The Color of Sex Ch. 26-30

Rick's lips formed a thin line. "Good friends with him?" he asked, suddenly suspicious of the neighbor and his daughter's friendship. Perhaps he was wrong about Ben; perhaps Gregory was at fault for all that had transpired.

"He's my neighbor, nothing more, nothing less," she lied.

"He called 9-1-1," Rick said. "You were bleeding and barely conscious."

"Candice," her mother said, pulling a chair up next to the bed. She took a firm hold on her daughter's hand. "Sweetie, you were suffering a miscarriage."

The silence in the room was deafening as Candice tried to comprehend what her mother was saying. "A miscarriage?" she asked, her voice was soft and weak. "But I --- I didn't even know I was pregnant," she whispered. A few tears formed and seeped from her eyes. She pushed them away. "I don't understand," she said.

"Candice honey, Doctor Harris said you were probably 5 or 6 weeks along. Who were you... ."

Her mother's question was interrupted when Candice sat up, winced and asked, "Doctor Harris! Samuel's here?"

"I think that's his name," Renee answered. She turned to Rick. "Was his name Samuel Harris?"

Rick frowned. "I don't know," he said. "Do you know a Samuel Harris?" Rick asked. His heart was growing heavier as names and faces he was familiar with and ones he was not familiar with floated across his mind.

"He's one of our professors at school and an OB-GYN doctor – actually he's mine," she lied. "Did he perform the surgery?" she asked.

"I didn't know you switched doctors," her mother said.

Rick shook his head. "I don't think that's all that important," he said. "Candice, you need to rest. Your mom and I will be here, but right now, you need to deal with what happened, not anything else, okay."

Candice nodded her head; her thoughts were chaotic. She touched her belly and felt a twinge of sorrow for a child she didn't even know about. "Can I have more?" she asked. Her voice was laced with the innocence of a young woman who was slowly coming to terms that a life had been ripped from her. She looked at her mother and began to sob.

Renee rose from the chair and gathered her daughter into her arms. Candice cried hard and listened as her mother told her that the doctor had assured them that Candice could have kids one day – when she was ready. Candice still cried over the loss of life and only when she felt she'd shed all the tears she could, did she release her mother and lay back on the bed.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of who the father might have been. It was most likely Samuel's. She wondered if he had been happy or sad to remove his child from her womb. She didn't want to ask him – in truth she didn't even want to see him. Her mother's touch along with her father's words of love coated her like a thick blanket, one she burrowed deep into. Candice fell asleep, while her parents watched over her.

Later, when she awoke she was alone. She was not surprised; her parents had lives too and as much as she would have liked them to be with her, she could not expect them to be there forever. On the table by her bed was her phone, purse and a note written by her mother telling her that they would return later that evening. Candice burrowed back into her blanket and stared out the window of her hospital room.

A soft knock on the door brought her out of her musings. She called out to whoever had knocked and watched as Gregory stepped over the threshold. He closed the door, walked over to her side and opened his arms. Candice leaned forward and went willingly into her neighbor's embrace. He held her close as she cried again over all that had transpired, not only the loss of her child, but her youth as well. She had come to terms over the course of the last few months that being a corporate whore was not for her. She wanted more for herself and deserved it too. The loss of the child had been the final nail in the coffin.

Gregory let her go when she pushed away. She kept his hand in hers while he hooked a chair with his foot and dragged it closer to the bed. There he sat down and gently stroked the top of her hand, while she stared at his fingers.

"Do you know who the father could have been?" he asked.

Candice frowned. "Maybe Samuel, actually most likely Samuel, or one of the guys from the party." She turned her head away, refusing to look at her body guard.

"You know we've never talked about that," Gregory said.

"There isn't much to talk about, is there?" Candice asked, again refusing to look at him. "I obviously didn't mind doing it and I must have liked it, because I was more than willing to spread my legs and have every orifice filled."

"But I thought you'd sworn a long time ago, never to be the main course," Gregory said. He tried to hide the anger in his voice, but it was still there and he knew Candice heard it.

She turned and leveled him with a steady glare. "I had sworn it. I still can't believe I did it, but I did. Okay, so drop it and move on. There are other things more important to me than who I fucked and sucked on New Years!" Her eyes were full of tears; she wiped them away before pushing her fingers through her hair. "I want out Gregory," she finally admitted out loud.

He squeezed her hand, leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I want you out," he told her.

"Do we have enough for me to gracefully walk away and blackmail them if they don't let me?" Candice wondered.

Gregory nodded his head. "More than enough," he told her.

"And for you --- do we have enough for you to get your revenge?" Candice hated the idea of her being the only one that benefited from this whole ordeal – if one could call all she'd lived through a benefit.

"I have enough," Gregory answered. "I have plenty and I think it's wise you're getting out now. I don't know what Ben, Jon, and Doctor Harris are up to, but..."

Candice lifted her hand to stop his words. "What do you mean Doctor Harris? What's Samuel got to do with Ben and Jon?" she asked; her brow furrowed in confusion. "I never told them about Samuel and me. You were the only one that knew. It was too fragile a situation for him. I respected his position at the University as well as here at the hospital. I never said anything to anyone – anyone but you that is."

"I know you didn't, but Ben knew. Most likely he followed you one day when you weren't otherwise occupied and he knew I wouldn't be around. I have always done my best to protect you," Gregory said, followed by a long sigh, "but I couldn't watch you 24/7."

"No, you couldn't and you're probably right. I shouldn't be surprised either. Ben and Jon never really saw me as anything more than a meal ticket, so of course they'd make sure they gathered their own dirt on me," she whispered. "But you think they are all involved in something?"

Gregory frowned. "I do, but I don't think it was something brewing for a long time. I think it all came to a head today – after you were admitted, but before," he took a deep breath, "before the surgery to deal with," he bit his lip and looked down at her stomach, "you know."

"My miscarriage?" Candice whispered.

"Yeah," Gregory sighed. "I really am sorry, hon. I wish I had been there. I wish I had seen the signs. I wish..."

"I wish a lot of things too," she answered, "but what's done is done. I will heal. Samuel told mom and dad that I could have more kids someday and I will. I firmly believe that."

"So you want to have them?" His gaze held hers for several long moments. She smiled and shook her head yes.

"Someday," she answered.

Another knock on the door revealed her parents. Gregory rose from his chair and shook Rick's hand as well as nodded a polite greeting to Renee. "I was just letting Candice know I was sorry about everything and as far as her apartment goes, the landlord is taking care of the door – so there's no reason to worry about security. Everything will be the way it was when she gets home. I'll see to it personally," he said.

Renee thanked him, walked over to her daughter and sat down. Rick followed Gregory out into the hall. "I need to ask," Rick said, "were you the father?"

Gregory eyed Rick with a look of confusion. "What makes you ask that?"

"You seem very close to Candice, yet I know you've not made any move that suggests you're intimate, but you're very concerned for her – I sense more than neighborly concern too," Rick admitted.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how much she's told you. We've shared a few meals together – pizza, Chinese and we've watched some movies, but we've never been together – not in the way you're suggesting. So no, I can't be the father."

Rick nodded his head. "I sense your honesty," he admitted, before shaking the man's hand again. "Can I ask you, do you know who she was seeing?"

Gregory took a deep breath. "Not very men showed up on your daughter's door step. There was a guy several months ago – shortly after she moved in, but he never came back. Other than that the only men I've seen are you, and her bosses."

He wasn't sure why he admitted to the two men arriving repeatedly on Candice's doorstep. Maybe it was so Rick would have a better understanding as to what his daughter had been forced to do, once the reality of the situation hit home. He knew Candice would be pissed, but someone needed to lay the ground work and Gregory had known the young girl never would.

"Really? Both of them?" Rick asked.

"Several times," Gregory admitted. "But really you should talk to her about, granted not until she's feeling better."

"Obviously," Rick said in an annoyed voice. "I appreciate you watching out for her," he said, before taking his leave. He walked back into his daughter's room and closed the door. He stared at the girl that was his only child and a woman he didn't recognize seemed to stare back at him. He pushed fear and doubt away and promised to have all his questions answered later.

Chapter 28

It would be May before Candice really felt normal again. The hospital staff had arranged for her to meet with a counselor and that had helped her tremendously in accepting what had happened to her unborn child. It had also shown her that seeing professional help for her unique situation was something she should consider. She had opted to seek out her own therapist, instead of using the one that the hospital had recommended and as she began to slowly reveal her secrets under the promise of patient/doctor confidentiality, she knew she was definitely making the right decision to leave.

Samuel had called her several times, hoping to touch base with her outside of the classroom. During school he kept to the routine of teacher/student, but as the days turned to weeks his calls had become more persistent. She finally agreed to meet him and explained that she would no longer be willing or able to be his Mistress. She was surprised that he caved so easily, but as she left his office, she knew it was because he feared that she would expose their relationship and name him the father of her baby. Candice told herself she wouldn't. She was slowly closing that chapter of her life and hurting Samuel served no one, not even herself.

Gregory was with her every step of the way as were her parents. Her father was more watchful and hovering than he'd ever been. He put in a request to transfer back to the same office in which Candice worked; the request had been denied, which made him all the more suspicious. Renee had spent several weeks with her daughter, living in the apartment and making sure that Candice wanted for nothing. Candice's health seemed to blossom from all the attention and when she went back to work six weeks later, she did so with a letter of resignation in her hand.

Ben sat at his desk and stared at the paper. His fingers curled the paper into a wadded mess, which he tossed to the side. "What do you mean you're quitting?" he shouted at Candice, who was sitting across from him. The building, for the most part was empty, only the skeleton custodial staff remained, and they were several floors below working on cleaning those offices. "You can't fuckin' quit. Not after all we've invested in you!" he yelled at her. "And what's this shit – giving me a letter of resignation for some office gopher job? You know damn well that's not the position you were hired for."

Candice smirked. "No, but I assumed you wouldn't want me to write 'I resign from being the corporate prostitute'," she told him. "The letter is my official way of keeping it on the up and up. My verbal resignation 'I resign from being the corporate prostitute' should suffice," she said, before standing up and gathering her purse.

Ben came around his desk and grabbed her arm. "You think it's going to be that easy?" he asked. "You fuckin' cunt. You don't just get to decide when you walk away. We decide it. I decide it! I fuckin' made you the perfect slut and now you think you get to just leave?"

Candice pulled her arm free from his grasp. "Yes, I do and I am."

He closed the distance between them and pulled her up against his chest. "No, you're not. I fucked you over, and no man's ever gonna want you, so you better just lay back and take who I'm willing to throw at you," he hissed. Spittle hit her face and he laughed as his hand reached down to release the buckle of his pants. "Now, be a good girl and turn around, let me remind you how much you like my dick."

Her eyes grew wide in their sockets as she felt him twist her arm and turn her to face away from him. Candice licked her lips and took a deep breath. "Ben, you fuckin' let me go, before someone gets hurt," she said in a low chilling voice.

Ben laughed, grabbed her skirt and lifted the hem so her ass was exposed. "Look at you, all pure and innocent. You wore panties, stupid bitch. I told you no panties around me."

"She told you she quit," Gregory's voice ricocheted around the room.

Ben spun on his heal, releasing Candice. "Where the fuck were you hiding?" Ben asked, as he fixed his pants. Candice worked her way back to her bodyguard; both stared back at Ben as he looked into Gregory's eyes. "Well? I asked you a question?" Ben said.

Gregory smirked. "You're such an idiot. No wonder Jon's the brains. You're obviously just here for the pretty factor," Gregory said. "She's wearing a wire, dumb-ass, and yeah, all this is being recorded. So does she get to quit?" he asked.

Ben's face was a bright shade of red as he stared at Candice, who was pulling a wire from her bra and showing it to him. "You fuckin' cunt."

"I have hundreds of these," she said, "recordings – pictures – videos. You let me go and you let my father keep his job, or..."

"Or what?" Ben said, "you'll run to the cops and bring me down? How original."

"Perhaps not," she admitted, "but it's going to work, isn't it?"

Ben cursed the couple. "You fuckin' whore. You deserved everything I did to you – you and that fuckin' ass -- go fuck yourselves," he said, then smirked and laughed. "I got the last laugh bitch," he muttered.

Candice rolled her eyes and turned to go. "No, I don't think so. I made a killin' off you two. Your money is mine and..."

"But your fuckin' womb is mine," Ben said with a deep belly laugh.

Both Gregory and Candice turned around at the same time. "What do you mean?" she asked. Gregory's hand was on her arm and both gazed confused at Ben. "What did you mean? My womb was yours? You weren't the father, Ben. Don't flatter yourself."

"No, but any one of those guys could have been, couldn't they? Those men at the party that you were begging to fuck you – you had never been so hot and ready had you babe? I gave you a little kick and you went all the way. You were begging and pleading. The boys told me later that you were the best course they'd ever had and they were hoping you'd be their Thanksgiving meal this year," Ben told her.

"A kick?" she asked.

Gregory's eyes narrowed. "You drugged her, didn't you? That's why she was all over the place that night, spreading herself for every man and woman in the room? I should have seen it, but I didn't. I was too blinded by jealousy," he whispered the admission so low that only Candice heard it.

"You drugged me?" she asked.

Ben smirked. "High quality shit," he admitted. "But that's not the best part. Your doctor friend, I know all about him, so before you go resigning from your esteemed position think about how fucked he's going to be when everyone learns he's a whipped pup. He'll lose his job, his position in the community, his license --- everything."

Candice sighed. "Samuel's innocent in all of this. If you reveal his kinks, there will be embarrassment, but he won't lose his license."

"No? You don't think performing an unauthorized sterilization would cause a man to lose his job?" Ben asked. He saw the confusion on both Candice's and Gregory's face. "That's right. I made sure you were the perfect slut. I was going to increase your pay – restitution for your loss – and you'd have thanked me in the end. No babies means no more accidents. No more worry about getting fat and having to quit before your prime. You were the perfect whore. Fuck and suck without fear of ever getting pregnant."

Gregory saw Candice start to stumble as her knees grew weak. He caught her and held her close. She was pale and shaking; he knew that she was working to digest what Ben was implying. Gregory held her close.

"That's what you and the Doctor were talking about – that day at the hospital, wasn't it?" Gregory asked. "You convinced him to fix Candice, so she wasn't able to have kids?"

"Yep," Ben laughed. "Fixed her he did. He told her parents that she could have more, but he let me know the truth. She's done. She'll never have a squalling brat on her tit – unless it's in roleplay."

Candice felt her world tilting; her fingers wrapped more firmly around Gregory's jacket. "Take me home," she whispered.

"But we need to deal...," he said.

"Now," she demanded.

Gregory turned away and led her from the room, down the hall and into the elevator. Neither of them said anything as they made their way out of the building and into his car. He kept her hand in his as he drove them back to her apartment. Candice refused to speak as they walked into her home and he sat her on the couch. He quickly grabbed her some water and squatted down in front of her. There he remained until she was ready to talk.

"Do you know where Jon is?" she suddenly asked, breaking the heavy silence.

"Yes," Gregory admitted. "He took off shortly after you were released from the hospital and I've kept my eyes on him."

"Good. I'm sure he had a hand in this," she whispered. Her fingers were curled into tight fists. "And Amelia?"

"She's not involved," Gregory said.

Candice tilted her head and looked at him as if he were a moron. "She was at the party. She knew something was up. She was involved. Amelia is no innocent."

Gregory nodded his head. "No, she isn't. I know where she is."

"Good," Candice whispered.

"Sweetie, what are you thinking?" Gregory asked. For the first time in months he felt as if he did not know the woman who sat across from him. She had matured more in the past hour than she had in the past weeks. "You need to let me in, so I can help."

"I will. I just... I need to know if it's true. About Samuel and..." Candice couldn't finish her words, nor could she voice her thoughts. She refused to think beyond the moment. She had just dealt with losing a child, the idea of never being a mother was too much for her to try and comprehend. "I'll make an appointment and make sure that Ben's telling the truth," she whispered, "and if he is, then I'll deal with Samuel."

Gregory nodded his head. "Right now, though, can I just hold you?"