A/N: sorry if the chapter has errors. I'm surviving with 2 hours of sleep and it's currently 5:11 am.
Courtney walked out of the bathroom with goosebumps all over her body. She smoothed down her shirt before walking back in with the rest of her friends. Looking over she saw Abraham on the phone while standing on the balcony.
Heather was talking to Trent and Gwen in the living room before Heather saw her mocha-haired best friend. "Great you're here, so when Duncan gets back I need to talk to you both after I'm done with these two," Heather told Courtney from where she was sitting on the couch interrupting whatever Gwen was saying. Gwen rolled her eyes at the raven-haired woman with an aggravated frown.
Courtney instantly felt nervous. Did Heather see them? Were they obvious?
Courtney walked to the dining table and sat down. Mentally panicking about what Heather could've seen. Soon Abraham walked in and sat on Courtney's left side. "Hey, sugar. I got some great news."
Courtney looked over pretending to be intrigued.
"So my mom wanted to visit tomorrow, so if you have any plans I'd appreciate it if you push them back." Her husband said putting her hand on her thigh and squeezing it affectionately.
"Well, I do have to work tomorrow. From 8 am -1 pm." Courtney said honestly but was trying to hide the unenthusiasim in her voice.
Abraham shrugged. "That's fine I'll let her know tomorrow princess."
Courtney nearly gagged when he called her that.
"Eww! Don't call me that. It's so annoying cause Duncan calls me that to piss me off." Courtney said stretching the truth. She only wanted Duncan calling her that not her sleazy husband.
Abraham rolled his eyes "Whatever. Just remember after work to be home."
"Fine, I'll be home." She answered not very happy that she had to see Mommy dearest.
Duncan then sauntered into the room catching her attention immediately. Abraham went on talking to her about who knows what. She wasn't paying attention, she was so immersed in the way Duncan moved.
Duncan sat down next to her on the right side.
"Oh hey Duncan how are you feeling," Abraham said. Courtney noticed his whole demeanor changed. Was he nervous? Or intimidated by Duncan?
Duncan smirked, "I'm feeling great just took a trip to your guy's bathroom. Didn't disappoint." he said as an innuendo.
Courtney grabbed a slice of garlic bread and bit into it to prevent the blush that was going to show on her cheeks.
"Oh, that was my wife. She does all the decorating. I don't have time for that stuff. Busy man, important jobs." Abe said with a chuckle.
" I bet she did. Even I'm surprised this place doesn't look like a library or a church." Duncan snickered.
"Oh shut up pig." She snapped at him to keep up the facade.
Abraham chuckled at Courtney's comment. "Calm down, Courtney. It was just a joke."
That threw Courtney in for a loop.
Courtney looked at him confused, Abraham never cared for Duncan's jokes. In fact, he hated him, why was he ass-kissing him now?
Abraham saw the look on his wife's face she was giving him and he just smiled.
Heather came over to see the two. "Finally, you guys are Both here." She turned to Duncan. "Next time, take a shit somewhere else."
Duncan glares, "You're right. Next time, I'll shit on your floor. And it won't bother you since you're a piece of shit anyway."
Heather glares and opens her mouth to reply with a smart remark, but Courtney decides to intervene to avoid any further rising tension.
"What did you wanna talk about?"
Heather started talking about the party planning, but soon, Courtney's attention strayed thanks to Duncan's hand on her leg under the table.
She looked over at Abraham to see he was on his phone. As always.
Duncan's hand tauntingly goes up her thigh and back down to her knee.
Courtney cleared her throat to contain herself. Abraham looks over, smiles then puts his hand on her other thigh.
Courtney's face almost frowned, instantly being turned off at her husband's touch. It almost overshadowed Duncan's touch on the other side of her leg.
Abraham started rubbing his hand up and down her thigh, and Courtney sent him a look that said "Knock it off".
Abraham immediately stopped moving his hand up and down but kept his hand on her thigh, much to her dismay.
She would've told him to get the hell off of her if it wasn't for Gretchen, her bitchy old nosy neighbor.
Duncan then continued to caress and softly grip her thigh.
She couldn't believe that she had two men wanting her, even though their intentions were totally different, she was wondering what she did to deserve this.
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A woman was calling on the phone angrily. "Get over here, now! I need to find a loophole in this damned thing!"
"I'll be on my way," the man said before hanging up. She sat down at her house, glaring at the fireplace. She abhorred that man. She hated Abraham with a passion.
She remembers her first time meeting Abraham too.
Flashback
Victoria was a new hire at the firm as an overall secretary. Her job was to take calls and sub in for others' breaks and lunch. She never thought she'd ever believe in love at first sight and all that childish stuff. Until her eyes saw Abraham. He was powerful, strong, and handsome. His charming smile and his flirty eyes had her practically weak in the knees. And she was love-struck.
Victoria thought it was fate when she realized that she was his sub-secretary. For the next week, she'd crush and make remote excuses to talk to him and help the charming man in any way until her fantasy crashed into reality, thanks to a simple phone call.
"Hi this is Abraham's secretary how may I help you?" Victoria declared as she typed down the paperwork he asked her to do while he was in a meeting.
"I tried calling his cell but he's not answering I was wondering if he's in his office?" A woman inquired into the phone. Victoria sat up straight wondering who this woman was and why she had his phone number.
"Sorry he's not in his office, he's in a meeting can I take a message?"
"Thanks and you can just say it's Courtney I need to talk to him ASAP. Thank you." The lady answered back before hanging up.
That's when she had that sinking feeling in her chest.
Who was this?
After an hour Abraham got back from his meeting and Victoria got up and directly went to his office.
"Oh hey just the pretty lady I wanted to see, just wanted to know if you wanted to have lunch?" Abraham said with a dazzling smile that made her heart stop.
"Sure." She said grinning widely before she remembered what she wanted to ask. "but I got a message. Someone named Courtney called needing to get ahold of you." Victoria said confidently even if that's the farthest thing she felt.
"Oh okay, I'll call her now." He said not giving her the answer to the question she had.
"Is she someone influential? So I can put her in the VIP section." The secretary instigated slyly so she could get an answer.
"No that's just my wife. I'll deal with her." Abraham waved dismissively.
Victoria's heart shattered. Wife?
The next week Victoria tried to withstand his charms. All the flirting and lingering touches until Victoria made an absurd decision.
Victoria was in the staff lounge grabbing her things. At nearly 11 at night, she chose to stay late in her office to get completely finished with her work. She's been procrastinating thanks to her office due to her fantasies. Everyone was long gone by now so she was sure it was only her here.
But walking by the offices to the exit she checked her phone when she heard a voice. "Victoria?"
She froze and turned to the office and saw Abraham standing in the doorway of his office.
"hi, Abraham. I was just leaving... it's been a long night." She greeted him with a tight smile.
"You sure? I'm working on a case of mine, I wouldn't mind some company." Abraham prompted with his million-dollar smile and opened the door wider." Victoria knew she shouldn't have. That she should've kept walking to the exit but she found herself nodding and walking through the door.
Abraham closed the door and leaned against the desk near the chair she was sitting in. He picked up a file and read over it.
"So what case are you going over?" She asked and crossed her long legs.
His eyes flickered on them before looking at her eyes. "Adultery. One of the easiest cases to handle."
"Why is it easy?"
"Well, usually people get comfortable. Too comfortable and that's when they start being sloppy. When you see all the fuck ups people make, it makes you wonder if roles were reversed, would I get caught?" He said before chuckling.
"I mean truth always comes to light right." She says softly with a raised eyebrow.
"That's not always true if it was me I'd keep things in the dark."
"I've been used to cheaton someone before. Wasn't a big deal, But the way they kept me hidden was horrible. I'm high-maintenance, so that wasn't something I was into. " Victoria confessed.
"someone as beautiful as you, I definitely wouldn't want to make it an ordinary affair." He spoke out with a boyish smile.
Victoria blushed, half her mind was screaming she should've been offended, and yet the other half was bashful in flattery. But she kept her face leveled even though she was blushing.
"I don't prefer being a side piece especially when I can upgrade and get the main package," Victoria said before standing up. Her mind was screaming for her to leave.
"If it was me... I'd make some arrangements for you, so you had all the perks a high-maintenance woman needed..." he trailed off while walking to her and smiled charmingly at her. "So I can have you be happy and satisfied in many ways." He sounded off with his piercing eyes, saying exactly what she wanted to hear. Victoria was speechless, was he serious?
"That's if hypothetically...you would give me the chance." He says grabbing her dainty hands.
"To give you the chance to do what?" She asked coyly but knowing mentally she was trembling.
"To do this." He said before pressing his lips on hers.
When they first started hooking up the ring around his finger burned every time it touched her skin. But after the holidays they went on together and the promises it didn't bother her, until recently when she wanted him to carry out his promises. Little did she know Abraham only made those promises to keep her around and had no intention of following through on them.
End of flashback.
The man arrived and sat down and looked over the contract for an hour before coming up with an idea. "I found one thing that would breach it. However, you have to be devoted." The man warned.
Victoria's eyes gleamed with a vengeance. "I'm very devoted." One thing about Victoria she always got her way.
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Soon all of Courtney's friends and her paramour left her place.
Courtney began wiping down the tables that the guests ate at while Abraham talked her ear off about god knows what.
"Did you hear me?" Her husband said looking at her expectedly.
"I did." Courtney lied before continuing "But I'm just trying to figure out your behavior tonight." Courtney said with no emotion. She then threw the dirty rag in the trash and started washing her hands while looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Her tone was so calm, yet her demeanor was intimidating.
"What behavior?" He asked confused.
"You know the part where you casually kissed Duncan's ass and made me look like a damn idiot!" Courtney snapped. Of course, she was exaggerating and she already knew that Duncan saw Victoria and him together. All she wanted was to get out her frustration and find a reason for him not to try to have sex with her tonight.
"Courtney I wasn't kissing his ass." He laughed incredulously.
"Could've fooled me." Courtney snipped drying her hands and walked over to the extra food they had left over to put it in the fridge.
"Is it a bad thing that I don't think he's such a bad person anymore?" Abraham shrugged sitting in his seat.
"Oh please if you knew how he really is you'd hate his guts," Courtney declared honestly. When he finds out Duncan was fucking his wife, he's going to be pissed.
"Okay fine if you must know I set him up with Victoria. That way you'd be certain that me and her are through and no more past feelings come up, okay?" He lied on the spot.
Courtney raised an eyebrow again. "I highly doubt that." And I know for a fact that slut isn't fucking him, she thought with anger.
"Well it helps I was gonna wait to tell you in therapy but I guess I'm telling you now. He's not a bad guy. You should give him a chance. He's doing me a huge favor. We'll hang out with him soon." Abraham fibbed standing up and looked at his watch. He didn't want to hang out with Duncan but he had to make it believable to his sharp wife.
"So let me get this straight. you thought it would be a good idea, for you to set up someone in my friend group with someone who is a tramp that also wrecked our marriage... so he'd bring her around me constantly?!" she scowled at him like he was stupid.
Abraham mentally facepalmed himself for coming up with a stupid lie. "I-im sorry. I didn't think of-" he started before she promptly cut him off.
"Yeah, sure. Well, I have work so I'm heading to bed." Courtney snapped at him before walking off leaving Abraham bewildered.
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"Princess you are just so beautiful," Duncan said looking at Courtney after they just finished having sex. They lay in bed together talking.
"Abraham made me feel like I wasn't beautiful for a really long time," Courtney said before thinking. She would have never said that normally but she guessed it was the pillow talk getting to her.
"well, good thing I want to show you that you are beautiful all the time," Duncan said kissing her forehead and pulling her close. Courtney tensed up before she relaxed. They never cuddled before, they always had sex and left. They never stayed. Unless they fell asleep, but being awake and cuddling is a different ball game. It's been a really long time.
"You okay?" He asked feeling her tense up. "Y-yeah. Sorry, it's just been a long time since I've cuddled. Abraham and I don't really..." she trailed off feeling awkward that she was telling Duncan the things they have trouble within their marriage.
"If you were mine, I'd cuddle You all the time. But since you're technically mine right now I'm gonna cuddle you better than anyone else will." Duncan smirked and pulled her close. She felt so comfortable with him and she didn't know why.
"Good morning, good morning, good morning!" Duncan suddenly started saying over and over. Courtney scrunched her face confused. "What are you-"
Before she could finish Duncan put his hands on her shoulder and shook it like she was asleep. She looked shocked before the room faded into black.
"Good morning! Get up up up!" A voice said waking her up.
She opened her eyes very annoyed. She looked over at her clock and it was 6:30 am. She didn't have work till 8:30 so why was Abraham waking me up?
Pissed off now Courtney looked over at her stupid husband to give him a piece of her mind till she saw his mom looking down at her.
"I made breakfast get in there and eat. Abraham is already at the table eating," she said with a smile before walking out of the room.
Soon Courtney walked out of the room into the kitchen. Abraham's mother was facing away from them making a plate for Courtney. While Abraham sat at the table behind his mom eating.
"Good morning," Abraham said with a smile and Courtney glared daggers at him. She had no clue why he would think it was a good idea for his mom to come by and make breakfast and wake her up. She isn't a morning person and never will be.
"Abraham told me you had work so I thought why not make breakfast hun? Here you go." His mom said putting a plate down for Courtney.
Courtney looked at the eggs, bacon, hash browns and waffles.
It looked good at least. Courtney started to eat and soon all three were sitting down eating.
"So how are you, Courtney? I feel like it's been years since I last saw you." His mother laughed talking to her daughter-in-law.
Courtney didn't want to talk but she didn't want to be rude. "I'm okay just tired."
"Well, nothing wakes you up more than a good breakfast." the mom said before smiling at both of them.
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Meanwhile, Clarissa, Ashley, and Stephanie were talking as they walked to the cafeteria during breakfast. After Clarissa grabbed some food they sat down at a table.
"There's this Instagram account that's been texting me-" Clarissa started showing the blank account to the girls.
"Who is it?" Stephanie asked confused about the account.
"I don't know but we've been texting and he's saying he's a secret admirer." Clarissa smiled at them excitedly.
"Wait, What if it's just some pedo in someone's basement." Ashley grimaced with her arms folded.
Stephanie nodded in agreement.
"It's not. I'm not stupid. I made him send pictures that had to be taken from that moment. Like, put a spoon on your belly. Spell my name on your belly or pinch your side. Plus he said that he knew me in school and had a class with me. So I asked him random questions about this campus and he got all of them correct. And he's on the football team." The teen explained.
"How long has this been going on?" Stephanie asked intrigued now.
"About a week. I didn't say anything cause I thought it was a stupid prank...but they started sending me nudes and I kinda sent some back?" Clarissa smiled mischievously picking up the cinnamon roll on her tray and biting into it.
"What?!" Both girls said simultaneously.
"What if he's ugly or is keeping your nudes and exposing you!?" Ashley said in disbelief and disapproval.
Stephanie couldn't help but think of the dynamic of their friendship.
Ashley was the mom of the group. Always thinking logically and always there. Clarissa was kinda blunt and impulsive but was fun to be around. Then there was Stephanie who was the person in the middle and was always the peacemaker.
Suddenly an arm wrapped around Stephanie's shoulders snapping her out her thoughts.
"Hey babe." The senior boy Noel said as he kissed his girlfriend's cheek. Both girls tried to appear happy for Stephanie but one girl was secretly jealous and the other was disgusted.
"Hi, baby." Stephanie grinned as she laid her head against her boyfriend's chest.
"Whatcha talking about?" Noel asked wondering what conversation he walked into.
"Clarissa has a secret admirer." Stephanie chuckles.
Noel just nodded clearly amused. "Anyway, babe I got to tell you I can't hang out for the rest of the week after school. I have football practice But we can hang out after practice today?"
By now Clarissa and Ashley were talking about something else in their conversation.
"Okay. I have therapy later this week anyway." Stephanie said understandingly.
"Oh yeah? Well maybe after you and I can go to my dad's cabin? It'll be just us." He proposed with a smirk before reaching down to her thigh to rub it, showing why he wanted to take her there."
Stephanie blushed trying to push away the butterflies in her stomach and his hand off her thigh but his hand didn't move. "Noel we talked about this... I'm not ready yet." She whispered So the girls wouldn't hear.
Noel was going to reply till he saw the girls were turning towards them to bring them all into a conversation together.
"Let's walk together?" Noel suggested moving his hand off her thigh and standing up but Stephanie knew that meant he wanted to talk to her in private.
"Yeah. See you guys in class?" Stephanie said to the girls as she stood up before walking off with Noel.
Clarissa eyed them jealously. "It's not fair. I want a hot senior. How come he picked her?" She says before pouting.
"Gross. You'll be better with someone that's actually your age. Besides, something is telling me they won't last." Ashley said shaking her head at her friend before looking in the direction Stephanie left.
Noel walked with Stephanie to an empty classroom. He closed the door behind them and sighed.
"Is everything okay?" Stephanie asked as she sat on a desk. She was nervous about what he was going to say since he didn't look amused.
"I don't know, is it?" Noel asked her with her eyes furrowed.
Stephanie sighed annoyed. "I thought it was? Look it's way too early let's just talk about this later." They've been doing so well for the past couple of days. She didn't want to ruin her morning and their good streak.
"See this is your problem you're always avoiding serious topics. We're talking now." He said with finality.
"Fine. What are you gonna complain about now." She snapped at him. Neither of them thought about how awkward it would be if a teacher walked in on them.
"It's funny how you can talk to a therapist but not me. What's that about? I'm your boyfriend Steph."
"That's different and you know that. I thought you were happy about me going to therapy?" The blonde asked confused and defensive.
"I am till you stopped talking to me and only her." He snapped this time.
Stephanie pinched the bridge of her nose, a trait she picked up from her mother.
"Look I'm sorry I don't want to make you feel that way. It's just lately it's been problems between us and I just want to ignore it and like enjoy the moment we have... is that too much to ask?" She said borderline sarcastically but meant every word.
"It's not too much to ask.all I want for you to do is talk to me. You don't even try. You talk to everyone but me. How am I supposed to be a good boyfriend to you if you don't even talk to me? And you wonder why all these girls are trying to talk to me." He said manipulatively.
Stephanie felt like she was failing him and the other girls saw so they tried to weave their way in between their relationship.
"Then you're always at therapy or with your friends if you're actually with them," Noel said accusingly.
"Noel I already told you a thousand times, I've never cheated on you! Stop believing some stupid rumors some random person made up!" Stephanie sounded peeved.
"How can I believe you when you don't hang out with me or talk to me?" Noel said simply putting the nail in the coffin.
Noel got exactly what he wanted Stephanie questioning herself, blaming herself, and frantically trying to fix things. And Stephanie didn't even realize or know cause she was naive.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Just let me get a chance to fix it. How can I Make it up to you?" She said walking up to him and grabbing his hands.
"Well... well for starters you can stop telling your friends about our problems and stuff that should be for us only. They're a bad influence on you. They always are telling you bad things about me 'cause they don't like me." her boyfriend said laying down the law.
"I-okay... fine what else." She said feeling like he was right.
"I want you to start treating me like a man Steph."
She looked at Noel confused. " Are you saying I treat you like a child?"
"No I mean I want us to have sex. Men have sex. Women have sex. I'm tired of feeling like I'm in a middle-school relationship. Don't You want us to be closer? And intimate?" He asks her feigning that he cares about being closer to her.
" of course I do it's just that I'm not ready."
" I know and it's been like that for months. There are other girls that throw themselves at me that are ready." Noel shrugs. "I want you to be ready but how long is it gonna take?" He asked before the bell rang sharply putting a halt to their conversation.
Noel looked up at the speaker where the shrill bell was sounding from before looking back at his young girlfriend.
"Thanks for the talk I feel better already. But just remember our talk okay?" He said to her before giving her a quick kiss on the lips and walking out of the class. Stephanie gave a fake smile and stood there after he left, feeling like a bad girlfriend.
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A/N: wow I haven't updated in a long time. Sorry I'll try to update more before Valentine's Day that's coming up hope you like that chapter. Also I'm now 20 yayyy
