Episode 46

Riccardo's POV.
I knew I should stop her from taking anymore of that alcohol. I knew I should've been talking about what she just told me about that Drako guy but I just wanted her to feel at ease,to be away from her waging problems. It's sad, really. Having to see her this way. It's no doubt she's going through a lot. I badly wanted to do something but each time I think about anything I could do to ease her worries, it's either me kissing her or making love to her on my bed. What the hell was wrong with me? I don't usually feel this way about women. I don't usually feel this urge to protect,to claim and to drool over a woman but with Ashley, it's different. So different.
"Ashley,"I finally spoke as she set down the alcohol glass to pour herself another "I think you need to stop"
"Why?,"she pouts her lips "you brought us here to drink right?"
My eyes shamelessly dropped to her pouted lips. How I longed to kiss those soft lips.
"The plan was to forget my worries,right?" She says again before gulping down the alcohol,her eyes tightening as the liquid burnt through her throat.
"I'm just so tired,you know?" She said, setting down the now empty glass.
"About what?"
"All these" she flailed her hands around the surrounded "Working with you can be really hard,Ric,don't ever let nobody tell you otherwise. If they do, they're just sugarcoating the whole thing"
Somehow,her statement got me smiling. It'd be nice to hear the truth sometimes, right?
"When I first started working with you,gosh,I wanted to jump into someone else,Ric. You treated me like trash,you always yelled at me. And did you remember the time you humiliated me in front of those men?" She laughs.
Yes. How could I forget. And I could never stop feeling bad for doing that to her. My actions had nearly cost me her.
"But Katie always said to put some sense into your head and quit the job! But I always couldn't! I always couldn't leave you. We were like Sanjay and Craig. We needed each other!"
She's drunk. Again.
"Katie is always right,"she laughs "maybe I should have just left even though it's gonna hurt. She's always right. She's always right when she told me to break up with that guy back in highschool who wanted to have sex with me the very first day I said yes to him! She was also right when she told me to. . . . to ditch school and go to the ballet class! She was. . . . "I watched as her face slowly went darker before she added " she was always there for me . . .but I never return the favor. I'm always giving my everything to your work! My time,my life,my everything! To realize what was happening to my best friend! She's. . . . I know she still loves him but she's scared of being hurt again. After four long years,that spark is still there!" She laughs,her eyes holding mine "it's beautiful isn't it? True love! I told her to just go for it! Give love another chance even if it's with the same person. You'll never do anything if you're scared of getting hurt. . . . ."
"Is that why you're still working with me? Because you're not scared of getting humiliated by me?"
She watches me for a while before replying "no. I'm working with you and bearing all the shits you throw at me because I need the money!" She refills her cup again and chunks it down in one go "My dad screwed up and it was all my fault,Ric! He. . . . I didn't ask him to get a loan to be able to send me to college simply because he stopped working after mom died. He screwed up and now it's my mess to clean. "Her voice was starting to tremble as she watched me. I could count how many times she gulped hard if I wasn't busy watching her beautiful eyes "he. . . . I shouldn't have done what I did,Ric. I shouldn't have killed mom"
"Don't say that, Ashley. You didn't kill her"
"How do you know that? You weren't even there!"
"I wasn't. But I know you, Ashley"
She starts shaking her head in disapproval "you don't know me,Ric. I'm just a girl who works for you. . . "
"I also know who you truly are, Ashley. You're a sweet person. A nice woman who. . . . "
"You're mistaken,"I could see the tears streaked on her eyes "If I hadn't stubbornly asked to be enrolled in a ballet class,maybe my mother would still be alive by now. Maybe. . . . My dad would still have his job now and maybe. . . . Just maybe,Drako wouldn't be in this perfect picture now."
"Ashley,"I reached to touch her arm "none of this is your fault. The earlier you stop blaming yourself,the earlier you move on"
"Maybe I don't wanna move on,"I saw the tear roll down her eye. I wished I had reached out to catch it,to make it stop. To make it go away.
"I was. . . Dad was always busy on business trips," she continued "He was never around. It was just me and Mom. She was a nurse and was always busy too. Mom always squeezed time to pick me up from the ballet classes because she didn't want me taking the public bus,"she sniffled "that night. . . that night. . . I remember being so stupidly angry at her for making me wait at the ballet class parking lot while the other kids left with their parents,"she looks up at me again and I saw the redness in her starry eyes "I didn't know she was involved in an accident on her way. . . . . Tell me,how does one move on from that?"
"Ashley,listen to me. None of that is your fault,you hear me? We've all got some shitty pasts that we wished we moved on from. It's not easy and the reason why we never forget is because it's God's own way of punishing us. But everything gets better if we learn to forgive ourselves. God is all about forgiveness and that's exactly what he wants us to do for ourselves first."
I am not giving this talk right now,am I? What has this woman done to me.
"I'm sorry"
"You don't have to be. I'm here. For you"
She nods with a small smile, putting a hand over her stomach. She makes a face before saying "my stomach's hurting. I think I should use the bathroom and we can go home"
"Good idea. Take your time"
I watched her push the chair back before walking towards the restroom. I blew out air the moment she disappeared out of sight. I put the bills on the table before standing up and walking towards the restroom. I couldn't enter the women's restroom so I waited outside.
After a while,the door pushed open and she walked out.
She looked totally different from the woman who had all that tears on her eyes earlier. She must've washed her face and whipped it clean cause they looked vibrant as ever. She barely had any make up on from the start so she looked even more beautiful. When she met me at the door,her eyes goes down and I found myself smiling.
"Come on"
I walk the both of us to my car. She staggered beside me. I knew she still had more alcohol in her system and she'd probably pass out anytime soon. She consumed a lot to even be walking right now. After sitting her in,I walked over to the wheel and sat in. I started the car and drove out,my eyes constantly glancing at the rearview mirror to see her face. She sat straight,her eyes fixed on the road. I wondered what was going on in her mind.
Ashley starts to crouch her stomach and I quickly came to a stop, turning to face her.
"Are you alright? Are you hurting?"
She turns her head to me,and watched. I watched back. Suddenly I could see through her eyes,see so many other things. Her dark brown eyes glistened under the night sky,her lips parted slightly,her breathing loud and sending electric waves throughout my body. I felt my heart beat faster as I continued to watch her face. She watches back with an equal intensity,her eyes dropping to my lips. The gesture makes my stomach churn in delight. She was fucking adorable.
I yarned to taste those lips,drink her whole. Everything seemed to happen so fast. Once I was leaning into her and then she's leaning in too. When my lips brushed against her soft ones,I felt the contact affect my inner psyche. I kissed her lips, enjoying the feel of her breath against my face. I wanted to taste her lips,now I wanted to devour them,claim them like I owned them more than she did.
The surprise it caused me when she kissed me back wasn't to be compared with when she climbed on top of me,her butt sitting firmly on thighs,her middle firmly pressing against my now probing manhood. She turned me on just by sitting on me.
Her hand goes around my neck as she tried to sit comfortably without her back pressing onto the horn. I watched her eyes,they were the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen, hypnotizing me. Her lips closes in on me and I claimed them,kissing her passionately. I run a hand through her back, searching, wanting,needing. She sighed into my mouth the moment I grabbed her bottom with my bare hands. She was fucking beautiful.
She gasped as I continued to kiss her non-stop. Her breath turned me on with every passing minute and I just wanted to pin her down at the back seat and have her right now. Her hands slipped off my hair and rummaged through my shirt. I grabbed and pulled at her sides,wanting more. I groaned impatiently,my hands wanting to feel more as they reached her clothed breasts.
"ah....". She gasped sharply as I pressed hard. I reached the back of her dress to find a way to get her out of that obstacle between our bodies but stopped.
She was just drunk and acting on it. Did she really want this? Does she want to have sex at the back of a car? Is that the kind of woman she is? What if she isn't? What if she wakes up tomorrow feeling taken advantage of?
Slowly,I pulled away from her. From everything we just had. She gives me a confused look for a split second before her eyes gave up and shut close. She went limp on my body,her soft breathing fanning my exposed chest.
Yes,you were already asleep.
Slowly,I set her back on the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt on. I watched her face for a while as she slept peacefully. I can't believe I stopped myself from having a woman I really desired even when I'm so hard.
I realized driving her home wouldn't be such a good idea so I took her to the place where I knew she'd be safe with me.
Pulling up in front of my hotel,I picked her up bridal style and up to my VIP room. Setting her down on the bed while she still slept,I felt lost watching her. I sat beside her, brushing her hairs from her face.
There was something about watching her sleep so peacefully. This was a complete turn on for me and the thought made me smile.
Ashley Shawn.
How is she able to do this to me? How is she able to make my heart beat so fast? How is she able to make me to weak at her feet? How does she manage to wake these feelings inside of me?