Part 29: A LITTLE SUSPENCE & A FEW SURPRISES
Sunday morning at around 5:30am Elana awakened as she always did. She was happy that Sean was still next to her and before she actually got up from the couch she snuggled up close to him for a while. They had leaped across a hurdle that had been keeping them apart and now she was fully ready to move on to the next phase. She knew that Phillip Logan would eventually reenter the picture and have something to say, but this time she was not going to let him back her down. She knew that Sean loved her as much as she loved him and she did not want to be the cause of anymore pain they would both suffer if they were separated again. She finally decided to get up and respond to the needs of Mother Nature. When she stood on her feet, Sean stirred and pulled her back down on top of him.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"I don't know if I should let you. I don't want you to get away from me again."
"I promise I'll be back, just lay back and finish getting some sleep. It's still early"
Sean let her go and glanced at his watch then laid down on his side in a fetal position across the length of the sofa. Elana could tell that he was not ready to start his day so she went into her bedroom and decided to take a long relaxing bath. It would sooth her and help her not think too much about how strongly attracted she was still to Sean. Age had only made him better and she thought about what type of lover he would be. From the brief demo she had last night there were no doubts in her mind about his being able to fulfill her own pinned up desires. She had realized last night that she subconsciously might have been waiting for Sean. The fact that she started to unbuckle his belt had been unfathomable to her whenever she was with any other man. That involuntary act alone only confirmed how much she wanted and needed Sean to make love to her. It was as if her body knew that this was the man for her and that now was the time to unleash whatever she had held back from the few men in her past. She had never thought about how she would seduce a man before, but now as she ran her bath water and removed her clothing innumerable thoughts raced through her head about how she could seduce Sean.
She wondered about Sheridan and her pending pregnancy. She could not imagine how drunk Sean was to not remember what happened. She had never known him to drink a lot and she definitely had never seen him drunk, so she figured his drinking had to be a result of his circumstances at the time. If Sheridan was to have Sean's baby what would that mean for her future with him. What would people think when they were all together and more importantly how would Sheridan take the news that she and Sean were together? Would she think that Sean had left her pregnant for a black woman and if she did feel that way would she use the child to put a wedge between her and Sean? There were just so many questions, but Elana decided to just wait and see before she began to come to any conclusions. After preparing herself, turning on the stereo system from the wall, Elana stepped into her whirlpool bath, laid back and relaxed.
It was 6:15am when Sean woke up. He rubbed his eyes trying to think where he was and then he remembered. At first he thought he had dreamed the whole night, but he was happy to see that it was a reality. He sat up wondering where Elana had gotten to so early and remembered she had to go to the bathroom. He could not imagine what was taking her so long and realized that women usually took their time whenever they went into the bathroom, so he decided to make her some tea and some coffee for himself. He made his way to the kitchen to search for what he needed. After he had started the coffee pot and the tea kettle, he went outside to his car to retrieve his overnight bag, which he generally kept in his trunk in case he decided to stay overnight in Connecticut or if he wanted to go to the gym right after work. He had seen yesterday's newspaper in Elana's living room and looked for the Sunday edition when he went outside, but he did not see it. When he came back into the townhouse he noticed that Elana still had not come out of her bedroom yet.
He headed toward the spare room to take a shower, figuring she would be out by the time he finished. He took his bags into the guestroom and removed his clothing. He knew Elana liked it when he had a day's fuzz on his face, so he decided not to shave. He quickly showered using the sweet scented soap that Elana had in the tub and admired how everything was so feminine, unlike his own apartment, but he liked it and could see that he needed a woman's touch in his life.
After showering he reached for one of the large white bath towels that was laid out for use and wrapped it around his waist, brushed his teeth, then he went into the bedroom to dry off and change. Just as he came out of the bathroom, he heard a noise as if something had fallen and wondered what it was. Sticking his head out the door, he called Elana, but she did not answer and he began to feel alarmed so he headed towards her bedroom to check on her.
He walked over to her bedroom door and knocked but there was no answer, so he knocked again a little louder and still, no response. He turned the knob and opened the door, but Elana was nowhere in sight. All he heard was loud music coming from the back of the room, so walking through her bedroom he called her name and she still did not answer. When he came to the source of the music he turned the doorknob and opened the bathroom door, releasing some steam. His worry turned to relief when he saw Elana sitting with her back to him in the large tub filled with bubbles and a large bottle of bubble bath turned over on the floor. He could see that Elana had lost herself in
the lyrics to the music of Rick James and Tina Marie (Fire & Desire) as her head swayed back and forth to the tempo. Her hair was pulled up and her neck was resting on the edge of the tub and both her arms on either side of the tub.
Sean listened to the words, he knew she was thinking about the two of them. The words seemed to reflect their own relationship from the time he first saw her in his office to the day when he first kissed her after so long and she slapped him:
When I laid eyes on you it was pain before pleasure...
you were cold as ice. 'I was not very nice, I know.'
Then I kissed your lips and you turned on my fire, and you showed me what a love could do. Fire & Desire, feeling good to you.
You turned on my fire and you burned me up within your flame. Fire & Desire and we're both to blame...
The lyrics trailed off in his mind and he knew that the music and Elana naked in a bathtub would be the end of him, making him forget all about the romance he had planned for her so he turned the volume down...
"Hey!" Elana yelled as she turned to see what had happened to the sound. Upon seeing Sean standing there with his tanned-skin contrasting with the white towel, a pleasing smile formed on her face and she turned back around as she asked, "Did the paper man come to collect yet?"
"No, the paper isn't out there."
"So did you come in here to finish what you started last night?"
Sean was walking over to the tub and he climbed the three steps and sat down on the landing beside her bath. He leaned down resting his arm on the rim and with his free hand he played with the air-filled bubbles that covered Elana's body. "Now what was it that I started last night?" He asked looking innocently at her.
She could not help but be excited at the sight of him. His face and perfectly chiseled chest were shining from the warm mist that lingered in her bathroom and his short hair was wet but brushed back off of his lightly stubbled face. The white towel was pulled tight around his small waist and his strong hairy legs were rippling with muscles. "Something you obviously could not finish." Elana chided.
Sean raised his eyebrow at her daring remark and he did not want to let her get away with it, but he was not going to let his male ego get in the way and decided to remember it for later. "I told you why I stopped and it did not have anything to do with me not being able to carry through."
"That's what you said, but somehow I don't believe you. When we were in college you never would have stopped like you did, but I guess old age has made you less daring."
Sean could not believe she was challenging him like this, so he decided to give her a memorable demonstration of how daring he would be once they were together permanently. Then he lowered his hand into the water and reached into her inner left thigh as he leaned over to her ear and whispered to her, as he gently caressed her soft, inviting orifice. "If you had come to Boston like you said you were, I was fully prepared to start something and finish it..." Then he loosely suckled her ear lobe, rolling it around with his tongue. Elana was enjoying what he was doing to her, and she instinctively ran her hands up the side of his muscular arm, around his broad shoulders and up his neck and rested her finger tips under his cheek while Sean moved his lips down the side of her face to below her chin. "But, you did not come to me..." He said as he carefully slid his forefinger inside her, causing them both to shudder and Elana squirmed underneath his subtle assault and moved back so that their lips could meet. Sean following her queue, grasped her bottom lip and slowly pulled it outward until he reached the end and released it. Now they were facing each other barely separated by space. Sean continued to caress her inside while he maintained a seriously sensual expression directed towards her waiting to see what she would do.
"I'm here with you now Sean, and I'm ready to pick up where we left off."
Sean smiled a devilish grin and Elana thought he was about to take her up on her offer and join her in the tub, but instead he removed his hand from her and the water...
"But now, you're gonna have to wait Ms. Powers, at least until I fulfill that last promise I made to you." He said as he quickly kissed her on the lips before he stood up.
"Sean, what are you doing?" Elana asked getting frustrated.
Sean slid his finger down the front of her nose. "I'm going to get dressed. What else would I be doing?" He said as he walked toward the bathroom door."
"Sean, you're not just going to leave me hanging like that are you. That's not fair!" She yelled at him as he got further away.
Sean turned around and backed up to the doorway. "Neither were you for leaving, but don't worry. I promise not to make you wait nine years." He said smiling, as he increased the volume of the stereo system to its previous level.
"I'm gonna get you Sean for doing that!" She shouted, playfully, as she reached down for the bottle of bubble bath that had earlier fallen. Sean knew she was aiming it at him, so he bolted out the door and closed it just as she threw the bottle at him and it hit the door. He opened the door back and stuck his head in.
"I love you Elana!" He said as he winked at her and this time she threw the soap but hit the door again as he quickly closed it.
Elana sat, smiling inwardly at Sean's playfulness and she remembered what he had last promised her. Marriage was something she had not really thought about until recently. She knew she would be turning 31 in a few weeks, and she had begun to contemplate a family, but at the time there were no suitable candidates because none of them could compare to the man who had just left her. This revelation made her even more happy that they had found each other again.
In the meantime, when Sean was headed back to the guest room to change, the door bell rang, and he remembered that Elana mentioned the paper man would stop to collect. So he ran to get his wallet, but he had some trouble finding his pants. Before he could make it to the door the bell rang again and Sean was yelling "I'm coming, just hold up!" He said as he opened the door and stood face to face with Jon Lambert who was dressed in gray sweats and ready for his Sunday morning jog with Elana.
Both men were in shock and did not know what to say for a few seconds. Sean was slightly embarrassed because he was standing in a towel in front of a business colleague and Jon just did not know what to think because he was under the impression that Elana was dating James Payton. Sean finally broke the silence by extending his hand and greeting Jon. He wanted to know why this guy was showing up at Elana's place so early in the morning and decided to establish his ground. "Hey Jon, how's it going? Is Elana expecting you? Come on in."
"Apparently not." Jon said quietly still trying to sort this thing out as he came in and Sean closed the door.
"Do you want me to go get her for you?"
"Um. Man. Uh, Sean I'm sorry but you'll have to excuse me, I'm a little surprised right now at your being here. I thought Elana was dating your employee James Payton, the guy who was at the initial meeting with us?"
"Uh, yeah. I think she was." Sean said, scratching his head.
"Ohhhh. Kay!" Jon said with emphasis. He was seeing his partner in a whole different light now and it was totally out of character for her as far as he was concerned. He remembered when he dated her he never got within a mile of her house before a few months and she would not even kiss him until three months into their six months of dating. He surmised that these white men were trying to take advantage of her.
While he was standing there thinking, Sean excused himself to go put on some clothes and he returned a few minutes later, wearing a pair of black Nike sweat pants, socks, shoes and a sleeveless T-shirt. By this time Jon was incensed. "So what exactly is going on here?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business?" Sean was not intimidated by Jon's tone. "I'll go get Elana for you." He said as he turned around headed for Elana's bedroom.
"Hey!" Jon exuded as he walked up close to Sean causing him to turn around. "Elana is my business partner and she's a very special person to me. I don't know you nor do I know James Payton, but I do know that Elana is a good person and this is not like her. I'd hate to find out that you two were playing some kind of game with her, because if she gets hurt in any way you're both gonna have to deal with me."
"Nobody plays games with Elana she's smarter than that."
"Well sometimes a man can get over on a woman no matter how smart she is. I happened to know that she went away with James two weeks ago and now you obviously spent the night with her, so whatever sick bet you two have going
on, I think you'd better call it quits."
Jon's reaction made Sean think that maybe Elana had not been totally honest about the extent of her relationship with him. "You don't have to give me any ultimatums. I'm here because Elana wanted me here and if you don't get out of my face, I'll deal with you right now."
By this time Elana had finished her bath and threw on some stretch pants and a T-shirt. She heard the commotion going on in her living room and wondered why Sean had gotten into an argument with the paper delivery person. She left her bedroom and walked toward the living room and saw Sean and Jon about to go at each other.
"Hey! What's going on here?"
"Elana don't let these white guys play you like a fool. I know what they're doing and you don't need to be involved in anything like this."
"Anything like what?" Elana asked. When she asked she realized that the situation did look bad because just 2 weeks ago she'd cancelled their jog indicating to him that she was going away with James and now Sean was answering her door at almost 7am on a Sunday morning. She could not help but laugh. "I know this looks strange, but it's not what you're thinking."
"Well it looks pretty obvious to me Elana. You spend one weekend with one man and two weeks later you have his boss answering your door in a towel. If anyone finds out about this Elana, you know they'll say you're sleeping around to get contracts and our reputation will become dirt. It does not take much for the media to bash a successful minority company. You know they're always looking for something to bring us down and this will be just the catalyst they need to shoot Powers & Lambert down, especially after they've been trying so long. I can't believe that you would do this!"
"Now wait just one minute Jon!" She walked down the steps to stand next to Sean holding him by the waist. "I'm just going to tell you this to keep you from worrying about the company, not because it's any of your business. Sean and I dated all through college and almost got married before things got complicated for me. He never knew why I broke up with him until last night, so we're getting those things settled. James on the other hand is just a friend and the other week he stayed at a hotel while I was at his house."
"It just does not look good and you know I'm right about the media. They don't care about the truth. If they get a hold of this they'll have a field day!"
Sean entered the conversation. "Jon, I don't think the media is that interested in your love lives. It's not like you're in the entertainment business. Elana has not done anything that could look bad on your company."
"That's easy for you to say Sean Logan, because you're a white man. You have no idea what it's like to be a minority in this business world."
"O.k. everybody. That's enough. Jon you do have some valid points and Sean and I plan to be careful, but I'm not going to allow you to come in here trying to run my life. God knows you've had enough women to fill up a couple of tabloid issues all by yourself, so mind your own business and I'll take care of mine."
Jon could see that she was right, so he decided to lighten the mood. "So Sean are you the guy Elana could not keep her mind off of when we started dating 7 years ago?"
"Well, I don't know." Sean said. Then he directed his words to Elana pulling her closer to him. "Was I that guy, Elana?" Sean could not deny that Jon was a handsome man. Even he had thought that they were romantically involved when he saw them together on the magazine cover, but now he was flattered with the notion that he was the only thing on her mind even while she was with Jon.
"Yes. Yes you were Sean." She said as they looked at each other and smiled.
"I see this is not going to be as easy as you two think. Maybe I should be going. I see that you don't need me to run with you today Elana." He then addressed Sean. "Sean, I'm sorry man, but you can just imagine what I was thinking."
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to get anything started." Sean said patting him on his shoulder.
Jon excused himself and Sean decided to jog with her after they had shared tea and coffee together. When they returned they both took a quick shower then dressed for the day. Sean indicated that he had some things to do and reluctantly said goodbye, gave her a delicate kiss and promised to see her that night, if possible.
Later that evening Sean came back with Chinese food and old movies, both of which he knew she loved and probably had not indulged in for a while, so they stayed up late, ate Chinese and watched old movies. Eventually they fell asleep in each other's arms on some pillows in Elana's den. Sean awakened in the middle of the night and decided to go home because he had a long drive back and wanted to get to the office before Elana the next day.
________
Monday morning could not come soon enough for Elana. She felt different than she had ever felt before going in to work. When she parked she noticed that Sean's car was already there and she smiled to herself thinking that her influence had encouraged him to come in earlier than usual. When she got off the elevators, she even smiled and
greeted Charlotte, who was surprised because Sean had come in half an hour earlier acting happier than ever usual also. She figured they must have both had a wonderful weekend. Charlotte saw Sean come in with a large paper bag filled with something, and he left it in Elana's office. After he had left, Charlotte took it upon herself to peek into the
office to see what it was and when she saw it, she was confused because it seemed like such an odd thing to leave but she figured Elana had children and Sean had for some reason left it for her to take to them.
When Elana went into her office she was happily surprised to see a card board painted, tree that was covered with what seemed to be over a hundred various flavored lollipops hanging from the tree limbs. The structure stood about waist high and it was sitting right next to her desk. The thought of what it took Sean to make it made her smile. As she stood looking it over wondering how he had put it together so fast, she heard his voice in the background. "Do you like it?"
Elana turned around, smiled and walked slowly to meet him in the middle of the room. "Well Mr. Logan somebody left this tree here and I can't imagine who would know that I loved these things so much other than a certain handsome man I know, but I can't see how he had the time to do this in just a few hours.
"Well maybe he went to a few overnight stores and collected the stuff, then stayed up all night putting it together." Sean said with his hands in his pockets.
Elana put her arms around his neck and kissed him slowly on his lips. "When you see him, let him know I said thank you and that's it's the best thing anyone ever did for me."
"I'll make sure he gets the message. Did you want to send anymore messages."
Elana let him go then straightened her waist-length jacket. "Mr. Logan, I have a lot of work to do today and I can't have any distractions. I'm going to finish up that report I was working on Friday and tomorrow I'll start interviewing the Collections Department. I'll be using the same set of questions for every department. Will there be anything you need me for, because I may not be readily available."
"Yes, Ms. Powers I will need you for a few things, which will be lunch today, lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday."
"Hmm, let me check my schedule." Elana said as she went to her desk and opened her Franklin planner. "It seems that I will be available for those times so I'll pencil you in."
"Also, I'll need you for dinner on those same nights."
"I usually don't mingle with my business associates after hours, so I guess you'll have to be my boyfriend after hours, just to make sure I don't confuse your roles."
"Can I have that in writing?"
"Where do I sign?"
"O.k. You're funny Elana. I'll leave you to your work and I'll come by to get you for lunch at around 12:30." He said making his way out. Right as he left he stuck his head back in the door. "And I'll have those papers for you to sign during lunch." They both smiled at each other and he left.
The rest of the week Elana worked diligently on her assignment and she and Sean shared lunch and dinner everyday. They elected to eat in New York City after work and usually they would go to a fairly decent restaurant, but nothing as formal as they both had been going to with other people. They were enjoying getting to know each other again.
Elana successfully avoided James throughout the week and she and Sean conveniently forgot about Sheridan and the other dilemma that hung over their heads. They were just lost in each other. Near the end of the week when they would come back from lunch, Elana always had to remind Sean to let go of her before they got into the office or there would be a lot of talk flying around. Sean reluctantly complied because he really did not care who knew about the two of them together, but he understood her position and tried to be respectful of it.
Their evenings would always end in a loving kiss outside of their cars, after dinner before they both parted for home. Afterwards, they both knew they wanted more, but Sean was determined not to be broken while Elana always teased him saying he was scared of her or that he must not be able to perform, but Sean would just laugh it off. Friday night he let her know he would be going to see his grandfather that weekend so he probably would not be able to see her until Sunday evening. Elana was disappointed, but she understood and admired him for taking an interest in his elderly grandfather, and so she went ahead and planned for her regular Saturday with Gail.
Sunday morning at around 5:30am Elana awakened as she always did. She was happy that Sean was still next to her and before she actually got up from the couch she snuggled up close to him for a while. They had leaped across a hurdle that had been keeping them apart and now she was fully ready to move on to the next phase. She knew that Phillip Logan would eventually reenter the picture and have something to say, but this time she was not going to let him back her down. She knew that Sean loved her as much as she loved him and she did not want to be the cause of anymore pain they would both suffer if they were separated again. She finally decided to get up and respond to the needs of Mother Nature. When she stood on her feet, Sean stirred and pulled her back down on top of him.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"I don't know if I should let you. I don't want you to get away from me again."
"I promise I'll be back, just lay back and finish getting some sleep. It's still early"
Sean let her go and glanced at his watch then laid down on his side in a fetal position across the length of the sofa. Elana could tell that he was not ready to start his day so she went into her bedroom and decided to take a long relaxing bath. It would sooth her and help her not think too much about how strongly attracted she was still to Sean. Age had only made him better and she thought about what type of lover he would be. From the brief demo she had last night there were no doubts in her mind about his being able to fulfill her own pinned up desires. She had realized last night that she subconsciously might have been waiting for Sean. The fact that she started to unbuckle his belt had been unfathomable to her whenever she was with any other man. That involuntary act alone only confirmed how much she wanted and needed Sean to make love to her. It was as if her body knew that this was the man for her and that now was the time to unleash whatever she had held back from the few men in her past. She had never thought about how she would seduce a man before, but now as she ran her bath water and removed her clothing innumerable thoughts raced through her head about how she could seduce Sean.
She wondered about Sheridan and her pending pregnancy. She could not imagine how drunk Sean was to not remember what happened. She had never known him to drink a lot and she definitely had never seen him drunk, so she figured his drinking had to be a result of his circumstances at the time. If Sheridan was to have Sean's baby what would that mean for her future with him. What would people think when they were all together and more importantly how would Sheridan take the news that she and Sean were together? Would she think that Sean had left her pregnant for a black woman and if she did feel that way would she use the child to put a wedge between her and Sean? There were just so many questions, but Elana decided to just wait and see before she began to come to any conclusions. After preparing herself, turning on the stereo system from the wall, Elana stepped into her whirlpool bath, laid back and relaxed.
It was 6:15am when Sean woke up. He rubbed his eyes trying to think where he was and then he remembered. At first he thought he had dreamed the whole night, but he was happy to see that it was a reality. He sat up wondering where Elana had gotten to so early and remembered she had to go to the bathroom. He could not imagine what was taking her so long and realized that women usually took their time whenever they went into the bathroom, so he decided to make her some tea and some coffee for himself. He made his way to the kitchen to search for what he needed. After he had started the coffee pot and the tea kettle, he went outside to his car to retrieve his overnight bag, which he generally kept in his trunk in case he decided to stay overnight in Connecticut or if he wanted to go to the gym right after work. He had seen yesterday's newspaper in Elana's living room and looked for the Sunday edition when he went outside, but he did not see it. When he came back into the townhouse he noticed that Elana still had not come out of her bedroom yet.
He headed toward the spare room to take a shower, figuring she would be out by the time he finished. He took his bags into the guestroom and removed his clothing. He knew Elana liked it when he had a day's fuzz on his face, so he decided not to shave. He quickly showered using the sweet scented soap that Elana had in the tub and admired how everything was so feminine, unlike his own apartment, but he liked it and could see that he needed a woman's touch in his life.
After showering he reached for one of the large white bath towels that was laid out for use and wrapped it around his waist, brushed his teeth, then he went into the bedroom to dry off and change. Just as he came out of the bathroom, he heard a noise as if something had fallen and wondered what it was. Sticking his head out the door, he called Elana, but she did not answer and he began to feel alarmed so he headed towards her bedroom to check on her.
He walked over to her bedroom door and knocked but there was no answer, so he knocked again a little louder and still, no response. He turned the knob and opened the door, but Elana was nowhere in sight. All he heard was loud music coming from the back of the room, so walking through her bedroom he called her name and she still did not answer. When he came to the source of the music he turned the doorknob and opened the bathroom door, releasing some steam. His worry turned to relief when he saw Elana sitting with her back to him in the large tub filled with bubbles and a large bottle of bubble bath turned over on the floor. He could see that Elana had lost herself in
the lyrics to the music of Rick James and Tina Marie (Fire & Desire) as her head swayed back and forth to the tempo. Her hair was pulled up and her neck was resting on the edge of the tub and both her arms on either side of the tub.
Sean listened to the words, he knew she was thinking about the two of them. The words seemed to reflect their own relationship from the time he first saw her in his office to the day when he first kissed her after so long and she slapped him:
When I laid eyes on you it was pain before pleasure...
you were cold as ice. 'I was not very nice, I know.'
Then I kissed your lips and you turned on my fire, and you showed me what a love could do. Fire & Desire, feeling good to you.
You turned on my fire and you burned me up within your flame. Fire & Desire and we're both to blame...
The lyrics trailed off in his mind and he knew that the music and Elana naked in a bathtub would be the end of him, making him forget all about the romance he had planned for her so he turned the volume down...
"Hey!" Elana yelled as she turned to see what had happened to the sound. Upon seeing Sean standing there with his tanned-skin contrasting with the white towel, a pleasing smile formed on her face and she turned back around as she asked, "Did the paper man come to collect yet?"
"No, the paper isn't out there."
"So did you come in here to finish what you started last night?"
Sean was walking over to the tub and he climbed the three steps and sat down on the landing beside her bath. He leaned down resting his arm on the rim and with his free hand he played with the air-filled bubbles that covered Elana's body. "Now what was it that I started last night?" He asked looking innocently at her.
She could not help but be excited at the sight of him. His face and perfectly chiseled chest were shining from the warm mist that lingered in her bathroom and his short hair was wet but brushed back off of his lightly stubbled face. The white towel was pulled tight around his small waist and his strong hairy legs were rippling with muscles. "Something you obviously could not finish." Elana chided.
Sean raised his eyebrow at her daring remark and he did not want to let her get away with it, but he was not going to let his male ego get in the way and decided to remember it for later. "I told you why I stopped and it did not have anything to do with me not being able to carry through."
"That's what you said, but somehow I don't believe you. When we were in college you never would have stopped like you did, but I guess old age has made you less daring."
Sean could not believe she was challenging him like this, so he decided to give her a memorable demonstration of how daring he would be once they were together permanently. Then he lowered his hand into the water and reached into her inner left thigh as he leaned over to her ear and whispered to her, as he gently caressed her soft, inviting orifice. "If you had come to Boston like you said you were, I was fully prepared to start something and finish it..." Then he loosely suckled her ear lobe, rolling it around with his tongue. Elana was enjoying what he was doing to her, and she instinctively ran her hands up the side of his muscular arm, around his broad shoulders and up his neck and rested her finger tips under his cheek while Sean moved his lips down the side of her face to below her chin. "But, you did not come to me..." He said as he carefully slid his forefinger inside her, causing them both to shudder and Elana squirmed underneath his subtle assault and moved back so that their lips could meet. Sean following her queue, grasped her bottom lip and slowly pulled it outward until he reached the end and released it. Now they were facing each other barely separated by space. Sean continued to caress her inside while he maintained a seriously sensual expression directed towards her waiting to see what she would do.
"I'm here with you now Sean, and I'm ready to pick up where we left off."
Sean smiled a devilish grin and Elana thought he was about to take her up on her offer and join her in the tub, but instead he removed his hand from her and the water...
"But now, you're gonna have to wait Ms. Powers, at least until I fulfill that last promise I made to you." He said as he quickly kissed her on the lips before he stood up.
"Sean, what are you doing?" Elana asked getting frustrated.
Sean slid his finger down the front of her nose. "I'm going to get dressed. What else would I be doing?" He said as he walked toward the bathroom door."
"Sean, you're not just going to leave me hanging like that are you. That's not fair!" She yelled at him as he got further away.
Sean turned around and backed up to the doorway. "Neither were you for leaving, but don't worry. I promise not to make you wait nine years." He said smiling, as he increased the volume of the stereo system to its previous level.
"I'm gonna get you Sean for doing that!" She shouted, playfully, as she reached down for the bottle of bubble bath that had earlier fallen. Sean knew she was aiming it at him, so he bolted out the door and closed it just as she threw the bottle at him and it hit the door. He opened the door back and stuck his head in.
"I love you Elana!" He said as he winked at her and this time she threw the soap but hit the door again as he quickly closed it.
Elana sat, smiling inwardly at Sean's playfulness and she remembered what he had last promised her. Marriage was something she had not really thought about until recently. She knew she would be turning 31 in a few weeks, and she had begun to contemplate a family, but at the time there were no suitable candidates because none of them could compare to the man who had just left her. This revelation made her even more happy that they had found each other again.
In the meantime, when Sean was headed back to the guest room to change, the door bell rang, and he remembered that Elana mentioned the paper man would stop to collect. So he ran to get his wallet, but he had some trouble finding his pants. Before he could make it to the door the bell rang again and Sean was yelling "I'm coming, just hold up!" He said as he opened the door and stood face to face with Jon Lambert who was dressed in gray sweats and ready for his Sunday morning jog with Elana.
Both men were in shock and did not know what to say for a few seconds. Sean was slightly embarrassed because he was standing in a towel in front of a business colleague and Jon just did not know what to think because he was under the impression that Elana was dating James Payton. Sean finally broke the silence by extending his hand and greeting Jon. He wanted to know why this guy was showing up at Elana's place so early in the morning and decided to establish his ground. "Hey Jon, how's it going? Is Elana expecting you? Come on in."
"Apparently not." Jon said quietly still trying to sort this thing out as he came in and Sean closed the door.
"Do you want me to go get her for you?"
"Um. Man. Uh, Sean I'm sorry but you'll have to excuse me, I'm a little surprised right now at your being here. I thought Elana was dating your employee James Payton, the guy who was at the initial meeting with us?"
"Uh, yeah. I think she was." Sean said, scratching his head.
"Ohhhh. Kay!" Jon said with emphasis. He was seeing his partner in a whole different light now and it was totally out of character for her as far as he was concerned. He remembered when he dated her he never got within a mile of her house before a few months and she would not even kiss him until three months into their six months of dating. He surmised that these white men were trying to take advantage of her.
While he was standing there thinking, Sean excused himself to go put on some clothes and he returned a few minutes later, wearing a pair of black Nike sweat pants, socks, shoes and a sleeveless T-shirt. By this time Jon was incensed. "So what exactly is going on here?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business?" Sean was not intimidated by Jon's tone. "I'll go get Elana for you." He said as he turned around headed for Elana's bedroom.
"Hey!" Jon exuded as he walked up close to Sean causing him to turn around. "Elana is my business partner and she's a very special person to me. I don't know you nor do I know James Payton, but I do know that Elana is a good person and this is not like her. I'd hate to find out that you two were playing some kind of game with her, because if she gets hurt in any way you're both gonna have to deal with me."
"Nobody plays games with Elana she's smarter than that."
"Well sometimes a man can get over on a woman no matter how smart she is. I happened to know that she went away with James two weeks ago and now you obviously spent the night with her, so whatever sick bet you two have going
on, I think you'd better call it quits."
Jon's reaction made Sean think that maybe Elana had not been totally honest about the extent of her relationship with him. "You don't have to give me any ultimatums. I'm here because Elana wanted me here and if you don't get out of my face, I'll deal with you right now."
By this time Elana had finished her bath and threw on some stretch pants and a T-shirt. She heard the commotion going on in her living room and wondered why Sean had gotten into an argument with the paper delivery person. She left her bedroom and walked toward the living room and saw Sean and Jon about to go at each other.
"Hey! What's going on here?"
"Elana don't let these white guys play you like a fool. I know what they're doing and you don't need to be involved in anything like this."
"Anything like what?" Elana asked. When she asked she realized that the situation did look bad because just 2 weeks ago she'd cancelled their jog indicating to him that she was going away with James and now Sean was answering her door at almost 7am on a Sunday morning. She could not help but laugh. "I know this looks strange, but it's not what you're thinking."
"Well it looks pretty obvious to me Elana. You spend one weekend with one man and two weeks later you have his boss answering your door in a towel. If anyone finds out about this Elana, you know they'll say you're sleeping around to get contracts and our reputation will become dirt. It does not take much for the media to bash a successful minority company. You know they're always looking for something to bring us down and this will be just the catalyst they need to shoot Powers & Lambert down, especially after they've been trying so long. I can't believe that you would do this!"
"Now wait just one minute Jon!" She walked down the steps to stand next to Sean holding him by the waist. "I'm just going to tell you this to keep you from worrying about the company, not because it's any of your business. Sean and I dated all through college and almost got married before things got complicated for me. He never knew why I broke up with him until last night, so we're getting those things settled. James on the other hand is just a friend and the other week he stayed at a hotel while I was at his house."
"It just does not look good and you know I'm right about the media. They don't care about the truth. If they get a hold of this they'll have a field day!"
Sean entered the conversation. "Jon, I don't think the media is that interested in your love lives. It's not like you're in the entertainment business. Elana has not done anything that could look bad on your company."
"That's easy for you to say Sean Logan, because you're a white man. You have no idea what it's like to be a minority in this business world."
"O.k. everybody. That's enough. Jon you do have some valid points and Sean and I plan to be careful, but I'm not going to allow you to come in here trying to run my life. God knows you've had enough women to fill up a couple of tabloid issues all by yourself, so mind your own business and I'll take care of mine."
Jon could see that she was right, so he decided to lighten the mood. "So Sean are you the guy Elana could not keep her mind off of when we started dating 7 years ago?"
"Well, I don't know." Sean said. Then he directed his words to Elana pulling her closer to him. "Was I that guy, Elana?" Sean could not deny that Jon was a handsome man. Even he had thought that they were romantically involved when he saw them together on the magazine cover, but now he was flattered with the notion that he was the only thing on her mind even while she was with Jon.
"Yes. Yes you were Sean." She said as they looked at each other and smiled.
"I see this is not going to be as easy as you two think. Maybe I should be going. I see that you don't need me to run with you today Elana." He then addressed Sean. "Sean, I'm sorry man, but you can just imagine what I was thinking."
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to get anything started." Sean said patting him on his shoulder.
Jon excused himself and Sean decided to jog with her after they had shared tea and coffee together. When they returned they both took a quick shower then dressed for the day. Sean indicated that he had some things to do and reluctantly said goodbye, gave her a delicate kiss and promised to see her that night, if possible.
Later that evening Sean came back with Chinese food and old movies, both of which he knew she loved and probably had not indulged in for a while, so they stayed up late, ate Chinese and watched old movies. Eventually they fell asleep in each other's arms on some pillows in Elana's den. Sean awakened in the middle of the night and decided to go home because he had a long drive back and wanted to get to the office before Elana the next day.
________
Monday morning could not come soon enough for Elana. She felt different than she had ever felt before going in to work. When she parked she noticed that Sean's car was already there and she smiled to herself thinking that her influence had encouraged him to come in earlier than usual. When she got off the elevators, she even smiled and
greeted Charlotte, who was surprised because Sean had come in half an hour earlier acting happier than ever usual also. She figured they must have both had a wonderful weekend. Charlotte saw Sean come in with a large paper bag filled with something, and he left it in Elana's office. After he had left, Charlotte took it upon herself to peek into the
office to see what it was and when she saw it, she was confused because it seemed like such an odd thing to leave but she figured Elana had children and Sean had for some reason left it for her to take to them.
When Elana went into her office she was happily surprised to see a card board painted, tree that was covered with what seemed to be over a hundred various flavored lollipops hanging from the tree limbs. The structure stood about waist high and it was sitting right next to her desk. The thought of what it took Sean to make it made her smile. As she stood looking it over wondering how he had put it together so fast, she heard his voice in the background. "Do you like it?"
Elana turned around, smiled and walked slowly to meet him in the middle of the room. "Well Mr. Logan somebody left this tree here and I can't imagine who would know that I loved these things so much other than a certain handsome man I know, but I can't see how he had the time to do this in just a few hours.
"Well maybe he went to a few overnight stores and collected the stuff, then stayed up all night putting it together." Sean said with his hands in his pockets.
Elana put her arms around his neck and kissed him slowly on his lips. "When you see him, let him know I said thank you and that's it's the best thing anyone ever did for me."
"I'll make sure he gets the message. Did you want to send anymore messages."
Elana let him go then straightened her waist-length jacket. "Mr. Logan, I have a lot of work to do today and I can't have any distractions. I'm going to finish up that report I was working on Friday and tomorrow I'll start interviewing the Collections Department. I'll be using the same set of questions for every department. Will there be anything you need me for, because I may not be readily available."
"Yes, Ms. Powers I will need you for a few things, which will be lunch today, lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday."
"Hmm, let me check my schedule." Elana said as she went to her desk and opened her Franklin planner. "It seems that I will be available for those times so I'll pencil you in."
"Also, I'll need you for dinner on those same nights."
"I usually don't mingle with my business associates after hours, so I guess you'll have to be my boyfriend after hours, just to make sure I don't confuse your roles."
"Can I have that in writing?"
"Where do I sign?"
"O.k. You're funny Elana. I'll leave you to your work and I'll come by to get you for lunch at around 12:30." He said making his way out. Right as he left he stuck his head back in the door. "And I'll have those papers for you to sign during lunch." They both smiled at each other and he left.
The rest of the week Elana worked diligently on her assignment and she and Sean shared lunch and dinner everyday. They elected to eat in New York City after work and usually they would go to a fairly decent restaurant, but nothing as formal as they both had been going to with other people. They were enjoying getting to know each other again.
Elana successfully avoided James throughout the week and she and Sean conveniently forgot about Sheridan and the other dilemma that hung over their heads. They were just lost in each other. Near the end of the week when they would come back from lunch, Elana always had to remind Sean to let go of her before they got into the office or there would be a lot of talk flying around. Sean reluctantly complied because he really did not care who knew about the two of them together, but he understood her position and tried to be respectful of it.
Their evenings would always end in a loving kiss outside of their cars, after dinner before they both parted for home. Afterwards, they both knew they wanted more, but Sean was determined not to be broken while Elana always teased him saying he was scared of her or that he must not be able to perform, but Sean would just laugh it off. Friday night he let her know he would be going to see his grandfather that weekend so he probably would not be able to see her until Sunday evening. Elana was disappointed, but she understood and admired him for taking an interest in his elderly grandfather, and so she went ahead and planned for her regular Saturday with Gail.