Chapter 2: Morning Call
Robin woke an abrupt start, a habit that had embedded itself into her sleeping schedule ever since she started out as an intern at Exalt, Inc. She sat up and searched around for her phone and realized she wasn't in her room. Then, she remembered that it was Saturday. Yawning, she rubbed her eyes, in a poor attempt to rub away her fatigue. She shivered and gathered the thick duvet against her bare chest as she blinked her heavy lids.
She considered whether she snuggle back into bed and fall asleep or get out of bed. "Frederick," she said hoarsely. She blindly patted her hand about behind her. She looked over to where he had fallen asleep with her and saw that it was empty. She pursed her lips. He was probably in the dining room, drinking coffee, studying the stock trends, and reading the news. That man just did not know how to enjoy a Saturday morning.
She grumbled. She missed his warmth. With a heavy sigh, she scratched her head. Robin would have to go look for her early bird boyfriend.
Robin looked around the room trying to find something to cover herself with before leaving the room. The clothes that were tossed amidst in desperate passion the night before were neatly folded and stacked on the long table at the other end of the room, beside the picture frames. Well, her clothes anyway. His clothes were probably in the laundry basket.
The last thing she wanted to wear was her office clothes from the night before. Yawning, she threw the duvet off and rolled out of bed. She decided that she'd find something of his to wear.
Robin walked over to his closet and opened it. It was neatly organized based on colour and type of clothing piece. It was all office wear and suits. Not a single t-shirt was in sight. She shivered as she stood naked in front of all his clothes. She knew he worked out and had athletic attire, but the idea of wearing his gym clothes first thing in the morning didn't sit right with her. In the end, Robin tugged the light pink dress shirt off of its hanger and slipped it out. She smiled to herself. She buttoned a few of the buttons in the middle of the shirt, but other than that, she let it be.
Before she left the room, she made sure to make the bed and close the closet door. Or in her case, try to make the bed since it was huge. Then, she gave up and left.
Once she left the room, her assumptions were, indeed, correct. Frederick was in the dining room, sipping his black coffee, no less, and scrolling through his tablet (probably check the stocks or reading the news, or both). He was dressed in a light-blue collared shirt with charcoal trousers.
Frederick raised his head when he heard shuffling. He smiled. "Good morning, Robin. It's still early, why don't you sleep in a bit longer?"
"You left," said Robin, pouting as she pulled out a chair and sat down with him. "There was no point staying in your gigantic bed by myself."
"I see that you have decided to help yourself to my closet," he commented. He could see curves of her soft breasts peeking through his barely buttoned shirt. Her neck and her chest were covered in the love bites he left the night before. She was going to scold him after she actually got a look in the mirror.
"Do you like it?" Robin asked, reaching for his cup of coffee. Frederick let her take it from him.
"Yes." He smiled at her. "But aren't you cold like that?" he asked, watching her take a sip of the coffee and then grimace. He chuckled. "No, there isn't any sugar in it."
"How do you drink this stuff?" asked Robin, pushing the cup back at him.
"I just do, Robin," answered Frederick.
"How do you have nothing casual in your closet, Frederick?" she asked.
"They're somewhere," he said vaguely. "You're just bad at looking for things."
"Uh-huh." Robin nodded. "Sure. Have you seen my bag? I forgot to wash off my makeup before I fell asleep. I bet I look like a clown right now."
"You look fine," said Frederick. "I think it's on the couch."
"You're supposed to say that. You're my boyfriend," said Robin over her shoulder as she went to hunt down her bag. "Found it!" She grabbed her bag from the couch and walked back to her seat. She dug through it and pulled out her makeup bag.
"You know you could've slept in a bit more," said Frederick again.
"What's the point when you're already up?" asked Robin. "Maybe if you'd stay in bed with me."
"And let you seduce me? I think not. Or I'd be in bed all day with you then." Frederick chuckled at Robin's offended face. "I kid. Well, half-kid."
"It's not my fault you're weak against me." She grinned at him.
"You don't sleep much during the work week," said Frederick out of concern. "I thought I'd let you sleep in instead of making you follow my, what did you call it again? Insane, workaholic schedule?"
"No, I called it 'torture, workaholic' schedule. And you don't sleep much either, bae," she said. "I'm fine. I can cat nap later."
Robin pulled up the long sleeves to her elbows. To Frederick's relief, her wrists did not bruise. She fingered her way through her makeup bag until she found her makeup wipes. She peeled back the sticker of the package and tugged out a wipe. Then, she hesitated and joked. "You're not going to break up with me once you find out that I'm super ugly without makeup, right?"
Frederick chuckled. "That would be very shallow of me. I've seen you without makeup on. You're pretty without it."
Robin couldn't help but smile. He always knew what to say. "Oh, stop it you." He was such a gentleman. Robin pulled out the compact mirror and took a look. Her face fell. "Liar," she said flatly. "You said I looked fine."
"You do," said Frederick.
"My eyeliner's smudged," grumbled Robin, started to wipe everything away.
"Sometimes I don't get you. If I remember correctly, that one time, you were purposely trying to smudge your eyeliner for a certain look," said Frederick.
"This is different," said Robin. She enjoyed giving Frederick a difficult time. Or, at least trying to give him a difficult time, since he always had a perfectly formulated comeback. Once she reached her jaw, she saw all the hickeys. The hand with the makeup wipe stopped moving. Robin used to the mirror to further assess the embarrassing damage he had done. Then, she put down the mirror and narrowed his eyes at him.
Frederick pretended to rest on his elbow to cover his grin with his hand. Robin could see the undeniable smile in his eyes.
"Frederick!" She gave an exasperated cry. "I spend so much money on concealer because of you! Last time when I forgot to cover up, my friend asked me if I rolled around in poison ivy after I lied to him that they weren't hickeys! I look stupid in turtle necks! No one looks good in them! The lady at the makeup store wouldn't stop judging me since I came back so often!"
At this point, Frederick began to laugh. He dropped his head, trying to conceal it, but that didn't help. Robin could hear him for the Gods' sakes. His shoulders trembled as he continued to laugh.
"Not funny." She tried to maintain a serious face, but his laughter was contagious. A smile tugged at her lips and a giggle escaped. To be fair, Frederick rarely laughed. It was a treat whenever he did laugh. "Damn it, Frederick."
"Sorry," he breathed. "Just, oh, gosh. I don't know what came over me." When he looked up, he saw that Robin had her arms crossed and wore a displeased expression. "Maybe they'll be gone by Monday." They both knew they wouldn't be. Frederick's love bites were never gone by Monday. "Well, last night, you weren't complaining about them."
Robin opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. She blushed furiously. Frederick chuckled at his girlfriend. He got up from his seat and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'll be more careful next time, love," he said.
"You better be." She shot him a look. She smiled and tipped her chin into the air. "You can make it up to me by making me breakfast and bringing me coffee, Mr. Knight."
"Are you bossing me around now?" Frederick asked in amusement with both eyebrows raised.
"When else will I get to boss you around?" Robin giggled. "And I know you'll never pull rank on me, so, yes. I am demanding breakfast and coffee."
Frederick played along and bowed. "Your wish is my command, milady."
"Chop chop. Don't have all day," said Robin. "Time is money."
"Indeed it is, milady. Would you care to come join me in the kitchen?" Frederick offered her an arm.
"I suppose I shall, to ensure you do a proper job," said Robin. She took his arm and climbed out of the seat.
The two made their way to the kitchen. Robin let his arm go and walked over to the counter. She tried to hoist herself up, but failed. It was a little too high.
"I see the damsel is in distress." Frederick lifted her up onto the counter.
"Thanks." Robin shifted in her seat, then she self-consciously crossed legs. The cold marble surface of the counter reminded her that she wasn't wear anything but the shirt.
"What would you like for breakfast?" he asked.
"Did you eat?" Robin asked.
"No, not yet. Just coffee." Frederick waited for Robin to suggest a breakfast menu.
"Hmm…what about waffles?" Robin suggested excitedly. "I haven't had waffles in forever. And we could top them with fresh fruits."
"Waffles, it is, then," said Frederick. He walked over to Robin and reached to open the cupboard, but stopped. She had wrapped her legs around him.
"Well, hello there." She smiled coyly.
He kissed her on the forehead. "Hello."
She wrapped her arms around him and nestled her head into his chest. "Gotcha." She heard him chuckle and return the embrace.
"Love, aren't you hungry?" he asked.
"I like you better than breakfast," Robin said into his chest.
"I know, but you don't usually eat well throughout the week. And you usually skip breakfast," said Frederick.
She inhaled him in. He smelled of that musk and cologne he always wore. It relaxed and excited her at the same time.
"What made you choose this shirt of all the shirts I have?" he asked curiously.
"It's the one you wore when I first fell for you. I never knew men, well, you specifically, I guess, could look so…dashing in pink," said Robin. Frederick nodded in response. He didn't know what to say to the tidbit of honesty. Robin looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest. "I'm not wearing any underwear," she whispered. She smirked at the blush creeping onto Frederick's face.
It was an obvious invitation. He cleared his throat. "This early in the day?"
"Well, if you don't want to, that's fine." Robin shrugged and let him go. She waved her hand at him so she could climb down. He stepped aside. Nimbly, she landed on her feet and padded off on the balls of her feet.
"Where are you going?" Frederick asked, feeling slighter hotter.
"I need to check my phone for messages and emails," Robin answered him.
Frederick followed after Robin and found her in the dining room again, digging through her bag once more. He hugged her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. Robin pulled out her phone and unlocked it.
"That's a lot of e-mails and texts," said Frederick.
"Probably not as much as what you get." Robin scrolled through the screen with her thumb.
"I have a secretary, remember?" asked Frederick.
"Right, I forgot," said Robin, concentrating on the flood of e-mails. She flagged the ones that seemed important.
A seriousness settled onto her previously serene face: she was in her work mode. This was going to be problematic. As much as she criticized him of being a workaholic, so was she. "Are you going to skip breakfast again?" asked Frederick.
"Mmm," hummed Robin as she continued to scan the emails. She wasn't paying attention to him anymore.
"Robin," he said her name. She didn't respond. "Robin." This wouldn't do. He didn't want her working full throttle on a Saturday morning. He walked around her and sat down in the chair the two were leaning on. Frederick grabbed her free hand and pulled her around, into his lap. Robin complied, fixated on work-related stuff.
He snaked an arm around her waist and peeked over her shoulder. She was still flagging emails. With his free hand, he slid his hand under the hem of the shirt Robin took the liberty of taking from his closet. He rubbed circles into the soft skin of her inner thigh.
"Frederick," she said.
That got her attention. "Yes?"
"I need to work." She wrapped her hand around his wrist, but she didn't pull his hand out.
"Then, work," he said.
"You know I can't when you do this," said Robin, resting her head back. She swallowed. His hand was going dangerously higher. Gods, she had no self-control. She made a note to take care of own pleasure during their dry spells so she wasn't so desperate against his touches.
"Then maybe you shouldn't then," Frederick responded smoothly.
"But I…mmm." Her words died off into a moan the moment his fingers played with her vulva.
"You…what?" he asked innocently.
"I…" she breathed. "Need to work." Her grip around her phone tightened.
"I'm not stopping you," he said. He slipped a finger into her after he had built up enough moisture.
"Yes, you…" Robin closed her eyes with a pronounced frown. Reluctantly, she put down the phone on the table. With one hand she clutched the corner of the dining table, and with the other hand, she grabbed the back of the chair. "You're not helping!" she stated the obvious. Without realizing it, she had spread her legs wider, allowing him better access.
"I'm sorry. I'll try harder," he said. His finger stroked inside of her, slowly. His finger moved with ease and he felt her body tense against him.
"If you don't stop, I'll ruin your nice pants," said Robin in a strained voice. She realized that even if she were to pleasure herself on a regular basis, it would feel as good. It just wasn't the same. Frederick had longer, thicker fingers than her.
"I don't mind," he said. Frederick added another finger. "That's what laundry machines were invented for."
"Ahhh," Robin moaned and threw her head back against his shoulder. She loved and hated how he knew every sensitive spot and every way to make her moan. "I need to…" Robin began, but couldn't remember what they were debating about.
"Are you going to have some breakfast?" His fingers pumped faster.
Robin was holding her breath, trying to save her moans from escaping. All she could manage was a desperate nod. To her horror and Frederick's annoyance, her phone began to ring. Reflexively, she reached over and grabbed her phone again. They both looked at the screen.
Candyman
XXX-XXX-XXXX
"Who's that?" Frederick raised an eyebrow in question, but his fingers didn't stop moving.
"He never calls." Robin struggled to focus. "He usually texts."
Frederick didn't like that his question was ignored. It was a rather questionable contact name. He used his free hand to unbutton the few buttons that were hold the shirt together. Then his free hand found its way to a soft breast and his thumb gently circled around her nipple.
Robin whimpered. "Gods, Frederick." She couldn't pick up her phone in her state. But it kept ringing urgently. She weighed her options to see if she should call him back later or answer it now. The phone decided for her when it turned off. Robin sighed in relief. She was in a rather compromising position at the moment.
"Who was it, love?" Frederick asked again.
"A friend," she answered. His fingers were dexterously working her out. The phone began to ring again.
"You can pick it up, you know that, right?" he asked. She could hear the smirk in his words.
"You're going to pay…ah..f-for this." She threatened him weakly.
"I'll take my chances," said Frederick with a low chuckle.
Finally, Robin accepted the call and held it against her ear. "H-Hey, Gaius." She struggled to talk.
"Robin, why didn't you pick up earlier?" demanded a male voice on the other end.
"Sorry…mmm…I was…" Robin managed to force out the words, but failed to filter out her shuddery breaths.
"Do you like this?" Frederick whispered in her ear.
"Yes," she gasped.
"What are you doing?" Gaius asked. "Did you just wake up?"
Robin grew bright red. Oh Gods. Gaius was always quick. He was the one who was the most difficult to persuade that Frederick's love bites were because of other…creative reasons.
"Y-Yeah," she breathed into the phone. "What's up?" Her voice went up an octave as she asked him the question. Frederick silently laughed. Robin tried to elbow him in response, but it did nothing.
"The twins are coming," said Gaius darkly. "Casey needs me to babysit again."
"Mmhmm," Robin hummed in acknowledgement.
"I need you to come over. They only listen to you. I'll come pick you up at your place. Can you be ready in thirty minutes?" asked Gaius.
Robin hadn't been listening, instead she had been trying to swallow her moans. "Wait, what?" Frederick withdrew his fingers to Robin's relief.
"Babysitting. Pick you up in thirty minutes. At your place." Gaius repeated. "Please tell me you're available."
"Gods," Robin gasped. Frederick fingers had found her clit. She raised her voice at her boyfriend, "I swear!"
"You swear? What's going on, Bubbles?" Gaius sounded downright confused. Then there was a silence on his end of the phone.
She heavily breathed as she tried to figure out what he had said. Something about babysitting and picking her up. After piecing it together, it hit her. Oh, the twins were coming. One of Frederick's hand was still on her breast. She felt dizzy.
"Bubbles…did you answer the phone while doing the deed?" Gaius asked hesitantly.
"Mmmm…No!" she shouted into the phone. "Who would I have sex with? You know I'm not seeing anyone." She nervously laughed. Frederick stifled his laugh by burying his face into her shoulder. He paused momentarily. Robin took advantage of Frederick's temporary falter. "Don't pick me up, I'll come. Can you give me an hour? Okay, thanks, bye." Immediately, Robin hung up. "You're giving me a ride."
"Who's Gaius?" asked Frederick, going back to fingering her crazy.
"I told you, a friend." Robin sank into Frederick. "Eugh, bae. I need to get going."
"Already?" he asked. "Will you stay for breakfast?"
Robin considered the question for a moment. Gaius probably only had stashes of sweets and boxes of that weird sugary pastry that you heat up with the toaster. Robin couldn't afford to eat more sweets and pastries with Gaius unless she wanted to workout more during the week.
Robin closed her eyes, savouring his touch. "Yeah." She finally confirmed.
"Okay." Frederick withdrew her fingers. Robin groaned in protest. "I need to make breakfast then."
"You're pure evil," said Robin as she stood up. Her knees buckled. She wanted him to finish her off. He chuckled at her accusation.
"Waffles will take a while. So how about we do that next time you're over?" Frederick suggested. He grabbed a tissue and wiped his fingers down.
Robin crossed her arms and smirked. "So, you're proposing that there will be a next time."
"Only if you want to." Frederick kissed her on the cheek and then headed to the kitchen.
Damn. He had won this round: he got her to stop working. She'd get back at him. In the future.
"Go wash up. There should be new toothbrushes in the cabinet!" he yelled from the kitchen.
"It's okay, I have a toothbrush in my makeup bag!" Robin shouted back and grabbed her makeup bag. She made her way to the bathroom.
"Robin, who's Gaius?" Frederick called from the kitchen. "And why does he call you 'Bubbles'?"
Robin laughed and shook her head. She rolled her and pulled his leg. "Bae, isn't it obvious that I'm cheating on you with my best friend from university? Because that's what unfaithful girlfriends do: they go help babysit their best friend's niece and nephew."
"Oh," he said to himself. "You never told me our best friend was a man!" He yelled back.
"Now you know!" she shouted back from the washroom.
Beside Frederick in the passenger seat, Robin was currently wearing one of his beige sweaters—a sweater she made him dig out of his meticulously organized storage boxes. (She had demanded he give her something to wear, or Gaius would judge her for doing the 'Walk of Shame' and the twins would ask why she was in her work clothes on a weekend.) With it, she wore her stockings from the night before and her black heels. Luckily for Robin, Frederick's sweater looked like a sweater dress on her.
"Did you remember to wear underwear?" he asked.
She blushed and stuttered, "O-Of course, I did!" She was always prepared. She made a habit of leaving a pair of clean underwear in the little pouch of tampons and pads.
Frederick chuckled at her shyness. Robin flipped open the sun visor and then the mirror attached to it. She fussed over her hair.
"Mmm…it looks like I haven't showered in days," she said out loud to herself.
"You look fine, Robin." Frederick reached over and patted her on the thigh.
"No. No more." Robin picked his hand up by the pinky like it was a dirty handkerchief and dropped it on the steering wheel. "You, focus on the road."
He smiled. "I wasn't going to do anything."
"I don't trust you." She shot him a look.
"I am very offended by your words," he said diplomatically.
"Uh-huh, sure." Robin pulled out a plain looking jaw clip from her bag. She gathered her hair and twisted it up, then secured it with the hair clip. Frederick watched Robin from the corner of his eye.
"Do you do this often?" Frederick asked.
"Do what often?" Robin tilted her head to the side, asking for more clarification.
"Babysit with Gaius," said Frederick.
"Oh, that." Robin laughed. "Yeah, he can't manage them. He ends up feeding them candy and making it worse."
"Why don't the parents hire a babysitter?" asked Frederick bluntly. He had wanted her to stay a little longer with him. He hadn't seen Robin all week and wanted to catch up on missed time.
"Single father." Robin explained. "They managed to finally persuade Casey to go to school to try to get some kind of license or diploma to get a job that pays better than minimum wage. I think it's a trades program. Can't remember. Anyway, since their parents don't live in Ylisstol, sometimes he has to drop off the twins at Gaius's on the weekend to work to meet his required hours. But Gaius's mother does come up every now and then to help with the kids."
"I see." Frederick nodded. "That must be difficult."
"Yeah, I don't know what I would've done in his position. Gaius's little brother ended up knocking up a girl in high school and after she had the twins, she ran off," said Robin with a sad smile. She sighed. "Anyway, what's done is done. And the two are adorable. Well, when they're not driving us insane."
Frederick chuckled. "Do you want children?" he asked off-handedly.
"Mmm…haven't thought that far. I think as of now, no. I'd like to keep advancing my career. Getting married and having kids is still detrimental to a woman in the workforce," said Robin. "Maternity leave benefits are pretty much nonexistent and you end up being viewed as 'incapable' in a sense." She air-quote the world 'incapable'.
"But the maternity leave benefits at Exalt are the best in the country," said Frederick.
Robin chuckled uncomfortably. "Still. I don't think I'll be ready for motherhood for a while. Do you want kids?"
"Once I settle down and get married, yes, I would like to have children," said Frederick.
"Well, lucky for you. Your biological clock isn't ticking and you're not expected to stay home and raise the children," said Robin. "I'm sure, you'll make a great father and husband." She offered him a kind smile.
"Thanks," he said.
They both realized that they were at different stages in their lives. Frederick had worked himself up pretty high in the Exalt hierarchy, but not without tremendous effort and superb results to show for it. He had an excellent salary that many would envy. On the other hand, Robin was still in the process of furthering her career, and competing with her colleagues for the next big promotion. And on top of that, she still had student debts to pay off. Frederick was nearing the age where 'marriage' was the next thing on the to-do list of life and the topic that parents would frequently bring up; Robin was still fairly young and in short, her life was still getting started.
Frederick looked over to Robin when he stopped at a red light. She was now busying herself with makeup.
"I don't know why you bother," said Frederick. "You look pretty the way you are."
"Thanks, bae. But I have to cover the dark circles and moisturize my face so the kids don't think I'm a zombie," said Robin. She patted the area under her eye with her ring finger as she concentrated on the reflection on the sun visor. "And I have to cover up all the hickeys, but I think it'll be obvious if I do it with this concealer. I have a separate one for your hickeys," she grumbled. "But it's back at home."
Frederick smiled to himself. The light turned green again and the flow of traffic moved again. They entered downtown.
"Hmm…I don't think bad lotion reaction will work as an excuse this time," Robin said to herself. "These look too deliberate. And they look so obvious." She sighed. Maybe the foundation cushion would work. If she layered it a hundred times. "Do you have a scarf? Maybe I could go for the air stewardess look."
"No," he said with a grin.
Honestly, he didn't know how she managed to hide all his love bites so well. Whenever they bumped into each other at work, they would acknowledge each other professionally and he would see that he couldn't see a single mark on her neck. Sometimes just to egg him on, she would wear a low cut shirt to prove to him that she was that good at covering everything up.
"Did I go too far this time, love?" asked Frederick, a touch of pride in his words.
Robin glared at him. "I hope you're happy. We're going to be exposed and both get fired."
"I don't think they'll fire us. Probably a slap on the wrist," said Frederick. "We should be there in another fifteen minutes."
"Mmkay. Drop me off a block away. I can walk," she requested as she fussed over all the bruises.
In the end, she layered her concealer and foundation cushion onto all of Frederick's love bites. It wasn't perfect, but with the amount of blending she did, it would have to do. She'd have to ice the shit out of her body this weekend in attempt to speed up the process of getting rid of the love bites.
"Could you try to avoid at least the neck area next time?" Robin asked with a tired sigh.
"Okay, duly noted. Sorry, Robin." Frederick patted her leg.
"Thanks," she said. "Oh, right there. Just drop me off there." Robin pointed near a coffee shop.
"There?" Frederick pointed with her to confirm.
"Yeah, I can walk to his apartment from here." Robin hurriedly shoved all her contents into her large bag and slipped back on the heels she had kicked off when she got in the car. Frederick flicked on the turning signal and then parked near the sidewalk. "Thanks for giving me a lift, Frederick."
Robin opened the door and hopped out of the car. She slammed the door shut behind her and scurried off in her heels. Frederick watched her with a fond smile. His sweater hung loosely on her body with the bottom of the sweater skimming a couple mere inches below her butt. The excess of the sleeves were gathered at her wrists and her bag hung on the inside of the elbow of her bent arm. Then, she stopped. He frowned, perplexed. She turned around and strutted back to the car.
Robin walked around to his side of the car. Frederick rolled down the window and asked, "What is it? Did you forget something in the car?"
"I forgot to collect my goodbye kiss." Robin gave him a cheeky grin and leaned her cheek in. She tapped her cheek with a finger. Frederick chuckled at her and kissed her cheek. "Okay, your debt has been paid. You can go home now." She smiled with rosy tinge on her cheeks.
"Next time, just come into the car. I don't want you standing out near the road. It's dangerous." Frederick scolded her.
"Will do, Executive Director." Robin gave a little salute and made her way back to the sidewalk.
Frederick stretched his neck out of the window and shouted, "I'm serious, Robin!"
"I heard you the first time." Robin waved her hand without turning around. "Goodbye, Frederick the Wary!"
That was a new nickname.
Author's Notes: I had writer's diarrhea...so I wrote more. Apparently, this is going to be a multi-chapter story. I promise I'll work on 'Pursuit'.
For some reason, I always imagine Frederick chuckling as a response to a lot of Robin's quips. So, then I tend to use it ALL THE TIME in my writing. =_= Sorry if it seemed repetitive.
Let me know what you thought~ :)