12. Evie

twelve

Three Years Ago

The sun sank low in the sky, and the stars started to show. It was time for the frat party my boyfriend Stephen wanted to go to. I did my make-up and curled my hair in loose waves. Nude lipstick and subtle make-up were my vibe. I looked pretty, as always.

Soon, I heard the loud honk of his car. I put on my Vans sneakers and met him outside. He was seated inside his Toyota Yaris.

I opened the door and entered the passenger seat.

“Hi.” I smiled at him. His brown hair was messy. Brown orbs were as sharp as ever. He was in casual jeans and a T-shirt.

“Hey.” He leaned over to give me a quick peck. My heart fluttered.

“Shall we?”

I nodded. “We shall.”

I hadn’t seen him in days. He kept telling me that his last year was so busy with studying that he barely had time for anything else. I chose to believe him because he had never lied to me before.

We arrived at the single-family house off campus. He exited the car, and I followed. Just before we opened the door, he held my hands.

We walked into an ample space filled with music and college students. The place was crowded— a little too crowded for me. But oh well, fun was fun.

“Tonight is a time for me to unwind. Let”s have a drink,” he nudged my shoulder with a smile. We weaved past the crowd to the bar.

“Give us your strongest alcohol.”

I watched many people come to greet us— him. Guys and girls alike. I particularly didn”t like how the girls were touchy. Their hands lingered on his shoulders too long, and some mistakenly touched his thigh.

But…

“Relax. They”re just friends,” he said.

We drank and danced, and it was finally time to go home. I was already tipsy— maybe half drunk. But still fully aware of my surroundings. He brought me to the car, and when we reached my dorm, he asked, “Is your roommate around?”

That was a weird question, he rarely asked. I either gave him a blow job in his car or his apartment.

“No.”

“Alright.”

We barely got inside when he locked the door, discarded the key on the table, and he started to kiss me. Consumed with the feeling of his lips, I pressed myself closer to him. I’d missed this. I”d missed him.

Slowly, he pushed me onto the bed and maneuvered my legs out of my trousers. I was left with my lacy underwear. He didn”t bother to remove my blouse before he started to fiddle with his belt.

Instinctively, I shut my legs. We’d gone over this several times. I was nineteen and wasn”t ready to lose my virginity.

“Stephen, wait.” I gently pushed his chest. He didn”t budge from on top of me.

“What?” His voice was stern.

“I”m not rea–”

“Here we go again.” His rugged voice struck fear in my heart. “You’re fucking telling me to wait. It”s been six months, and I”m tired of your sloppy blowjobs. I want to have sex.”

My pulse quickened as I watched him move to position himself at my entrance. Immediately, I screamed.

His hands quickly covered my mouth. I began to struggle. “Shut up, you stupid bitch. I”m your boyfriend and just taking what’s mine.”

My hands clawed at his face. With an angry growl, he pinned my hands above my head. “All you are is a liability to me. You’re just a bitch, Evie, nothing more. You’re useless to me if I’m not fucking you.”

Tears started to roll down my cheeks. “Stephen, please, no.” I struggled even harder.

“Stay still,” he growled. “Shut up and stop making yourself the victim. I”ve been the victim for too long. I get it freely from other girls, but not my own girlfriend? I”ve waited long enough.”

“All I ever wanted since the moment I asked you out was sex. I never loved you. I just wanted your body.” He brought his lips down on my neck. My scream was muffled by his hand while the other still gripped both of my hands firmly above my head.

“Every other guy on campus wants to fuck you. That”s all I want, too. But you kept holding your virginity like it”s some prized possession.”

He forced my legs apart. “Be quiet and take it like a good girl.”

He found my entrance, but the door swung open just before he could penetrate. Megan screamed.

He shuffled off the bed and sprinted out of the room. I was left with a tear-stricken face and a hole in my chest.

I didn”t think I’d ever recover.

Raising my eyes to the clock, I released a sigh. Safe to say, I completely detested him afterward. He came back begging me not to file a case.

He said he was drunk. And didn”t mean anything he said. I knew it was all a lie, so I told my father and reported the case. We tried to sue, but his parents were rich. I didn’t get justice.

Stephen finished school never to be seen again. But he’d left me with a scar.

***

Present Moment

The rays from the laptop softly hit my eyes, reminding me that I”d been staring for too long. You couldn”t blame me. There was nothing to do.

I’d accomplished all pending tasks. Serving coffee, sorting emails, and itemizing tasks. Perhaps that”s why my mind decided to strut forbidden territories… unwanted memories.

My throat was suddenly parched. I wanted water. The only water dispenser on this floor was in Mr. Thorne’s office. I wasn”t ready to go there without a reasonable mission.

Ground floor, it is.

As I left my office, I couldn”t help but think of Sophie. She smiled. I opened the elevator.

I didn”t know whether to tell Mr. Thorne or not. Mainly because I didn”t want to… raise his hopes.

After that day, I tried to say the same thing, but she didn”t smile again. She returned to her shell and simply focused on her drawing— the bird.

The doors opened, and I got out.

If I hadn”t known it before, the day of the drawing clearly showed that Sophie was a special kid. Perhaps drawing was her talent. The picture of the bird wasn”t perfect, but it was impressive for a five-year-old. And she”d drawn it off by heart… three days later.

All I needed to focus on now was another strategy. Something to incite the same reaction or even better in front of her loved ones.

I headed to the water dispenser. Then, I grabbed one of the disposable cups. The water trickled into the cup when I pressed the button.

My thoughts wandered as I glanced around. What if there were robots that assisted the workers? Would Mr. Thorne still need a secretary? Would the receptionist be replaced? Could these robots not, by any chance, misbehave?

“What are you doing?”

“Ah!” I shrieked when I heard a voice. I turned to see David. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry. But you were just too lost in thought,” he smiled. “How are you?”

I was still surprised that he was the head of engineering. And he was talking to me. I mean…

“Parched. Needed a cup of water.” I brought the cup to my lips. Then moved aside. After pouring himself a glass, he drank.

As I stared at him, I couldn”t help but be curious. “Do you think these robots can someday take over the world?”

He chuckled. Then, he shook his head. “Come, let me show you something.”

I raised a brow.

“I want to answer your question.” He shifted his weight to one foot. “Plus, I don”t bite, Evie.”

Curiosity got the best of me as we dropped our cups, and he led us to the elevator. He pressed the number seven. The elevator began to ascend.

The silence was a bit weird as he kept smiling at me. Did his mouth not sometimes hurt?

We descended on the seventh floor. I trailed behind him until we reached an office. There were three offices on the floor.

I watched him swipe a card before pushing large doors. Of course, they had such a security system here.

Gleaming metals and the scent of fresh oils greeted me. On a corner of the vast space lay a full robot. It was white and only seemed to be skeletal. To the side was an arm hinged on a fixture.

“Proof of concept.”

I turned to him as he gestured towards the skeletal robot. Then the arm. “In this building, there isn”t much prototyping done, which is why we have limited robots.”

I nodded. “But sometimes, when all the engineering teams want to idealize a design, we do light assembling. It”s called proof of concept.”

He moved to a computer station on a table beside the arm. Then, he pressed some buttons. Slowly, the arm extended. “This is an arm for a biomedical project. A surgical robot.”

“Wow.”

“To answer your question, a robot cannot have a mind of its own. Not now. We still don”t fully understand human consciousness, so it”s quite difficult to integrate it into robots. Even the most advanced robots lack general intelligence and adaptability of the human mind.”

He laughed. “If it were that easy, we wouldn”t be stuck on getting this arm a precision accurate for a minimally invasive surgery.”

He turned to me. “Come have a look.”

I walked up to the arm. A few electrical wires connected to it, snaking into the workstation. I watched it retract and extend up close. It was mesmerizing.

My hands slowly made contact with it. It felt surreal to touch until something sharp pricked my finger.

“Ouch.” I hissed and quickly retracted my fingers.

“Careful.”

Too late. My finger was bleeding. Something about seeing my own blood made my body jerk uncomfortably. I suddenly remembered I”d spent too much time here.

“I should go.”

“Evie, wait…”

I was out the door in minutes and inside the elevator. Shit. I”d messed up big time. What if Mr. Thorne needed me?

I held my finger before me. It was just a prick, maybe a slice, but the blood looked like it’d start dripping if I didn”t tend to it.

The elevator opened. I rushed out but was stopped when I hit a body. I instantly knew it was him.

“What happened?” I couldn”t tell whether he wanted to chastise me for being so careless or he cared.

“It’s.. It”s nothing, sir. I”ll get this cleaned up.”

He stood unmoving when I tried to sidestep him. “I believe I asked a question.”

His voice was much harder. When I looked into his eyes, they were blazing with fury.

“Engineering.” That was all I could muster.

He held my hand. I gulped.

His soft grip on my hand was a contrast to his hard interior. He narrowed his eyes on my finger. I swallowed again when he looked at me.

“Fuck. It”s deep.”

Without warning, he turned and started to walk. I could feel the heat radiating from him. If that wasn”t clear from his long, angry strides, it was from how he gripped my wrist significantly tighter.

I was in trouble.

He pushed past the door to his office. When we reached inside, he released his grip on my wrist before moving to a small cupboard in the back. A few seconds later, he reappeared.

But this time, he took his seat.

“Come here.”

Come here. The last time I did, it didn”t end well.

“I should just—”

“No.” He growled.

Familiar shivers pricked my spine, but I stood my ground. “No.”

His nostrils flared, and in a flash, he was in front of me. I could barely register what happened when he picked me up. A low yelp fell through my lips, and suddenly, he was seated. I was, too. On his lap.

The feeling of his muscular thighs on my ass was ethereal… hot. I squirmed in his lap, struggling to get up. It had the opposite effect as one arm circled my waist in a firm grip.

Fuck. I held my breath.

For a moment, it all paused. I paused before his groan reached my ears. “Be still.”

I struggled to steady my breathing as his hot breath fanned my ear. Suddenly, every part of my body bled… with need.

“What happened?” Slowly, both of his hands snaked past my waist to my thighs.

Sweat beaded my forehead. I knew why. I was sitting… on my boss’ lap, facing forward.

His breathing shallowed. Large hands held a big chunk of the cotton wool before dabbing it against the tip of the spirit. I wriggled against him and gasped when I felt something.

His free hand tightened against my other one, his voice coming out a low mumble. “Move again, and you’ll end up feeling sore in more than one place.”

I felt his words on my neck. Heat surged through my being and collapsed my inside. I needed air.

I held his hands when he brought the cotton wool closer to my finger.

“It”s.. It’s huge.” I whimpered. Both the wool and his wood.

He grunted, parting his thighs ever so slightly. “I know you can take it like a good girl.”

My breath hitched as he dabbed the cut. The burn I felt was nothing compared to the heat between my thighs. I moaned in pain.

He rubbed the area beneath my finger for a while before his other hand fell to my hips to rub soothingly. I felt every circle of his thumb through my silk skirt. Slowly, he leaned in until our heads were almost touching I could feel his heat.

“What happened?”

“I don—”

He gripped my hips firmly. “What happened, Evie? I won”t ask again.” Raw anger dripped in his words.

“It was an accident.”

“Go on.”

“I went to see… a rob—”

He breathed harshly. “Those doors are secure. Who allowed you in?”

I replied tentatively. “David.”

I gulped when, faster than my eyes could blink, he turned me in his lap. Heat flushed my face as I felt my legs on either side of him. I was straddling him.

I couldn”t meet his eyes. His hand lifted my chin.

“Look at me.”

I obliged.

“David from mechanical will be fired today.”

“What? No.” I gasped.

“It”s not up for debate.”

He had to tell me he was joking. I wouldn”t live with that on my conscience. “Please.”

He furrowed his brows. “You like him.”

His nails dug into my hips, pinning me as if to assess my reaction.

“What?” My eyes widened in shock.

His fingertips dug into my hips. The silence stretched. And with each passing minute, I felt my heart racing more.

Slowly, he pushed his hands to rake his hair. Blue eyes burned into mine. “You… make me do things, Evie.”

I licked my lips. His gaze fell on them. “Hell, you…”

His words were cut off before he dropped his head to my neck. I shivered when I felt his lips on my neck.

Releasing a groan, he yanked my shirt to the side. Then, he placed a kiss on my collarbone. I moaned, my hands immediately finding his shoulders for support.

His kisses became urgent as he cradled my jaw, drawing me in for a kiss. Without wasting time, he slipped his tongue into my mouth. My hands found his chest.

Suddenly, with a low growl, and in a split second, he unbuttoned my shirt. I shivered when the cool air hit my skin. His hands slipped to my back to undo my black, lacy bra. When they loosened against my breast, he paused briefly.

“So fucking perfect.” His knuckles ignited a sizzling sensation as they traced the concave of my breast. It was only now I realized how much I missed his touch.

My head fell back with a moan when he latched on my nipples. His lips were light and feathery at first, but they intensified when he grabbed the other one.

Electricity surged through my spine as I arched my back into him, bringing my hand to the side of his face. Hard grunts sneaked from his throat when he started to rub my nipples.

Fuck. He was sucking and rubbing simultaneously. And when he added his teeth, I felt my soul levitating to a higher realm.

“Please.” I released a breathy moan as he continued to nibble on my flesh.

“Please, what?” he grunted against my chest.

I quickly tugged at his shirt. The urge to feel him was overwhelming. He pulled back before yanking his shirt off.

Thick muscles rippled beneath my fingers as I traced the expanse of his chest. All my senses were suddenly sharpened. I could feel him… all of him. But he didn”t move his hips.

I fisted his shoulders when he gave me one last bite before kissing between my breasts. Then peppering kisses until he reached my stomach.

“I want to taste you.”

My sex throbbed with doubled intensity. His lips continued to trail kisses on the waistband of my skirt. I let out a small whimper, and he pressed me closer to his face.

Just as I wanted to nod, a loud knock sounded on the door. I jumped off him and quickly buttoned my shirt. When I glanced at him, he was buttoning his own shirt. And looked angry at whoever had interrupted.

I was angry, too. But as the door slowly opened, all that vanished. The person couldn”t wait for a response?

A young lady walked in. Strawberry blonde hair, tanned skin, and the same pair of striking blue eyes glanced between us. “Hello, brother.”