50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

Chapter Twenty-Nine

     Destiny knocked on the hotel room door. Aubrey had offered to pick her up from work, but she'd insisted on driving over. She preferred to have her car here with her so he wouldn't have to drive her back home. She stood in the hall, taking a deep breath and waiting for him to answer the door. For the life of her, she couldn't imagine what was so pressing it couldn't wait twenty-four hours. She looked down at her plain white polo and khakis in disdain. She would have preferred to go home and change before coming over, but Aubrey had sent follow-up text messages asking when she would arrive. She hadn't had the time.

    The door swung open and he filled the doorframe. There was a sad look to his eyes. Her brows drew together in concern. "What's wrong?" she managed to get out before he stepped forward and wrapped her up in his arms. Frightened for him, she pulled away from him. "Talk to me," she told him.

    He pulled her into the hotel room suite and closed the door. When he finally released her, he turned his back to her and walked over to the couch, where he sat down and leaned forward to pick up the glass of Scotch that was waiting for him. "I should have known better," he said, swirling his drink and staring off into space. "Politicians. I trusted my program, my baby, to politicians." He threw the drink back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

    She approached him and sat beside him on the couch. "So, what? They're not going to move forward with it?"

    "I gave them more than a year," he said, looking at her. "A year to get their shit together and get things moving. All they did was waste time. Waste valuable hours talking about the same shit. Asking the same questions. All the while, they were getting paid and the whole time, they probably knew that they wouldn't be moving forward with it."

    She touched his upper arm and caressed it through the fabric of his dress shirt. After a few moments of silence, she asked him, "So what are you going to do?"

    "I don't know," he admitted. "I have to talk to Oliver. What I told them was, I was going to proceed with the program without them."

    Her eyes lit up with encouragement. "You should."

    He shook his head. "It would be so expensive. And it would take a lot to put it on." He continued looking at her, and tears welled up in his eyes. "I don't think I can do it. Not on my own, not without someone backing me."

    She grabbed his face in his hands. "You can do this, I know you can."

    He continued to shake his head sadly, lowering his eyes. "It was a mistake to call you over here. I don't want you to see me like this."

    "You say that as if feeling this strongly for a worthy cause is a bad thing," she said softly.

    He continued to avoid her gaze.

    She dropped her hands in her lap, chewing her bottom lip in thought. "It would be expensive to launch a nationwide program," she said slowly. "But maybe you don't launch it nationally, not in the beginning. Maybe you choose a few schools at first. Like schools from your hometown, and from Memphis, since you were raised in those two cities. You start the program in those locations, and campaign for it. And when the program is considered a success, you'll get other people wanting to contribute resources to help."

    His brows furrowed and he narrowed his eyes in concentration as he mulled over her words. "You're right. Toronto, Memphis, maybe Houston. Start off small." He lifted his cell phone from the coffee table and sent a series of text messages. "I'm sorry, just give me a few minutes."

    She sat back on the couch patiently. "Sure."

    He began getting responses to his messages. He lifted his eyes to her and set his phone back down at the table. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "You are a beautiful, intelligent lifesaver."

    Hours later, Destiny straddled Aubrey while he lie flat on his back in the bed. They were both naked with a fine sheen of sweat gracing their skin. She lifted his right hand and observed the scarring on his knuckles. "You must have punched the wall really hard," she said softly.

    "I was pissed the fuck off," he said, looking up at her with one arm angled behind his head. "I can't remember the last time I've been that angry. And helpless. I feel like...I feel like I'm the one that failed. You know? Like there was some better way I could have presented the program to them. Explain the benefits of the program better, or in a different way. You know?"

    She brought his knuckles up to her lips and kissed them. "Who needs further explanation than 'helping underprivileged kids focus on arts instead of gangs'?" she asked him.

    His eyes widened. "I know, right?" He turned his head to the side. "I have friends. Friends who believe in crazy government conspiracies, all sorts of shit. And I always laughed that off, you know? But things like this...I can understand why those conspiracies exist. Situations like this make me feel like our youth is set up to fail. And when I think about it, really think about it, it's depressing. And sad. And..."

    "Maddening?" she supplied for him.

    He turned his eyes back to her and smiled. "Maddening," he repeated, tracing a finger along the line of her thigh. His expression turned serious all of a sudden. "I don't remember telling you to stop riding me."

    She leaned down and caught his bottom lip beneath her teeth. She sucked on it before kissing him long and deep, moaning when she felt his arms circle around her. She started to ride him, again, and this time she took her time with him.