I got in my truck and went to check in on my crew, making sure they were sorted for the day at the new construction site, but after the quick visit I was idle, and without a purpose. I didn’t want to go home, but I needed to stay active, keep my mind off Monique, Mila and the surrogacy.
No, what I really needed was to find a way to prevent a repeat of this morning, and I could only think of one sure-fire way to do just that.
Turning the truck, I headed to the hardware store and got the supplies I needed.
I planned to be done with the first section of the bathroom in a couple of hours and wanted to be gone by the time she got home from work. I went up to Mila’s apartment, toolbox in hand, ready to start work on the new bathroom.
Work had always had a calming effect on me. The act of physical labour always helped to make me feel better, zoning out to nothingness, concentrating only at the job at hand, blotting out all the crap that was going wrong in my life.
I ripped out a part of the flimsy wall and stripped the inside enclosure bare; I removed all of our stored junk and relocated it down into the garage. I traced and fitted the required plumbing, getting sweaty and tired as I hauled the new bathroom pieces up the stairs.
I was making good progress, and it seemed the work was helping to drain the problems straight out of my body when a knock at the apartment door interrupted the zone I was in.
It took me a moment to place the face in front of me as I swung the door open, but it didn’t take me long. But the man standing on Mila’s doorstep seemed to figure it out before me.
“Oh, fuck…”
“You’re Mark, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, man. I don’t want any trouble,” he said as he raised his hands, backing away towards the edge of the stairs.
Rage filled my belly as I thought of the reason why he was here… it could only be for one thing. And god help me, I wanted to throw him down the stairs for even thinking about touching her again.
I walked out onto the small stair landing. “If I ever see you here again, next time I won’t let go; I will break your fucking neck. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, whatever. She ain’t worth this much trouble,” Mark said as he retreated down the stairs.
“What the hell did you say?”
“Nothing! Nothing,” he shouted as he ran across the driveway.
* * *
The bathroom was coming along nicely after I’d managed to calm down from Mark’s visit, but I’d completely forgotten to check the time. I was hard at work when a noise from behind interrupted me.
It was her, and as soon as I sensed her there, my body tensed up. I could feel her penetrating gaze upon me, scalding me. I got up slowly, trying my best to keep my eyes away from her. But I managed to catch a glimpse.
Fuck, she looked amazing in her work clothes - all prim and proper, polished and so grown up, but so different from Monique, who was so stern and untouchable in her business attire.
Mila was still the same loveable, mischievous woman, just dressed up. I could discern the soft curve of her hips through her pencil skirt, tendrils of hair escaping her tight bun. She was perfectly imperfect, and it was driving me crazy.
“I’ll be out of your hair soon enough,” I said after a stiff greeting, and I felt the tension in the air thicken.
Focusing my attention anywhere but on my stepsister, I started gathering my tools together and putting them into the toolbox. I could feel her behind me, unmoving, watching me, and it was driving me crazy. I had a sudden urge to just press her against the wall and take her right there and then.
But my wife’s face kept popping into my mind, and I felt the guilt seeping into my skin. I really was a snake, a goddamn cheat and a liar. I had to get a grip. I was not this type of man.
“I might be back tomorrow,” I found myself saying to Mila, trying to fill the awkward silence. “I have to do some more work here. Got to start on the tiling, which won’t take too long. At least you have running water in here now. But the toilet isn’t connected up yet.”
“Thank you,” she replied, her tone perfectly polite, but totally impersonal and neutral. It stung to hear her talk like that to me. All the lightness and intimacy that we’d had as stepsiblings had been devastated by one simple act of insanity. If only we could talk about what had happened…
I looked around for the last tool for my box and spotted it lying close to Mila’s feet. “Could you pass me that?” I asked her, pointing to the wrench as I wiped the dusty sink clean.
After a moment, I heard the hollow sound of her heels on the unfinished floor as she approached, but even without that noise, I would have known she was near. My whole body stiffened, and my cock pulsed as the floral notes of her perfume hit my nostrils, taking me right back to when she was in my arms, so close, so wet. Back to the time when she wanted me.