~ Zoie's POV ~
Zoie didn't realize she had fallen asleep. She was trying her best to stay awake, not wanting to miss her chance to say goodbye to Asher. But when she opened her eyes next, she saw that Asher was already gone from her bed. She quickly got up to check her phone and sure enough, it was 7.30 AM. Asher was probably already on the plane by now.
Zoie checked her phone for messages or calls from Asher, but there was nothing. Letting out a defeated sigh, she put the phone back on the bedside table and that was when she noticed a piece of paper folded by her bedside lamp. Curious, she took the paper and opened it. Inside, there was a note.
Dear my sleeping beauty,
Fourteen days and fourteen nights.
Fourteen suns and fourteen moons.
I will count every single one until we're together again.
Soon. Very soon.
Yours always, A.
Zoie couldn't stop the smile forming on her face. She pressed the piece of paper close to her chest and took in a deep breath. It was almost as if she could smell him on that piece of paper. And sure, he had only just gone a few hours ago, but her heart was already missing him. Counting every second that passed until she could see him again.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
- - - - - Several Days Later - - - - -
Zoie stared at her phone screen again for the millionth time that afternoon. There were no new notifications. Letting out a sigh, she put the phone down on the table, next to her iced latte.
"So, how are things with the Mystery Man?" said Landon, who was sitting in front of her, sipping his iced coffee.
"Oh? Ah, it's good," she muttered.
"You've been checking your phone every five minutes," he noted.
Zoie gave him a knowing look, telling him not to ask any more questions. She then grabbed her coffee and sipped her drink. As usual, Landon and Zoie were having their lunch date at work. Normally, she would be chatty, or at least complain about work or something like that, but today, she was quiet. Landon could tell her mind was off somewhere.
"You're really not gonna tell me who he is? This D guy?" he pressed.
"You know enough already," she sighed. And as her fingers couldn't help it, she checked her phone again.
"Oh, come on, it's not like I know the guy," Landon said.
Um. Yeah. About that...
Zoie chose not to answer and ate her salad instead. It was a beautiful sunny day in New York City and they were sitting at a sidewalk cafe near her office building.
"So, you and him are still going strong?" Landon continued pressing.
Zoie let out a sigh and nodded her head.
"So why the long face?"
"Well... he's traveling at the moment, so it's kinda tough to stay in touch,"
"How long is he gone for?"
"A couple of weeks,"
"When's the last time he texted you?"
"Two days ago,"
"Two days ago?!" Landon almost spat out his coffee.
"What?" she asked.
"I just think that's odd," he said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I wouldn't be able to go without texting my girlfriend every day,"
"Well, he's not much of a talker," she shrugged. "Or a texter, that is,"
"You don't think that's odd?" Landon narrowed his eyes. "Any guy who's in love with a girl is always looking for ways to talk to her,"
Zoie swallowed hard. Secretly, she was thinking the same thing too.
"No, he's just busy probably," she defended him. "Or jet lagged or something like that,"
Landon narrowed his eyes further.
"You have a lot of trust in him, don't you?"
"I think you have to," she said. "Isn't that the base of every relationship?"
"Well, yeah, but what makes you trust him?"
"I don't know, I just do," she said. "Every time I look at him, I can see how genuine he is and I... I think he really loves me,"
"Wow, the L word," Landon chuckled. "So, it is serious,"
Zoie glanced away to avoid eye contact with him. She wanted nothing more than to tell Landon about Asher. It would make her life so much easier. But still, getting the family involved will only cause more drama. It's not time for that yet.
"I just don't know why you don't wanna introduce him to us if it's that serious," Landon said again. "If not to your dad, at least to me. You know you can trust me,"
Landon gave her a knowing look and Zoie let out a deep breath. He had a point. If there's anyone in the family that could support her, it would be Landon. Maybe she could start by telling him before telling anyone else?
"Okay, fine, I'll make you a deal," she said finally. "If things continue to go well, maybe I'll introduce you to him at the end of summer break. Before we go back to college,"
"Oh, for real?" Landon looked taken aback.
"Yeah, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. No one in the family can know. It's just gonna be between us, you hear me?" she said rather aggressively, putting her pinky finger up.
"Alright, alright," he replied as he linked his pinky finger with hers and they did their secret handshake. "You're so bossy, geez,"
Zoie just shrugged and rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, what about you? Any progress with the Mystery Girl?" she asked.
"Nah," Landon shook his head, finishing his drink. "Mystery Girl still remains... a mystery,"
"Really? You still haven't made your move yet?"
Landon just shrugged and played with the straw in his glass. As always, during lunch, the topic of Landon's mystery work crush always came up. And every time, Landon would always have excuses as to why he hadn't made a move on her yet.
"Do you really like this girl?" Zoie pressed.
"Yeah," he nodded eagerly.
"Why?"
"Well... whenever we hang out together, it feels like the world just stops and exists only for us. We can talk for hours about anything. She's a great listener and she understands me. And I think that she cares about me, or maybe she even likes me, but it's hard to tell. She's always so sweet and kind to everyone, not just to me,"
Zoie studied his face as he was talking about her. His eyes were beaming with excitement. She knew he must really like her, so it was odd that he seemed to be stalling on making a move.
"Well, I think you should just come clean and tell her how you feel," she said matter of factly. "Maybe she feels the same way but she doesn't know how you feel about her too,"
"You think so?"
"Uh-huh,"
"Wouldn't I look like a creep because we've been friends for a long time and all of a sudden I tell her that I love her?"
"Wait, you love her?"
Landon was caught off guard. He probably didn't mean to blurt that out.
"Wait a second, love?" she pressed again. "Landon, I've never heard you use that word with any girl before!"
Landon could only shrug. He was avoiding eye contact with her too.
"Landon, that's all the more reason you should tell her," Zoie said as he grabbed his hand, grabbing his attention. "I think love is the most powerful thing in the world. It's a shame if you only keep it to yourself. I think she deserves to know,"
Landon stared at her for a moment and said, "You really think so?"
Zoie nodded her head firmly.
"You know what? I think you're right," he said. "The next time I see her, I'm just gonna tell her,"
"Yes! Exactly!"
"Well, then, speaking of-"
* RING! RING! RING! *
Before Landon could finish his sentence, Zoie's phone started ringing. Zoie quickly let go of his hand and grabbed the phone.
"Oh! I gotta take this!" she said as she stood up.
"Ah, if it isn't the Mystery Man," Landon chuckled, seeing that giddy look on her face.
"Bye! See you later!"
Zoie raced out of the cafe as fast as she could, making her way back into the office building. Her office today was a lot quieter than usual. She scurried past a row of empty desks before making her way into her boss's office. The room was empty and she locked the door before taking a seat behind the desk.
"Hey!" she beamed as she answered the call.
"Hey," Asher's voice was heard on the other line. "What are you wearing?"
"What?"
"I said, what are you wearing?"
"Asher!" she gaped. "You haven't texted me in two days and the first thing you ask me is what I'm wearing?"
Asher let out a laugh. Oh, how she missed that laugh so much.
"Well, yeah, I'm just trynna picture what my girl looks like right now, what's wrong with that?"
Zoie could only roll her eyes. Asher couldn't have seen that, but he could guess she was doing it.
"I miss you too, sweet girl," he said again. "Sorry I didn't get a chance to call you yesterday, it's been really hectic out here,"
Zoie's lips curved into a smile. She always loved hearing him call her that.
"It's okay, I figured you must be busy," she replied. "So, where are you now?"
"Well, it's 1 AM here and I just got back to the hotel. I took a quick shower and now I'm chilling on the bed,"
"Mmm," she sighed as she imagined Asher lying on that bed alone. "I wish I could be there right now,"
"Me too," he said. "So, are you still working? Is it ok to talk?"
"It's totally fine. There's a big conference today at the Javits Center. I'm pretty much the only person in the office right now. All I have to do is stay here and lock up my boss's office at 5 PM,"
"Oh, is that so?"
"Uh-huh,"
"I guess I better keep you company then,"
"I guess you better,"
"What are you wearing?"
Asher's question caught Zoie off guard. Was he joking or was he really asking her this question?
"I'm not wearing anything at all," Zoie decided to test the water.
"Sweet girl, don't play with me,"
Zoie bit her lip to suppress her smile.
"And what are you wearing...?" she asked.
She heard him stifling a laugh and he said, "Do you really wanna know?"
"Of course,"
Suddenly, Asher switched the voice call to a video call. Zoie was panicking a little as she accepted the call. His handsome face popped up within seconds and he was beaming at her.
"God, you're gorgeous," he smirked.
"Oh, stop," she blushed.
Zoie's screen was showing her face all the way down to her chest. She was wearing a simple black dress, and she allowed him the view of a little cleavage. Meanwhile, Asher was lying on the bed without a shirt on. On the corner of the screen, Zoie noticed his boxer briefs.
So that's what he's wearing.
"Liar, you're wearing your work clothes," he pouted, looking disappointed.
Zoie laughed and stuck her tongue out.
"So, what are you doing right now?" he asked.
A playful smile crept up her face as she said, "I don't know... what do you think I'm doing...?"
She tilted the phone down slowly, revealing her free hand that was traveling down her body. But when her hand reached the hem of her dress, she tilted the phone back up to her face, purposefully teasing him.
Asher laughed and said, "Probably the same thing as me,"
He showed how his free hand was deep inside his boxer briefs. Zoie could see the bulge forming and her eyes widened instantly.
"Asher!" she gasped.
"Show me how you're touching yourself," he ordered.
"H-here?"
"There's no one around, right?"
Zoie was nervous and her cheeks flushed pink. True, there was nobody here except her, but she never did anything like this before. It was weird. She could see everything on that screen. It was like masturbating in front of a mirror.
Slowly, her hand went under her panties and shakily started rubbing against her clit. Despite her earlier reservations, her body soon relaxed and she started to feel good about it.
"That's it. Does that feel good?" he urged her on.
"Mm-hm," she nodded.
"Would it feel better if it was my hand?"
"Yeah,"
"Or my tongue,"
"Yeah,"
"Soon it will be. But for now, close your eyes and imagine that it's me,"
"Mhmm..." Zoie closed her eyes and let his voice dictate her.
"Imagine those are my fingers... Imagine my lips on your breasts... Imagine me sucking on your nipples..."
"Aahh..." Zoie couldn't stop the moans from escaping her lips.
"Damn, you can make me come just by looking at you," he chuckled.
His words were stirring something inside her. Zoie arched her back and let her fingers slip through her folds. Two fingers pushed through her opening and into her wet, throbbing core.
"Go faster for me, sweet girl,"
Following his command, her fingers slid in and out faster, and she angled it so that her fingertips would rub against the front wall of her pússy. Hot moans escaped her lips as she found her rhythm. Her hand moved harder and faster, and her thumb was rubbing aggressively against her clit.
Zoie opened her eyes and saw that Asher was moving at her speed. His breathing was ragged as he came closer to his climax. He didn't break eye contact with her and she was seeing everything, how his hands moved up and down his length, and how his rock-hard manhood was twitching with pre-cúm.
All of this was too much for Zoie to handle on a Tuesday afternoon. She felt the tension building in her body, pushing her towards an explosion.
"Oh... I'm gonna... come,"
"Come with me, sweet girl," he said through gritted teeth. "Together,"
Her fingers pressed against a particularly sensitive spot and her walls clamped around her fingers in response. She let out a muffled scream as she reached her climax and came down hard. She came so damn much, she was practically squirting.
"Fu-ck!" Asher grunted at the sight and he came unraveling right after.
His length pulsated in his hand and a splatter of cúm escaped out of him. He stroked himself a few more times and let some more splashes of white liquid out. Zoie saw everything happening in front of her eyes and she couldn't look away.
"That was so... hot," she admitted.
"You're so beautiful when you come," Asher flashed her a wild grin and she was still panting breathlessly.
"I can't wait until next week," he said again. "Ten more days,"
"Me too," she agreed.
Zoie sat back on her boss's chair, enjoying the aftershocks of her climax. She set her phone on the desk, against some books, and watched Asher's face as he lay breathlessly on his bed. None of them said anything for a while, and they just smiled at each other through the screens. And in the corner of her eye, suddenly she noticed that the office door was slightly ajar.
I could have sworn I'd closed the door.
Taking the phone with her, Zoie got up and closed the door again.
"So, anyway, how's the deal going?"
*
*
*
- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -