Seize the Day

Matt and I were laying in my bed, having just woken up on a lazy Saturday morning. We’d finally trained Zack and Brian to not enter the premises before calling, and even then, not until we allowed it. Our weekend mornings were much more peaceful this way. It had been nearly six weeks since Zack and Gena decided that things just weren’t working out for them any more. Zee had stayed at my place for awhile, giving Gena space to get her things packed up and moved out. She’d found a place of her own close to her salon pretty quickly. Everyone had decided to stay friendly, even Zee and Gee themselves. They’d just decided that they wanted different things from each other, and just weren’t in it anymore.

“I have an idea,” Matt said suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Uh oh,” I groaned. “I kinda hate it when you have ideas, babe.” I leaned over to kiss him.

“I’m serious,” he pouted. “Let’s go out tonight. Not like to a club, but out on a date. We haven’t actually done that.”

“Um, sure we have. We’ve been out plenty of times!” I protested.

“Carrying you up my stairs and fighting with you to keep your clothes on isn’t considered a date, you know.” He grinned, knowing I hated talking about that first night we met.

I buried my face in the blanket. “Actually, that is considered a moderately successful first date in most of American culture.” I sighed, and uncovered my face. “What do you have in mind?” I asked cautiously.

“Out,” he said simply. “Somewhere nice. I know Chelle and Gena bought you at least one dress, you’re wearing it tonight.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” I squealed. “You know I hate dressing up!”

“You don’t hate it as much as you let on,” he said. “Besides, you look really damn sexy in a dress.” He made a little snarl sound, and nipped at my collarbone.

“Fine. There is a dress that the girls bought for me that I haven’t worn yet. I guess tonight’s as good a night as any, right?”

We kicked around the house, sprawling out on the couch to watch a couple of movies before it was time to get ready. After he called at made reservations at a restaurant I wasn’t allowed to know about, I wouldn’t let him see me or the outfit I was wearing until right before we went out the door. We both showered, he got dressed and went downstairs to wait. He’d apparently been planning this longer than he’d let on, since he just happened to have a pair of black slacks and a crisp black button-down shirt with him.

“You look amazing, baby,” I said, leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss him. “But get outta here now. Don’t get yourself involved in any video games, either,” I teased. “We do have a reservation to make.”

“I won’t, I promise.” He pecked my cheek. “Don’t take too long, ok?”

“I’m not Michelle or Gena,” I giggled. “Out in a jiffy.” I finished drying and straightening my hair, and put on my makeup. I was never an all-out makeup everywhere kind of gal, but this evening seemed to call for it. I straightened out my short-ish black hair, making sure that the blonde streak in the front was laying nicely, instead of sticking out everywhere like it usually does. I slipped into the red and black dress and put on the earrings and necklace the girls had helped me pick out. I didn’t feel like trying to stumble around in heels, so I was actually relieved that my zombie shoes didn’t match.

I figured Matt would have gotten himself engrossed in a movie, tv show, or an Xbox game, but he was actually standing at the bottom of the stairs as I started down them. “Uh, how long you been standin’ there, dude?” I asked.

“How long have I been down here and you up there?” he answered. He had a really odd look on his face that I just couldn’t place.

“Hey, you ok?” I asked, hopping off the bottom step into his arms.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just, um, nervous, I think,” he said, looking at the floor.

“I’m sorry, did you just say you’re nervous?” I gawked at him. “You are M. Fucking Shadows, who gets up in front of thousands of people nearly every night screaming his head off, while I’m a secretary from Kentucky who just magically ended up going out on a date with M. Shadows on his home turf. And you’re the one who’s nervous?” I twined my fingers into his hair and pulled his face to mine, our lips meeting. “Baby, you’re the sexiest man on the planet, what in the world do you have to be nervous about?”

“It’s been a long time since I took anyone out on a real date, especially a first date,” he stuttered. “And besides, I’m nervous that I might have to knock some asshole’s teeth out for ogling my girl.” His mouth turned up in a smile, showing off those dimples that kill me. “There’s no doubt about it, you are the most beautiful woman in all of Huntington Beach tonight.” He pushed me away slightly, still holding my hand, and turned me in a circle, then pulled me back close. “Tonight, and every night.”

“And you’re full of shit!” I hissed, even though I was blushing.

“Seriously, you look fucking gorgeous, Vivienne.” He ran his fingers along the neckline of my dress, giving me goosebumps where he touched. I leaned into his chest as he dipped his head to kiss behind my ear, earning a soft moan from me.

“Ok, mister. Enough of that.” I shrugged away from him and slid into my jacket. “We have reservations to make, don’t we? You keep doing that, and we’ll never leave the house!”

“That wouldn’t be so terrible, would it?” he purred, grasping at my hand and trying to pull me back to him.

I laughed. “Oh ho ho! No you don’t. You were the one who wanted to get all fancied up and go on a real, live date. Now come on,” I said over my shoulder walking toward the door.

In all honesty, Matt had been right. Other than the showcase show, and a couple of club trips, we really hadn’t been out on an actual date. It was pretty nice, cruising around Huntington Beach, wasting time until our reservations. Finally, we pulled up to a restaurant, far too swanky for anything I would have chosen myself, and had the valet park Matt’s car. He came around to the passenger side and opened my door.

When he gave his name at the hostess station, I saw the lustful look the cute little blonde girl gave him. I squeezed his hand, and leaned up to whisper, louder than necessary, an “I love you” in his ear and kiss his cheek. The hostess just glared at me, and I smiled innocently. She flipped her hair, grabbed a couple of menus and stalked toward the back of the restaurant.

Matt slung his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple, as we walked. “You know, that’s about the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said quietly. I looked at him questioningly, until he continued. “Showing that bitch that I’m yours. You were marking your territory, weren’t you?” I just slapped on a smug grin and turned my head forward, chin a little higher than it was before. He lowered his arm, wrapping it around my waist and guided me through the restaurant behind the hostess, chuckling the whole while.

She finally stopped at our table, in the very back corner of the restaurant, and faked a smile. “Enjoy your meal,” she cooed, putting her hand on Matt’s arm.

He politely, but forcefully shook her hand off as he pulled out my chair for me. “Thank you, doll,” I said, too sugar-sweetly for anyone’s good. “Have a good night.”

Matt, before I even had to ask, leaned over me to plant another big, loud kiss right on my lips. “Thanks, miss. I think we will,” he said, barely offering her a smile.

She huffed and walked away. “Thanks for not actually smiling at her,” I said, winking. “If she’d have seen those dimples, we’d probably have had to pull up another chair.” I rolled my eyes. “You don’t mind be being a bit, um, territorial, do you?”

He took the seat across from me at the small table. “Not at all. Already told you it was sexy.” He opened up the menu and started glancing through.

I did the same, my jaw dropping at the choices. “So, you know I’m a farm kid from the Midwest, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s been mentioned, why?” he asked, confusion on his face.

“I can barely pronounce half the words on this menu, let alone tell you what it is!” I exclaimed. “I’ve never been big on fancy food.”

“Well, the shrimp is fantastic,” he started to say, before I cut him off.

“Nope. I don’t do seafood. None of it.” I paused to exaggerate the real shiver running down my spine. “Ew. No shrimp, no crab, no lobster, no fish, and so on.”

“Baby, you’re in California, sitting in a restaurant on the beach on the Pacific Ocean,” he said. “You don’t eat seafood?”

“Nope. Not nevah,” I said. “Ew.” I shot him a smile. “Like I said. Corn-fed and from the Midwest. I like my food grown in a pasture.”

“They do have steak, you know,” he laughed.

“Hmm,” I mused. “I think I might have the steak tips portobello.” I closed my menu and put it on the table. “I’m just hungry!”

Halfway through our meal, the wine got on top of me. “I need to get to the little girls’ room,” I giggled. Matt nodded and came around to pull out my chair again. Even though my cheeks were already pink from the alcohol, I felt them blush brighter still. I made my way to the opposite corner of the restaurant and found the ladies’ room. As I pulled the door towards me, someone was pushing out of it. A very-familiar looking petite blonde woman walked out.
“Oops, sorry,” she said quietly, before looking up at me.

Startled, I looked at her as well. “I’m sorry. Oh. Hi.” She stopped and studied my face for a second. “You’re Valary, right?” I asked, suddenly not wanting to be anywhere in this zip code.

“Um, yeah, I am. Can I ask who you are?” she said, being very polite for someone who had just been stopped at the door to the restroom.

“I’m Vivienne,” I said quietly, knowing she’d know exactly who I was.

“Oh my gosh!” she gushed, and threw her arms around me in a hug. “I’m so sorry!”

Slightly confused, I just giggled nervously. “Nothing to be sorry for, I guess. We’ve never met, so I don’t expect you’d recognize me.”

She pulled me back into the bathroom, so as not to clog the hallway for anyone else. “So, you’re the Vivienne, huh?” she said, punctuating her statement with a dazzling smile. “It’s really very nice to meet you.”

“N-n-nice to meet you too,” I stammered. Ok, V. Chill the fuck out, dude. It’s just your boyfriend’s ex-wife. No big deal, right? I pushed the voices out of my head and tried to continue. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” I said.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” she replied. “Chelle talks about you all the time. She loves you. Gena and Lacey do too.” She paused for a second. “And from what I hear, Matt sure thinks pretty highly of you, as well.” She reached over and patted my arm. “I want you to know that I’m very, very happy for you and Matt.”

“Uh, thank you.” That’s all I could manage to get out of my mouth.

“He’s a great guy, but I’m sure you already know that.” I just nodded in response to her as she continued. “Matt and I were great together for a long time, but then it just wasn’t there anymore, you know? I couldn’t keep pretending, and neither could he, so we decided to just cut things off. I know it sounds weird, but we just weren’t happy the way we used to be.”

“I completely understand. And yeah, you’re right. He is an amazing man. But I’m sure you know that as well,” I said with a slight smile. This has to be the most awkward conversation I’ve ever had, in the history of ever. “Sometimes things just don’t work out, it wasn’t meant to be, or whatever. That’s part of life, I guess. Mostly, be glad you realized it. I know too many couples who just keep truckin’ along like there’s nothing wrong, for all the wrong reasons.” I sighed, hoping I wasn’t rambling too much. “But I’m not gonna lie, things worked out pretty well for me in the end, right?” I beamed, shrugging lightly.

Val cocked her head a bit and smiled. “Michelle’s right. You are perfect for Matt. Just the right mixture of sassy and sweet. A little heavy on the sassy side, just like he likes ‘em. You’ve gotta be, though, to deal with those boys.” She opened her arms inviting me in for a hug. “I’m really very happy for you. I haven’t seen you to together, but from what everyone else says, and the little bit that I have talked to Matt, it sounds like you guys are happy for yourselves. And that’s really all that matters.” We squeezed each other for a long moment.

“Thanks,” I said, when we finally broke apart. “I knew that I’d bump into you out and around somewhere sooner or later, and I was really, really worried about it. I don’t know why, I just expected our first encounter to be a lot more, um,” I said, not sure how to phrase what I was thinking.

“Confrontational?” she finished for me.

“Yeah, maybe,” I admitted.

“Honey, I had my chance with Matt. We didn’t work. End of story. I’m not going to be that ex who lives to try to ruin his life or any shot at happiness. Even though we both knew it was over between us, I was the one who suggested the divorce. I was the one who left, so I have no right to stick my nose into his life.” She gave me another of her super-sweet, very genuine smiles. “I’m just glad he’s been able to move on, and to find someone else that makes him happier than I ever did, or ever could.”

“Well, I’d like to hope that’s what I’m doing,” I laughed. “He’s sitting out here waiting on me so we can finish our dinner. Do you want to say hi?”

“You wouldn’t mind?” she asked.

“Of course not. Let’s go.” I said.

“Um, Vivienne?” she asked.

“What?” I answered as I started toward the door.

“You never went to the bathroom. I assume that’s why you came in here?” she giggled.

“Oh. Right.” I shook my head. “Give me just a second.”

After Val stopped at our table and chatted with Matt for a second, she went on her way. She was out on a date herself, actually. We finished our meals and the second bottle of wine, and decided it was probably time to head home. On the way out, we got another snotty look from the blonde hostess. I winked and blew her a kiss over my shoulder, as I linked my arm even tighter into Matt’s and laid my head on his shoulder. I giggled all the way out to the car.

“Well, that was an eventful evening, I suppose,” he mused as he held the passenger car door open for me again, helping me into the seat. After I was seated, he squatted down next to the car, still holding my hand. “Thanks for taking that so well with Val,” he said, bringing my hand to his lips. “Not just anyone could have taken up with her new boyfriend’s ex-wife so quickly.”

“It was nothing, really,” I said. “Valary seems like a very sweet girl. I mean, her twin sister is now one of my best friends, so she can’t be so terrible.” I pulled his hand to my lips now. “Besides, she assured me that she has no intentions of butting in to our lives, so I’m ok with her.”

He chuckled, kissed my hand again and closed my door. “Let’s go home, shall we?” he asked climbing into his driver’s seat.

“We shall,” I answered with a laugh.

At every stop light on the drive home, Matt leaned over and kissed me. My lips, my cheek, my neck, wherever he could get to. His hands kept tracing my thighs, each time pushing the hem of my dress up a little further. During one particularly adventurous exploration, I just looked over at him, lust as obvious in my eyes as it was in his. “Something I can help you with?” I asked, chewing at my bottom lip.

“Just as soon as we get home, I sure hope there is,” he said. Luckily, we got caught by another red light, so he was able to take that couple of seconds to lean over and nip sharply on my earlobe, tugging as he returned back to his position behind the wheel.

“Mmmmm.” A quiet moan slipped past my lips, even though I tried to keep it from doing so.

I saw his grip on the steering wheel tighten. “V, do you even know what that sound does to me?” he asked, his voice low and gravelly.

“What sound?” I asked, playing innocent. He ran his hand up my thigh again, all the way up, brushing against my panties. I moaned again, definitely not meaning to this time.

“That sound,” he growled, not removing his hand.

“Good thing your next turn is into your driveway, isn’t it?” I said softly, my breath still catching in my throat.

“Good for you, yes,” he said. He turned the corner into the driveway a little quicker than he should have, parked the car in the garage, and ran full-speed around to my door to open it.

As he offered me his hand to pull me from the car, I giggled. “You in a hurry, baby?”

He helped me stand, pulled me out of the way enough to close the car door, then pushed my back against the car. He kissed me fiercely, his tongue tracing the outside of my bottom lip, asking permission to enter. Of course, I couldn’t say no, so I parted my lips just a bit, feeling his tongue snake its way inside my mouth. After a long moment, he broke free of my lips, and moved his to my neck. Sucking and kissing his way to my earlobe, he bit again, bringing the same soft moan out of me. I knew that was the response he was looking for when he kissed down my neck, across the hollow of my throat, and back up to the other earlobe, repeating the bite. Again, I moaned, a little louder and harsher this time.

His hands found my thighs, kneading the soft flesh there. He hooked one hand behind my knee, wrapping my leg around his waist. I took his hint, and jumped up lightly, wrapping the other leg around him as well, locking my ankles at the small of his back and my arms around his neck. He brought our mouths back together, and carried me up the small set of stairs from the garage into the house. With every step, I bobbed down onto the growing bulge in the front of his pants, turning us both on even more.

Once we were inside the house, he dropped his keys on the counter, and carried me through the kitchen, tongues never parting. Somewhere in the hallway between the kitchen and the main stairs, we stopped. He pushed my back against the wall and fumbled with the halter tie on my dress. He finally got it undone, allowing the top of the dress to fall down. Keeping one hand firmly under my ass so as not to drop me, his other hand went to my pierced nipple, twisting and tugging it lightly.

“Bedroom?” I managed to barely whisper out.

“No, I want you right here, right now,” he said, that growl in his throat again. Leaning back just a bit, still never setting me on the floor, he pushed the hand that wasn’t supporting my ass in between us, pulling my panties to the side. His thumb lightly flicked my clit once, before he slid his middle finger easily into my core.

Trying to keep a grip on my sanity, I managed to lean into the wall and balance myself so that I could unfasten his belt buckle and his pants. Having three hands in one small space between our bodies made things difficult, but I managed to get his pants open and partially pushed down, while he never stopped pumping and twisting his finger inside me. He shimmied a bit, allowing his pants to fall all the way to the floor. He pulled his finger out and placed it in his mouth, licking it clean, while I repositioned myself so that the tip of his cock was barely touching my folds. He leaned forward again, finding a spot on my neck to sink his teeth into.

As he bit down, he lifted me up slightly, and slammed me down onto him. We both cried out, him in lust and anticipation, me in a combination of pleasure and pain. He waited a couple of seconds for my body to adjust around him before he started moving in and out, our hips colliding together furiously. His mouth went back to my neck, sucking, licking and biting, driving me crazy. I was already very close to my climax, feeling that surge of hot electricity coursing through my mid-section. I guess he sensed this, because he changed up the strokes he was using, thrusting deeper and harder each time, and dragged his teeth along the skin just behind my ear. All of a sudden, that electricity got the best of me, and I let go, losing control. My head lolled back against the wall, unable to hold it up myself any longer.

“Matt...” I groaned, riding out my orgasm, still convulsing and spasming around his cock.

He just grinned and kissed my neck softly, giving me time to regain my composure. He pulled his still-hard cock out of me, cradled me in his arms, and carried me upstairs, stepping out of his pants on the way. He laid me on the bed and took off my dress and panties, finishing unclothing me, then took off his shirt and laid next to me.

Once I caught my breath, I looked over at him and smiled dreamily. “Thanks, babe,” I sighed.

“You’re quite welcome,” he chuckled. He kissed my arm. “Round 2?” he added with that impish grin.