Doll House: Book One

nineteen | limo

It was Cecelia's idea for her and Dax to arrive at the sexpo in separate vehicles. Hodges had approved the request but made sure to mention that Dana made all final decision for Sweet Tooth related business. This would've been a fine gesture of humility had Dana not realized the value of her position and thus rejected the idea entirely.

Though Cecelia was upset, she knew it made sense. If the two were poster models for the brand then they should appear together all the time. Especially since Cecelia and Dax hadn't kept their end of the deal by recording together.

Dax had come up with some convincing story so that Dana would be more understanding of them not producing some type of sex content. However, when Cecelia tried to thank him for the cover up, he gave her a simple nod and then left. He wanted nothing to do with her.

Cecelia even tried to call and text Dax but it resulted in no response every time. That was until today when he had to inform her that he arrived at the Doll House apartment building in the limo. Although the ride was silent, they both stepped in front of the photographers on the red carpet of the sexpo as if the past fifteen minutes hadn't been awkward as fuck.

He touched the small of her back as cameras snapped away at the couple dressed in coordinating flame orange.

Any other man would find the color difficult to work with but Dax's pattered orange bowtie and kerchief made him all the more desirable.

"How're you feeling?" He asked to Cecelia's surprise.

She looked up at him, "I'm okay." She turned back to the cameras, "I wanted to apologize to you."

Dax held his hand up to the photographers as a silent gesture of thanks then walked Cecelia into the venue before taking her aside, out of eye shot.

"Don't." He shook his head. "I pushed you and it wasn't fair."

"No, I was just weak and clueless. You didn't push me."

"I did." He admitted. "So I'm sorry for that. Your decisions are your own and I shouldn't have been frustrated with you."

Cecelia was surprised by the apology. In her mind, he was innocent in all of this. She was the one hung up on her boss while she tried to balance something secret with Dax. It wasn't fair and she preferred to save Dax rather than subject him to her life of inconsistency.

"Well I'm sorry too. I called you-a few times to tell you I was sorry but you never answered."

Their eyes connected at her words and for a moment Cecelia thought he would bend down and kiss her as a more physical act of forgiveness.

Instead, Dax nodded and rested his palm on the wall behind her. "Yeah, I had to avoid you because I've been projecting my shit onto you."

"Projecting your shit onto me?"

"I planned on leaving Rebel Room a month ago but then Victor was adament about the Sweet Tooth deal and wanted me to try for it. So I stayed around and pushed my own plans back." He sighed. "My mind has been elsewhere since we've started this thing and it didn't help that you were a distraction-a beautiful distraction." He smiled. The first smile she'd seen from him in so long. But she couldn't fixate because he'd just dropped a bomb.

"You're leaving?" Cecelia asked louder than expected.

Dax nodded, "I always knew Rebel was temporary. It's just time to go."

"But-Dax you can't-you can't leave me." She blurted. "I mean, you can't leave Rebel because-" before they could even engage in a longer conversation, Dana appeared in their line of sight and waved her arms above her head to get their attention.

"C'mon, we'll talk later." Dax insisted.
• • • • • •
But as the evening went on, Cecelia had more and more questions brewing that she wanted to ask now: What made him come to the realization? Why hadn't he told her when they started working together? Had he told the other Rebel boys? Where the hell was he even going?

They both posed at the Sweet Tooth kiosk, answered interview questions, and revealed the photos from the photo shoot. But regardless of all that was going on, Cecelia continuously caught herself deep in thought.

Why would the "It Boy" leave? He had it all through Rebel and would have even more with their Sweet Tooth connections. He'd said Rebel was temporary but he was at his peak, why not keep going forward?

Cecelia's mind stirred so much that she hardly noticed when Hodges whisked her aside to the bar after the sexpo panel presented on virtual reality sex and it's place in the industry.

The bar was further away from the Sweet Tooth kiosk but Cecelia snuck glances at Dax to try and scout a free moment to ask him questions. However, he was constantly occupied with fans of Rebel who insisted on him signing their candy wrappers, cleavage, and ass cheeks.

It was cute seeing how he interacted with all those who adored him and Cecelia instantly wished that she'd met him sooner so that they could spend more time together.

Hearing Dax talk about his porn journey, hearing his input on her situation, it all felt right. They hadn't known each other for long but with Dax, Cecelia felt liberated. He told her what she needed to hear and for so long she'd been closed to others telling her anything.

"Are you coming tonight?" Hodges asked Cecelia, passing her the signature cocktail.

"Huh?"

"Tonight?" He repeated.

"What makes tonight so special?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

She knew the two reasons: his wife had boarded a flight to Spain this morning and he felt bad about their last interaction. Hodges was always mindful of his interactions with the dolls and with the public. He liked to give them as much freedom as possible and tried to be tender in his tone. With Cecelia, it was clearly a bit more challenging.

"This." He looked down at her. "You." He pointed to the Sweet Tooth poster of Dax gripping her neck with a lollipop covering her nipple.

Cecelia studied Hodges for a moment and considered his response. There was no way that he wanted to celebrate the promotion. He disliked it because of Dax. So why not just admit the truth and apologize?

Cecelia looked at the drink in her hand then off to Dax who smiled for a photo with a bob haired fan. He looked over once the girl walked away and gave Cecelia a nod.

She looked up into her boss' eyes and bit her lip as Hodges touched her face gently.

"So I'll see you tonight Cecelia?" She smiled up at him and nodded, removing his hand from her face then kissing it tenderly, leaving a lipgloss stain on the inside of his palm.