It's Up To You

Chapter 43

Ricky and I laid in my marital bed after we just made love. With an arm wrapped around me, we laid there for what felt like forever. His hand rested on my shoulder as he stroked my skin from time to me.

Although we weren't speaking out loud, he'd sometimes take my chin into his hand and kiss me deeply. "I think I've better get going." He announced. My body felt cold as he took his arms from around me and nakedly got out of the bed.

"Stay." I asked of him. He leaned over the bed and held my face in his hands, leaving a soft but long kiss.

"All of this was a mistake. Elvis won and I need to respect that." Ricky said as his blue eyes looked down at me. "I'm going out on the next flight to California."

That day I watched Ricky leave me alone in that house. Once again, I was all to my lonesome, without anyone to talk to. That Saturday, the buzzer rung. "Who is it?" I asked.

"Guess." Ricky answered through the speaker. Immediately I opened the front gates to allow him to come in. When I walked downstairs, I quickly opened the door. Ricky laughed as I wrapped him in a hug, I hadn't even changed out of my night gown from the night before.

Ricky and I began having a full blown affair. We had sex all over the house. In the kitchen, on the living room floor, in the master bedroom, in the guest bedrooms, in the basement, in the laundry room on top of the machine. It was exhilarating to have excitement back in my life.

The idea of sneaking behind Elvis's back made the affair even more exciting. As time went on, more people got involved. Oscar walked in on us one day while Ricky had me over the living room couch. The cook was horrified to find us on the kitchen counter at 3:00 am. And the maid disliked finding that someone had left something on the washing machine.

One day, Ricky and I laid on the floor of the master bedroom after just sleeping together. He slowly kissed my neck, over my breasts, my arms, my legs, any imaginable place. At my thighs, his face hovered over my core as he kept my legs spread. Then, with closed eyes, he licked my core softly until I had my fill.

But once he was done, he laid next to me as I tried to catch my breath. "I have to go back."

"Sure you do." I teased, turning over and wrapping my arms around him. My life almost felt complete with Ricky, with him, I knew that everything would be okay. He would occasionally go back to California to film his show and see his family, but Ricky always can't back to me. I was the addiction he couldn't shake.

"No, really." Ricky insisted. Suddenly, my smile was gone. "You know Kristen Harmon?"

"The blonde on your show?" I asked him. He nodded yes, I rolled my eyes in response. "Sure I do."

"Well, you know she's played a few love roles with me in a few episodes." Ricky explained as his arms were wrapped around me.

"And what does this have to do with me?" I asked aggressively. I could already feel Where this is going. My heart was suddenly stuck in my throat. Ricky was doing the exact same thing that Elvis always did.

"We're getting married." Ricky answered. I sat up and crawled away from Ricky, standing up by holding onto the bed. My back was turned to him as I digested what he just told me.

"Married?" I asked, placing my hand on my stomach. Ricky stood up behind me, he was at a loss for words.

"We should've have been having this in the first place." Ricky admitted.

"No, you shouldn't have started with her!" I angrily turned around to face him. "This started first!"

"You mean when we were kids?" Ricky asked with a risen eyebrow. "That's not exactly—"

"No, this! This affair! This that we have right here, right now!" I shouted out. Ricky walked toward me and placed his hands on my hips. I immediately swatted his hands away.

"Lauren, you are married. You have a life. You have millions of dollars." Ricky observed. "I'm not Elvis and at this point in time, I don't think I ever will be!"

"Oh, please, spare me your self loathing. You know exactly why we're in the situation we're in!" I hysterically answered. "You couldn't have honestly expected me to go with you!"

Ricky clenched his jaw.

I immediately wanted to take my stupid words back. They didn't make sense, they weren't even true. In that moment, I was just hurt by the thought of Ricky moving onto someone else.

"I guess I've been put in my place." Ricky answered. He walked across the room to his pile of clothes on the floor and picked up his boxers. I watched him slowly put them on, then picked up the rest of his clothes in his hand. "The wedding's in a month. I thought you deserved to know beforehand."

I didn't answered. I only looked down at the floor, knowing that my reaction was uncalled for.

"I'll get changed out there. By the time you leave this room, I'll be gone." Ricky promised me, then left. The worse part about it is that I let him leave. I didn't go after him, I didn't beg him to stay, I watched him walk out.

That was something I'd never forgive myself for.