Caught in a Chase

59 - So Much Better

Throwing my headphones down, I decided to call it a day. Nothing was sounding like I wanted and I was ready to hit something. Grabbing my backpack I headed home.

Chelsea was on the phone when I walked in.

"That's amazing! ... This weekend? ... No, it shouldn't be a problem. I'll let you know tomorrow. ... Thank you!"

She hung up and did a bunch of fist pumps in the air. Leaning against the doorway I watched her.

"Sounds like good news," I said.

Chelsea whirled around. Upon seeing me, a guarded expression came over her face. I frowned. What was that about? She'd been excited a moment ago.

"Uhm you're home early. Good day?" she asked.

I walked into the room, tossed my backpack and sat down.

"Not really," I said. "What's up? Who was on the phone?"

Chelsea sat down beside me and nervously played with her fingers.

She doesn't want to tell me what's going on I realized. My mood was getting worse by the second as I waited for her to speak.

"That was my publisher," she said.

Chelsea's book had recently come out and was doing better than expected. She was getting positive editorial reviews and there was a lot of buzz among book bloggers.

"There's a writing conference in New York this weekend and one of the presenters had to cancel last minute. They've asked if I'd fill in."

"That's great!" I said. Why wouldn't she want to tell me that?

"You don't mind? I mean I wasn't sure ..." she hesitated.

I got it then. She was remembering my behaviour the last time she'd gone to New York.

"How long?" I asked, as the usual dread began knotting in my stomach.

"Thursday to Sunday."

I looked away and gnawed at my lip. We'd been back together two months and things were good. So good! She'd forgiven me, supported me and put up with a lot of my shit. Now it was my turn. I needed to show her the same support. It was only four days.

"I'll miss you of course," I said. "But it's a great opportunity. Isn't it?"

"Yes!" she smiled and threw her arms around my neck. I hugged her to me, glad I'd done the right thing.

We made dinner, joked as usual and talked about the writing conference. I was secretly pleased at how well I was handling the upcoming trip.

I was fine until I saw Chelsea's bag on the bedroom floor and bad memories flooded back. Panic grew in my gut as I stared at the bag. What if she met someone at the conference? Or she decided she didn't want me anymore and left? Or there was another shooting? The fucking plane could even go down. If I lost her again ...

Taking a deep breath, I tried to push away those thoughts. Chelsea loved me and she would come back. But I didn't want her to go.

In bed I tossed and turned. Waking every couple hours I reached for Chelsea, needing reassurance she was still here.

The next morning I stomped around the kitchen. Chelsea planned to spend the day getting ready for the conference. Her flight left tomorrow morning.

I stood in front of the fridge with the door open.

"Morning," she yawned, giving me a quick hug from behind on her way to the coffee.

"We don't have any milk," I said.

"Guess you'll have to get some then," she said.

"Why don't we have any milk?"

"Cause we drank it?" Chelsea said, tilting her head. "Is this a trick question?"

"Don't be cute," I growled, putting the cereal box away in the cupboard. "Now I gotta have toast for breakfast."

"However will you make it through this tragedy?" she asked, sipping her coffee.

I ignored her, pulled out the toaster and shoved in some bread. Glaring with arms crossed, I waited for it to pop.

"I'm guessing you didn't sleep well? Got up on the wrong side of the bed?" Chelsea asked, flipping though a newspaper.

"Don't start," I said, turning towards her. "I'm already dealing with toast instead of cereal. And you messed up the toothpaste. Again."

Chelsea stopped and looked at me. "How did I mess up the toothpaste?"

"You squeeze it from the middle of the tube! How hard is it to squeeze it up from the bottom like a normal person? Ya always squeeze it from the fucking middle."

Chelsea laughed.

"Shit's not funny!" I yelled, turning back to the toaster to find smoke. Swearing I grabbed the burnt toast and threw it in the sink. "Fuck!"

Chelsea hugged me, slowly rubbing my back. I leaned against the counter and held her. We stood silently until I began to relax.

She pulled back far enough to look up at me, but didn't let go. "Wanna tell me what's up?"

I motioned towards the burnt toast.

"This isn't about milk, toast or toothpaste. What's going on?"

I closed my eyes. How could I tell her without sounding like a pussy or making her feel bad for going? I was supposed to be supportive!

"Are you worried about me leaving?" she asked softly.

I nodded. "What if – "

Chelsea put a finger to my lips and shook her head. "Don't play the 'what if' game. What if you fall, break a hip and lay in a pile of your own shit for days until I return?"

I snorted. "I'm not that old. And I'd call for help with my fucking phone."

"See? Anything's possible with 'what if' but not remotely plausible. You'll just wind yourself up over stuff that's never going to happen."

I nodded.

"What can I do to make you feel better?" Chelsea asked.

I leaned down and kissed her neck.

"Besides that," she laughed.

"You don't want to?" I asked, frowning.

"I didn't say that. But you gotta go. You've got a video shoot starting soon."

"Oh shit," I swore, looking at the time.

Chelsea grabbed the back of my head, pulling me to her lips. As she kissed me, I felt her rub my dick through my sweat pants.

"Tonight," she promised.

The day turned crazy and the video shoot went longer than anyone expected. Part of me just wanted it done and over with; another part wanted it perfect and kept agreeing to re-shoot scenes. The up side was I didn't have time to stew over Chelsea's trip.

By the time I crawled into bed it was late and she was asleep. I kissed her forehead, then closed my eyes.

The alarm went off and I rolled over to stop it. Chelsea lay on her stomach, arms clutching the pillow. She groaned and looked up at the clock.

"Why the fuck is that going off so early? I set it for later," she grumbled, burying her face back in the pillow.

"I reset it," I said, throwing back the blankets.

"Why?"

"To give you a proper send off," I said, running my hand over her ass.

When she didn't move, I tugged her pajama bottoms down. She still didn't move and I continued moving my hands over her ass, up her thighs. Nudging her legs further apart, I stroked her pussy lips. She wasn't ready. Easing my fingers inside, I massaged her.

After a minute Chelsea groaned. "Whatever you're doing, don't stop."

I smiled, feeling her wetness increase. Slowly I began to thrust my fingers deep inside her. I kept up the lazy rhythm until I heard her breathing become heavy. Moving harder and faster I drove my fingers into her. Chelsea gasped as her hands clutched at the sheets. Feeling her pussy tighten around my hand, I eased up.

Withdrawing my fingers, I lowered my face. My tongue lapped up her cum as she moaned. She tasted so sweet. When I finished, I knelt on the bed and slapped her ass. Chelsea rolled over and looked up at me.

"Wow," she whispered. "That's a helluva way to wake up."

"We're not done," I growled.

"Then it's my turn to play," she said, pointing to my boxers. "Take 'em off."

"Yes ma'am," I said, pulling them off.

She pushed me down onto the bed and moved over me. She slid my dick along the outside of her pussy, covering me in her wetness. I moved my hips, trying to get inside. But she pulled back.

"Not yet," she smiled.

Chelsea moved lower and knelt between my legs. She slid my dick into her mouth and I moaned.

She'd sucked me off several times since we'd been back together, but no where near as often as she used to. I loved the feel of her mouth on me. It wasn't long before she had me panting.

"No baby, you have to stop," I begged, pulling her head away.

"Why?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Cause I don't wanna cum in your mouth!" I said. "I got other plans."

"Such as?" she asked, before lowering her mouth to my dick again.

As she sucked and moved her hand in tandem, I fought the urge to cum. Thrusting hard upwards, I drove my dick down her throat. Choking Chelsea sat up.

"That was mean!"

"Then do what you're told woman," I said.

After yanking off her t-shirt, I flipped her onto her back. Moving over her, I set about fondling and sucking her breasts. I was leaving marks on her, marking her as mine.

"So what's this other plan?" she asked, running her hands over my arms and back.

"I'mma fuck you so hard you feel me every time you move while you're away," I said.

"That's a good plan," she grinned. "Let's do that."

Chelsea pushed me back and raised her legs, putting them over my shoulders.

I lined up my dick, held onto her legs and slammed into her. The angle put me so deep I groaned. Over and over I thrust as hard as I could. Knowing I wasn't going to last much longer, I reached down and pinched her nipple. It sent her over the edge and she cried out my name as she came.

I kept going, loving the feel of pushing into her while her pussy tightened and spasmed. Too soon I shot my load.

Falling back onto the bed, I pulled her to me and closed my eyes. I hated the thought of being without her for even four days.

"I will call you every night, miss you like crazy and come back as soon as I can," Chelsea whispered.

"You better," I said.

"I promise," she said, kissing me softly. "I'm going to hop in the shower." She got up and winced.

"Mission accomplished," I smirked.

Chelsea gave me the finger over her shoulder as she walked to the bathroom.

Later at the studio, I kept trying to work. But I spent more time looking at my watch and the conference itinerary, trying to figure out where Chelsea was and what she was doing. Checking the time again, I knew she would arrive at the hotel soon.

Twenty minutes later my phone dinged.

     C: Can't believe you did that! Thank you! Need to get all the conference info now, but will call as soon as I can.

     C: You're amazing xoxo

I smiled. The Conference organizers had arranged and paid for her room. But I'd called the hotel and upgraded her room to a suite at my expense. It saved the conference money and showed Chelsea I was being supportive. Plus made sure she thought about me the entire time she was away. Win-win-win.

Once home I spent the evening flicking through channels and writing. At last I headed upstairs. I wasn't looking forward to sleeping without Chelsea.

I was in bed playing on my phone when it rang.

"Hey, I called to say good night," she said. "And thank you again for the gorgeous room. That was really sweet of you."

"No problem. How was the first day?"

"Busy. Met a lot of writers I admire, took a bunch of selfies, can't believe I'm here to be honest," she said. "How are you?"

"Lonely without you," I confessed.

There was silence on her end. I felt like I was missing something.

"What's up?" I asked.

More silence. As I waited for her to speak, fear crept in. Did something happen? Had she cheated to get back at me? Was she not coming back?

"Please talk to me. Before I start jumping to conclusions," I said.

Finally, she sighed.

"I'm feeling a little insecure ... Knowing you could do anything while I'm gone, remembering the scene I came back to last time," Chelsea confessed.

"Never," I promised. "I am completely alone and missing you."

"I want to say good, but that sounds mean," she said.

"I get it," I said. "You got nothin' to worry about. Calling up some slut never crossed my mind. Don't spend your conference thinking 'bout my mistake. 'Cause it ain't ever happening again."

"Thank you. Now I just miss you," she said. "Ugh. We're turning into one of those sappy couples. Quick, say something dirty."

I laughed. "Still feeling me from this morning?"

"Mmmmm yes."

"Good thing I marked what's mine. Don't wanna have to fuck up any writer guys," I said in a low voice, only half joking.

"Not one compares to you," she whispered.

We said good night and hung up. I was relieved, knowing she was missing me as much as I missed her.

The next morning I had an idea how to make us both feel better and set about making it happen.

Later I wondered if I'd done the right thing. Was I being sweet or needy? What exactly was the difference? Would Chelsea be mad or happy? What if I'd made everything worse?

Sitting on the couch I pulled out my notebook, trying to ignore my nerves.

After writing for a bit I glanced at my watch and the conference itinerary. The dinner banquet should have ended. Chelsea would likely visit with some of the other writers before heading up to her room to call me.

Twirling my pen between my fingers, I waited.

The door to the suite opened and Chelsea walked in. She froze when she saw me.

"Marshall?"

I stood nervously. "I – "

That's all I managed to say before she ran across the room and threw herself into my arms. I held her tight and buried my face in her hair.

"I can't believe you're here!" she laughed, pulling away. "Wait. Why are you here?"

"I missed you," I shrugged. "Figured I could write here as well as at home. You've hung out in hotels waiting for me to finish working during the day, so I thought I'd return the favour."

"That's all this is?" she asked, hesitating. "Nothing ... happened?"

"Nothing," I shook my head. "I'm always going to support you. But I hate when you're gone. So you're gonna have to put up with my clingy ass following you around when I can."

She kissed me.

"You should get a tour of the gorgeous room you arranged," she said, grabbing my hand. "Let me show you."

"I've seen – "

She led me into the bedroom and I shut up.