Chapter 4
Greg was still pouting over the fact that Sandie canceled plans with him that night, when he heard his door open. He looked up to see Sandie walking in.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her, "I thought you canceled our plans."
"I changed my mind," Sandie said, tossing her purse on the table and flopping down on the couch beside Greg.
"What's wrong?" Greg asked her. "Get in a fight with your brother?"
"That's the thing!" Sandie exclaimed, "He's not my brother! It was all a lie conjured up by my stupid sister!"
Greg was not surprised since he probably could've told her that a long time ago. And now that she's mad at James, maybe she'll move in with me, he thought. He scooted closer towards her on the couch and pulled her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
The smell of his aftershave made Sandie crazy, she turned to face him and kissed him. He kissed her back, pushing her down onto the couch. He kissed her neck, the two of them getting hot. Sandie undid Greg's shirt, he removed it and helped her out of hers. He then undid her bra, revealing her perky breasts. His mouth made its way down to one breast then the other. Sandie moaned, she wanted to please him but he had her pinned. It was his turn to take care of her.
Greg picked her up and they headed to the bedroom where he laid her on the bed. He helped her out of the rest of her clothes and he instantly went down to her sweet spot. He loved the way she tasted, he wanted to be with her the rest of his life. He went to the nightstand drawer and pulled out a baggie of cocaine. The two of them took turns sniffing the powder and getting high, it made sex so much more fun. Sandie could feel the rush and instantly her body was on fire. Greg made love to her, soft then hard, slow then faster. Sandie couldn't help but achieve orgasm instantly as did Greg. The two of them lay in bed together, Greg holding her tight, for fear that if he let her go, James would steal her from him.
James cleaned up the dinner that Sandie had made. He really wasn't hungry now. He was upset that he hurt the only woman he loved. She's probably with Greg, he thought. Ugh, he doesn't even love her, he's just using her!
He called Sandie's cell but it went to voicemail. Maybe she just needs to cool down, he thought. I'll just give her some time, then I'll try to talk to her. He hoped that she would come home but he wasn't going to hold his breath. He finished cleaning up then headed to bed.
The next morning, James awoke early. He showered, dressed and went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. He checked Sandie's room to see if she had come home but it was empty, he was disappointed.
"This is all Lisa's fault," he said out loud.
Just then the door to the apartment opened and Sandie walked in.
"Didn't stay with Greg?" James asked her.
Sandie ignored him, heading to her room and closing the door behind her. James's heart sank. He was literally heartbroken now and he hated himself for even going along with Lisa's stupid plan in the first place. He walked over to Sandie's door and started to knock, changed his mind, grabbed his things and headed to work.
Sandie laid down on her bed, she was exhausted. Her buzz had worn off and she was feeling sick. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.
She awoke some time later, checking her cell phone, she saw it was noon. She stood and walked to the bathroom to shower. She hoped she would feel better afterwards. Sex with Greg was always fun but she was beginning to think that's all it was with him, sex and drugs. Of course her whole life was nothing but sex and drugs too but she was beginning to want something more. She missed Elliot, she missed Jake. Her life here was starting to get boring, she needed a way to have more fun but the only people she knew were Greg and James and even when her and Greg went clubbing, he wouldn't let her out of his sight, she belonged to him and only him. He even asked her to move in with him which caught her off guard. She didn't know what to say, she wasn't sure if she was ready for a stable, one man relationship. She left early before Greg even woke to return to her apartment with James.
Greg sat in his office trying to figure out what he did wrong. Sandie left his place early, normally she would spend the night with him. He did ask her to move in with him, perhaps that's what spooked her off, although he didn't know why. They always seemed to have fun together, they got high together, they drank together, they had insane sex together, why not live together. He thought maybe James had some kind of hold on her but he wasn't sure how. He got up and headed down the hall to confront him.
James sat at his desk, he was worried about Sandie. He was about to call her again when Greg walked in.
"What do you want, Greg?" James asked him.
"I want Sandie," he replied.
"What?" James was caught off guard by that reply.
"I want Sandie to move in with me. We belong together, we all know that."
"You're no good for her," James told him, "She's better off with me."
"How are you any better for her? You've done nothing but lie to her."
"I only did so to protect her."
"No, you did what Lisa told you to do. You're a puppet, can't think for yourself and now you've put Sandie in the middle."
"You don't even love her!" James yelled as he stood up from behind his desk.
"Is that what this is about?" Greg asked. "You're in love with her and you couldn't even tell her because you were too busy pretending to be family." Greg laughed, turned and left the office.
James was pissed. He had to find a way to prove to Sandie that he loved her, that he was sorry and he wanted her to stay with him. But how?
Sandie sat at the bar, vodka in hand. She thought about going back to New York, nothing was stopping her. Perhaps if she called Elliot and explained the situation. She downed her drink and ordered another. A man entered the bar and sat down next to her, he bought her a drink and proceeded to hit on her. She wasn't sure if she was even interested but perhaps a little fun with someone else might make her feel better. She flirted back and eventually she ended up in his car with this stranger inside her. He finished and immediately, she dressed and left the car.
Sandie walked down the sidewalk, she could hear the man calling after her but she ignored him. Sex with a stranger did nothing for her, she needed something more. She was out of drugs, out of money and fed up. James refused to give her any more cash because he knew she was using it for drugs and he didn't want her doing them anymore. Her and Greg used the last of the coke last night but she didn't want to ask him for cash because she wasn't even sure if she wanted to be with him anymore but she knew that he wanted to be with her, permanently.
Without thinking, Sandie ended up at the hospital where James, Greg, and Lisa worked. She walked inside and headed to her sister's office. She knocked on the door and heard her sister say, "Come in." She walked in and closed the door behind her. Lisa looked up and was surprised to see her sister there.
"Sandie, what are you doing here?"
"How could you do this to me?" Sandie asked.
"Sweetie, you have to be more specific," Lisa told her.
"Why would you lie to me? And worse yet, make James lie to me?"
Lisa could clearly see her sister was upset, tears clouded her eyes and she tried not to cry. Dammit, James! Lisa thought.
"Sweetie, we only did it to protect you," Lisa told her.
"Protect me from what?" Sandie was in tears now. She wiped them away with the back of her hand.
"I'm trying to keep you out of jail."
"How? By lying to me? Why didn't you just tell me the truth? I know that Elliot only did this to get rid of me. Why would you agree to this if you didn't want me staying with you? Why not just tell me the truth about James, I would've stayed with him regardless."
By now, Sandie was crying. She sat down in the nearest chair and put her face in her hands. Lisa felt bad now, she walked over to her and placed her hand on her shoulder. She didn't know what to say. She had spent her whole life trying to protect Sandie but now she didn't know what to do. She thought she was doing the right thing but for the first time in Lisa's life, she was wrong.
Lisa let her sister stay in her office while she went to take care of patients and check on her staff. While on rounds, she ran into James. She told him that Sandie was in her office and clearly very upset. James wanted to talk to her so he went to the office and carefully opened the door. He saw Sandie sitting in a chair, hunched over, face in her hands. He walked over to her and sat down next to her, he handed her a tissue and she looked up.
"Sandie," James started, "I know what I did was wrong. I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry. I was doing what your sister asked, we thought we were protecting you from all the bad but we were both wrong. Again, I'm sorry."
Sandie wiped away her tears, she honestly didn't know why she was so upset, perhaps it's because she had developed some feelings for James or maybe it's because she was tired of being treated like a child. Without a word, she reached over and placed her hand on his cheek. Then she kissed him, not a friendly kiss like they've done in the past but full on lip locked, tongue in mouth kiss. James did not pull away, although he was a bit shocked. He kissed her back, his hand behind her neck, fingers in her hair. His whole body tingled. Finally! He was able to kiss this beautiful woman that he's been pining after for weeks.
That kiss seemed to last forever, James wanted more, he wondered if she would give him more. He wondered if she would give herself to him, perhaps leave Greg now that she knew the truth. He didn't want to get ahead of himself, he was just glad that he got that kiss.
Sandie broke it off first, she sat back and bit her lip. Dammit! James thought. He wanted to bite that lip, he wanted to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, he wanted to make love to her. Hell! He wanted to marry her!
His thoughts were interrupted by Greg walking into the office.
"Sandie," he said. "Are you okay? Come, let's go to my office. We can talk there."
He took her by the hand and led her out of the office, completely unaware that James was even there. He watched, mouth agape, as the woman of his dreams left, yet again with another man.
