A Friend's Love Ch. 03

"Tell me what?" Ryan questioned.

"She finally dumped Tim and ended up moving back home," James stated happily.

"She did?" Ryan asked confused.

'The fuck?!?' He thought, 'Damn!'

"Yeah," James replied, "This was about a month or so ago. She said she found out he was cheating on her so she left him. Apparently, he's been trying to call and text her repeatedly so she had to block his number. But yeah, she's back at home until she finds an apartment she wants."

"Damn dude, you were right," Ryan said nodding in agreement.

Ryan recalled the last conversation he had with Jessica. Him telling her that Tim was always a piece of shit; well that finally came to fruition for Jessica. He felt bad for her that she had to go through that with Tim. Even though he knew Tim was a dick, he knew Jessica liked him and cheating is never an easy pill to swallow.

"Yeah man," James said, "She wasn't all that torn up about it though. She moped around for a couple days, but then she chippered up and she and I finally settled our shit and we're pretty good now!"

"Well, I'm glad you two are reconnected again!" Ryan exclaimed, "What's she been up to since that happened?"

"Mostly she's been working a lot," James replied, "Then when she's home, she's usually in her room watching movies or reading."

"Oh did she pick back up on the book series she liked?" Ryan asked, "The Vampire Chronicles books?"

Ryan remembered how she loved reading about Lestat the Vampire and his exploits from her favorite author.

"No, she's been reading a bunch of letters," James said.

Ryan looked at James confused, thinking that they very well might be his letters.

"What letters?" Ryan asked nonchalantly.

"She has this box full of fucking envelopes," he chuckled, "She won't let me read them, but she opens up a few each night and reads them. Between you and I, I think they might be from Tim, but as I said, she doesn't let me see them."

Ryan knew that they were his letters. She was taking his advice and started to read his letters after she and Tim were through. He didn't know if he and Jessica would ever reconnect, or if they would ever talk again, but he knew that she would at least know he never forgot about her. His feelings for her were just as strong as the day he left for college, but he didn't want to contact her and make things between them any worse than they already were.

"Damn," Ryan said, "Well that's good she's taking it all pretty well then."

"She told me you came and saw her a few months back," James diverted.

"Yeah, I went and said hi," Ryan replied casually, not wanting to tell James about his and Jessica's fight.

"She told me you two got into it a little bit..." James looked at Ryan with a knowing expression.

"Yeah..." Ryan hesitated, "We got into a bit of a pissing match, to say the least. We haven't really talked since."

"Jesus Christ, Ryan..." James paused, shaking his head and looking at Ryan intently, "I swear to god you two are the most fucking stubborn people I know. I admire that about you and my daughter because it's made you both successful, individually. But fuck man...you two need to just hash it out and put whatever is behind you...behind you!"

"I know, James," Ryan nodded in agreement, "I'll let her fully heal from Tim before I contact her and open up the friend wound though."

"If that didn't sounds so fucking corny, I'd say that's a polite gesture," James laughed then finished his beer, "Well, kid...I'm going to get an Uber back to the hotel. I know the ladies at the table behind you have been walking by and staring at you. So I suggest you take them out on the dance floor."

"Oh really?" Ryan asked with excitement as he turned around to see the women.

Once he turned, he saw three gorgeous blonde women with the iconic tight plaid crop-top shirts, daisy dukes, and cowgirl boots on.

Ryan turned back calmly and looked at James, a smile forming across his face, "God damn I love the south! Yeah, I'm staying here a little bit longer."

"Okay, son," James stood up from their table laughing, "You have yourself some fun, but remember we're leaving the hotel at nine in the morning so we can make our flight. "

"Oh I'll wake up in time," Ryan laughed back, "But I can't promise one of those women won't be waking up with me..."

"Yeah yeah you buff douchebag," James chuckled as he started to walk toward the door, "Enjoy yourself!"

Ryan watched his partner leave the bar and finished his beer. He sat there, enjoying the flavor as it washed across his tongue. He was looking at the bottle, studying it, or that's what it looked like what he was doing. He was actually thinking about Jessica, how she finally realized that he and her father were right about Tim.

But what really captivated his brain was that she was reading through his letters. He loved that she didn't just throw them out when he left her house that day. He also loved that she was apparently only reading a few of them per day rather than all of them at once. He really felt like he might be able to, at the very least, get his best friend back in his life finally.

He still harbored serious feelings for Jessica, but at the end of the day, he just wanted his friend back into his life more than any of the other feelings. He missed her; he missed his 'ride or die' friend that he could confide in about anything.

"Excuse me," Ryan's thoughts were interrupted by one of the three blondes from the other table behind him, all three of them were standing at the side of his table while the lady up front spoke with a slight accent, "I just wanted to let you know that the three of us saw you when you came in here and we noticed you haven't been in here before, are you a local?"

"Ahh," Ryan stammered for a second, being caught off guard by the southern belle standing in front of him, "No ma'am I'm not. I'm just here for the night on business, I live in Las Vegas."

Ryan quickly put the thoughts of Jessica in the back of his head. He knew he would handle the situation when he would get back to Vegas, so there was no need to continuously dwell on the subject, at least, not when there is decent company to keep your mind off of such things.

"Las Vegas huh?" She asked, "Do they have any line dancing or two-stepping bars out there?"

"Yes ma'am they do," Ryan smiled at her, "We have two big ones that I go to all the time."

"So you're good on your feet?" She asked with a sweet smile.

"And off of them..." Ryan winked back at her, causing her to flush a little bit.

"Well then," she held out her hand, pulling him to his feet, "Let's see what you got, Red Neck Angel is next up! I'm Katrina, by the way, this is Jade and that's Katie."

"Perfect!" Ryan exclaimed, smiling at all three women, "I love Red Neck Angel, oh, and hi ladies, I'm Ryan."

..........

Ryan finally turned off his computer in his office. After running through the scripts for some of their clients' projects, he leaned back in his office chair and just stared around the room. He looked at his large office that was once his father's, seeing all of the old artwork that he left up from before along with some new decorative pieces he had put up.

He smiled silently as memories of him visiting his dad at work ran through his head. Remembering the times he and Jessica would run through the halls between her and his dads' offices while they worked. He still couldn't believe that he was now running the business as his dad once did; it was all too surreal to him.

He was elated that he took the reigns rather well with the company. Having solidified so many contracts, including the one in Texas just a week prior, he knew the outlook for the company under his and James' ownership was looking quite promising.

He turned and looked at the giant clock on the wall and saw the time.

"Jesus Christ!" he said to himself, "It's already nine o'clock? Fuck, I need a shower...I need a drink, then I need a shower!"

He grabbed his backpack and headed out of his office. As he made his way down the elevator and out the door, he noticed another car still parked in the parking lot near his. The hood was popped open and a person was looking down at the engine.

"Excuse me," Ryan said to the shadowed figure, "Having some car trouble?"

"Oh hey, Ryan," Emily popped her head up from under the hood, "Yeah, I think it might be a dead battery. Well, it might be, I mean, I just bought a new battery last year so I don't know."

Ryan looked at Emily for a second, her red hair tied up into a bun and her blouse and pinstriped skirt gripping her curves tightly. She was always gorgeous to Ryan from when he first met her when he was a freshman in high school till even now.

"Oh hey, Emily," Ryan smiled, "Let me pull my car around and we can try and jumpstart it!"

"Oh my god, thank you," Emily exclaimed, "I was going to call a friend to come to jump it, I didn't think anyone else was still here and I didn't want to bother you."

"No bother at all," Ryan smiled, "I'll pull it around now."

Ryan grabbed his car and pulled it in front of Emily's. He attached the cables, started his car, and had Emily try to start hers. There was nothing but the clicking of the car trying to start.

"You know," Ryan said as he got out of his car, "It might not be the battery, it's probably the starter."

"Dammit," she replied, "I take it I'm going to need a tow huh?"

"Not at all," Ryan chuckled, "I can drive you home tonight and I'll take you to get a starter tomorrow. I can put it in for you tomorrow, I'll bring my tools and install it!"

"You know how to do that?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Ryan smiled, "I used to work on my dad's cars all the time when I was a kid, and a starter isn't too hard to replace."

"Thank you, Ryan," Emily gave him a hug, "I know it's not professional to hug your boss, but thank you for doing helping me out."

"Of course Emily," Ryan said, feeling the tall, curvy woman hugging him, "Let's get you home."

Ryan and Emily headed to her house, as she gave him directions along the way. They started to talk a little more as the drive was a little lengthy.

"So I heard you got your new house," she looked over at Ryan.

"Yeah!" He spoke happily, "Just finished having it all furnished and decorated how I wanted it. I'm thinking of talking to James and having the annual Christmas Party at my place, it'll be a better spot to have it than the office!"

"Oh that would be awesome," she smiled, "I'm sure it's gorgeous!"

"I don't want to gloat," Ryan chuckled, "But I think it's really nice."

"Well with what you're making," she giggled, "I'm sure it's very pretty!"

"How do you know what I make?" Ryan sarcastically asked.

"You do know I'm not just the front desk receptionist right?" She asked back.

"I knew you had other titles," Ryan said wondering, "But I haven't looked really into what they are."

"I also manage your Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Payroll departments as well," Emily stated as a matter of fact.

"Oh, no shit?" Ryan replied, catching his language, "Sorry, I know it's not professional to use that language around an employee, let alone a woman. I just didn't know you did that much for our company!"

"Ryan," she laughed, "You don't need to worry about professionalism with me out of the office. Words are just words, fuck, shit, bitch, cunt, ass, I don't give a shit what you say or do when we aren't in the office. Work stays at work, we all have our own personal lives and characteristics." She giggled some more, "But yeah, I just sit at the receptionist spot for the rare occurrence we have someone visiting the company or if someone has an appointment."

Ryan was thrown off by her language, but in an oddly calming way. He realized that she really didn't care about bosses staying bosses and employees staying employees out of the office.

"Oh okay," Ryan laughed, "So James and I land the deals and run the operations, the other employees do the work we need, and you are the one keeping the company up and running smoothly behind the curtain pretty much."

"Shit dude," she smiled, "I run the actual company more than you and James do! You two manage the front end of the company, and I run the back end making sure we all make and spend our money properly!"

"Damn," he said shocked, "Well I hope we keep you with the company for a long time then!"

"Oh I'm not going anywhere," she smiled, "You and James pay me well enough to not want to look for anything else."

"Good," Ryan replied, "Let us know if you do start to look for any other positions. If you do decide you want to see your options, James and I would be happy to help."

"Oh, you're trying to kick me out, huh?" Emily joked.

"God no!" Ryan exclaimed nervously, "We want you with us as long as possible. But as your employers and managers technically, we should always want the best for our employees...even if that means helping them find other forms of employment if they want a different direction of career growth."

"Ryan," she replied giggling, "I'm just fucking with you. I know you and James have my back! My house is right up there on the right."

Ryan pulled into the driveway of a rather large house.

"Damn," Ryan laughed looking at the big two-story home, "We must be paying you pretty fucking well!"

"Excuse me, Mr. Taylor," Emily laughed, "That's not a professional way to talk to your subordinate."

Ryan shot her a light smirk with his eyebrow raised in a sardonic sense.

"Hey," Emily paused, "Would you like to come in for a drink?"

Ryan looked over at her again and saw something a little different in Emily's eyes.

"I don't think I should," Ryan shot Emily a smirk.

"Oh come on..." She said as she started to get out of the car, giving him a perfect view of her ass in that skirt, "I won't hurt ya!"

Ryan thought to himself if it was a good idea that he goes with Emily. On one hand, he was very attracted to her, she had a beautiful body and that red hair was always a turn-on to him with her. He knew nothing would probably happen but on the off chance that it did, he knew she understood being professional and personal are for two different times and places.

"Fuck it..." she said as he turned off his car and started to get out, "It's been a long day...I could go for a drink!"

"Perfect!" Emily smiled with a little seductive grin, "Come on in and get your mind off work!"

Ryan followed Emily up the driveway and to the front door, watching her hips sashay from side to side as her high heels clicked against the glossy concrete.

As she opened the door, Ryan was ambushed by two Pitbulls that had to have weighed at least 110 pounds each.

"Max! Tank! Dammit!" Emily shouted at her dogs.

They ran past Emily and right up to Ryan where he started to love on them as they sniffed his shoes and pants.

"I'm sorry about that, they are super friendly but they like to really get up on you when they say hi," Emily stated apologetically.

Ryan, who was already dropping down to one knee to love on the dogs even more, laughed up at her, "Oh it's perfectly fine! I love Pits!"

"Really?" She questioned, "You weren't intimidated by them?"

"I mean," Ryan paused as he stood back up, "They are big pups, but Pits are just big babies! They just want all the love and affection they can snag from people!"

"Oh good," Emily chuckled, "I'm glad my guard dogs don't phase you!"

Then she looked back down to her dogs that were now sitting at Ryan's feet. "Max, Tank, let's go out back!"

The dogs immediately left Ryan and Emily and raced through the house to the back of the house.

"Come on in," she smiled, "Kick your shoes off at the door and make yourself comfortable!'

Ryan followed her into the house and through to the back of the house that had a very nice sized kitchen and living room. Emily opened her sliding glass back door and let the dogs run outside before closing it again.

"There we go," she giggled, "Let them run around outback for a little while so we won't be bothered!"

"You have a beautiful home," Ryan said, looking around at the nice décor and furniture Emily had in the house. He noticed all of the custom water-colored artwork on the walls showed images of bodies together in different positions, different sexual positions to be more specific. No defined body parts were visible from the angles, but they were definitely paintings of sex. "Very sexual, but beautiful home," he chuckled.

"Oh thank you," Emily smiled at him genuinely, "I had these made off of some pictures I had taken years ago!"

"Wait," Ryan paused, broadly glancing around at the images, "These are of you?"

Emily laughed a little bit before answering. "Yeah," she paused, "I had a wild young adult life and I ended up moving to California and tried to get into the adult film industry while I was getting my degree in business."

Ryan looked at her with an enlightened and shocked look on his face.

"Buuuuut," she smilingly elaborated, "I realized I actually fucking hated the industry and needed to get the hell out of it. So I moved back home, finished my degree, and then starting working for your dad and James. They knew about my history when I talked about it in my interview for past employment. They just laughed and looked past it. I'm really lucky they didn't turn me away because everyone else did! Then the rest is history so far..."

"Sooooo," Ryan replied with his eyebrow raised in curiosity, "These are stills from your old videos then?"

Emily smiled, "Yeah, I had the stills printed and then had a local artist paint them in the watercolor style for my artwork."

"I really like them!" Ryan said a little too excitedly.

Emily shot him a playfully seductive look.

"I mean," he stammered, "I think they're done really well. Sexy and classy at the same time."

Ryan's face blushed a little bit. He actually really did like the paintings on the walls. He thought Emily had a sexy body and seeing pictures of her in sexual acts really turned him on.

"Tell you what," Emily stated boldly, causing Ryan to pull his near drooling gaze from the photos and back at her, "My bar is in the other room right there, why don't you pour us a drink while I go take my contacts out and then you can tell me which picture is your favorite."

"Oh, okay," Ryan said as he looked back to the room with the bar in it, "What do you want to drink?"

"Just pour me some Grey Goose, straight," she replied as she made her way to her stairwell.

Ryan made his way to Emily's bar and poured her Grey Goose and fixed himself a glass of Aberlour 12 Year. He was shocked she had that in her bar since it was more of a specialty Scotch.

He walked around the rooms, sipping on his drink, and looking at the paintings on the wall. One painting showed a backside photo of her riding someone in cowgirl on a couch. Another painting showed an areal picture of her underneath someone in missionary, her arms wrapped around his back. Finally, the one he liked the most, the last one he walked up to, was a side picture of her in doggy-style, with her back really arched and a guy pressed up behind her ass. This one showed her face smiling, looking back at the man while he had ahold of a leash that was around her neck.

Ryan was staring at it intently, trying to actually look at the art of it, but he couldn't stop imagining that picture if he were in it. If he was pressed behind her like that. The mental imagery that was rushing through his brain caused him to grow downstairs as it was heavily turning him on.

Ryan heard Emily coming back downstairs, hearing the click-clack sound of her high heels on the hardwood of each step.

"You know," Ryan paused, still looking at the painting and trying to sound academically inclined to only the art, "I think this one is the best. It actually captures a lot of the emotion and lust behind the picture itself. The angle is perfect also!"