Black Valentine's Day

"Uh-huh, sure," he chuckled.

"In the meantime, how about you?"

"Have you recovered enough?"

"Absolutely and..."

Before she got another word out she realized his erection nestled at her pelvis. She figured he must have pulled down his pants when she was passed out. She reached down, pulled him to her and aimed his wonderful cock between her lips. Within seconds he was pounding and thrusting deeply, filling her, stretching her, stimulating her entire opening with his rampart cock. And in spite of having had a fabulous orgasm, she felt herself rushing towards another as his speed increased and thrusting deepened. For the second time in a few minutes, she exploded, moaning and clawing at him as her brain was overwhelmed with wild sensations of pleasure. In the vague recesses of her mind, she was aware he must have climaxed as he collapsed on her, his weight pressing her into the mattress and his gasping breath blowing in her ear.

They lay there recovering for a few minutes before he rolled off and stretched out beside her. He took off his condom (When did he even put it on? she wondered), pulled her up to his shoulder and rested his arms around her. As he gently stroked her back and lightly kissed her messy-haired head, she realized she was about to cry! She was so happy, so sexually satisfied and felt so close to Connor but she also had the fear her feelings were not reciprocated. He was an attentive and giving lover, handsome, a great business partner, a fun person to be with and the list went on and on, yet she never felt her feelings were mirrored in him. She had fallen in love with him, that was certain, however she was afraid to tell him lest it would scare him away. Oh, how she wanted to hear those three little words from his lips but she was fearful he couldn't open himself up to new love as long as that woman or the horrible thing she'd done was still in his mind.

And so, the tears silently slid down her cheeks before dropping to his chest and she sniffled as her nose began to run. It was so embarrassing to be crying after such a wonderful evening of sex and she knew it must be upsetting to him. After a particularly big sniff, his hand stopped stroking her back and he cleared his throat. 'Here it comes,' she thought to herself.

"You OK?" he whispered.

"Umm-hmm," she lied.

"Why the tears?"

Her mind raced. What could she say? Eventually, a plausible little fib formed in her mind. "Uh, I can sometimes cry when I'm majorly happy," she sniffed again.

"Glad to hear you're happy. I know I am."

Happy? Did he tell her he was happy? Was that the first break in the wall around his heart or was he just talking? The mental battle raged on and on as she tried to figure him out, figure them out and figure out if they had a future together. Oh, how she wanted that future but when would he see it? When would he admit it, if ever?

Before she knew it, after a night of wild dreams and even some nightmares, she woke with Connor curled up next to her. His arms felt so good, so reassuring, so protective. Glancing at the clock, she realized she had overslept. She slipped out of bed, pulled on her clothes and quietly left his apartment. At her own place, she quickly showered and dressed before walking downstairs to open the shop. In no time at all customers flooded the shop and drove the thoughts of self-doubt and worry from her mind.

The day was very busy, even for a Monday and before she knew it Connor arrived, put up the room barrier and opened the bar. He wandered over, asked for a latte and gave her a little hug in thanks, the first time he had ever hugged her openly at their business. That tiny hug was all it took to spin her mind back into her 'worry mode.' Was he being nice or did it mean something more? Was he thinking of her as a girlfriend or as a lover or was it only an acknowledgement of their wonderful night together? Did he like her, no, did he love her or was he still hung up on that woman, whoever she was, who hurt him back then?

The only thing to buoy her thoughts was the arrival of two flower bouquets, each with a red, heart-shaped balloon, her decorations for Valentine's Day which was two days hence. The arrangements were lovely, the roses gave off a pungent, sweet smell and the balloons featured 'I LUV U' sayings in lacy script. Several customers complimented her on the flowers, something which helped ease her mind for the rest of her shift.

She gave Connor a little squeeze on his arm when she left in the afternoon and by that evening was exhausted. After texting Connor 'Good night,' she collapsed into bed. The following day was much like the previous. Her assistant Shelly was taking a few days off to be with her boyfriend and wasn't due to come in until Thursday, leaving Ashley to shoulder the entire burden. It was amazing how quickly she'd come to depend on Shelly and how tiring it was working without her.

When Connor came in to open up the bar, he slid over to her and gave her a little hug. "You hanging in there?"

"Uh-huh. Miss Shelly, though."

"I bet. Anything I can do to help?"

"Bring me a case of cups with lids and give me another hug, please."

After he brought the cups, he nodded to the next customer and said, "You'll need to stall the ball, but this youngwan requested a hug on this busy morn, so give us a few." He wrapped his arms around her, gave her a squeeze and a tiny kiss on the top of her head before turning back to the bar.

"Oooh, I think he likes you," a teen-aged girl laughed.

With a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, Ashley answered, "Yeah, maybe he does. Now what'll it be?"

While Ashley prepared the drink, the girl commented about the flowers and asked, "So, is he your Valentine?"

"Ahh, we're business partners, you know, he runs the bar and I run this stand. Good friends, yeah, but no, not Valentines."

"Oh. I thought I saw something in his eyes when he hugged you. My bad." She thanked Ashley before turning to the door.

The brief conversation set up a new round of worry, doubt and anxiety. Once things tapered off right after lunch, Ashley shut down the stand early and fled to her apartment. She still had some paperwork to do and orders to place but it was easier to do them in the privacy of her place where her tears wouldn't be witnessed by anyone, particularly Connor. Late that evening she received a text from Connor telling her he was busy and wished her a good night.

On the fourteenth she woke up early. As she grabbed a bite to eat, she decided she wanted to celebrate the holiday. Maybe it would be Black Valentine's that evening in the bar but it would be red, white and pink Valentine's at the espresso stand while she was still there. After a quick shower she pulled on some slinky, sexy red underwear and instead of wearing the usual smock and apron, she decided to dress up. Damn it, she wanted to feel sexy and look sexy no matter what would happen later in the day at the bar. She chose a blood-red, off the shoulder, long dress with a slit up to her thigh. Once it was out of the plastic carrying bag, she quickly ironed it before pulling it on. When she looked in the mirror, she liked what she saw; a decent looking woman in her mid-twenties sporting a messy bun of brunette hair. The dress fit her snugly but she knew there was still a risk of a wardrobe malfunction so she scurried around until she found some double-sided tape to help keep the top snug against her chest. With her heart pounding double-time, she slipped out of her apartment and rode the elevator downstairs.

She opened the front door to let the first few customers in. Before long she was as busy as ever and even forgot about her dress until customers complimented her on it.

"Ooh, sexy lady on Valentine's!" "Nice dress. Nice dress. You aiming to reel someone in with it?" "Who's the lucky guy?"

She smiled and thanked everyone but told them it was to celebrate the holiday and wasn't meant to 'get a guy.' But at ten am when Connor came in, she immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere. As a few customers who were talking dropped their voices, she turned to see him. He was wearing his usual attire, nothing special, but there was something extra sexy about him, something she couldn't quite figure out. "Maybe I've got Valentine's on my mind. He looks like he always does," she scolded herself.

Connor came over, poured himself a coffee as she was serving her next customer, gave her a small one-armed hug and spoke softly to her, "You are gorgeous. Happy Valentine's," as he dropped a foil-wrapped chocolate Kiss on top of her espresso machine.

"Thank you. Thought I'd do a little celebrating for my customers before Black Valentine's starts."

"I know you must be unhappy about it but I'm sorry, I have a tradition and an obligation to my customers tonight."

"I get it, Connor, honestly, I do," she sniffed with tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. Here it was Valentine's, a day of love, and it seemed he was ignoring the whole meaning of the day. After his little hug, he straightened up and went back to the 'bar' side of the room to start prepping for his day.

As the chocolate Kiss melted into a formless blob on top of the warm espresso machine, her mood seemed to melt as well. They had been lovers, or at least had been having sex for months and though she didn't expect anything big, a sappy card or some flowers would have been nice, anything that would tell her she was special to him.

Fortunately, things settled down for her around noontime and she decided to shut down early. After leaving him a small red 'Be Mine' card behind the bar, she took the two vases of flowers up to her apartment before collapsing heartbroken on her bed.

Maybe she had read too much into their relationship. She certainly was fond of him, no, she was clearly in love with him, but he didn't seem to return her feelings, at least verbally. She certainly knew about his prior trauma but that had been several years ago. By now he should have gotten past that, shouldn't he? Deep, dark doubts stirred in her mind. Maybe he had been truthful when he viewed her as a 'with benefits' type of partner. Maybe he had no strong feelings about her, even when they spent many wonderful days and fabulous nights together.

Tears flowed down her face as she came to the realization she must not be someone special in his life, in spite of her feelings for him. After pulling off her dress, she stretched out in her bed and wept until sleep pulled at her.

It was dark when a text pinging on her phone woke her. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. There was nothing which couldn't wait until she felt better, so she ignored it, hopped out of bed and threw on a robe. In her bathroom she washed her face before strolling into the kitchen. As she was getting ready to nuke some leftovers for dinner, (How classic were leftovers on Valentine's Day for a heartbroken woman?) she heard her phone ring. Picking it up, she saw the text she'd ignored was from Connor as was the call. Reluctantly, she answered his call.

"Yes?"

"Ash, I've got a crisis going on down here. Something happened to the circuit breaker, I think, and I've got no power. I've still got customers who want their drinks and I need some light. Could you maybe come down here and help out a few minutes while I try to figure out what to do? Please?"

"Sure, I'll be down in a second. Gotta get dressed."

"OK, great. Please hurry. Thanks."

Because she'd be in front of customers, she decided to dress nicely and avoid her jeans and T-shirt. She pulled on the red dress and applied some lipstick as she thought, 'To hell with his Black Valentine's!' At least there'd be one person celebrating the day right. She slipped on some high heels, headed out the door and down the stairs.

She felt her way through the darkened kitchen and pushed open the door behind the bar. The room was pitch black and silent. There weren't any candles or flashlights! What was going on?

"Connor?"

"SURPRISE! Happy Valentine's Day," shouted out many voices as the lights were turned on to a sea of people, all dressed up. There were many of her favorite customers including her friend Cheryl, as well as Connor's customers. Even a few of the old curmudgeons whom she recognized from Black Valentine's Day the previous year were there smiling. Flowers adorned each table and mylar heart-shaped balloons floated up against the ceiling. And there in the middle of the room was Connor wearing a sexy tux with clean, simple lines, a deep red cummerbund and a rose in his lapel. God, he looked so good! A huge bouquet of roses in his hands was offered towards her as she ran to him, arms outstretched. They came together with a deep, loving hug before he bent down towards her.

"You big shit," she laughed at him, "I can't believe you did this."

"Hey, this took days of planning and secrecy to pull off but I figured the first time I tell you I love you should be one to remember!"

"Do you...? Do you, really? 'Cause I'm sooo in love with you..."

"Of course, I do. I love you. I love you madly and want to be with you forever."

"And you think I wouldn't remember it unless there was a big surprise party? You are so wrong about that. I would have remembered it anyway, anytime. Oh, God, you've made me so happy," she said as she grabbed him even tighter, tears of happiness sliding down her cheeks.

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" the crowd started chanting.

Connor looked down at her and, as his lips neared hers, she said, "No, Connor, we can't."

"Why not?"

"Our agreement! No PDA."

"KISS HER! KISS HER! KISS HER!"

"You, of all people, trained in the business world, should know I have to kiss you because of that first rule of business," he smiled.

"What? Location. Location. Location?"

"KISS HER! KISS HER! KISS HER!"

"No, I have to kiss you because the first rule of business is 'the customer's always right'," he whispered as his lips met hers.

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Trionyx - Valentine's Day Story Contest 2023 Votes and comments are appreciated. Thank you.