My vibrator was the only action I’d been receiving since my return to Sunset Harbor. Not even a kiss. The ones I shared with Russell were pretty chaste, with no tongue and no heat.
Now that I’d returned home and run into the one man that could command my body with just a look, it left me confused. My thoughts were in a spiral, keeping my mind off the purpose of my return home. Struggling with the mission that I’d embarked upon a decade earlier, I questioned if this was what I wanted.
I couldn’t imagine my life staying the course that it was with Russell. Boring, uninspired, and lacking in intimacy.
But I also couldn’t imagine giving up Sheffield Tech. It was what I was born to do. Right?
“I just don’t get you. I know that if I were engaged to a man, he would get it tonight. And Russell’s not bad looking, either,” she said, glancing at me and shaking her head.
“That’s because you’d be engaged to a man that you love and desire. That’s not my case, Chanda, and you know that.”
“That’s another thing I don’t understand. Why don’t you just start your own company? I mean, you’ve got the brains, the talent, the connections, and a nice bank account to invest in your own business. Not that you’d have to use your money if it came down to it, but at least you could dictate the terms of your relationships and find the true love you want,” she said.
“Chan, I don’t even know what type of business I would start if I were to start one of my own.”
Poking her lips out, she said, “Lingerie? Bath and Body? Sex toys?”
“Damn, is that what you think I’ve spent the last decade learning about? No, I’ve sat beside some top CEOs at the helm of some multi-billion-dollar businesses.”
“Who’s saying that those products can’t become multi-billion-dollar businesses? I mean, we’re talking about sex toys and things that make women feel sensual. There will always be a need for that, as long as there’s a need for sex. You’ve just got to change how you think about it. Besides, think of a certain store that involves Secrets and BBW.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s it for me.”
“Oooh! I’ve got it. Your mom’s in the fashion industry with her magazine; maybe you can follow in her footsteps. Or do something similar, like high-end couture lingerie or sex toys,” she said.
“Couture sex toys?” I replied, laughing.
Shrugging, she said, “Hey, just a thought. But at least you’d be free to do your own thing and marry whom you want if you wanted to at all.”
What she suggested didn’t sound bad at all. I loved fashion, and I was always wearing the latest designs. Whenever my mom and sister visited New York for fashion shows, I’d accompany them.
Senait surprised me when she’d shared that the clothing she and her friends wore were her designs. She’d convinced me to wear a few of them, and I had to say, baby sis had game.
But if designing was her niche, and fashion magazines were mom’s, I had no idea where I fell in that spectrum. All I’d ever known was Sheffield Tech. I’d cut teeth on that company and grew up at my father’s feet learning the ins and outs of the business.
My family expected that I would be the one to be his successor as his firstborn child. Especially since he’d never had a son, and we all knew there was no way that Senait would follow in his footsteps. She was too carefree to give anything to the company that benefited her to ensure its success in the future. If she did anything business-related, it would surely be fashion and not software and technology.
But for me, it’s what I was created to do. It was in my future, the moment my mother said they’d conceived. Anything outside of that for me was inconceivable.
Shaking those thoughts off, I smiled at Chanda and said, “Let’s play, girl!”
Chanda smirked and winked at me from underneath her mask. I’d accepted Lake’s invitation to Prestige’s annual masquerade ball, unbeknownst to my parents.
They both shunned the club and everything that they knew about it, condemning it as a bed of sin. My father had forbidden my sister, Senait, and I from ever stepping foot in the club's doorway.
Famed for its exclusivity and ability to cater to the rich, every wealthy family in North Carolina had a membership. Except for mine.
Whatever sexual proclivity, fantasy fetish, or any other habit a person desired, one could find it at Prestige for the right price.
I’d been here before as a guest, astounded by the lavish surroundings, the barely clad women and men, the gambling, nightclubs, and exclusive restaurants.
I’d only heard rumors about the floors that catered to sexual fantasies. Tonight, I hoped to see and experience it for myself.
A thrill of tingle ran through me as I anticipated what lay in wait for me. I was thankful that the mask I’d donned covered my identity and knew that it would allow me to engage in whatever I chose tonight.
“Girl, what if you meet a man tonight, and it turns out to be Russell?” Chanda said.
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes and said, “I seriously doubt that I will run into Russell. I mean, he loves having sex with lots of women, but he wouldn’t dare step foot in this club. He’s too worried about what his dad will say. Everything he does is to please his father.”
“Well, with that wandering dick of his, does his dad cheat on his mom?”
“Girl, I have no idea. I just know that he and I don’t share sexual chemistry. So, I have no idea how we’re supposed to have kids one day,” I said with a shudder.
As we made our way around the corner of the room, I checked out the guests that weren’t on the floor.
