SGG(1): Sinner’s Prayer

*Chapter Eight*

I sat in my office stuck in a daze, numb to everything going on around me, if I didn’t need to be here I would have probably went home, crawled in my bed, and waited to die. I felt filthy, totally disgusted, even with taking the time to shower twice.

I guess it wasn’t so easy to wash away regret, no matter how hot the water or how hard you scrub, it was a feeling that lingered. It didn’t escape me that I was one of the few to bother even showing up to work, which was fitting given the last night’s festivities were do to my excellence in the workplace, one thing I won’t do is let circumstance ruin all my hard work.

Still, between the mugging and the unmentionable, I was feeling the collective catastrophe of erratic emotions and my spirit was in free fall.

******************

“What the fuck is going on? I can’t believe this is even happening, this could have been anyone but you, why you?!”

“I don’t see what the big fuss is about, to be honest, the ass must have been good cause my dick feels drained and spent.. I always knew you had the good shit, they say the innocent ones be the freakiest.” Grayson replied, stretching his arms wide and tucking his hands behind his head, grinning like a cheshire cat.

“Fuck you..”

“Evidently sweetcheeks, you already did.”

I reached behind me doing a swipe check, finding the crevice between my cheeks oddy dry, but even so, he was right. Here I was waking up butt ass naked next to Grayson Matthews in HIS godforsaken bed. I needed a shower.. no, I needed a fast track trip to the clinic, cause who knows how many people this deviant sex fiend has been with, he was the party boy of Arkham and sex was his brand.

Even now, every cut and curvature of his muscular body screamed sex appeal, his handsomely featured face was undeniable, the stiffening imprint of his manhood under the sheets was daunting, and with all that said, I could shaken the feeling of wanting to puke my guts up.

“How about a go for round two Cyd?” He asked, as I ran to the bathroom, grabbing my clothes from the ground trying my best not to vomit.

I let the slam of the door behind me, speak my final answer.

******************

“Mr Tyson, the confirmation paperwork you’re waiting on just came through the fax and it all seems to check out fine, I’ll bring your copies in momentarily to confirm.”

“Thank you Corinne, do you mind bringing me another espresso? After last night I need all the help I can get..” I replied to the temp secretary, that was handling the extra load just fine without her co-workers, she also made a decent cappuccino.

I sent out a few emails, making sure to update Mr Ellison and Yurika on the advancement of our plans concerning project Sirius and the annual retreat which was only a few short weeks away. I knew I was supposed to send send a message to Shaw as well but when I found myself staring at a blinking cursor and a blank page for twenty minutes, it occurred to me i didn’t know if I could face him, especially after last night and this morning’s events. My pride had been my downfall, because him taking me home would have save me from whatever happened to lead me to Grayson’s bed.

It was just past noon and I figured there was really no reason for me sticking around the office later than need be, so I started packing my thing up to leave. I still felt unnerved, but there was little I could do about it, what good was a new me if I still felt terrible about myself all the time.. my emotions a perpetual cycle of peaks and lows, ups and downs. There was a knock on my door, and I look up to find Zachari, a brief recollection of his early departure from last night’s festivities cross my mind, I suppose he had the right idea.

“Hey Cydnee, you got a minute?”

“Sure, I was just about to leave but I have nowhere important to be.. I’m just a little verklempt from last night’s mess. What did you need?”

“I, umm.. I left early because it wasn’t my thing and I didn’t like how certain people were acting, as you may know, I’m not too good at social engagements and groups settings outside of business and research teams. It’s my aspergers, I’ve battled with it my whole life, sometimes I’m not sure which side is winning the war.”

“So sorry to hear that man, what can I do to help? Despite the last few days, I’m not too good in social settings either, people are hard to read and often give confusing signals.”

“Well.. I want to ask you about what went on at Grayson’s place.”

“What?!” I asked, nearly choking on the hot caffeinated drink I was sipping, spilling some on my crotch. “It’s not what you think.. I, uhh, umm.. I..”

“Look, I know what I saw Cydnee, don’t try to hide it, I followed you all to his apartment complex.. I saw the four of you go in.”

“The four of us?” I inquired, doing my best to recollect the foggy memories, while I vigorously pat my slacks with a napkin, vainly thankful if worn black as it would avoid obvious staining.

“Yes.. Cedric was assisting Grayson, while you were literally hanging on to my fiance for dear life, she was basically carrying you. I want to know what’s going on between you two, I’ve noticed the tension for a long time, tell me RIGHT NOW if you two are carrying on some sort of affair! I won’t have it, she’s mine!” He began to scream, getting heated with me, his attitude going from zero to sixty as he slammed a fist down on my desk and his eyes tinted red in rage.

“Look, just listen to me for a second, I didn’t think it was my place to tell you but..”

Before I could explain about Karishma’s on goings with Grayson, Zachari knocked the contents of my desk clear off and flung himself over it, I barely had a moment to catch my breath before his large hands were around my neck in a vice grip. I tried to scream but only a barked and choked squeal could escape my traumatized throat, as my body slipped out of the chair I was sitting, and our bodies crash to the floor. The look I saw in his eyes was full of anger, rage, and fire making him appear like a man possessed.

After failing to pry his hands away, I reach around desperately on the floor for something that would be useful as a weapon. My fingers brushed against an ivory cut figurine of an elephant I normally kept on my desk, I thought it would be heavy enough to knock him away, but it only broke apart when I smashed it into his head. Blood trickle down Zachari’s forehead, yet his attack was unrelenting, it was getting to a point where my vision was blurring and I was becoming increasingly lightheaded.

“She’s mine, she’s mine, she’s mine..” He kept repeating, his voice taking on the tone of an animalistic growl, clearly he was willing to kill for her.

“What the fuck?!”

Someone had come into the room, but I fear they were too late, as spots had already overtaken my vision. The walls were spinning, the lights around us became too bright, my body was going cold and numb, and I felt myself fading away. Just when I was about give up, they were able to rip him off of me, his nail dragging across the tender skin of my neck, leaving proof of how close he came to killing me.

There was some tussling as the person restrained him, and as if he woke from a dream, Zachari snapped out of his haze of rage, looking around him like he was lost in confusion. I lay there on the floor trying to catch my breath, a lingering burning sensation in my throat every time I swallowed an intake of new oxygen.

“What the hell has gotten into you man?” Shaw asked him, wondering what could have lead the man to violence.

“He’s fucking my wife.. they’re having an affair.”

“Wait, what?” Shaw replied, looking surprised at first, but then like seemed like he want to laugh yet wisely he held his mirth at bay. “Zachari, I’m sorry to tell you but that’s damn near impossible.. Cydnee doesn’t have the same taste for woman that you do, if he has the taste for them at all.”

“Are you trying to say he’s into blondes or something? I know what I saw.. two of them went into the back room, I was watching from the parking garage across the street, I could see straight into Grayson’s windows.”

“Sorry to break it to you buddy, but Karishma hasn’t been cheating with Cydnee, he not the culprit you’re looking for.. she’s actually been meeting with Grayson behind your back for sometime now.”

“No Shaw.. Zach is right, I was in the room that night, but Karishma wasn’t with me.” I cut in softly, ashamed at what I was about to reveal now that I could finally speak, both of them looked at me in confusion. “I don’t know what happened, I was too drunk, too upset from the mugging, I’m not sure what it was but I.. um..”

“Spit it out Cydnee.”

“I woke up this morning to find myself naked in bed with Grayson, I think we had sex.”

The shock on Shaw’s face quickly froze over into something colder, a hard steely glare with a sharp squint that cut right through me. I reached out to him to explain further, but he abruptly spun around, making his exit and slammed my office door behind him.

_______________________________

It was late in the evening, and I still hadn’t left my office, despite my earnest to make my leave earlier. It wasn’t for lack of trying, I just couldn’t get myself together, after cleaning up the mess Zachari made in my office.

I thought about going to human resources, or maybe someone higher up, like Yurika, but I honestly didn’t want a man a brilliant as Zach to lose his job over a lapse in character that was fully warranted. I should have told him about what I had walked in on the week before, I should have warned him about his fiance and her infidelity, maybe then he wouldn’t have snapped like he did.

Honestly, aside from picking up my things, I hadn’t moved from my chair or stopped staring at the cracked screen of my laptop as it loaded up the welcome page, which surprisingly wasn’t broken. It wasn’t the near loss of material possession that had me stuck in a daze, it was the thought of the final look Shaw gave me as he stormed out the room that had me so afflicted. I would have preferred if he screamed, yelled, called me all types of sluts and whores but he didn’t, he just turned his back and left. It let me know how much he really liked me, because most men would have acted up and shown out, Shaw just left without another word.

As I say the wallowing pathetically in misery, someone softly rapt on the door, in a rhythmic knock. I wiped away some stray tears and looked up to find Grayson standing there, which made me sigh and put my head in my hands, he was the last person I felt like dealing with at a time like this.

“What do you want? Haven’t you done enough to ruin my life or did you come to gloat?”

“C’mon, don’t do me like that Cydnee, I could have rocked your world if you gave me half a chance, I got some good prime A-grade dick I’m slanging here, nine and a quarter inches of ecstasy.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it that..”

“I have to tell you, that you probably will never know.” He smirked, taking the seat opposite me and kicking his feet up on my desk, looking as smug as usual to which I could only son in annoyance.

“Spit it out, what is it you’re getting at?”

“Don’t you think you should ask nicely, how about you put those plump full lips to good use, I bet you give the greatest head.”

“If my lips ever find themselves around your dick, trust and believe my scornful teeth will find way to turn nine and a quarter to a few centimeters with one bite.”

“Ouch, tell me how much you really love me..”

“You really want the answer to that?”

“Maybe after I show you this..” He replied, holding up a small USB stick. “It’s from my personal collection..”

“Oh my god Grayson, please tell me you didn’t fucking record us, I swear I’ll..”

“Just plug the damn thing in and see for yourself, click the one with the latest time stamp.”

I started up the disk drive and waited for the files to import, there seemed to be a number of videos, and a couple of photos. I found the newest entry right at the top, then double clicked to open the file. The video opened up to reveal the bedroom I remembered from this morning, with a clear view of the bed and the entirety of the room all the way to the door, I cut a quick side eye to Grayson in minor disbelief.

“Don’t judge me, I like to watch myself in action.. I should have been a pornstar.”

“This is a breach of privacy, are all your usual sexual conquests aware of this little hobby of yours?”

“Don’t judge me, if I didn’t have my ways, you wouldn’t be finding out the truth of what happened last night.”

I just shook my head at him and shut my mouth, gluing my eyes to the screen that showed the dark bedroom dimly lit by the streetlights outside the window. After about a minute of waiting, the door suddenly opens and two figures could be seen in the light casting in from the hallway. I couldn’t tell who was who but I assume one of them was Grayson, the other quite possibly myself, once the couple fell to the bed and started tearing each other’s clothes off I almost wanted to shut my eyes.

“Keep watching.. skip forward about an hour if you’re not enjoying the show.” He said with a small laugh, apparently noticing my discomfort.

I followed his instructions and played it at normal speed once I could make out one of the people quickly scurrying to pick up their clothing from the floor, and run out the room. I looked to him confused, but he made a gesture for me to continue looking at the screen. Five, maybe ten, minutes pass by before the door opened again, but this time the bedroom light was cut on and I sat there shocked at what I saw.

It was Cedric but he wasn’t alone, as there I was being carried into the room looking slumped over and out of it. He threw me on the bed and removed my clothes, then scattered them around the room like Grayson’s were, when finished, he made his way to the door and a sneering smile could be seen on his face as he cut off the lights and shut the door behind him.

“Are you serious?” I asked incredulously, looking up at Grayson, shocked beyond belief, feeling like I was being ‘punked’.

“I know..”

“Are you FUCKING SERIOUS?! What the fuck is wrong with him, why would he do this to me? He is supposed to be my best friend..”

“Who needs enemies when you have friends like that, huh?”

“I could KILL him right now! Why would he do this?”

“I know he was mad with finding out about Karishma and I, but who knew he was this upset at you simply for being the messenger, this just seems personal.. that’s why I figured I’d show you, plus, I thought maybe since I weaseled my way to your good side you might be willing to treat me to some of that ass.”

I didn’t even answer him, I grabbed my coat and my bag, then made my way to the door slamming it behind me so hard the wood splintered.

___________________________

“Cedric?! Cedric where the FUCK are you?!”

I walked into the apartment raving mad, almost feeling like a lunatic, I was so furious. There was no answer but I could tell he was home, his keys were on the kitchen counter and there were a couple of unfinished glasses of wine on the coffee table.

“Cedric?!”

I decided to check his room first, but he wasn’t there, so then I checked the joint bathroom we shared, that was empty as well. Just when I was about to holler out his name again, I heard moaning and rustling coming from my own room. I put my ear to the door and listened to grunts and moans, clearly the sounds of sex. When I heard a familiar voice moan out my own name, I didn’t wait any longer before damn near tearing the door of its hinge, as earnest as I was, nothing could have prepared me for what greet me on the other side.

It was me, yet it wasn’t me..

Then I realize the trick of my eyes was due to the fact we now share a similar style and a similar cut of dreadlocks. It was Cedric, naked and sweating as he rocked his hips, astraddle the waist of someone I couldn’t yet see, all that was visible was his bubbly ass bouncing up and down on someones thick lengthy manhood.

“Cedric what the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

He turned to look at me, not even having the nerve to look shocked, he almost appear as if he wished for me to walk in on him, that’s when I heard my name again.

“Cydnee? Wha.. what?!”

Tears fell, before the facts in front of my eyes could even fully register to me, a blood red haze clouded and fogged my vision, as anger course through my veins. The man Cedric was fucking in my very own bed was the honestly the last person I least expected, it was Shaw.

My heart, though broken, raced like I was about to have a heart attack. I shook my head ‘No’ like it would change things, but I knew there was no going back, not now. 

My only hope was that God would hear me and answer this sinner’s prayer for restraint, as I blacked out and lunged forward to attack the best friend who had become my worst enemy.