50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

Chapter Thirty-One

    "You realize that you're putting pastries you just baked into the freezer, right?"

    Destiny scratched her head, trying to remember who she was, where she was, and what she was doing. Your name is Destiny Richards, you're at work at Eli's Bakery, and you almost fucked up royally just now, she thought, wheeling around to face Carlos, who had his hip leaned against the food preparation table.

    Carlos sighed and pushed himself from against the table. He walked up to Destiny and took the tray of pastries out of her hands. "What is that man doing to you?" he asked.

    "Nothing," she said quickly. Aubrey just has...an interesting way of conducting interviews. She bit her bottom lip and braced an arm against the table to keep her balance since her knees chose this inopportune time to turn to jelly.

    She'd been called in to work this weekend, since there had been a few call-offs. And a few call-offs with this small of a staff resulted in shifts having to be covered. It was putting money in Destiny's pocket, but she would rather be lounging in bed with Aubrey. She'd planned on surprising him this weekend. Show up to his hotel, ready to sign the contract, wearing nothing but a coat. Or...something like that. She hadn't worked out the specifics yet. With his extensive sexual experience, he'd probably already had women show up to his door wearing nothing but a coat before. She'd been in the middle of trying to devise a more original plan when Carlos had caught her trying to deep freeze the pastries she'd just pulled out of the oven.

    The kitchen door swung open. Their manager poked her head in. "Another delivery for you, Destiny," she said, sounding tired.

    Destiny lifted her eyebrows and walked past Carlos.

    Carlos was close at her heels as she pushed through the swinging kitchen door that led out to the front counter area. A messenger held the largest bouquet of roses she'd ever seen in her life.

    Multiple colored roses peeked out from the silky looking material binding it. She covered her mouth with her hands, not noticing that most of the customers were looking in her direction.

    "Not to rain on the parade, Destiny," her manager said, tucking a pen behind her ear, "but we're going to have to limit these deliveries. They're beginning to disrupt business."

    Destiny nodded, still dazzled by the colorful roses. "I'll make sure the deliveries stop," she said distractedly, reaching out and touching a yellow rose petal.

    The messenger held out a piece of paper and pen to her. "I just need you to sign for it, if you are Destiny Richards."

    Destiny nodded and scribbled her name on the line marked "Recipient." She accepted the bouquet from him and buried her nose in the flower petals.

    Carlos ran a hand through his dark hair. "I asked you what he was doing to you, but maybe I should have been asking what you're doing to him," he muttered, following her back to the counter.

    She arched a look over her shoulder at him.

    "Do you want me to take these to the back with me?" he asked her.

    She nodded.

    He set the tray of pastries on their appropriate shelf and took the flowers from her.

    Tonight, she thought. Tonight, I'm going to surprise him.

~~~~~~

    After work, Destiny drove home. Her rose bouquet rested in the passenger seat. She'd put the seatbelt across it to keep it from falling forward whenever she brought the car to an unexpected stop. Once she got home, she showered. Massaged sweet smelling oil into her skin while looking at her reflection in the mirror. She fluffed up her hair, wondering if she should flatiron it. Aubrey liked it curly and natural. So tonight, she would keep it curly and natural. She did put some product in her hair to help tame it, though.

    She pulled black, lacy panties up her legs while evaluating herself in the mirror. Accompanied it with a matching black, lacy bra. She stepped into a slinky, black mesh dress and zipped it up the side, keeping her eyes on her reflection. She applied light, subtle makeup, with eyeliner and dark red lipstick. She pinned her curls up and made sure a strand of hair wasn't out of place.

    By the time she walked out of her bedroom with her purse slung over her shoulder, Candace was standing near the kitchen counter. Her eyes widened. "What are you trying to do?" she demanded. "Make him propose?"

    Destiny laughed. "Don't wait up."

    She felt jittery the entire ride to his hotel. She was a bundle of nerves. Was she really going to sign a contract that would essentially make her his property? His to own and control? To dominate in every which way? Why was she so willing to throw away her freedom to hang out with whoever she wanted to, to date freely?

    Because I don't want to know what life without him feels like, she thought as she drove. The sky was dark and the streetlights were on. The streets were damp with rain. She steered the car with one hand while drumming the fingers of her left hand on the driver door ledge, near the window.

    She parked in the hotel garage and climbed out of her car. Once she was in the elevator, she had to resist the urge to send him a text letting him know she was here. What if he was sleeping, or busy? She glanced at the watch on her wrist. It was just after eight o' clock. Hopefully he wouldn't be asleep this early.

    The elevator reached the floor of his hotel room and the doors separated, allowing her to walk through. She stepped off of the elevator and immediately she heard voices. She rounded the corner and saw Aubrey. A dark-skinned woman of average height and a shapely build walked behind him.

    "You remember how this goes, right?" he asked, reaching into the pocket of his dress pants.

    The woman nodded. "Yes, Sir," she said enthusiastically.

    "That's right. Keep your eyes lowered."

    Destiny retraced her steps back to the elevator and braced an arm against the wall to keep herself steady. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. It's not what it looks like, she told herself. She's just a friend of his.

    Why did she call him Sir? her nagging subconscious asked her.

    She fought back the tears forming in her eyes. Because...because she is his secretary or something.

    Why are they meeting in his hotel room on the weekend, this late at night, then?

    Because...because he has a lot of work to do on the project now that he knows he's heading it on his own, she thought, wiping at her eyes and pressing her back flat against the wall. She put her face in her hands. Get it together, Des. Don't make assumptions. You're going to walk right up to his room, and you're going to knock. And they'll just be sitting on the couch, talking business.

    She took a deep, steadying breath and blinked her tears away. She rounded the corner again, clutching the strap of the purse hanging from her shoulder. She felt a sense of deja vu as she approached his hotel room door. She'd walked in on her boyfriend Jordan kissing another girl just a few months ago. Fate wouldn't be cruel enough to let something like that happen again, she mused. And the night that Aubrey and I had...he wouldn't be with another woman that soon after the night we spent together.

    As luck would have it, the door to the suite was cracked open. She raised a hand and pressed her palm flat against the door, her breathing shallow. She pushed the door open.

    There was the sound of giggling, a loud smacking sound.

    No one was in the living room of the suite. The sounds were coming from the bedroom.

    The sounds should have been enough. The sounds should have been enough for her to turn around and leave and never come back. But they weren't. There was still a part of her that wanted to believe that the activities being carried out in the room were innocent in nature. It was that part of her that drove her to pass the living room and walk down the hall of the hotel suite. Her hands were shaking. Her pulse rushed in her ears. She hesitated at the closed bedroom door. More smacking sounds. A moan. She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. And her heart broke in two.