Life is a Soap Opera Act 02

Following the signs, she picked up her suitcase and looked for the limo driver. He was holding a placard that read "MacKenzie" and he politely took her bookbag and luggage. Out on the curb, the driver put her things in the trunk of the Town Car and opened the back door for her.

Friendly and professional, he gave Bailey the grand tour of New York, pointing out the sights to the obviously-overwhelmed young woman. The trip into Manhattan went by quickly.

The limo stopped near the Museum of Natural History at an upscale apartment building. A doorman helped the driver unload Bailey's bags. She offered to tip both, but they declined, saying it wasn't necessary.

"Miss Crawford, Mr. MacKenzie told me to give you this when you arrived," the doorman handed her an envelope. "Would you like assistance with your bags?"

"No, thank you."

He nodded and pointed down the hallway. "Take the elevators to the fifth floor, then turn left and it will be the third door on the right."

"Thank you, Paul," she said reading his nametag.

"You're very welcome," he replied with a slight bow. "And welcome to New York."

Like his house, Gabe's apartment was clean and in order. The envelope contained a key and some more instructions. It smelled of his sweet cologne.

Gabriel had a large space for being a single guy. There were two bedrooms, a living room, one full bath, a kitchen and a third bedroom he used as a small office. Posters and mementoes lined the walls. It felt very much like Gabe.

Where the house had been his mother's and Gabriel just lived there, the apartment reflected more of his personality. He displayed lots of pictures. She recognised Chuck and Teri, as well as a few famous people whom Gabe had worked with in the past. There were knickknacks on the shelves and tables. She smiled when she saw several pictures of herself in frames around the apartment.

In the foyer, there was a red rose laying on the floor next to a card with her name on it.

Welcome to my home, Bailey. Leave your things here and go into the bedroom. XOXO, —G.

She went to the master bedroom and found another flower and card in the middle of the bed. The covers were turned down. She opened the card.

Take your clothes off and lay them on the dresser. Get in the bed and call me. I love you. –G.

Once she was naked, Bailey lay back on Gabe's bed. It smelled like him. The mattress was soft and the sheets enveloped her. She closed her eyes for a second, imagining making love to Gabriel in his bed.

Her nipples were standing straight up as she reached for the phone and dialed his cell phone number. True to her word, she had never programmed it into her phone or told anyone else how she got it. She had it memorised.

The phone rang twice and then she heard his voice. "Hello, Bailey."

"Hi," she said, content to hear him speak. Knowing he wasn't five states away anymore.

"Did you do what I told you?" he asked. She could hear people talking in the background.

"Yes," she whispered.

He lowered his voice, "Are you naked?"

"I am."

"Hold on," he said. Bailey heard him talking to someone else, then she heard a door close. "Sorry about that. Are you in bed?"

"Yes." Indulgently, she cupped one of her breasts.

"I want you to touch yourself," Gabe told her. "I want you to cum in my bed . . . like I did this morning. Right where you are . . . right now . . . I lay there this morning thinking about you. Think about that, Bailey. And think about this: When we get home tonight, I'm going to go down on your pussy . . . I'm going to eat you out in my bed."

Bailey's breathing became ragged at the sound of his sexy voice. She could hear the undercurrent of desire as he spoke.

"After you cum, go into the kitchen."

"Okay."

"And, Bailey?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

She purred as she began to stroke her clit. "I love you, too."

*****************

"Bailey!" Gabriel waved her over.

Her skin was still a little flush. She thought she reeked of sex, having been explicitly forbidden from showering or putting on lotion or even washing her hands.

She threw herself into his arms. Gabe spun her around, laughing. Bailey was oblivious to the stares of those around them. She kissed him hard, unleashing eight weeks of pent-up frustration on to his tongue.

Gabe finally managed to extract himself from her grasp, even though she knew he didn't want to. With his arm around her waist, Gabe gave her a tour of the set, introducing her to the actors and staff of the show.

Everyone was friendly to a fault, especially Lori Craven, one of the show's main stars. She welcomed Bailey to the studio and told her that she was also a small town girl. Lori seemed very down-to-earth for someone making a gajillion dollars on TV and in movies. Bailey tried not to seem too starstruck, but Gabe only laughed at her and continued the tour.

"We thought Gabe made you up," the show's feisty head writer told her. Bailey instantly liked her. She was smart and sassy and wasn't afraid to tell things exactly as they were. Or give her best friends down the road about something.

"Would I do something like that, Rose?"

"I don't know, Gabe. Would you?" the other woman taunted. "You'd been celibate for so long, there was a pool in the writer's room that you'd gone gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Celibate?" Bailey asked incredulously.

"Ever since the divorce, Gabe stopped dating," Rose said, obviously enjoying a chance to get under his skin. She took Bailey by the arm. "Girl, when your boy showed back up, we were going to all pitch in and get you a big fruit basket. You're the best thing to happen to him in a long time. He's got his smile back and we owe you!"

All Bailey could do was blush.

"Chuck and Teri vouched for Bailey," Gabe said with a mock pout.

"Best friends don't count. Chuck and Teri would help you hide a body," Rose said, her eyes twinkling. "Helping you make up a girlfriend would have been child's play to them."

Rose leaned in to have one final, private word even though she spoke loud enough for Gabe to hear. "Don't let him go, young lady. He's a keeper!"

"I know," she whispered back. Rose winked and left them to continue their tour.

Gabe was so animated. Back home . . . well, home to her . . . Gabe always seemed to be a little guarded. Aloof, even. She recognised it in herself; around unfamiliar people, both she and Gabriel were introverted and quiet. However, when among friends, they let their hair down. As a matter of professional survival, Gabe had developed an outgoing public persona that could hobknob and schmooze with the best of them, even though he hated it.

It was hard for her, being in a big city around lots of people who knew about her, but to her were strangers. As Gabriel shared this part of his life with her, she sensed that the people he worked with accepted her because a friend of Gabe's was a friend of theirs. Despite all the stories of showbiz backstabbing and personal/professional jealousies, Bailey sensed The Sun Also Sets was one big family . . . now that prime backstabber Montana/Milton Morehead was gone and that her/his producer-conspirator David Barnes was killed at a place called Der Waffel Haus in a freak accident involving a taxidermied swordfish, a skateboard and some legwarmers.

Gabriel led her back to his dressing room. The show's head wardrobe and costume director was laying out some clothes for the next week. He introduced her to Bailey.

"You're the envy of the set," Tawny giggled and that made Bailey blush some more. "We had a bet on who would be the first one to get Gabe to ask them out . . . looks like we all lost."

"Go on, get out of here," Gabe gave he a mock scolding. The other woman winked at Bailey then left.

As soon as the door shut, they were all over each other. Bailey's heart fluttered as she melted into Gabriel's arms. They kissed hungrily. She pawed at him, realising how much she had missed his touch over the past two months.

He pulled back for a second and reached for her hand. He sucked on her fingertips and smiled mischievously.

A jolt ran through her body, both from the sensitivity of her fingers and the knowledge that he was suckling on the same hand that had been touching herself not an hour before.

Her pussy was soaked. One of the reasons was that she was around Gabe for the first time after a long drought. They both knew what the other reason was.

Gabe's eyes glanced over towards the clock on the wall. "It's about that time, isn't it?"

"Yes," she moaned. Two weeks ago, when Gabe called and invited her to visit him in New York, he told her that he wanted her to masturbate three times a day for him: once when she got up, once before dinner and once before bed. She was all too happy to comply, even though she didn't quite understand why he would ask her to do that, and he often called to make sure she kept the schedule.

Now, not only was she hot and bothered from her earlier session, her body was responding to the Pavlovian conditioning brought about by her timed self-pleasure, and she had a feeling Gabe wasn't going to get her get off until later. Surely he was reveling at the success of his secret evil plan to torture her.

"Spread your legs," Gabe whispered. He was beginning to assert himself as being in control of their sexual encounters. Bailey willingly surrendered to him, knowing that he wouldn't cross the boundaries she set.

He lifted her skirt, his fingertips brushing her legs. Bailey had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. Gabe's movements were slow, as if he was deliberately trying to draw this out as long as possible.

"Oh, god, Gabe!" A shudder ran through Bailey's body as his hand cupped the bare mound of her pussy.

His middle finger brushed the nub of her clit and she cried out. She could feel her excitement beginning to drip down her legs.

Her labia were surely swollen. He played with her pussy for a few seconds, its slickness coating his fingers.

"Good girl," he whispered in her ear. "You follow instructions well."

She smiled to herself, delirious with pleasure. She appreciated Gabe's praise, but also having him touch her again after so long.

Her toes started to curl up when he stopped suddenly.

Bailey whimpered in frustration. He had just gotten her going!

Gabriel kissed her behind the ear. "I've missed you."

She groaned as he withdrew. "You're killing me, Gabe!"

"That's the idea, sweetheart," he smirked. Before she could move, he opened the door and led her back out into the hallway.

Her face was red. Her heart raced. And at that moment, she would have done anything Gabriel asked of her.

*****************

The sexual tension between them was palpable for the remainder of the night. They held hands and sat as close to each other as they could.

While it was still light out, Gabe took her on a tour of Manhattan. Using the same limo driver that had picked her up at the airport, they drove around the island. They toured Little Italy and Chinatown. Downtown, he showed her Wall Street and Trinity Church. The driver dropped them off in Times Square. From there, they walked to Sardi's, a famous haunt of Broadway actors.

The restaurant was definitely unlike any place Bailey had ever been before. Many of the men wore coats and the women cocktail dresses. Gabe was in a nice pair of pants and a dress shirt, and per his instructions, she wore a nice blouse along with her skirt. Still, she felt under-dressed.

As she looked at the menu, her jaw dropped at the prices. She anticipated that things would cost a little more in New York, but she didn't expect the least expensive thing on the menu to be $15. Gabe told her to get whatever she wanted; he was buying and she deserved nothing less than the best. Even if she felt a little guilty for spending more on one meal than her whole family usually spent when they went out.

They talked for a little while, catching up and the like. Her hands lingered on his arm, as if she didn't quite believe that they were together again. Throughout dinner, she caught Gabriel's eyes lingering on her with more than fondness.

His desire mirrored hers.

The tingling between her legs never went away. The fabric of her skirt brushed against her bare pussy and ass. She remembered Gabe's hungry touch. And she was looking forward to the fulfillment of his promises for the coming night.

He asked about her family and how school was going. She updated him on the bedroom remodeling project. As their meal ended, both felt the tension level rise.

As they stood outside the restaurant waiting for their car to pull up, Gabe whispered in her ear, "I'm gonna make you cum so hard, you pass out."

"Promises, promises." Bailey barely managed to get the words out, she was shaking so badly.

They stumbled into the car. The ride back to his apartment only took a few minutes, but to Bailey, it seemed like an eternity. Gabe's hand rested on her knee, his fingers intertwined with hers.

When they arrived at his apartment building, Gabe tipped the driver and the two headed inside.

"Have a good evening, Mr. MacKenzie?" the doorman asked politely.

"Very good, Paulie," Gabriel replied. Bailey slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. "How's your daughter doing?"

"Just getting over the flu," the other man replied. "Thank you for asking."

"Tell her I hope she feels better."

"I will. Have a good night, Mr. MacKenize. Miss Crawford."

Bailey waved politely as the elevator doors closed. In an instant, she was all over Gabe. His hands groped her breasts. Hers went straight to his ass.

"I want you to fuck my brains out tonight," she gasped between kisses.

His only reply was to kiss her harder. They pulled apart when the short elevator ride ended. Holding hands, they raced down the hallway. No one else was around and she tugged at his shirt as he fumbled with the lock.

The door opened and the two fell into his apartment. Their clothes littered the floor on the way back to his bedroom. Neither bothered to turn any lights on. The sheets were rumpled where Bailey had been on the bed earlier.

Gabriel was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts. Bailey's skirt was around her ankles. She kicked her heels across the room.

Her hands grasped at his hair, her fingernails scraping his scalp. Gabe cupped her breasts, which were now freed from her bra.

Bailey pushed him back on the bed so he was sitting on the edge.

His face was level with her breasts. Bailey's nipples crinkled up as his mouth descended on them.

Gabe's hands reached around and grasped her ass.

She loved the way he touched her. He was both desperate and gentle at the same time.

"Right there!" she gasped. "Oh, god, Gabe . . . I've missed you so much."

He mumbled something incoherent, but she knew what he meant. Gabe continued to worship her breasts for several minutes. Her pussy was soaking wet; it was time for her evening masturbation session.

"You look fantastic," Gabe pulled his face out from between her breasts. He tugged at her hands and she fell on to the bed beside him. They cuddled together. She was nude. He had only a pair of boxers on.

"I've been working out," she said proudly.

"You have?"

"Yes," Bailey lay back and stretched. "I've lost ten pounds and dropped two dress sizes. April and I spend half an hour working out or walking every night."

Gabe's hands ran all over her body. She still felt very self-conscious. If she were around anyone else, she would not have wanted to be without clothes. But she knew Gabe loved her regardless of how she looked and that he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, even if she didn't.

"Get in the middle of the bed," he whispered. She started to protest as Gabe slipped out of the bed, but she obeyed nonetheless. She watched his cute backside as he moved around the bedroom. He lit a pair of candles and drew the curtains to keep the morning light from shining too brightly.

She splayed herself out on the bed for Gabe to see. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He stood beside the bed, as if debating what he wanted to do next.

He took a deep breath. "Bailey . . . did you mean what you said earlier? . . . About, you know . . . making love?"

"I didn't mention anything about making love, Gabriel," she said with a wicked smile. "I said I wanted you to fuck my brains out."

"I thought you wanted to wait." His eyes met hers. They did not stray to her chest or between her legs.

Bailey sat up on the bed. Her heavy breasts jutted out from her chest, with just a little bit of sag. "I said I wanted to wait for the right guy. And I've found him. I want you, Gabe. I want you to make love to me. I want you to be my first lover. I want to give myself to you. Will you have me?"

"I . . ." Gabe's voice trailed off. He shook his head, as if willing his disbelief away.

Her heart leaped into her throat. Was he going to say no?

Gabriel stood and walked to his closet. He reached for two bathrobes and held one out to Bailey. She took it and they both covered up. Her insecurities, which Gabriel had done so much to bring down, slowly began to reappear.

She mutely took his hand as he led her out to the living room. He turned a light on and they sat on the couch. Her hands trembled.

"Are you sure?" he asked softly.

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life," she replied.

"Why me?" he whispered.

"Because you love me," she said simply. Bailey put her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he admitted. "I've missed you so much these past two months. I lie awake and night and wish you were here with me. You make me feel young again, Bailey."

"Do you want me?"

"Yes . . . Good heavens, yes! But—"

"But nothing, Gabe," she interrupted. "This is what I want!"

"Are you sure you're not making a huge mistake? Why do you want me?"

"I'm not a girl, Gabriel," she said firmly. "This isn't about puppy love or infatuation. I can make up my own mind! I love that you've never rushed me. You ask my permission before doing anything. You are the perfect gentleman. You make me feel special. And I can't stop thinking about you. I dream about you. I want to wake up next to you every day."

"If I make love to you tonight, I don't know how I'll be able to put you on that plane on Sunday," Gabe looked her in the eyes.

"We'll figure something out," Bailey said with a rueful smile. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have any condoms," he said sheepishly.

"You don't need one," she giggled in his ear. "Mom put me on the pill last month."

"I haven't had a . . . um, test . . ."

"That's okay," Bailey said reassuringly. "I trust you. I haven't had one, either."

"We could go to the all night clinic—" he was interrupted by Bailey punching him in the shoulder.

The two shared a nervous laugh.

"Gabe," she sighed. "I love you. I've been in love with you since prom. And I want you to be my lover tonight. We'll figure out the rest later."

"I love you, too, Bailey," Gabe flashed her a resigned smile. "I just don't want you to regret this."

"Then don't let me regret it." There was a sultry tone in her voice.

Gabriel took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He stood and extended his hand. Drawing Bailey to her feet, Gabe picked her up in his arms. She nuzzled up to his neck.

He flipped out the light and carried her back down the hallway to his bedroom, stopping at the doorway.

"Last chance," he warned. "Once we go in, I'm not going to stop . . ."

"You don't ever have to stop, Gabe. You can do anything you want to me. Anything."

"Don't tempt me, sweetheart. I just might take you up on that."

"You talk a big game, mister," Bailey teased with her arms wrapped around him. "I'm going to have you begging for mercy when I'm done with you."