The morning dragged by. Needing more songs for the album, Tyrese and I had been going through the beats sent in by various producers. A notebook balanced on my knee while he queued up each track, but nothing was clicking for me.
"What about this one?" Tyrese asked. "Shit's hot."
I shook my head and then groaned as my phone vibrated again. Nat had been calling and texting constantly all morning.
"What's going on dawg?" Tyrese asked.
"Nothing," I growled. "Let's take a break. I gotta deal with some shit."
Stalking into my office, I slammed the door as my phone vibrated again. This time I answered. "What?"
"I need to see you," Nat said. "It's important!"
"Not gonna happen. What do you want?"
"Please Marshall! Come over!" Nat said.
I was wise to this game. Middle of the day, kids in school. Whatever she wanted, she planned to use sex to get it from me in person.
"No. Tell me what you want or I'm hanging up."
There was silence as she likely considered how far to push me.
"Bye Nat," I said.
"No! Wait!" she said. "I – I got fired."
"What?" I asked, sitting down at my desk. "Why?"
Nat worked as a receptionist at an accounting firm. I couldn't imagine her doing anything that would get her fired.
"I haven't been myself since ... since we broke up. Too many absences, distracted, not meeting deadlines..."
Shit. This was bad. I never thought she would fall apart at work. But I hardened my heart. She brought this on herself. She was an adult, responsible for her own decisions.
"Don't see how this is my problem Nat," I said.
"You bastard!" she cried. "This is all your fault!"
"I didn't get you fired!"
"I need money," she said. "You owe me that at least."
"I owe you nothing," I growled. "Fuck off."
"What about the kids? How am I supposed to care for them with no job?"
"They've got a father. Ask him."
"He hates me because of you. I have no job because of you! This is all your fault!" she screamed.
"Stop it! I didn't do this!" I yelled back.
"Yes you did!" she sobbed. "You ruined my family. Then threw me away when you didn't want me anymore."
There was some truth to that and it stung. I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache forming behind my eyes.
"Let me think about it," I muttered. "And I'll see what I can do."
I hung up before she could respond. What a fucking mess. How could she lose her job?
I needed to get back to work. Briefly I considered taking the afternoon off and just going home. Hiding out from the world sounded good right about now. I didn't even feel like having sex. Speaking of which, I called Callie.
"Hey. I'm bailing on tonight."
"Is everything alright?" she asked.
"Yeah. Great."
There was silence as she waited for me to say more. I didn't.
"Okay. No problem," Callie said and I hung up.
The afternoon was a disaster and I took off early. Laying on the couch, I alternated between scribbling in my notebook and watching TV.
What was I going to do about Nat? It wasn't technically my fault, but I bore some responsibility. The kids were my main concern. Maybe one payment to make sure they were taken care of until Nat got her shit together?
The sun had set and I was thinking about food when my phone rang. I frowned when Callie's name appeared. I'd cancelled so why was she calling?
"Hey."
"Hi. I'm at your gate. Can you buzz me in?"
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"You sounded down earlier so I came to cheer you up."
"I don't want company. Go away."
"I have tacos and porn," she said.
That made me pause and reconsider. As far as care packages went, that was pretty awesome.
"Come on up," I said and buzzed her through the gate.
I waited for Callie at the front door, arms crossed. If she'd been lying about the tacos I was going to send her on her way with my foot in her pretty little ass.
She approached smiling, Taco Bell bags in hand. I didn't smile back.
"I'm in a bad mood."
"I picked up on that," Callie nodded.
"You've been warned," I shrugged and let her in. We settled in front of the TV with the bags of food on the coffee table.
"I didn't know what you liked, so I got a bunch of things," Callie said as I reached for a soft taco and she whacked my hand. "That one's mine. Eat something else."
"Bitch." I glared at her as I grabbed another taco.
As we ate, she told me about a disastrous adventure she'd had in Mexico.
"It all began when we discovered the tortillas we'd been eating were made using a giant purple dildo. The woman swore it was a vibrating rolling pin, but it was a dildo. Of course then we had to drink copious amounts of tequila to kill any germs."
"Of course," I muttered sarcastically.
The tale continued, involving a sombrero, more tequila, a Jesus statue and an exploding chicken truck. Despite wanting to remain grouchy, I felt the corners of my mouth twitched.
"Feathers everywhere," she finished. "And I do mean everywhere."
"No way all that is true. You're making it up," I said finally, grabbing an order of fries.
"I plead the fifth," she said. "But at least I got a half-smile out of you."
"I'm fine," I said.
"Clearly," Callie said. "So what happened? I didn't see any more songs leaked online."
I dragged a fry through sour cream as I thought about whether to tell her or not. She already knew half the story. Might as well tell her the rest.
"My ex got fired from her job. She wants money," I sighed.
Callie ate a fry before speaking. "Did you get her fired?"
"What? No!"
"Then why is it your problem?"
"Because ... It's complicated."
"I'm listening."
I ate another fry. "I pursued her even though she was married, broke up her family. Then I dumped her."
"Did you blackmail her into leaving her husband?"
"No!"
"Had to ask," Callie shrugged. "So if you didn't force her, why is she blameless in all this?"
"She's not. But neither am I."
"Were you wrong to dump her?"
"No," I shook my head. Why wasn't she asking questions like a normal person?
"So you guys broke up her family together. You had the right to end the relationship when it didn't work. How long are you supposed to be responsible for her subsequent bad decisions?"
I turned to stare at her. She made it sound so simple but it wasn't! Without an answer, I went on the offensive.
"I don't need a slut telling me what to do!" I said.
"I'm not!"
"Yeah? And what are you doing about Dickwad?" I asked, turning on her. "Have you confronted him about what he did?"
Callie looked away. "It's not that simple. I can't afford to lose my job."
"Exactly."
I threw wrappers in the bag. Wanting to change the subject, I reached for the DVD she'd brought.
"What's this?"
"It's ... my favorite," Callie said as her cheeks flushed.
Intrigued, I got up and popped it into the player. Settling back on the couch with the remote I hit play.
"You watch this a lot?" I asked.
"Define a lot."
Hiding a smile, I fast forwarded to the point clothes started coming off.
"What do you usually do when you watch this?" I asked.
"What do you think?" Callie said, rolling her eyes.
"Tell me," I said, bumping her shoulder with mine.
"I use it to get myself off," Callie muttered.
"And when you watch it with someone?" I asked. When Callie didn't answer, I looked over at her.
"I haven't," she said quietly. "Watched it with anyone."
Reaching over, I pulled her onto my lap. As the man on screen took the woman's nipple in his mouth, my hands slid under Callie's shirt and pinched her breasts. As the couple flipped and the woman began grinding on the man, Callie pushed back against my crotch.
We watched and continued to play with each other until I couldn't take it anymore.
"Play time's over," I growled, shutting off the DVD and standing. I grabbed Callie's hand and tugged her to my bedroom.
After shedding the rest of our clothes, I bent Callie over the bed face down. After watching the guy raw dog the woman in the movie, I wanted to feel Callie, really feel her. A couple moments wouldn't hurt. Not like I was gonna cum inside her.
I slid into her pussy and groaned. She felt even better than I'd imagined. So tight around me. I thrust hard into her, loving the sensation. A couple moments turned into many. Callie moaned as she came. I had to force myself to stop and pull out. I wanted to bust in her so badly.
"On your knees bitch. Lick me clean," I ordered. Callie turned and knelt, taking me into her mouth. As I watched, she licked her own cum off my dick. Groaning, I fumbled for a condom.
With all the foreplay, it was over quick and we collapsed onto the bed.
"Hey," Callie said. "You don't really still think I'm a slut, do you?"
"Yup," I said.
She propped herself up on one elbow and looked at me. "Why?"
I shrugged. "Because you gave it up to a complete stranger."
"So did you!"
"But I'm a guy," I said. "That's what guys do."
"That's complete stereotypical garbage and makes no sense," Callie protested. "Woman shouldn't be judged for doing the same thing men do and enjoying sex."
"Don't get all worked up," I said.
"I'm not a slut Marshall."
"Sure you are. But not just any slut," I said. "You're my slut. In fact ..."
I got up and ran to the office down the hall. After grabbing a black Sharpie I used for signing autographs, I returned to the bedroom.
"What are you doing?" she asked as I got back into bed. "What's that?"
"A marker. For marking my pussy," I slid down between her legs and began to draw on her thighs.
"It tickles," Callie giggled.
"Quit squirming! You'll ruin it," I ordered as I drew a stick figure Marshall on one thigh and wrote my name in black block letters and a thick arrow to her pussy on the other.
As I worked, my eyes kept straying. My face hadn't been this close to her pussy before. Damn it looked good.
Throwing the marker on the floor, I moved forward and licked her lips. She tasted sweet. Wanting more, I pushed my tongue in further to her clit. Callie moaned and her hand fluttered onto my head. Alternating between licking up her wetness and swirling my tongue over her clit, I devoured her pussy.
When I'd had enough, I began thrusting my fingers inside her. In tandem I moved my tongue and fingers faster and harder, as her moans became louder. Her nails dug into my shoulder as her legs begin to shake and she came with a scream.
As I wiped my mouth and caught my breath, it dawned on me what I'd done. Why the fuck had I gone down on her? I never ate a slut's snatch. No way I wanted my mouth where multiple men put their dicks.
But she wasn't fucking anyone except me. So it wasn't really that big a deal.
