"I still don't get it, girl. I mean, here you are, in Westlake. Look around you. It's so quiet, so peaceful. You can run and run, until you can't run no more. Yet, you just get in your Taurus; drive all the way to Malibu and for what? Just to get jumped by some pervert. It's a good thing that Sam guy came to your rescue. Yeah, he shouldn't have done what he did next, but I can't blame him. If I was a guy, you'd be number one on my 'to do' list."
Aisha had already heard her friend complimenting her on her great looks at least twice, but she was way too tired and frustrated to appreciate it. She placed her arms on the table parallel to each other and lazily put her head on her right forearm. This was no time for compliments.
"Normally, I'd be laughing my ass off right now. But … God, I'm exhausted. I can't think about guys right now … " Aisha closed her eyes and crossed her ankles, underneath the table. Understanding her friend's situation, Ava put her own arms on the table, interlocked her fingers and placed her head on her palms. Just four inches to Aisha's left, she continued her teasing game. She pretended to read Sam's thoughts out loud, in a hoarse voice, like a twisted sex maniac.
"Hey, check out that slender chick. I bet she's got a lot of … " She let out a manly snort.
"Stamina in bed. Those lips of hers got a lot of … potential. Catch my drift?" Ava got up and mimed an elbow jab to the ribs of an imaginary man next to her. Aisha would not speak, though. She just smiled, without opening her eyes.
"And do you see the ass on her? I'm telling you, man, you need to take that baby for a long, hard ride. You just have to treat that ass right." The kissing sounds Ava was making woke up Aisha. She looked up, to her left, only to find her friend holding two imaginary buttocks four inches across her face, stroking them every few seconds, French kissing and licking them from side to side. She burst into laughter; the show her friend had put on was way too funny to ignore.
"Damn it, girl, how the hell do you do it?" Aisha chuckled.
Finally done with her show, Ava put her right hand on Aisha's shoulder. With a soft voice, she urged her friend:
"Don't worry about him, darling. You can get any guy you want."
Then, Aisha abruptly got up and lay back on her chair.
"You don't mind if I spend the night here, do you? I can't go back to my place. I don't wanna be alone … "
A broad smile was painted on Ava's face.
"You can, on one condition."
"What's that?"
Ava grabbed Aisha's thigh with her left hand. Then, she resumed her earlier, hoarse voice.
"I get to lick your sweet pussy … "
At that point, Aisha laughed so hard that she collapsed onto her friend. Ava loved it and took her in her arms, giggling along.
"I wish I had someone with her sense of understanding … Damn you, Sam. Did you have to act like a complete moron?
Three weeks after her ordeal, Aisha had not stopped thinking about Sam. Despite her best efforts to let him go, she could not take her mind off of him. The way he had saved her from her attacker, his words, his deep voice, and his stunning looks … However, he was the one responsible for ruining her first impression and she could not forgive him just yet.
Sam even sent her flowers, twice. Fifty white lilies at her workplace, "Jimmy's" bar and fifty red roses to her home address. But Aisha ignored him, like she would do to anyone who would not take no for an answer. As a strict judge of character, she did not believe in second chances.
"Jimmy's" was a small bar on Agoura Road, less than ten minutes away from Aisha's apartment. It featured a few cherry tables, (each with a small, silver candlestick in the middle) overlooking the road, a huge, oak arch door, hardwood floors and spotlights over the counter, which was lined with diamonds on the bottom. A few stool, neatly placed three feet away from each other, a body size Jimi Hendrix poster right by the entrance, thirty feet across the counter. Jimmy, a 5'10", thin, graying 62-year old man, had always liked Aisha and took her under his wing when her parents passed. On Wednesday night, July 26th Aisha and Ava were gossiping, as they often did on somewhat slow nights. In fact, the only two people in the bar that night, was a couple, sat at the table in the far west corner. In a red and white, flower pattern, sleeveless, chiffon mini dress and pink, three-inch high heels, Ava still wondered why Aisha had rejected Sam. Aisha herself wore a green t-shirt, with a bar logo on the back, blue jeans and two-inch high heels.
On a stool, less than two feet to the left of Aisha and with a full, cocktail glass in her right hand, Ava was determined to motivate her stubborn friend, who was wiping glasses in the far left corner of the counter.
"Aisha, you're being too hard on the guy. Give him a break, for God's sake."
Not taking her eyes off the glass in her hands, Aisha kept stating her opinion.
"Not a chance in hell, Ava. I'm not one of his bimbos. He can have a thousand of them, for all I care."
"You're being too harsh. Give him a chance, come on!"
Aisha did not appreciate her friend's high pitched, reprimanding tone. Suddenly, she banged the tall glass she was wiping on the counter and glared at Ava.
"Whose side are you on?"
Sensing her friend's anger, Ava lowered her tone, mellowed her voice and leaned towards her.
"I'm on your side, sweetheart. Really, what do you got to lose? What's the worst-case scenario?"
Aisha took a cleansing breath, before she gave Ava her answer.
"He's gonna break my heart. I don't need any more heartache. I've had enough of it, in case you forgot … "
"No, I didn't forget. But, you should give him a chance, Aisha. After all, you like him … Don't you?"
Frustrated by her friend's persistence, Aisha shut her eyes and tried to remain calm.
"Ok, I like him. But he's just too macho and way too spoiled for my taste. Happy now?"
Ava gave Aisha a toothy smile. It was as if she had found the answer to a riddle.
"Yeah … "
A few seconds later, Jimmy walked in the bar, with a brown envelope in his left hand, along with some groceries. As usual, he had a white apron on, shielding his green uniform from food splatters and stains.
"This came in the mail today for you, Aisha." He murmured, just before he left the two women and went to the kitchen, on the right hand side of the counter.
The young barmaid got curious. She ripped open the sizeable envelope and found a two-page document inside. It was a job offering. To her surprise, it was from Sam's company: Rocktech. She was being offered the job of Public Relations specialist and the pay was quite good, much better than Jimmy could possibly offer her seventy five thousand dollars per year, plus bonuses. If that proposal had come from anywhere else, Aisha would have been ecstatic. However, she knew this was probably one of Sam's tricks, just to get her into bed with him. Aisha tossed the paper in disgust.
"It's unbelievable … " She mumbled. Ava jumped from her seat and picked up the documents from the floor, five feet to her right. Her eyes glowed for a second. Then, she faced her friend again.
"This is your chance, Aisha. Don't blow it."
With a brittle smile on her face, Aisha rejected Ava's claim.
"Nah, I'm not gonna blow it. I'm just gonna go there and give that prick a piece of my mind. This is gonna end, once and for all … "
"What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow's my night off. I'm paying Mr. Reigns a visit he'll never forget … "
At about 8:30pm the following night, Aisha was outside Sam's large beach house.
"I wish I can catch him by surprise. I don't wanna introduce to myself to his staff. I'll probably never see those people again. Why bother?"
On her way to the driveway, she noticed the back door they had used 22 days earlier slightly open. Aisha parked her car right outside, ten feet away from the entrance, happy to catch a break.
She wore a short, denim skirt, a black tank top and a pair of black sneakers; similar to the ones she had forgotten at Sam's house. In no way was that a job interview. Aisha wanted closure, so, she pushed the door open with the job proposal in her right hand and hastily climbed the stairs. She could hear some low, distant sounds, but she could see nothing.
Aisha reached the landing and took a quick look to the right. All four doors were shut; so was one of the two doors on the left. The only open door at that time was the power door, leading to Sam's study. Some muffled sounds were coming out of that room. It sounded like a female laughter, along with some sloppy kissing.
The beautiful barmaid made her way towards the study, slowly. She leaned against the wall to the right of the door and took a peek inside. A man was sitting in Sam's executive chair. Judging by his size, it had to be him. A woman, with her back turned towards the door was sat in his lap. Aisha recognized the dress. It was the same dress Ava had on the previous night. However, this was not the worst thing she witnessed: The dress had been pulled up way too much, exposing her ass completely. Aisha could even see the red thong she had on. More than that, Sam's hands were all over her ass, caressing it, squeezing it, while Ava was grinding on his crotch. The two of them were kissing passionately, right in front of her.