.”

The tension between us was damn near palpable, and I could feel my blood heating every second he stood there staring at me. I tried to move away, but he gripped my hips.

“You told me you were a lawyer, Aubrey...” he said, his voice dripping with malice. “You told me you were twenty seven years old.”

“I never said I was twenty seven. You assumed.”

“It was on your f*cking profile!” He pushed my back against the wall. “You never thought to correct me whenever I said I was only five years older than you...I’m ten years older than you.”

“I didn’t think I would ever meet you in person,” I barely managed to say as he pressed his chest against mine.

“That excuses your lies?”

“I said I was sorry, and it was clearly a huge mistake to ever befriend you. You didn’t even give me a chance to completely explain.”

“Do you not understand how f*cked up this situation is?”

“No...” I murmured as our lips touched.

“I’ve been looking forward to f*cking the woman who teased me every night for nearly six months,” he whispered, sliding his fingers underneath my towel. “I wanted her to ride me.” He trailed his hand up my thigh and rubbed his thumb against my clit. “On my cock and my mouth. And I wanted to teach her how to taste me...Don’t you think this woman f*cked all of that up?”

I shook my head in response; I couldn’t handle the way he was looking at me.

“You said you weren’t my type when I asked what you looked like.” He pulled away from my mouth, but he kept his thumb against my clit. “But you clearly are. Why did you lie about something as simple as that?””

“You didn’t tell me what you looked like, so—”

“Stop deflecting.” He hissed, and took a step back. “Tell me the reasoning. I’ve already figured out your reasoning for the other bullshit lies. By the way, no self-respecting lawyer would ever let another lawyer do their work for them.”

“Only a self-absorbed * who wants to seem deeper than he really is would call himself Thoreau.”

“Good to finally see the version of you that I remember.” He took another step back and crossed his arms. “Answer my question.”

“Fuck you.” I scoffed. “I told you I was sorry, begged you to listen to me, and now when you feel like talking, you think you can barge into my apartment and make me?”

“I haven’t made you do anything.” He smirked. “Yet.”

Silence.

He leaned against the wall, waiting for me to speak, but I couldn’t get a word out.

Look away from him...Look away from him...

As if he knew the power his gaze was having on me, he grinned and picked up one of my makeshift martinis.

Lifting one of the cherries from the liquor, he placed it against his lips. “Do you plan on standing there all night and looking at me, or are you going to answer my question?”

“No,” I said, finally looking away from him. “After the way you treated me in your office today, I don’t owe you a goddamn thing. You can stand there all night for all I care.” I walked towards my room. “There’s even a sandwich delivery coming if you decide to—”