Personal Assistant (21 page)

       
“Wow,
that’s smooth,” she lied. It was obvious by the look on her face. He slid the
water closer to her.

       
She
took a long drink then sat the glass back on the table. He took a sip of the
beer. Certainly, the woman wasn’t much of a drinker. Neither was he, for that
matter.  Her big brown eyes blinked at him, a little watery, as she
adjusted to the liquor. The food arrived and she immediately bit into the mini
burger and dipped her fry in the ranch dressing. It followed before the burger
was even down.

       
He
loved this. He absolutely enjoyed this new side of Frankie. She was a mess
without plans, everything scheduled. He wondered, “Frankie, what did you do
before you met me, I mean I know you were a professor. What did you do in your
off time?”

       
“Research,”
Frankie said after swallowing the bite. “Woo, that helped.”

       
“What
did you do for fun?” He watched her dip the next fry normally.

       
She
smiled, shook her head.

       
“What?”
He was dying to know. He had barely tasted the beer when she caused him to spit
it out.

       
“You,”
Frankie said. She covered her mouth so he didn’t see her laugh at him. The beer
stung his nose. She pushed the glass of water towards him.

       
“Come
again?” He coughed.

       
“I
watched your movies, I read the magazines. I looked at the websites to keep
updated on your photographs. To be fair, you were my number one, but I did
kinda
follow the course of a few others, too. I mean…”

       
“Stop,”
Jonas closed his eyes. “I can handle you spending idle time pining after me,
but I cannot, will not, handle you
oogling
other
men.”

       
“
Oogling
?”
She bit her lower lip.

       
“Frankie,
I know you are trying to rile me up. You got me.” Jonas sighed. “You got me
good. I probably deserved it since I am forcing you to see this scary movie,
but I asked an honest question. Stop teasing me. Tell me something about you.”

       
Frankie
swallowed hard and looked at him. No smile, no jokes and said, “I don’t know. I
mean going to the movies, reading books, hanging out with Shay, plotting her
rise to fame, and then, don’t take offense to this but, masturbating to your
picture most nights was pretty much my life before I met you. Then I started
having sex with you, started losing my mind, and questioning everything I ever
thought I knew about anything. I…loved you. In that distant odd way fans love
stars. I used to fantasize about meeting you.
At random one
day.
I don’t know, maybe I would hit you with my car and then keep you
locked in a bedroom…”

       
He
started laughing.
“Oh, for crying out loud, Frankie.”

       
“Okay
the last part was from a book I read that solidified my inability to deal with
scary books and movies.
Misery
.
But don’t think I didn’t think about the rest. I wasn’t a very exciting person.
I mean I was average.
A bit obsessive compulsive about
scheduling and stuff.
I’m sure you noticed as much by now. I excelled in
my classroom because I was passionate about the subject. I love reading scripts
for you, because I am passionate about movies. I love…” she lowered her voice
and leaned in closer so she could whisper, “I love masturbating to the memories
of what we’ve done because I am passionate about everything where you are
concerned. You must know, my loyalty is limitless, and my heart belongs to
you.”

       
He
was thrilled. He practically buzzed electric. “I am…ah…I am so happy right now.
I can hardly put my feelings into words.”

       
“Let’s
leave and you can put them into action instead.” She smiled too hard. He shook
his head no.

       
“The
movie’s about to start, do you want popcorn?” he asked as he put money on the
table, more than enough to cover the tab and leave a handsome tip.

       
She
stood with a sigh of defeat, shook her head no.

       
“Me
either.” Jonas kissed her on the forehead. They walked into the theatre and
enjoyed the privacy of the deluxe seating. The movie had released a few days
before so they didn’t have a packed house. In fact, the showing in the next
theatre was where all the action was. Animation was taking over, one cute
critter at a time.

       
“These
are nice seats,” Frankie admitted as she slid in next to him. He lifted his arm
and she pushed right up against him. He lowered his arm around her and placed
his hand on her hip.

       
The
previews started. Jonas could feel her body tense next to him. He squeezed to
reassure her he was right there. Frankie slid her hand across his abdomen and
settled against him. The movie opened with action, the first character got his
head chopped off. Frankie gripped his t-shirt so hard he thought she might rip
it off of him before the movie was over. Her head buried in his chest. He
thought he would be able to assure her there was nothing to be afraid of. She
started to relax, he knew what was coming next, there had been enough minutes
passed without a thrill. “They are about to throw a jumper in there, so you
might want to close your eyes.”

       
She
squealed as she turned her face into his chest and pulled at his shirt again.
He was certain she was not acting. She was trembling and he immediately felt
like an ass. He had hoped she enjoyed scary movies. “Frankie, come on, let’s
go.”

       
“I’m
fine,” she said against his chest.

       
“No.”
He scrubbed his hand up and down her back. “You’re cold, you’re scared, and I’m
afraid you are actually going to bite me.”

       
“I’m
sorry.” Her shoulder dropped in defeat.

       
“No,
my love, I’m sorry. I should have asked.” Jonas moved to stand and she stood
with him. He held her fingers tight in his hand and led them out to the car.

       
She
was melancholy. He could feel her chilled hand in his. He opened the door for
her and she slid in. As he drove back to her apartment he asked, “Frankie, were
there any horror scripts in the pile?”

       
“I
put them all in maybe.” she admitted freely. “Didn’t you look through the maybe
pile?”

       
He
took a deep breath.
“Nope.
I just looked at the ones
you wrote yes on.”

       
“Oh,”
she said quietly.

       
“I’ll
check the pile later, maybe the fourth movie is in it.” He slid his hand across
and onto her knee.

       
Her
slender hand smoothed over his. Soft, gentle, she traced his fingers with hers.
His heart was full to bursting.

       
“You’re
taking me home?” she asked, her eyes a bit wide.

       
“Not
to stay.” Jonas winked. “I want to see where you live. I didn’t know if you
needed to grab anything to bring with you. Or maybe I could stay here with you.
Whatever you want, Frankie.
Whatever
you need.”

***

       
Frankie
could feel the rush of blood throughout her body bringing her senses alert to
his every move. She was nervous about him seeing her apartment. She wasn’t a
slob, in fact, she was a bit obsessive about keeping it neat and tidy in case
anyone ever did actually break in and murder her, the police and ambulance
wouldn’t stand around talking about what pig sty the place was.

       
She
welcomed the air when she got out of his car. It helped to get the warm spicy
scent of him out of her mind long enough to walk to the door.

       
“Okay,
before we go in you have to remember that I rent this place, okay. It’s not my
dream home or anything.” She fumbled with the keys, unlocked the door and
stepped inside. It was a studio apartment, basically one large room with a
small bathroom and a slightly larger off shoot for a kitchen area.

       
“Do
you think I’m a snob?” he asked. He walked inside and looked around. “
Its…
smaller than I thought it would be. Very clean, which I
expected, but not very feminine. What’s up with that?”

       
Frankie
locked the door behind them. She turned to find him seating himself on her bed,
not the love seat she used for a couch. “I don’t know. I mean I moved here at
first because it is close to the school, in a good neighborhood, I could afford
it, but I didn’t plan to stay.”

       
“So,
why did you?”

       
“I
stayed because it was a fair price for rent, I was already unpacked, and I
didn’t need anything more than this.” She shrugged.

       
He
took off his shoes and placed them by the bed.

       
“I
noticed that about you,” he said. He motioned for her to come to him.

       
“Noticed
what?”

       
“You’re
frugal.”

       
“Are
you calling me cheap?” Frankie gawked.

       
“Do
I need to tell you the definition of frugal?” He teased.

       
“Okay,
so I don’t like to waste money.” Frankie shrugged. “Except on some things, but
I don’t think of them as a waste.”

       
“Me
either.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Hmmm.”
He looked
around, looked at her nightstand and reached for the drawer. “Hide anything
good in here?”

       
“No,
there’s nothing in there but a book, some paper, a few pens and pencils, and…

       
“A
vibrator,” he noted.

       
Frankie
was mortified. She had forgotten all about it. “I…no…that was…”

       
“My
competition,” he nodded. Then he pushed back on the bed, fluffing up the
pillows and stacking them behind his head. “And here I thought I had to worry
about the phone.”

       
“Are
you comfortable?” Frankie asked as she tried to hold back a laugh of
embarrassment.

       
“Just about.”
He sighed.
Wiggled a little
bit.
“There, now I am comfortable.”

       
“You
make it sound like you have expectations I am unaware of.” Frankie folded her
arms as she made it to the side of the bed. She stood there, eager, anxious,
ready
.

       
“Before
you turned me off and that battery operated boyfriend on, you owed me
something. I thought I might try to collect.” He bit his lower lip. Looked her
up and down. “You know what I am talking about.”

       
“I
don’t know anything.” Frankie knew exactly what he meant. He wanted her to
masturbate in front of him. Show him what he had shown her.

       
“Well,”
he said. “You could barter for a different activity.”

       
“Barter?”

       
“Yes.”
He nodded. “You toss this in the trash. I don’t like thinking you want Duracell
more than me right now, if you want one later, like months later, we can
arrange for it. The second thing I want is my other nemesis, the phone. You
don’t have to give it to me, but you must silence it and put it where you
cannot see, hear, or feel it.”

       
“Give
up all that?” Frankie asked. “Huh, what do I get in return?”

       
“Why,
all of this.” He opened his arms and presented himself to her.

       
“All
of this?” She tugged at one of his socks and pulled it off, dropping it to the
floor at the foot of her bed.

       
“I
think you’re getting a deal.” He winked at her.

       
“I
don’t know, those batteries can last a long time,” Frankie teased.

       
He
leaned over and put the vibrator back in the drawer. “In case I need back-up
then.”

       
She
pulled his other sock off. “I think you can handle it.”

       
“I’m
out of practice.” He batted those big blue eyes and she melted.

       
Frankie
made quick business of taking her clothes off. She was down to a bra and
panties before he got the shirt over his head. He started at the button on his
jeans and she was already tugging from the bottom to get them off of him.