59: Leftovers

Erin

      Bryce and I leave the restroom, and I work hard to keep my blush under control. My ears still manage to get a little red.

       Bryce finds me a little notepad since I think I'll have trouble remembering orders otherwise. I feel like he makes a good boss. I've seen this side of him when he talks to Jones and Marie, but it's never been directed at me before. I feel very comfortable.

        He leaves me alone to take a few orders. I screw up totally, but luckily, he'd been paying attention and knew what their order was really supposed to be. I feel like I have a hard time paying attention because of my own embarrassment. Bryce tries to teach me that I need to talk louder so customers can hear what I wrote (and correct me).

        While he continues to think of things to teach me, three women walk towards the stairs. Bryce turns his head and quickly snaps it back to me. "Um, Erin?"

        "Yeah?"

        "After I hung up with Jesse, he sent me a warning text."

        "He's mad at you?"

        "No. He ran into some old... um..."

         "Bryce!" I hear from one of the women as she prances up to my boyfriend and wraps her arms around his neck in a very familiar way. Then she has the nerve to try to kiss him right in front of me!

        "Whoa, Sarah," he says with an uncomfortable laugh as he pushes her back a little.

        He knows her name, I think with an internal growl.

        Another blonde walks up while Bryce pulls this Sarah's arms off of him and says, "I saw Jesse on the beach yesterday, but he was in a hurry. Then Sarah and I decided to visit the spa and get the works."

        "So," Sarah speaks up, "what time do you," she giggles, "get off?" Then she looks like she finally catches on that Bryce doesn't want her all over him.

        "Hey you," a third woman barks to me. "Get me a dry martini." She gives Bryce a pointed look as if to say 'don't you train your employees better than that?'

        "Sorry, Sarah. I'm busy," Bryce says. Then he says to my back as I head to the bar to fill the bitch's order, "Erin, wait. I'll get the drink."

        "Aw, let your waitress get it. I wanna catch up on old times," Sarah croons behind me, and I want to claw her eyes out. She keeps managing to touch Bryce in some way like she's possessive of her boy toy.

        "That's my girlfriend, Sarah."

        She's quiet for three seconds before she asks, "Since when do you date your waitresses?"

        "She's only covering temporarily, not that it's any of your business," he lightly snaps at her while I quietly tell Jones to fix the martini he already has started. The brunette rolls her eyes and walks over to get the drink from Jones herself.

        "First Jesse, now you?" the other blonde asks sadly. "Where on earth is a girl supposed to go to have a good time anymore?"

        I stand at the bar fidgeting while the mean brunette stares at me.

        "I'm sorry, um... Amber?" he says and asks like he hopes he got the name right.

        He remembers both their names.

        "You'll just have to look elsewhere," he finishes, and I hear him walk towards me.

        He wordlessly takes my hand and leads me down to the lower seating area.

        "I'd never pictured him with someone that timid," one of them says.

        "I'd never hire someone like her."

         I'm pretty sure the brunette said the last one.

        I hear Jones work on entertaining the girls after another one of them laughs loudly and says, "He acts like he needs to explain it to her... like she doesn't even know!"

          "I'm sorry," Bryce says before I can say a word, and he traps me in his arms while the women's cruel words slash at me. "I should've told you the second Jesse sent the leftovers text."

        "The what?" I ask while I allow him to hold me. I'm not hugging him back.

        "It's easy to figure out. What do you do with an old meal that you don't finish? You put it in the fridge for later. Then, maybe, you take it out again. Leftovers."

         I groan as I get it.

         "I didn't ask who, and I hoped that whoever it was would leave me alone. Guess not."

         "Jesse didn't tell her?"

         "I guess he didn't; I don't know." He touches my face. "Erin," he says, trying to get my attention. "I hope you realize they mean nothing to me."

         "You must've been cruel."

         "What? No, they knew it was all for fun. They're hoping to get it again, and they're not."

         "For fun. Was it fun?" I tilt my head to the side and narrow my eyes.
         "Um..." Bryce watches me carefully.

         "Aw, you can tell me," I say deviously.

         "Erin..."

         "So it was fun to fuck random girls like animals. So, how? You took two, or did Jesse? Or was it some crazy orgy?"

         "Huh? I don't know who the brunette is."

         "That's hardly the point." I glare. "Tell me what happened."

         He pauses for half a minute before he shrugs. "Remember, you asked," he says sternly, refusing to let go of me no matter how I now try to wiggle free. "The four of us went to Jesse's. We had fun, got them drunk, and played that game I told you about. Then Jesse took Amber, and I had Sarah."

        "How many times?" I ask masochistically. 

        "Why do you want to know this?"
        "Answer the question!"

        "That night or total?" he asks. "Truth is I lost count."

        I want to scream. I want to throw an absolute temper tantrum, but I don't want to give those women the satisfaction. As it is, I do everything I can to push and kick Bryce to try to gain my freedom.

       "Stop it right now or I swear I will pin you to the ground in three seconds," Bryce growls low and quiet to me as he slightly lifts me off the ground.

        "I don't even know you!"

        "Yes, you do. You knew how I was. And remember I said was."

        "It's different to be told than see it right before my eyes."

        "Yes, I imagine so. Please don't say you don't know me because you do. They didn't. All that Bryce wanted was a no-strings-attached fuck. That was me in hiding. You made me want to stop that." I still push against him even though I've stopped trying to beat him up. My resistance must make him panic because he begs, "Please, Erin! You and Adele mean the world to me! Ignore them."

        A mass of screeching giggles carry over to us on the wind coming from the bar. Someone squeals Simon's name, and I doubt they mean Bryce's brother-in-law.

        "Shit," Bryce growls. "To be continued. I'm not finished with you, Erin."

        "Is that?" I hear Simon's voice now.

        "Yes. Please don't leave." He gives me an intense pleading look from above the rims of his sunglasses, and I nod my head, meaning I'll stay. He lets go of me and makes his way back to the bar proper.

       "Bryce!" Simon says warmly like he's greeting an old friend.
       "What the fuck are you doing here, Simon?!" Bryce barks.
       "Language, Bryce. There are ladies present," Simon sneers. I've walked over to them, so he points his beady, little eyes in my direction and asks, "Got your girlfriend waitressing, huh? And I thought, what's your name, sweetheart?"
        "Amber."
        "I thought Amber here was telling a little lie. I thought to myself 'no way would Bryce have Erin working for him since he has that unspoken, very unspoken, rule about not dating the staff'. Looks like I was wrong!"

      "What do you want?" Bryce growls to him.
      "A word, if you please, sir," Simon asks and performs a mock bow.
      I don't get his strange attitude. He's too playful for someone who's angry he got fired. He's up to something.

       "Ladies, Jones, if you would excuse us," Simon says as he winks at me. I glare back to his leer, feeling exposed in my crop top.
       As Bryce and Simon walk down the stairs to have a private conversation, I hear the brunette say, "So, you don't normally work here. That explains a lot."
      Why should it even matter to you?! I think loudly in my head, my thoughts braver than my actions. As it is, I stand here mutely and take her insult.
       Jones comes to my defense. "I think Erin is doing a fine job considering she's never done this before and this is her first day."

      The one he called Sarah walks up to me and asks, "What's so special about you anyway?"
      "I bet I can guess," Amber says. "Look at her. She's soft-spoken." Then, she says in a mockingly-dramatic voice, "She gives Bryce somebody to protect." Now, her voice is mean, "Cut the crap. Nobody believes that act."
       "I have no idea what you're talking about," I snap, goaded. These 'leftovers' need to be thrown out. They've spoiled.
       "She speaks!" Sarah gasps in pretend surprise.
       "You wanted to know what Bryce sees in me, right?" I ask in a sassy tone. Then, I don't wait for her to answer, "He sees someone who's been through a little of what he's been through, but you probably have no idea what I'm talking about because why would he mention anything about his life to some slut that he picked up? Believe me, you're only good for one thing, and you're not getting that from him anymore." Jones has to quickly intervene to keep the brunette from jumping me. The two blondes stand there looking at me like gaping fish. Encouraged, I continue, "And for that matter, Jesse too. They both want you to leave them alone."
       Simon and Bryce's argument gets drowned out by the brunette woman yelling, "Let me at her! I'll take care of that smart-ass mouth of hers!"
       "I don't think so," Jones says, pushing me behind him.
       Bryce comes running up the stairs, and while he helps Jones break up the almost-fight, he asks the women to leave.
        I feel so embarrassed that I lost my temper like that. I want to go hide in the women's room.
        "Hey!" Bryce calls out to me as he runs over to me from where he'd escorted the bitches to the sidewalk.
       I hear the brunette say, "Doesn't matter. There are plenty of bars on this island. Ones indoors. It's too hot out here."
        "But I like being outside here," Sarah says, acting like she's already over the scene she just left. "The scenery is so pretty."
         "Let's go to the beach after we grab another cold drink. I think you need to calm down a little anyway, Diane," Amber says, and their conversation gets fainter the farther they get away.

      "I'm sorry, Bryce. Maybe I'm simply not cut out for this," I say sadly.
      "Hush," he says and places a finger over my lips to silence me while his other arm wraps around my waist. "Only tell me what you said to that woman to make her want to beat you up like that." He removes his finger but acts like he'll put it back at a moment's notice.
     "I called her friends sluts," I say with a mild shrug. "They'd started insulting me, and I had as much of that as I could take."
      He starts laughing quietly. In answer to my mild glare, he explains, "You are so cute when you're angry."
      "Cute?!"
      "Would you prefer funny?" He laughs again when he sees me get mad. "I didn't think so."
      "I'm sorry," I say, my mood taking a downturn again.
      "Don't be. I'm sorry I left you to them like that, but I figured the last thing I needed was for what's going on with Simon to be broadcast to everyone."
       "I don't think I can do this."
       He looks at me quietly for about a minute before he says quietly, "I think you can."
       "That's not what you said a few hours ago."
       He shrugs. "I was wrong. ... Although, you are still a huge distraction."
       Bryce grins when I can't help but blush, thinking of earlier.
        He starts talking again. "I hate to do this, but I have to talk to Desmond for a little while. I have faith you and Jones can hold the place down while I have to go next door."
       I sigh. "All right, I guess."
       He lets go of me, turns around to tell Jones about having to go next door, and then walks past me to head for the side stairs.

     Without warning, he spins around, takes a step towards me, pulls me to him, and kisses me. It's another 'Bryce kiss,' and it's not long before we're pretty much making out right here for anyone to see.
     He also apparently is a little bothered by our open display because he says in a determined voice, "I'm definitely getting an office in the new bar. There's only so much you can do in a bathroom."
     Oh, so he wasn't bothered by that after all. He wants to do more.
     Bryce reaches down and grabs my ass before lightly pecking me on the lips, grinning, and turning to leave.


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(All right, so this has nothing to do with the chapter title, but I thought I'd throw in a little Jesse and Marie section since there's so much more of it coming up.) =)
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Marie

      "This is too fast," I say while he moves down to kiss my neck.

      He makes a whining noise. "How?"

      "I still haven't dumped my shit."

      He exhales in a huff, and goosebumps pop up on my arms. "I am so sorry I talked to you like that," he says, lifting his head to look me in the eyes. "I want to help."

       "You are." 

       "But this is too fast," he states his question, and I nod. "Sooooo.... then tell me what isn't too fast."

        I cover my face with my hands. He's so intense!

        He lightly kisses the backs of my hands. "Is this too fast? Me just simply kissing you?"

        "Yes," I say from behind my hands.

        "Do you want me to stop?"

        I take a shaky breath, move my hands, and answer, "No."

        I don't know what comes over me, but I contradict myself when I suddenly attack him, yanking his face to mine while meeting him halfway at the same time. I can feel him tense up as he holds back, probably worried I'll want to stop after he gets into it.

       "I don't know what I want." I get out when I pull back a little. I feel like I have a tiger by the tail, and any minute now, it'll attack. It's the look in his eyes that gives me this feeling, making me feel excited and afraid at the same time.

       His tongue darts out for a few seconds to just barely lick his lips before he says, "I know what I want."

       Just like last night, he kisses me unmercifully. The difference is that this isn't a 'damn, I missed you' kiss. This is an 'I want you. Now' kiss.

        He somehow lifts me to adjust us so that he lays himself on top of me. While he kisses me, he takes off his tie and unbuttons his shirt a few buttons.

         No, take the whole damn thing off, Jesse! I scream inside my head, surprising myself but not taking the time to think about it. He undoes the fastenings of my overalls instead of finishing with his shirt.

       I fumble around, trying to find his buttons, and he groans while he grabs my hands and holds them above my head easily in one of his large hands. His free hand works at pulling down my overalls to my waist. The entire time, his mouth never leaves mine.

      However, mine breaks from his when I gasp because of what he does next. Somehow, he managed to part my legs and get himself between them, not hurting my knee. Then he placed his hips between my thighs and started slowly moving against me.

      Armand did this to me once, but it didn't feel like this. This sends me a very clear message that Jesse certainly knows what he's doing. Message? More of a promise.

      I'm not wearing a bra, so when he slips his free hand up under my shirt, he groans with pleasure at his discovery.

       "Shit. Marie!" he exclaims as he frees my hands so he can use both of his to almost roughly pull my shirt over my head. Within seconds, he moves himself down and starts suckling me.

       My head starts to clear when his hips leave mine, but he quickly brings his hand between my legs and continues to pleasure me that way.

       I cry out a little in reaction to his very skilled hand's movements. Somewhere along the way, I have fisted my hands in his hair. I make the strangest noises while I squirm beneath him, still unable to accept that this is really happening.

      "Fast," I whisper.

      "You want faster, baby?" he asks in his deeper, more seductive voice.

      "Too fast."

      "Slow it down?" he asks, and his fingers slow down to a crawl.

      I'm doing it. I'm teasing him again. He thinks this is headed towards sex. The sooner I stop him, the better.

      "I'm sorry," I cry through my arousal-fogged brain. "This is incredibly too fast! I only wanted to kiss you."

       Jesse's eyes start to slowly clear after his hand stops. Then, a look I can't really interpret crosses his face. I can't decide if it's fear or horror or sadness.

      "I did it again," he whispers, almost like he talks to himself. His voice sounds like someone stabbed him. Louder, he says, "I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot! There we were talking about not going too fast, and I get carried away." He sits up, getting off me with a 'well, shit' look on his face.

       "No. It's my fault," I say sadly.

       "No, it isn't! All you did was fucking kiss me! And there I go doing what I apparently do best! Just being me!" he quietly yells. To my shocked expression, he says quickly, "I'd better go."

       He grabs his tie and puts it in his pocket. I watch in numb shock as he gathers up the rented movies, including the one in the DVD player, and turns to face me again.

       His eyes hungrily rake my exposed top before he closes them. Slowly, he says, "I'm ... going... home. I can't stay here. You're right. If you don't want things to go that fast then I can't trust myself."

       While he has his eyes closed, I quietly put my shirt back on.

       "I'm sorry," I whisper, and he angrily opens his eyes.

       "Would you please stop being fucking sorry?" he snaps.

       I curl up into a ball except for my hurt knee, trying not to cry. I close my eyes really tight to keep it from happening. I can't do anything right.

       "No," he says as I hear him cross the living room. He tosses the DVDs on the coffee table before he sits next to me and says, "Don't." His arms wrap around me and pull me across his lap.

      I feel like such a fool, a child. Sitting in his lap doesn't help that, but I don't fight him off.

       He leans forward a little and turns off the lamp before adjusting us so that I'm curled up into his reclining form.

       "I thought you were leaving."

       "Only if you really want me to leave, but I really want to stay. I can't leave you like this. I've made you cry too many times in the past twenty-four hours."

        "But you said you can't trust yourself."

        "I more can't leave you in this state."

        "What state?"

        "You're crumbling. I can't... handle that." There's a trace of a smile in his voice.

        I lightly hit him for his mimicking of me, and he chuckles softly.

        "That's better," he says and relaxes a little more into the sofa after kissing my hair.

        "I don't know what's wrong with me, Jesse. I don't mean to be like this. I also don't mean to cry this much."

       "Be like what?"

       "Hot one minute; cold the next."

       "Um... I guess I can decide to see it as a good thing those hot moments are there at all. I just get carried away." He takes a deep breath. "You might not understand, but I'm used to taking things very fast. And... hm." He stops for a second like he has a new thought. "And those relationships didn't work like I wanted some of them to. This is... different."
        I curl into him and think about how Jesse is everything I liked about my past boyfriends rolled into one. At least... what I've met of him.

        After a long while, he asks, "Are you asleep?"

        "Yes," I answer cheekily to his small laugh.

        "I need to, and I'm sorry I need to, define what we have here for my sanity's sake."

        "We're not just friends," I admit.

        "No, we're not," he agrees. "Don't laugh, but I feel like... like I'm back in high school or something with you."

        "Because I'm younger?" I'm eighteen, and I'm pretty sure Jesse is over twenty-five.

        "No, that's not it. I haven't quite figured it out, but that's not it." I stay quiet, so he continues, "I want... I want you to be my girlfriend, Marie. I know you're not ready for that because of those three assholes, but I was wondering if, like we were in high school, if we could try for something really simple. It would be very hard for me to do, but I think it's the best compromise I can come up with."

       "Simple?" I ask.

       "Yeah, simple. I get to be with you, and you don't constantly feel pressured or overwhelmed or something."

        I want to cheer. Yes! That's what I want! I want Jesse around. I want his silly grin wiping away all the bad things... bad things I've carried alone all my life. I won't one-hundred percent trust him right away, but I have a good feeling about this! As long as he doesn't push too hard for intimacy, and I think that's what he means by 'simple.' He's not playing me. A player would never ask for this.

        "Would that be something you could handle?" he asks, sounding unsure of himself.

        "Yes," I say quickly and kiss his happily-surprised expression.

        When I don't back off from the kiss, his hands reach up to hold my face and the back of my head.

         My >>boyfriend<< pulls back to whisper, "Yes. This will be a challenge. And Marie?"

         "Mm?"

         "I'm not the only one who's a good kisser."

         He did it again, I think as butterflies take over my insides. Jesse really knows exactly what to say to take my breath away.

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Thanks to Jazen and Gemly for letting me borrow their sims for this chapter. I'd previously made Amber, but Diane (the brunette) came from Jazen's simbin, and Sarah is Rose from Gemly's Mattel Family Challenge.

Next chapter is how Desmond and Ginger spend today, and after that, we pick up right where we left off with Jesse and Marie.