Mrs. Hardison Ch. 06

"That's fine by me since I arrived by taxi," Sadri mocks me with her smirk. I mollify myself that Sadri's place should be a perfectly safe place for both of them. I also am reminded that I'm hardly a martial hero, so forcing myself to go along with the ladies would be pointless. Lastly, Gloria is right; Gloria is lethal to anything that involves a stove and I've never known Sadri to cook outside of a microwave.

An hour later they both return safely and dinner is ready. We are elbow to elbow around the kitchen table. I almost try the 'kiss the cook' line but falter. Instead we eat in silence.

"Great eats like always Eddie," Sadri thanks me. "I'm going to miss your home cooking."

"You supplied your grandmother's recipes and ingredients; I provided the muscle power," I smile.

"I'll get the dishes," Gloria states in a clipped tone.

"I'll help," I offer.

"I don't need your help," Gloria replies dismissively. Sadri snorts in disgust, pushes away from the table and walks out.

"Gloria..." I sigh.

"There is a strange woman in my house and before you say 'but you invited her', please recall that she is at my doorstep because of a decision you made," Gloria regards me icily.

"You are right; I apologize for the inconvenience," I look down at my feet. "I will have a solution by tomorrow." I am not going to get in a fight over her discomfort right now. She's pissed for a number of reasons and it is going to take time for me to deal with each one.

I hear Sadri cut the TV on so I migrate out there to try and put my mind somewhere else than here. Behind me I hear the water come on in the sink. Two minutes into channel surfing Sadri stands up.

"I'm going to get something to drink," she tells me. "Can I get you anything?"

"No," respond softly. I need to bury my head in a pillow and get some sleep so I can figure a way out of this cluster-fuck. Sadri goes into the kitchen, opens the refrigerator and get something out.

"Gloria..." Sadri starts. I hope I don't regret eavesdropping.

"Mrs. Hardison," Gloria corrects her.

"Mrs. Hardison, show some damn mercy," Sadri growls.

"It is not your place to speak on this matter unless you are confessing to me you have some affection toward Eddie," Gloria reposes.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't mind developing something with Eddie," Sadri admits, "but he's more of a fixer-upper boyfriend than someone who sweeps you off your feet. It doesn't matter because he's crazy-mad for you and no one else."

"I do not recall asking your assessment of Eddie's relationship with me," Gloria states.

"What do you have on him?" I can hear Sadri's anger rise. "As horrible person as you are, as kind as Eddie is; I can't understand how Eddie isn't staring down the bottom of a bottle as cruelly as you've been treating him. Show an ounce of human compassion and let him go." The dishwashing stops and I have little doubt Gloria has turned to face Sadri.

"What we have together is not your concern," Gloria growls. "I certainly didn't hold anything over his head when he chose a relationship with me. I tried to drive him away but he wouldn't accept my insistence...sort of like you."

"Young, vital people go after things they want and aren't easily discouraged," Sadri remarks snidely. "Only when you get...older...do you become more bitter and vindictive."

Yeah, bringing up the age difference is not going to help either Sadri or me.

"He is free to leave whenever he likes," Gloria bristles, which is the problem...she thinks I can leave her at a moment's notice. That terrifies her with a child on the way.

"Seriously expect me to believe that? You have the emotional warmth of a hedgehog and the sex can't be that good with a brittle, corrosive ice queen like you," Sadri taunts.

"I've never had him complain," Gloria snarls.

"I bet you haven't," Sadri's tone shifted to warmth and compassion. "He's crazy for you Gloria and I'm not running a game on you. He loves you, you occasionally make him happy and I'm pretty sure he took a stabbing and a bullet for you. Yes, he's a fuck-up on occasion but you are never going to find that level of devotion to you, body and soul, for as long as you live."

"Mrs. Hardison," Gloria responds but she knows she's been out maneuvered. Sadri is manipulating Gloria on my behalf...which is why she lured Gloria to Sadri's place to support her story then lets her challenge Gloria's and my relationship.

"Mrs. Hardison, one day some manipulative bitch is going to trick him and pry him away using his pain you cause him," Sadri continues. "He'll hate himself when he wakes up but that won't do either of you any good."

"If he's going to betray me, why would I want him in my life?" Gloria inquires.

"Ummm...in my experience and that of my Mother, it is up to women to keep the men in line," Sadri sighs in an exasperated manner.

"Maybe in India," Gloria shakes her head (I imagine), "but not here."

"Mrs. Hardison, can you really imagine Eddie taking care of himself? He's a sweet guy and he means well...and apparently he's an excellent lover but do you think what a disaster his life would be without you?" Sadri prods.

"Eddie is quite capable, as are you, Ms. Gupta and it is not lost on me that you two make a great team," Gloria notes. "It is also not lost on me that my people are more productive when they work with Eddie."

"Eddie receives five times as many e-mails and tweets than I do," Sadri chuckles. "People are always asking him for favors and he always tries his hardest to help. The trade off to his immediate loss of productivity is that Eddie gets other workers to help him out when he needs it. He is really a good guy and I'm not alone in thinking that. Give him another chance."

"Ms. Gupta...Sadri, do you really believe I wasn't aware of Eddie's potential when I gave him this project?" Gloria informs her. "His lack of punctuality and his laze faire attitude toward his work environment were major stumbling blocks for me to deal with but when I looked to his finer qualities I...I learned to trust him with things he was good at."

"Does he trust you?" Sadri asked softly, realizing a crucial moment was upon us all.

"It isn't that simple," Gloria states, then, "why do you feel the need to talk about this with me? I would think that you would want to deepen the rift between Eddie and me so you could have him for your own."

"There is no chance of that Mrs. Hardison," Sadri says, "As I said, he's madly in love with you. If all I can be is his friend, I'm going to be the best friend I can be for him."

"Very well; tonight and tomorrow Gloria will suffice," my girl allows. "Why are you talking about this anyway?"

"Do you have any lady friends -- sisters, a mother, women you know from college - if they haven't gone extinct with the rest of the dinosaurs?" Sadri teases. By the silence I can tell Gloria is teetering on rejecting this whole advancement.

"Eddie made the same erroneous assumption," Gloria muses. "I have never needed friends; I have the job...and now Eddie, but I imagine you are referring to someone I can talk over 'women's issues' with. The answer is: no, I don't."

"I would rather put my hand in a bag filled with rabid rats and the spiciest curry than befriend you Gloria," Sadri taunts, "but I know that if Eddie gets mopey at work I'll have to pick up his slack."

"He'll accomplish his task no matter what," Gloria counters, "He never lets..." she doesn't finish the sentence. She was about to say 'he never lets me down' and she knows it.

"What I am trying to say is that, to me, Eddie is worth bathing in your abrasive as all-crap personality -- if you are willing to put up with my clever irreverence," Sadri smiles.

"Your insubordinate attitude was holding you back and it was only Eddie's charm that made me assign you to him. You are one of the best in the field in software but most of your previous co-workers were very unimpressed with your cooperative skill sets," Gloria reposes.

"I think we can both agree that neither one of us would help the other off the train tracks if Eddie wasn't around, but will you bend a bit to stop dropping all your pent-up emotional baggage on him alone?" Sadri keeps going. "Trust me, when you mention 'spotting' or cramps that hundredth time he's bailing out the window. He's a man; it is how they keep sane."

Gloria remains quiet as Sadri gets the longest drink of water in the history of kitchenettes everywhere.

"I would be remiss to disregard your proposal on strictly emotional grounds," Gloria accepts being outmaneuvered a tad more graciously than expected. I would almost swear she's trying to make me happy. After that, the rest of the evening is gravy.

(Around Midnight)

I wake up to find her standing over me. Gloria has waited for me to stir so she can sit down at my hip. She ghostly glides down, her silky, mid-calf robe parting to reveal everything up to her thigh right below the panty line. She is working something over desperately in her mind.

"Eddie, if I asked -- asked you -- to leave me would you?" she manages to say once she's re-established eye contact.

I have to sit up until our faces are only inches apart. I want to growl at her that I'll never leave her but that is something my soul rebels against. It is something you can't explain to someone who hasn't been in love. My eyes tear up; one rivets down my left and one follows another down the right. I hate it; not because of the macho factor but because I want to be strong for Gloria.

"Yes," I say with a far steadier voice than I imagine I could muster.

"Why?" she comes right at me before I can recover. I don't have time to think of the 'perfect' words that will make this alright.

"I love you. I love you so much that I want to do whatever it takes to make you happy," I relate.

"What of our child?" she continues barely above a whisper.

"What life is our child going to have if I make you unhappy Gloria? I will figure out some way to touch their life," I sigh, "but your happiness always comes first."

"How do you justify..." she lets hang out there. That memory -- that desk -- making her go back to that place in her mind where she was raped.

"You were taking our child because you were afraid of what I represented and you weren't giving me a chance to be a true mate for you. I am not 'that guy'," by which I meant her old boss, Mr. Vance, "or your former husband who didn't try to understand you when you were in trouble. I'm Eddie Duarte, I'm not the best guy who has ever walked the planet but I think I'm the best man for you and I'll do whatever you want if it is only for you and our child."

"You look positively miserable," Gloria has this haunted look but still manages a slip of a smile aimed my way.

"That would be reality crashing in on me," I confide in her. "It is one thing to say 'I love you' but another to think I'll next see you in the Delivery Room." Gloria blinks then nods.

"That won't be a problem Eddie," she murmurs, "unless you get lost in the parking lot."

We hug each other and I can't imagine she's ever felt better in my arms.

"Gloria?"

"Yes Eddie," she starts nibbling my neck just above my shirt collar.

"You had better tell the onboard navigation system where to go because I have no idea how I got to the last hospital I was in and the one previous to that rated emergency room service on the caliber of your gunshot wound," I tease. She pulls back far enough to thump my forehead with her forefinger.

"Would it kill you to allow me one romantic moment Eddie," she looks longingly at me. I just hug her gently and keep quiet. I let her set the tempo as she hugs me back and kiss the other side of my neck. I rubbed circles over her robe and short back nightgown with this lacy pink trim. Gloria slowly bares me down on the sofa, her legs straddling my body as Gloria unties her sash.

"Please," Sadri yawned from the entranceway, "go upstairs. Watching sofa-sex was painful enough in college -- you two need to grow up." Gloria shoots up and glares at the intruder. "Honestly Gloria, when a girl sneaks downstairs to where a guy is trying to sleep, it rarely ends in a poetry reading," Sadri yawns again.

"We were not going to have sex," Gloria insists.

"Sure," Sadri sighs, "but would you two go up to your room, or he can go to my room, but I'm going to stay on the sofa because I'd like to get some sleep tonight and I'm terrified one of you is a screamer."

"Sadri..." Gloria begins to growl.

"Stop Gloria," I sit up, "we are going upstairs and going to bed. I've missed you -- am I clear?"

Gloria turns on me and tries to formulate an angry reply but I stop her with a deep kiss and deftly grab her right hand and use it to stroke the bulge in my pajama bottoms. "I want you," I whisper, "in case there was ever a doubt."

"Eddie, you are very crude," Gloria purrs, protesting but far from angry.

I am maneuvering my lady around both the sofa and Sadri when my work-partner speaks.

"Congratulations Gloria and Eddie," she teases.

"What are you...?" Gloria recovers flawlessly.

"You have cotton balls on top of your tampons Gloria," Sadri announces decisively and with the tension that rolls through Gloria, Sadri's evidence is incontrovertible. "I was looking for your rubbing alcohol and there it was -- so why wasn't my buddy wearing a raincoat?"

"We are not having this discussion," I tell Sadri but I give her a wink as I lead Gloria past and toward the stairs.

Gloria does a quick glance then sprints for the top with me grabbing her waist as we round the turn at the stop of the stairs -- she's tired and I'm horny. By the look Sadri gives me, she's both disturbed and aroused. She likes me but this is the woman she hatefully calls The Bitch and Gloria's acting like a sex kitten -- the inexperienced mind boggles.

The final rush to the bed is a twist of hands running over one another's bodies, her robe slipping to the floor and my shirt being violently yanked off over my head. Gloria tumbles back on the bed looking terribly hungry for me and I...hesitate. I hover there, worried and uncertain. Gloria's eyes follow mine and came to rest on her form, with a tiny bit more weight. She wonders if that turns me off but it turns out she knows me better than my words can express.

"I'm not porcelain Eddie," Gloria gives a deep, throaty laugh. "You can jump on me and the baby will be just fine." With obvious relief, I fall on her, kissing and sighing with relief while she wriggles beneath me. As normal, we struggle to determine who will be on top. I announce that she has a 'baby handicap'. She laughs, fails to deny it then uses it against me to seize her cowgirl status.

"I am on top," she trumpets. "You had better get used to the view." The look on my face must be priceless because Gloria becomes all misty-eyed as she pulls off her slip-like nightgown and tosses it somewhere near the head of the bed -- those magnificent breasts, already swelling up with milk, or so it seems. She leans down and dangles them each in turn into my slurping mouth.

"You are so very hungry tonight Eddie," Gloria moans. She becomes even more excited when after much wandering; I slip both hands under her panties and grips two handfuls off ass. Gloria playfully grinds against my pj bottoms as my hands go lower. When my handholds feel difficult, she pushes herself up my body. Her tight, pointy nipples now brush my eyes but I can circle two fingers of my left hand around her anus and rub three from my right hand along her swollen, drenched lips.

"Clothes," Gloria whispers and like a well-oiled machine, I scoot to my right and the foot of the bed while Gloria rolls onto her side to my left. Her panties languidly descended down her smooth thighs, calves, ankles and finally the feet. My bottoms fly off my body as if they are on fire. Gloria's eyes light up and laugh at me, but it is a playful flame of heat, hunger and warmth and she holds no condemnation for my wild desire for her.

I knee-walk up the bed towards her as Gloria twists her body until her head is almost on a pillow. I grab her left knee and push it onto the bed then place a hand to do the same to her right thigh.

"No you don't," Gloria challenges me. "I am doing more than watching you make me writhe and orgasm on this bed while you have all the fun. Come up here." I opt for a compromise because I feel parched without her juices on my tongue and going down my throat.

I start moving and by the way Gloria is soon running her hands down my ribs to my waist and finally grasping my buttocks before taking the top of my cock into her sweet lips and steamy mouth. I am busy fulfilling my promise to slake my thirst. By the sounds of Gloria's labored breathing, I am making her terribly happy too. With Gloria though, it is never as easy as it should be.

"Eddie -- mmph -- mmph -- what do you think about a limited time window -- mmm -- mmph -- for internet porn at work? What would it do for productivity?" Gloria mouths her thoughts around her fellatio technique.

"Mmmm -- slurp, slurp -- I think having a -- lap, lap, lap, slurp -- free internet Thursdays -- yum-yum, lap -- give each section a thirty -- slurp, tongue-waggle -- minute window and we can ramp up -- slurp -- mmmm -- security and create a -- mmm, lap, lap, slurp -- blind data engine to keep track of the sites -- yum, slurp, lap, lap -- but keep the identity's of the users safe," I gasp out before returning to work.

We are getting a good rhythm where one of us is vitally active while the other keeps their partner's sex humming along. I feel good about getting her to climax first; she's come so far since that first awkward time but I'm still an inch more comfortable with my sexuality. I hear that as a woman advances in her pregnancy she becomes more sexually aggressive and demanding; I'm in trouble.

She surprises me by pinching off the base of my penis before I can ejaculate. She goes back to a strict hand job that gets my attention.

"This does not count as working lunch though I am giving serious consideration to your suggestion," Gloria smiles wickedly.

"Wait -- did you just make a work-related joke?" I babble. Gloria doesn't answer; she doesn't have to.

"You don't think I can add levity to our relationship?" Gloria studies me seriously. She shows me how seriously when she bares her teeth and puts my cockhead between the upper and lower set. I am not in pain -- yet.

"You are a laugh riot," I stammer -- the wrong thing to say as those teeth bite down painfully. "I only want to make you feel as wonderful as you make me," I try next -- the right answer.

"I believe you Eddie," Gloria purrs, "now get up here and let me give you your reward." I let Gloria set me where she wants because I'm on my back with several pillows propping up my head and shoulders. I'm thinking a low, gentle ride with her breast in my mouth once more. The moment she pours the thick oil on my penis I know what Gloria's plan is.

It shouldn't be a surprise, she can masturbate but since she's uncomfortable with sexual toys, she won't engage with anal stimulation. That is something she enjoyed when she was back in college and she had rediscovered that joy with me, despite my own inexperience. I am still rather indifferent about anal plundering because Gloria's womb felt so good to me but I am more than happy to do the things that make Gloria glow. Of course I'm still a young man.

"We are not going to -- you know -- I don't want to hit his head or something like that," I worry.

"Stop!" Gloria demands, "You are not a doctor or even a life science major. I talk to the OBGYN and -- next time Eddie you can come with me," she suddenly inserts. Maybe she's worked this shared responsibility in her head and maybe this is the hormones talking. "I have actually asked what acts and positions are allowed and the best."