Chapter 16: broken and friendship
Jacob just finished working at his father's office and was finally going to ask the pretty blonde receptionist for a date after he decided to settle for a less lecherous lifestyle. He secretly thanked his best friend for unknowingly opening his eyes on what relationships should be, he had realised that only having casual hookups wasn't going to help the bombshell blonde to take interest in him. It was with a deep breath that he confidently walked at his love interest's reception desk which had her name written on a fake golden plate. Rosalie Clark raised her head and was ready to greet him with her brightest smile, mechanically brushing her bang sideways over her ear. Jacob's heart fluttered at her sight.
"Rose, do you want to go out with me?" He confidently asked.
"My shift ends in an hour, do you really need someone to help you leave your dad's office?" She casually replied while keeping eye contact and typing on her keyboard.
The obliviousness made the handsome man to feel stupid and hopeless, his shoulders sank as well as his confidence. With a sudden questioning of the meaning of life, Jacob put a hand on his forehead before thinking of his life choices. When he came back to reason, he looked at Rose, the girl he wanted to impress since he met her at an office party. He had approached her by complimenting her ponytail when she tried a new haircut, saying that she looked cute with it. Since then, she always has one which made Jacob believe that she liked his compliment, his feeling was reinforced when he met her outside of work without one, and that she proceeded in tying her hair at the back of her head when she saw him.
"You feeling alright? Should I call an ambulance?" The receptionist said, with her phone ready to dial the emergency services.
"I… I'm at loss for words, really." He muttered while staring blankly at the desk.
"What's the matter?"
"No-nothing. Forget it, see you tomorrow." He blurred before rushing to the elevator.
He was already halfway to his exit that she called his name, her soft voice saying it resonated in his head. He turned and saw her looking angry, with her hair undone and flowing thanks to the fan on her desk. For a fraction of a second, she looked like an angel.
"I'm not into studs, sir. I heard about your reputation and I won't be part of your future bragging story at the next office party." She coldly explained.
He fell on his knees and held back his tears as he didn't want the other workers to see him like that. He cursed himself for all his previous decisions and realised that he couldn’t deal with their consequences. Was he wrong to try and enjoy an eventful sex life?
"I… I understand. I'll take my leave then." He replied before walking away.
He didn't look back nor didn't he notice Rose standing up nor did he hear her say something. Jacob's mind went blank and his expression showed it. He mechanically left the building and drove home, his mind blacked out. He stood at the doorstep of his apartment, contemplating his mistakes while ignoring the constant ringing on his vibrating phone. He couldn't gather the strength to open the door, he could barely lift his trembling hand. He then suddenly felt water on his cheeks, he wiped it but it kept coming. That's when he realised that he was crying, his throat was a knot and didn't allow him to express his emotion. His legs failed him and he leaned against the door as he sat while crying silently, with his ego broken from being rejected by the only woman he only cared about. He hated his guts for having behaved like a tool and thinking that if he could romance countless girls he could romance the one he actually loved.
"Jack?" A distant voice called as Jacob was curled in a ball against the door. "Jack!"
A pair of arms reached for him and gently touched him. He felt broken inside and didn't care about anything anymore.
"Help me get him inside, we can't let him in this state." The voice said.
Jacob couldn't care less anymore. He didn't react to the arms dragging him. He didn't react when he was lifted from the floor. He didn’t care where he was put on.
"Abby, do something about his phone." The voice ordered as it echoed in his mind.
He was alone in the cold darkness, he was in a fetal position and it was the only way he felt some warmth. The arms had abandoned him as well and distant voices were saying things that he couldn't care about. At least the constant ringing had stopped. He quickly regretted it as he kept hearing Rose's words in repeat, accompanied with his own inner voice saying "loser" over and over.
"What do you think would happen if I poke him with a stick?" another distant voice asked.
"Abby no! Don't kick the man while he's down!"
"Jack seems out of it. You know what would cheer him up?"
"A pizza?"
"With lots of pepperoni! I'll order one right now."
Jacob heard them faintly talk some more but he didn't care. He spent what felt like an eternity in his darkness and life crisis as his eyes tears ran down his cheeks. It was a familiar and agreeable smell that cracked the shell he was taking refuge in, bits by bits, as the smell became stronger, light slipped in and filled him with warmth. The dark place steadily letting in the outside world that reminded him that he was still alive. When he opened his eyes, he was welcomed with smiles and a slice of pizza presented to him. His best friend and his cousin looked worried but kept smiling as he sat on the couch he was lying on. He somehow got in the living room and showed his confusion with a small whimper.
"You guys… " He let out with a snort.
His friends sighed in relief and Abby hugged him, he was surprised but he replied in kind. His best friend gave him an approving look.
"Jesus, Jacob! You scared the hell out of us!" exclaimed Daniel who was sitting on the edge of the table.
"God damn it, Jack! We thought you went catatonic!" Abby exclaimed with a cry.
Daniel looked at her funny when she mentioned the medical term, not being accustomed to her using any fancy words.
"Sorry guys, I just had a really bad day… " Jacob started before noticing their bruises. "But you don't look much better."
His comment earned him a nudge from Abby's knuckle and an embarrassed laugh from Daniel who looked the worst. Jacob finally grabbed the slice of pizza that his friend was holding out for him.
"Got attacked by an amazon, you wouldn't understand." Dan explained with Abby's approving nods. "You look like you got hit by a truck of the emotional plane."
"I got rejected." He admitted after taking a bite of the pizza.
The other two shared a disbelieved look and Abby checked the temperature on his forehead by pressing hers on him but didn't find anything unusual.
"Not to be a dick, but isn't that something normal? Not everyone wants to sleep with you." Daniel told, as if he had any experience in the matter.
At this point, Abby had hugged him long enough and decided to sit next to her lover.
"If it was a potential one-nightstand, I wouldn't care. But aside being smart, clever and beautiful, she has a way of making your day a good one with just a smile. She radiates with such a caring presence, always asking if everyone is fine, even going to personally take them to the hospital if need be. She isn't just another girl, she's the perfect one." Jacob explained while trying to ignore Abby's jealous gaze.
"Am I not smart, clever and beautiful too?" The young woman asked, offended while Daniel gently patted her back. "It's for her tits and ass, isn't it?"
Rosalie Clark's features never crossed Jacob's mind, so much so that he couldn’t tell if she had any.
"No! Rose is more than ass and boobs. She's kind, caring, she loves thriller novels and good food." Jack cited. "She knows how to make you feel special, her smile can brighten everyone's day."
"Rose?" Abby asked.
They spent the rest of the evening discussing Jacob's love interest and how she probably wasn't worth all his worries, some laughs were exchanged when Daniel jokingly suggested firing her. Once he felt better, he thanked them and looked for his phone. He discovered that an unknown number had tried to call him for the last few hours but the device was muted. He hesitated to phone back, he looked if he was alone and decided to dial. He could hear Abby jumping on his best friend for god knows why.
"Hello?" He said as the person picked up.
"Took you long enough to pick up, sir. I won't say I'm sorry, but it was for your sake." A female voice said.
"What?" He asked as his heart skipped a beat when he recognised the voice.
"I don't want to go out with a stud, I want to go out with a normal man. In the office, you're the legend of a man who can sleep with every woman he sees. You're athletic looking, you're rich, you have lots of charisma and you can achieve everything you do. You have everything and I don't want to be just another conquest, just another name of the latest woman you've slept with. You understand?"
Throwing away all of his friends' advice to forget her, Jacob decided to be true to her. Forsaking every pickup line he knew, he decided to be genuine in what he was going to say.
"Rose? You're more than just any woman, you're the perfect one. The one I want to spend the rest of my life with, the one I want to grow old with."
"Aren't you a little too young for that kind of speech?" Rosalie said with what Jacob interpreted as a chuckle.
"I want to set aside my past life and start a new one with you, Rose. The other women can't compare to you, you're the most caring of them all. The way you look when you're focused, the way you laugh at even the cheesiest jokes, the way you brush aside your hair when we talk… everything you do makes my heart flutter. There's no way to describe how perfect you are."
The secretary didn't sound like she trusted his words and, in some sort of sadistic pleasure, she asked him something that she was sure he would fail. Jacob was known to say the right words to seduce any girls, if Rosalie was to be just another conquest, she might as well give him a challenge worthy of his feats.
"Then, how about this? No more hookups with any women or men for a year and maybe I'll consider giving you a chance for a date?"
"Starting now?" Jacob eagerly asked.
She chuckled and wished him good luck before hanging up.
In the following days, with the aid of his best friend, Jacob took the challenge seriously and decided to tell all his sex friends that he was going to take a break for a year, and that he was possibly not going to ask for any more hook ups. Most of his conquests protested while others just didn't care enough to reply, but in the end, it was with a free conscience that he started his chastity for the woman he wanted to impress. He still had to make sure that neither Abby nor Daniel would coerce him in anything lewd, since his cousin was known for her sexual shenanigans and Jack's belief was reinforced when he caught the girl giving a sloppy blowjob to his best friend in the living room. The very same day he started his abstinence.
"Oh my fucking god!" Jacob exclaimed, jumping back at the sigh.
"I suppose it's useless to say that it isn't what it looks like?" Daniel asked as he was accompanying Abby's head on his rod.
"I leave you for more than a minute and you're fucking in the house while I'm still here!"
As if Abby was enjoying being caught in the act, she doubled her efforts in sucking Dan's cock, making louder slurping noises and feeling him twitch between her soft lips.
"Yeah… we'll… get a room?" Daniel barely managed to say as the blowjob was more intense.
"Yeah! Get a room! Also I promised Rose that I won't have any kind of sexual relationship for a year, so don't fuck with me."
Abby felt the dick in her mouth get soft for a second, frustrating her as she took it as an insult.
"I'm not like that." Daniel protested.
"I am!" Abby jokingly said between a few strokes. "Thought not with the family." She added after getting some judgemental looks from her friends.
In the end, their day had ups and downs but there was one thing that didn't change and it was their friendship. But things were already changing in their life, starting with the sexual tensions from these three.
Let's see the bright sight of this world!