Chapter Share Time! Chapter 5

So it’s been a while since I’ve done a chapter share from my upcoming book Whispers of the Flesh. It’s more than halfway done, and I’m very excited about it. Writing it has been somewhat of a joy and a task, but more a joy than task. I’m just very happy with its development so far, even though it’s taking me a shorter time to write it than the predecessor, which is shorter. This work is going to be longer, meatier, and just better all around.

In this chapter, things are getting a little real for Makaela. She can’t control her new ability(ies), and it spills over into a very awkward and intense situation between herself and her boss (also ex). To say he gets a little worried is a gross understatement. Or maybe he had an overreaction? You decide.

Let’s get into chapter 5 of this thing!

Chapter Five

When D was finished with his interview, he called me into his office. When I got to his door, I saw a familiar blonde that I had just as soon would rather forget. Hailey fucking Storm.

Her blonde bob was her signature look. She rarely changed it for anything else. Maybe except for a little color, but that blonde and the bob were mainstays. It was not going anywhere. She was contractually obligated, she said, to keep it the way the studio execs wanted it. She had been in porn for nearly two decades, and it made no sense that she was still under the ball and chain of such a monstrous and lazy industry ran by money grubbing men, but it was her life. Not mine.

She turned and revealed her new set of plump lips set against her smooth, overly tanned face. Her icy blue eyes lit up upon seeing me, but her forehead didn’t move. Her cheeks implants were nearly subtle but not subtle enough since I could tell she had them. Her chin was sharp. The bob framed her square jaw perfectly, so I couldn’t be totally against the choice of hairstyle, it was just odd because she looked extremely professional and nothing like a sexy minx of porn. She almost looked like someone’s soft spoken aunt, but Hailey aka Hannah McMahon was no one’s soft spoken aunt, if memory served me correctly.

She loved wearing red lipstick, so there it was: full, trout pout lips adorned with red. Her nose was straight and narrow like most plastic surgery obsessed women. She was thin, tall, and blonde. Bosom was plentiful but the same couldn’t be said for her derriere. She chose to keep that small and tight. The fuss of more is more in the ass-department didn’t captivate our girl Hailey, and she didn’t need it because her audience was well-served with her being exactly who she was.

She tried to smile but I could tell that it was a task for her as her facial expressions were quite stiff, all thanks to some good old Botox. So a smile she tried for anyway and I just gave her a warm look, I couldn’t quite smile at her. Hailey was actually not a nice person unlike Ana. I didn’t try to spare Hailey’s feelings either.

“Makaela, you look healthy and virile,” Hailey greeted me with her raspy voice, reaching out her hand for me to shake. I did. She gave me a half assed handshake and I hated it. I hated it when I first met her and I hated it now. I always tried to give her a nice, firm shaking of the hands but she wouldn’t hear of it. Just the tip, barely.

“So, what brings you in today?” I asked as I sat in a free chair nearest D’s door to his office. I wanted to be sure I had an immediate exit as soon as the conversation was over.

“She was just saying hello. She’s suppose to be on her way out,” D answered for Hailey instead, his voice reeking of annoyance without meaning to, I think. His face didn’t betray him though. He tried to keep his voice pleasant but I knew what time it was.

Hailey and D had a “quiet” love affair before he started seeing Ana and some time after our almost, kind of, sort of relationship ended. Apparently, it was quite tumultuous. Hailey didn’t know how to respect boundaries and D was not looking to make Hailey his for-real girlfriend. They had plenty of photos of them out and about due to Hailey having some paparazzi on speed dial, and D was not happy about any of it. D was incredibly private, and even more so if he thought he wasn’t going to be serious with that person. Hailey either couldn’t read the signs or chose to ignore them. Either way, it ended and it was a hilarious end. Hailey was very embarrassing and liked to welcome herself to our offices whenever she felt like it. She liked to show up to other places as well unannounced, or so I heard from D. It made for some funny stories to tell when at corporate picnics. D wasn’t having it.

Hailey turned her attention back to D. “Excuse me? We were just having a nice little chat, Dimitri. Don’t go making things rude between us because I deserve a little more respect than this.”

D rolled his eyes and I just looked away, trying to stifle my laugh. I just thought I really shouldn’t be here for any of this. Once again, it got me to thinking about how lucky I was to not be on D’s bad side. Lucky that we were still cordial. Beyond cordial, in fact.

“Hailey, you literally have nothing else to say. We’ve said our hi’s and now it’s time for you to go. Makaela and I have a lot to go over,” D told her as he rolled his chair back from his desk, farther away from her.

Hailey’s blank canvas of a face gave nothing away. “ Well, if that’s how it’s going to be between us, Dimitri, then there’s really nothing left for me to tell you.”

Hailey swiveled the seat around to stand. Her all-white ensemble of a turtle neck and skirt was super sleek. The turtle neck looked soft but her skirt was of thick, stiff material, ruffled with floral appliqués. It was short enough that you got to see that her long legs were toned. Standing there, I forgot how tall she was. It still took me by surprise. Her coat was a cream colored fur trench. She threw it on quickly with a huff and puff, pouting like a child that was just told they couldn’t have the chips in the store, even after their mother already told them don’t ask for anything because she wasn’t getting anything. She was just that hard-headed; difficult.

She planted her nude colored pumps firmly in the carpet of D’s office, giving him the cold stare-down but he wasn’t phased. He picked up some papers off of his black desk, pretending to organize them as he ignored her standing there in front of his desk.

“You’re still such an asshole, you know that? I can’t believe I ever did anal with you,” she spat before she swiftly turned and threw open his door. D’s head snapped up, watching her leave as his face was etched in anger.

I closed the door softly and proceeded to let out the loudest laugh I had in me. D looked at me, the anger softening as I continued to laugh and look back at him.

After my dying of laughter, D couldn’t help but shake his head, a pleasant smile grew on his face. I finally got myself to stop laughing but my stomach was hurting and the thought of what they did and how she stormed out just made it hard to not laugh more, but I fought it.

I sighed and slapped my thigh. “Damn, that was good! I hadn’t laughed like that in a long time. That was great! Oh, D, I can’t. I’m not even going to ask about any of that.”

“Please don’t. I don’t even know why she wanted to talk. She pulled a Hailey and just let herself in my damn office and no one stopped her!”

I sighed again, finally feeling the last of the laughter die inside of me. “I am so sorry.”

He coolly stood up from his chair and went to his windows. His office was much more spacious than mine, and it made sense because he was the guy in charge. It didn’t keep me from wanting his office though.

He was able to surround his office in band regalia like posters, framed guitars, and framed band shirts with signatures from the band members. He had a large painting of a woman on fire but unscathed on the wall behind his desk that took up a good amount of space on it. His office was very neutral toned; gray and black, but the painting stood out. A gorgeous woman engulfed by flames but a look of pure ecstasy was on her face. She was untouched by the hungry licks of fire, but seemed to have the look as if she was enjoying it. The orange, red and blur of white of the flames popped against the stale colors of his office. I wasn’t sure why I never noticed it before but it was gorgeous.

His office was big enough for the large ceiling-to-floor windows looking out towards the city to wrap around one corner of it, and another window looking out into the main floor of operators. His door was to the left of the window looking out into the busy floor. I was sitting in front of that window, the blinds half way open. Barely.

His carpet was a bluish-gray, and his walls were a stark, flat gray. It was all so…D. Clean. Concise. No muss or fuss. No frills. I admired him for it but it wasn’t my thing. The chairs were comfortable though, so I did give him that. They reclined, they rolled, they swiveled, and they warmed to your butt, conformed to your body. My chair was comfortable but not as comfortable as D’s. I could tell by looking at it. I made a mental note to bring that to his attention, try to beg for the same chair he had.

He opened the blinds to look out into the city. Half of his view was that same building I had to look at as well. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only one who didn’t have the office with the envious downtown San Diego view. He didn’t seem to be bothered by it though. I was.

He returned back to his desk, but stood in front of it, leaning against it with his butt to half-sit on it. He folded his arms against his chest, the light blue dress shirt stretching across his elbow a bit, ankles crossed. He looked at me and my chest grew tight. Then that feeling hit me again.

I tried not to meet his eyes because I could “feel” him again, making my body open up. The last thing I wanted to do was do something I’d regret.

“So, what’s up?” I looked down at the palms of my hands as I sat in the chair. I could feel the sweat beads forming on my palms as my body temperature rose.

“I wanted to go over the London stuff with you, see what your thoughts were on it,” I heard him say because I was too busy not looking at him. His voice was gentle, not quite a whisper but it could’ve been. I just kept hearing my blood rushing in my mind, in my ears. It was so loud and distracting.

“I…I don’t have any thoughts about it right now. I’m still trying to digest it so, nothing from me, sheriff.”

I could see from the corner of my eye that he nodded. “Okay. Are you sure? Any questions you have you should let them out right now while I’m in front of you.”

I gave him a quick glance than put my eyes back down. “I’m very sure.”

“Makaela, why won’t you look at me?”

I wanted to ignore him but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Makaela, you have been acting very weird lately, and it’s really worrying me,” D unfurled his arms and proceeded to walk towards me, finally standing in front of me to kneel down. I felt silly so I gave in and looked at him in the eyes because I respected him.

I saw myself in his eyes, and I looked okay. I looked normal, but my body was reacting so intensely to D.

“Hey, we’re friends, you can tell me what’s wrong,” he said and he put his hand on my knee and that’s when something in me reached out to him. He pulled his hand away from my knee quickly, a quizzical look on his face as he looked at me like I had hurt him.

“What the fuck was that?” D stood up and wiped his hand down his leg as if he touched something dirty. I wanted to be offended but I couldn’t because I was enjoying the sudden reaction he was having to me. It was a strong mix of fear and…something else, something like lust. It was sweet to me, savory as well.

I closed my eyes and breathed it in deep, holding it in my lungs as long as I could. The pounding of my pulse was heavy and was all I could hear. I gripped the armrests of the chair, taking it all in. Images of the forest from my dreams flashed in my vision. The white rabbit appeared as it sat in the middle of the dirt path in the forest, sitting as if he was waiting. Then the rabbit evaporated, replaced by D standing in the middle of the forest.

I opened my eyes and D was snapping his fingers in front of my face but I couldn’t hear it. All I could hear was the rhythm of my blood coursing through my veins; fleshy rhythmic pumps and thuds that drowned out everything else. I saw him but couldn’t hear a thing he said. Until the sounds all came rushing at me, crashing into me with force. I gasped and stood up from the chair with a start. The world was flowing and crashing around and into me.

“Hey, what the hell is going on with you?” D grabbed my shoulders, holding them tight. I didn’t shrug him off this time. The touch reopened me. I released a breath I wasn’t aware that I was holding in, raising my hands to touch his arms.

“You should probably…let me go, D,” I told him as I felt my body flushed with heat as it creeped up my spine, feeling it rise to my neck and my face. I bit my lip, staring into D’s eyes. He didn’t let go so I didn’t let go either.

“Makaela…” D breathed against my face. He held onto my shoulders, massaging them, kneading them gently. The look in his eyes said it all as his pupils dilated.

“Please,” I hissed but he didn’t listen. Then a look of confusion passed over his face as his hands fell away from my shoulders and he backed away.

“Your eyes,” he reached out to touch my face then dropped his hand to his side. He shook his head.

The feeling of want died as soon as his hand fell away from me. I felt it cut off like a dam in a river. The heat inside of me began to vanish as I watched his face display disappointment.

“I’m a little…different now.” I took the few steps between D and I to touch his hand. He looked at my hand touching him, then met my eyes. The look in them made me pull my hand away.

“You can go now, Makaela.” He walked back around to his chair at his desk, pulling it out to sit in it.

I was left stunned. I was really confused and unsure what just happened. I stood there for a moment before I mustered up my hurt feelings and walked to his door. I swallowed past the hard lump in my throat as tears welled up in my eyes. He looked so revulsed when he pulled away from me, and I never thought I’d see that look on his face when he looked at me. Then I saw my reflection in the glass of the door and my eyes made goosebumps raise all over my body. They were returning to my normal brown but the hint of a glowing amber color was there. I looked back to see D watching me as I turned the knob and let myself out.

And how did you all like that?

I want feedback! So shout it out to me.

Whispers of the Flesh is still in process, but will be a late summer release. I look forward to sharing it with you all. I’d love to do a give-away so stay tuned and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be giving away 5 books to 5 lucky souls! Until then, stay classy and stuff.

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