Chapter 4 – Alyssa
“See you next time!” I wave goodbye to my lunchtime study group, comprised of other young twenty-somethings who are convinced they’re going to change the world. I used to think like that. Before my thoughts became consumed with Julian, anyway.
One of my friends I don’t get to spend enough time with waves back at me. “Lunch tomorrow, girl!” Kelly calls. My other friend Selkie – yes, that’s her real name – also waves and gestures that she’ll join me for lunch.
I barely have time to yell a confirmation before I hop on the bus that will take me to the offices of Bradley & Marcus. It doesn’t help that I instantly forget them when I pull out my phone and see more texts from my boyfriend.
“I have something I need you to take care of when you arrive. Someone will meet you in the lobby. You’ve been excused from work. I’ll catch you up to speed when you’re released.”
Well, that wasn’t sexy…
Nothing about the next hour is sexy.
I had visions of reaching the office, sashaying past the other interns as I head up to my new work position, and brazenly closing Julian’s office door and getting fucked like he promised. What can I say? His cock hasn’t been between my legs nearly enough yet.
I walk into the lobby and instantly encounter a woman who looks like she’s been waiting for me. She introduces herself, but I never remember her name. Next thing I know, we’re in some doctor’s office on the fourth floor. Can’t say I’ve ever been here before.
She says she’s offering me a free physical on my boyfriend’s dime. Sounds weird, but I go along with it. Maybe it’s an insurance thing he wants out of the way.
Except they want a blood test. And some other test I don’t dare mention here.
Suffice to say, I get Julian on the phone before anyone can bring any needles near me.
“What the fuck is this?”
“My sweet…”
“No! No, don’t say that. What the fuck is this, Julian? They’re testing me for shit!”
“If it makes you feel better, I’m having the same tests done.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better!”
“We’ll discuss this later.”
“I swear to God, Julian, if you think I’m consenting to an STD test like this…”
“It was my mistake for not clearing it with you first. My apologies.”
“You can’t apologize your way out of this! Fuck you!”
“You’ll be grateful we did this.”
“I can’t believe you right now.”
“There’s more we need to discuss later. I need you up here for work in half an hour. If you absolutely do not want to consent to a test, that’s your prerogative, but it will impede our relationship until it’s done.”
He hangs up on me.
He hangs up on me!
I stand here, appalled, embarrassed, and on the verge of tears. What the fuck am I supposed to think? The man never once asked me about this before he stuck it in me. I thought the pulling out was a kink of his. Apparently, he’s simply a fucking idiot!
A rude idiot. Because, no, I don’t care if refusing to take these tests means our relationship is put on hold. He should’ve thought of that before calling me up to his office Friday night.
Honestly, I should have thought of it first too. But I didn’t, because I was so over the moon that someone like Julian Marcus wanted me to become his girlfriend.
I’m the real idiot here. Do I really expect a man like Mr. Marcus to think those things through? He’s never had to. He has people reminding him that he can’t throw money at everything, like some viral outbreak.
The fact I’m being thrown under the bus and treated like a diseased mutant doesn’t help.
But it does put things into perspective. And, as I am about to find out, this perspective is only going to get more fucked up.
I text Julian. No longer do I think of him as my boyfriend. He’s my boss, a man who is essentially paying me with a job and sex to play a role for him.
“I will do it, if you promise to go over everything with me tonight. I think we’ve had a miscommunication about what we both want.”
“Sounds great. I’ll get us a reservation somewhere private.”
I’m not excited when I go up to see him. That excitement has died, like the last of my naiveté.
