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Chapter 3

NYLA

Over the next two weeks, things began to feel more and more normal. Xavier became like a little brother to me. He opened up to me, struggling with his sexuality, we had a lot in common. Xavier was confused about his sexual preferences and I was struggling on what I wanted sexually. I wasn't confused about my sexual proclivities per se, I just felt I was missing something.

Something I've never had, but wanted so badly. I had experienced a feeling of loss, I thought it was Sullivan... but it wasn't him and his mediocre sex. I wanted pain and pleasure. To feel a man's hands gripping my hair hard at the root as I deep throated him, to feel every inch of his hard cock filling my mouth. To feel and taste his warm seed as he released. I blushed as I told Molly and Xavier my fantasies. Molly chimed in saying "Well shit sign me up, too!" We all laughed.

Xavier and I were on the couch with Coronas, wings, and pizza as we FaceTimed Molly. What I once thought was a crush, was him merely looking for mutual and unconditional friendship.

"I've never sucked a dick, but I have let a man suck mine before." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

I grabbed a piece of pizza and said, "Who felt better to you, the man or the woman?" I folded my legs like a kid on the carpet waiting for the nursery rhyme to be read.

He chuckled and said "He was."

I dropped sauce on my wife beater and quickly grabbed a napkin while saying, "What made him better?" He shook his head as if he was trying to shake the memory.

"Honestly? His touch. It wasn't gentle like when a woman does it. He was rough and knew how to stroke it." I was staring and Molly was damn near salivating asking him questions. I'm not going to lie, I was aroused. I'd never thought that a man taking another man orally was sexy but in that moment, Xavier made it sound so intimate. Fuck, I needed a release badly.

"Nyla, you need to get some sleep." Molly said while yawning. I had my interview for Stark Galleries in the morning. It was 2 in the morning. It had become a ritual for us, staying up late talking and laughing.

"Yeah. Your dream job, Nyla." Xavier said while checking his phone for messages.

Xavier stood up as we said goodbye to Molly. I walked him out and stood in the doorway as he waited for the elevator. The elevator chimed and he said "Good luck tomorrow."

I waved and said "Thank you, I will text you when I get back."

The elevator door closed and I headed in locking the door behind me. I was anxious about the interview. I wanted this job more than I've wanted anything in a while. This wasn't about Sullivan or my father, it was about me.

My alarm was blaring in the sun filled room. I looked at the ceiling and reached for my phone. I rolled over turning the alarm off, took a deep breath, and then stretched. I got up to shower. Brushed my teeth and got dressed. I had been shopping, not that my closet needed any new additions, but what girl is going to turn down a shopping spree? After taking my wand loosely curling my hair to show off my length and perfecting my make-up, I headed out the door.

I couldn't have felt more confident with a black linen mid-thigh dress paired with a classic Burberry trench and matching patent leather block-heel pumps. I kept everything natural.

Raul wished me luck on my interview as I headed to Cynthia's car. In the 15 minute car ride, Cynthia did her best to calm my nerves, and for that I was much appreciative.

When we pulled up to Stark Galleries, the first thing I thought was that it was beautiful. The first floor was made completely out of glass and you could see the people walking through admiring the collections. I told Cynthia she could go, I'd find another way home.

I walked to the receptionist, gave her my name and sat in the waiting area. I felt as if I was in a fish tank, all of the people downtown glancing in periodically to see what was behind the glass. Then it dawned on me, that was the plan and that's why I love art so much. The ability to make the people see what you wanted them to see.

The receptionist with her even tone said, "Ms. Carlisle, Mr. Stark will see you now. Please follow me." She was of average height, everything about her seemed flat to me, vanilla at its finest, and I saw that she was someone who Sullivan was trying to turn me into. We walked the short flight of steps to a corner office that had red drapes.

"Thank you, Rebecca. Please, have a seat Ms. Carlisle." Clover, the gallery owner, said while pointing at the chair directly across from his black granite desk.

The picture didn't do him justice as he was more handsome in person. His eyes were captivating, like the clear blue ocean in the Caribbean. I'd looked through his pictures from the gallery's website just to inform myself. Clover interrupted my thoughts as he held what I assume to be my resume in his hand he said, "There's only one question I need to ask."

I replied shyly "That is?"

He sat down and said, "Why do you love art?"

I let out a breath and said "I've loved art as long as I can remember. The field trips to the art museum bored other children in my class, while it fascinated me. They didn't see the beauty of it. Art is more than a photograph, it's a time machine. Art lets us live in the past, the present, and the future."

I was finally able to breathe again as I let everything out in one smooth breath. He sat back in his seat and sat the resume down. He steepled his fingers in front of his mouth for a moment, then stood and simply said "You're hired."

I nearly jumped out of my seat. I had no art gallery experience, but I was eager to learn.

"Won't you join me for lunch, Ms. Carlisle?" He said while standing up to grab his grey suit jacket that was a perfect match to his vest and pants.

"Please, call me Nyla." I said while standing.

He gestured for me to follow him. He led me down the stairs and we walked about 2 blocks before reaching Mariposa.

We sat by the window and waited for the waitress to greet us and take our orders. After our salads were devoured, and all the healthy small talk was complete, we began to dig deep. It was like we had known each other for years and we were trying to catch up. He was going on and on about his brother, who had just recently gone through a bad divorce, and became distant. I chimed in that break ups tend to do things to people you wouldn't expect.

He asked me what my story was and why I was here. I told him it was due to life and a breakup. I could tell his brother was important to him. Clover told me how he came out of the closet to his family, and his brother was the only one who didn't change on him. His parents eventually came around but his brother was there.

"What advice would you give a guy who's going through the same thing, you know trying to find himself?" I inquired.

Clover sighed and said "Find some good people in your corner and buckle up, because it's going to be a long and bumpy ride." Then he let out a nervous laugh.

"I have a friend who seems to be going through the same thing as you, maybe you could be like a big brother to him or at the very least a mentor?" I asked while sipping my earl grey tea.

He said, "Sure, I'll be his gay big brother." He said with a wink.

I told him that I thought Xavier needed someone like him, being a black man confused about your sexuality is tough.

Clover chimed in saying "It's hard being gay in any race to be honest."

We ended the evening with Clover dropping me off at home and Xavier was waiting for me at the door. Not in his usual uniform, but in some stone washed jeans, black pea coat and brown classic Timberlands. He waved as we pulled up. I watched Clover's aqua blue eyes light up as he saw Xavier.

I chuckled and said "That's Xavier."

Clover said, "Damn, I seem to be struggling with my sexuality, too. Struggling to keep it in my pants." He said while biting his lip, I smacked his arm gently and said "Behave, he's my friend." I exited the car and hugged Clover and said "Thank you for giving me this opportunity, I promise I won't disappoint. See you tomorrow." Clover hugged me and said "No thanks necessary, but if you really wanted to show me your gratitude, you'd let me come up if he's staying."

I laughed and said "We will talk more tomorrow." They exchanged names with a handshake, then Clover disappeared into the Chicago night traffic.

As Xavier and I headed to the elevator, I explained to him who Clover was and how excited I was to get the job. We went into the apartment and I got out the menus for us to order from and grabbed a Chardonnay with two glasses, while we dialed Molly on the iPad. The night was like any other until Molly said "Sullivan stopped by my office today." It seemed this man always found a way to rain on my parade.

"What's his deal anyway, he's the one who left." Xavier said. I shook my head and sipped my wine then said while shaking my head, "Not tonight, I've given him enough nights. Starting tonight, this one is mine and every one thereafter." Molly clapped while simultaneously Xavier yelled out “Amen!”

We all laughed and talked, I truly feel like these two people are my family.

It had been a little over two months, and I had settled into a routine with my new job rather well. Clover and I had become close pretty fast and it just seemed to flow easily. So did him and Xavier. They had crushes on each other and we all hung out after work and on the weekends, spending as much time together as possible. While I still had a huge gaping hole from missing Molly, Clover and Xavier seemed to soothe it.

Life had become more purposeful for me again, but I still had an itch that I just couldn't scratch, and I found myself thinking more and more of the handsome stranger with the sexy voice. I wanted more than toys and fingers. I craved the intimacy, the passion, the connection. Damn, I need to think of something else while I'm at work. So it only seemed natural for me to FaceTime Molly (as I usually did), her schedule was never normal. She kept long hours and most times they were at night. So it was to my surprise she was already up and about when I called.

"Oh look who's among the land of the living so early!"

Molly scrunched up her nose, "Bitch, it’s noon here. It's not THAT early."

"Early enough for you." I chuckled. Our conversation flowed easily enough between us, until she floored me with her abrupt line of questioning.

"So, Nyla tell me, have you let someone FINALLY thump your nub yet?"

With my mouth agape for a minute, I finally replied shocked, "Oh my God. Could you be anymore vulgar?"

"Subtle, vulgar, whatever. Have you?" Molly said rather loudly.

"No, I haven't. But it doesn't mean I don't have fantasies. I'm afraid no man will ever match my imagination. What I want is not something any normal man can give me. I want pleasure and the pain. The hair pulling and the spanking of my wet cunt." I said wistfully, not even hearing the bell on the door when it opened.

"Óla! Hello Senorita. I'm here looking for some special pieces of art." A very masculine voice with a heavy accent said behind me. "Mas, it sounds like you're the one in need of some help. Perhaps we can talk?"

At that moment, I felt all the blood drain from my face. I damned near dropped my phone forgetting Molly was even on FaceTime.

"Hey, Nyla, um something just came up. I'll talk to you later." She hung up before I could even reply.

With all of the courage I managed to scrape up, I turned around and asked professionally, "Hi, sir. How may I help you today?"

"Bem, you can start with giving me your name, and then you can tell me you'll allow me to take you out." The unknown sexy stranger said.

"Okay, well, I'm Nyla and you are?" I said, still a little mortified.

"My name is Mr. Barbosa. But you may call me Aberto. Now tell me Nyla, a beautiful woman such as yourself, I can see you have an eye for art. Would you be able to show me some pieces?"

With a warm smile, I said, "Sure Aberto. I'd love too." It took a few moments to show him the few contemporary pieces we had. Somehow we navigated to safer waters, and began to talk about art. I truly was falling back in love with art all over again in this job. By the time we were ready to close the sale, I had almost forgotten what he had walked in on, and it seemed he himself had forgotten because he didn't say anymore about it, or so I thought.

"Now Nyla, about earlier when I walked in,"

"Oh my God Mr. Barbosa, I'm so embarrassed about that. I truly apologize."

He waves his hand in the air as if he was swatting a fly. "No need to apologize for expressing what you want, Bonita. But I have to ask, would you mind accompanying me to a special engagement tonight?"

I looked at him apprehensively, at a loss for words because I didn't want to embarrass myself any further. I honestly didn't want to go, but what else could I do? "You know what Aberto? Sure, why not? But do you mind if I just meet you there?"

"Normally, I wouldn't allow such a beautiful woman to escort herself to anyplace, but you seem so strong in your resolve. Plus, I don't want you to back out." Aberto said in his strong accent.

It wasn't Spanish and it wasn't Italian, but he kept rolling his R's. It made me immediately think of what else he could do with his tongue. Nyla seriously?

Knocking the idea out of my head, I forced a smile and asked, "Time and address, Mr. Barbosa?" He touted off the information I needed, kissed my hand, and promptly left the gallery. Now all I need is a dress, and I had the perfect one in mind.

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