A S T R I D

For the first time since I've known Gio, I wasn't able to understand what he was thinking. I tried to read his eyes but he refused to look at me. The way his eyes widened in the middle of his sentence means he was going to say something he didn't mean to say. When I stepped closer to him he moved away and marched upstairs to his room.

In regards to the relationship we have, I guided the guys to place my things in the guestroom. When I was preparing to get some sleep, he knocked on the door and I let him in. He stood by the entrance and leaned against the frame.

"I care more than you think, darling." We gazed into each other's eyes for five seconds until he avoided looking at me again and left.

It was the same this morning and throughout the whole day. Whenever I wasn't looking, I could feel him staring at me and watching my every move but as soon as I looked in his direction, he averted his gaze and continued his work. His behavior was irritating me a great deal, so I decided to do something about it.

I stormed into his office and closed the door behind me. Like I expected, his eyes found me standing at the door but he lowered his gaze back to his computer. One foot in front of the other, I stroll over to him, palms my hand on his desk and lean over, distracting him from his work.

"What is going on here? Why can't you look at me anymore?" I ask, watching as his eyes rapidly scan over the screen in an attempt to avoid my eyes.

I move around his desk and put myself between him and his work. If he had something to get off his chest, I'd rather he be a man about it and say it.

"Say it. You're done with me, say it." That got his attention because his head snapped up to look at me. I almost smile in satisfaction.

"No, Astrid. I could never be done with you," he confessed softly while his eyes were trained on my lips.

It occurred to me that during our entire sexual relationship, we've never kissed before. I took it as a sign of him trying to emotionally detach himself from women in order to not lead them on. I understood and accepted it because it was a good method and it was working until recently when I realized that whenever he looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes, I would get these flutters in my stomach and my heart would race. I didn't know whether to like it or hate it. But dammit, I was going to pretend that the feeling wasn't there until it eventually disappeared.

"Then why are you avoiding me? Is it personal?"

Again, he looks away, casts his eyes on the door and shakes his head, "I don't know."

I hum in response and sit on his lap, my skirt riding up my legs and wrap my arms around his neck, running my fingers through his hair, all while peering into his eyes. I rock myself against him to get him in the mood.

"Astrid." His voice strain and his hand on my hips to stop me but I wasn't going to give up.

"Just forget about whatever's bothering you. Use me." I told him. He stares up into my eyes before he grunts and his hands find themselves under my skirt and ripping my panties off. He unzipped his pants and relieved his straining cock, pointing it at my entrance. He grabbed my waist and impaled me on his hard length. I cried out and arch into him.

He pulled my shirt down, exposing my breast still trapped in the bra. He peppered them with kisses, sucking on them every now and then, making sure to leave a few bruises. My head fell back in ecstasy. It was all too much.

I circle my hips and instead of spelling coconut, I spelled my name. He groaned and thrust up into me making me let out a loud moan. He held onto my ass and moved me up and down on me, his eyes filled with lust.

"Fuck yourself on me, darling." He ordered in a rough tone. I held onto his shoulders firmly and guided myself on him. Pushing up until he is almost out and dropping back, impaling myself. My eyes squeezed shut as I felt him deep inside me.

"Gio." I whimpered, my voice came out breathless.

"Take it, Astrid. Take all of me." He pounded into me, my breasts jiggling in his face. As he went faster, my body writhe uncontrollably, my pussy clenching around him. He continued pounding into me, chasing his release, taking what he wanted. He grunts when my fingers gripped his hair. A loud moan escapes my lips when I come all over him and he spills inside me.

While I caught my breath, he was kissing the tops of my breasts tenderly, which was something he never did. He was always rough with them. "My mom wants to meet you."

He said it so quietly, I almost did catch what he said. "What?"

Turns out he wasn't joking. His mother did want to meet me. In fact, she invited me to dinner, including his dad, siblings and grandparents. I didn't understand the reasoning behind us meeting again since Gio and I weren't in a committed relationship. My gut knew what to expect especially from the woman who hates me with a burning passion but I still went out of respect. With Blaire and Jeremy's help, I picked out the perfect dress.

"Are you ready?" Gio asked, as soon as we approached the door.

"I just want to get this over with." We entered his parents' beautiful decorated mansion lit with the most exquisite lights. I was greeted by Gio's grandparents first, who I was informed put a pause in their travels to meet me.

"It's about time the boy introduced me to the woman who's been driving him crazy. Lovely to meet you, Astrid Bloom. I'm Ezekiel Pierce and this is my beautiful wife, Cecilia." Pierce Senior introduced, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist.

Cecilia goes to shake my hand with a warm smile, "Pleasure to meet you, Astrid. I hope you're taming our Gio."

"I'm trying my best, ma'am." I laugh along with her. "It's nice to meet you both as well."

"Astrid Bloom." I look in the direction of the familiar voice. "Nice to finally meet the face behind the name and voice. Elijah Pierce."

I shake his hand, giggling when I remember him. "The same goes for you."

"Astrid!" I heard Sibyl's voice before I heard her. As soon as she came into my line of vision, running towards me, I braced myself for the hug. "Hey girl."

"Hi, Sibyl. How's it going?" I ask, the only daughter of Gio's parents.

"Better, now that you're here. Dinner's ready. Come on." The blonde, twenty-four year old dragged me with her, seating me between her and Gio. Despite being a year younger than me, she still had child-like tendencies. According to her, 'you're never too old to be a child'. She's always a cheerful girl. She didn't let her family's money spoil her. That's what I admired about her.

When we all took our places around the table, I came face to face with Mrs. Pierce herself, who was across from me, glaring harshly.

"It's a pleasure that you could join us, Astrid." Mr. Pierce stated, with a small smile.

"Thank you for the invite, Mr and Mrs Pierce. The pleasure is mine." I specifically keep my eyes trained on Mrs. Pierce, smiling brightly at her. I wanted her to know that she had no reason to hate me.

"What's your family like, Astrid?" Was her first question. I've watched in on my father and brothers' interrogations, I knew how they worked. The trick was to start with a few warm up questions until you get into the deep stuff.

"My father and brothers are police officers and my mother makes an honest living creating candles." I told her.

"Candles?" I folded my lips, ignoring the patronizing tone in her voice. "What did you do before working for my son?"

"I was a waitress during my college years, I picked up a job as a janitor in my senior year of college and after, I was a cashier." Her eyebrows raised at my mediocre jobs. I don't care what she thought about what I did for a living; those jobs paid my rent and put food on my plate.

"What made you apply for the Personal Assistant position? What are your intentions?" I didn't miss the underlying question yet again I chose to ignore it.

"I wish to help Gio—Mr. Pierce—reach the goals he has set for Pierce Corporate Limited. I believe I'm doing well so far in such a short time because if you check the numbers, you would be impressed by your son's hard work." Her nose twitched, not liking my answers. She was searching for something to call me out on but my honesty was annoying her.

"Okay, where—"

I cut her off, already tired of the cross questions. "Dare I ask, what your intentions are, Mrs. Pierce?"

"Meaning?"

"During this whole conversation—if you would call it that—your mind is set that I am a person out to hurt your family. I assume your aim is for me to lose the respect I've gained from them, lose Blaire as a best friend and Mr Pierce will have no choice but to fire me because you would have forced him to see me as the person you portray me as. So what am I doing here?" I disclosed, staring her down. A technique I've picked up from Logan.

"I have no control over what Giovanni does?"

"No, but your opinion affects his decision. So I ask again, what am I doing here, Mrs. Pierce?"

"They need to see that you are a liar, a fraud and a manipulator. You are a cactus to my family and I will not stand by and watch them blindly allow you to hurt them." And there it was, the stone cold truth. I don't know where her idea of me doing what she claims but behind those dead eyes, I see a concerned mother. Her motives were questionable but she was doing her job as a mother. Or I may be naive and she just hates my existence.

I smile, humorlessly, removing the napkin from my lap and placing it on the table. "Hm. Well, my being here was a waste of time. You can question my abilities to do my job but I refuse to sit here and tolerate your lack of open-mindedness to a change of perspective. Though, as much as I came here with my fingers crossed hoping that given our first meeting you'll see me differently, if I must be frank, I didn't come for your validation. I don't care for it. Lastly, the only person hurting your family, Mrs. Pierce, is you. Thank you for the lovely dinner, it was a pleasure to meet you all. I believe I must take my leave. Good night."

I rose from my seat and walked away. The quickening of my heart beat was slowing down every step I took out of the house. I ran my fingers through my hair and wrapped my arms around myself. I wanted to get away from this place so quickly, I didn't care if it meant I had to walk.

"Astrid." I heard Gio's voice call from behind me.

"Go back to your family, Gio." It was too late because he was already by my side, holding my elbows turning me to face him.

Catching me off-guard, he lowered his lips on mine and moved them gently as if asking my permission. I kiss him back, his lips brushing against mine ever so softly. The fluttering started again and my mind became clouded with no thoughts but of him. My heart pounded against my chest, I was afraid he could feel it, better yet hear it. I parted my lips, allowing him to enter my mouth and get his fill of me. He held me more firmly and pulled me flush into him as he felt knees give in.

We were running out of breath, so we pulled apart, our foreheads leaning against each other and our chests rising and falling, our breathing almost matching. He opened his eyes, peering down at me, the corner of lips curling up into a smile.

"What?" I ask, wondering why he was looking at me with such hooded eyes.

"That was our first kiss. I regret waiting so long." He leaned forward and pecked my forehead. I realized that was something he did very regularly. It seemed to be our thing and I liked that. "You did good, darling. Now, let me take you home, so I can come back here and hear her ranting."

28/01/22

Au revoir...

Vote | Comment | Share