7 Jealousy in Seattle

It’s a miracle Seid does not mention anything about my argument with Barbara. “In fact, he hasn’t even called me or sent me any message at all for the past three days. Can you imagine being in a relationship and not communicating at all?” I talk to myself while I insert a capsule into my coffee machine. 

I lean on the counter and look at the window across me. It is one sunny afternoon and I am here at my office alone catching up on all the requests and demands of our clients. It always feels busy here but I like spending my time here rather than work at my company’s office, “If only I could quit my job and just focus here, I would without hesitation”, the thought brushes my mind. The sound of the coffee machine interrupts me from my daydreaming. I get my coffee and start working on my business projects.

I sit down in my receiving area and stare at all the folders, notes, and files scattered in front of me, “Let’s see which one we should do first”, I say. I reach out to each file and check the event’s date one by one. I have four clients for this quarter, “Jodie’s art exhibit on the 3rd, Clarence and Cecil’s wedding next month, Bliss’ gender reveal…and Jayden’s bachelor party.” I blurt out.

“How can they spend a fortune on these events? Who even invented these parties? Bachelor’s party? Bridal shower? And now, even gender reveal? I won’t be surprised if one day people would even celebrate their first menstruation, first masturbation, first time to get laid, and who knows what’s next!”, my wrinkles show as I think of this.

“Anyway, they are the reason why I’m earning. So, the hell I care!” I chuckle as I entertain the naughty idea. I slightly slap my face with the paper I’m holding, “Stop thinking and start working your ass out, now Ava!”

As I sit down and begin my research, my phone rings. The screen illuminates and there I see my boyfriend’s name. I ignore it as I don’t want to be interrupted when I am working. The phone continues to ring for quite some time. “I knew you would give up so easily. I guess making five consecutive calls is your limit”, I say.

I drink the coffee and engulf myself with Jodie’s exhibit. I type,

“ E x h i b i t a r t i d e a s ”

I search for a place to match Jodie’s identity as an artist. Jodie Springer is a budding artist who got discovered earlier last year in a street in Italy. I personally saw her artworks before she even became famous. Actually, one of her pieces is in my apartment right now. So when I heard about her rising popularity, I immediately volunteered to hold her exhibition without checking my prior schedule. So here I am rushing things up.

My eyes are glued on my computer screen so I don’t notice the footsteps approaching me. At once, a humid sensation brushes my right shoulder and arm as a man’s forearm crosses to my chest. A heavy panting and warm breath give a tingling shock to my nape. I feel my womanhood tightens. My body reacts quicker than my mind. Then an unfamiliar voice is heard,

“You smell nice. I’ve always wanted you, Ava.”

I feel my eyes close for a moment but I quickly get back to my senses. My instinct tells me to kick the chair using my red stiletto so I can distance my body from this unknown man.

“Ugh, my balls”, he grunts in a feminine way and raises his right arm in surrender. I see him do so in my peripheral view. My left-hand grabs the coffee mug. As I am about to hit him in the head, he screams,

“The heck, sissy! It’s your beautiful rival, Artemis”, still crouching on the side.

I let my frustration out, “My god Arthur, I thought you were some kind of a maniac!” Upon hearing the word maniac, he stands straight, holds his body towards me, puts his right arm around his waist, and does his signature gesture with his left hand. His manly voice a while ago suddenly disappears and his true personality emerges,

“B-I-T-C-H”, he sings and spells at the same time, “You are one mean bitch, Ava!”, continuing with his rhythmic complaints and his annoying accent. “Yes, you have a perfect body but that doesn’t cut to my taste”, and rolled his eyes at me. He laughs sarcastically. “And I abandoned the name Arthur, you know that, selfish bitch.” Then he spins like a crazy guy, “I am now called Artemis, as in the Greek goddess, representation of women and childbirth… the personification of womanhood!”, as if he is in some kind of a beauty pageant.

I put down the mug, unwrinkle my Burberry-Dorit-fitted-knit-pastel-pink-dress as I listen to his comedic speech. I burst into laughter upon hearing the phrase ‘personification of womanhood’.

He stops momentarily just to glare at me and then he crosses his arms, “Are you not done yet? Happy now, selfish bitch?”

“My bad, Arthur! Oh! I mean Artemis. Who would have thought it would be you? You never said you’re coming home. So, I thought some crazy guy entered my office without me knowing!” I explain while fixing the papers on my office table.

He walks around and sits on the couch at the receiving area and puts his feet on the center table. “Well”, he starts, “I just got back with my Boo yesterday night. I wanted to surprise you and Kendra, but she’s out of reach.”

“It’s Tuesday!” I say.

And he understands right away, “Oh! Yeah, right! And you? Why aren’t you with your self-righteous boyfriend?” His question catches me off guard.

“I have no idea. Ever since Barbara and I had an argument, he never once contacted me!” I shrug my shoulder, “Well, except a while ago he made a couple of calls but I was working so I didn’t answer it.”, I add.

Arthur, I mean Artemis seems excited about what happened with me and Barbara, “Spill the bean sissy.” I have no choice but to recall it. “Then, let’s have a drink. I wish Kendra was here.” We have a couple of beers while on it. I ended up telling him what happened in Prague and at the hotel when Seid visited me.

“My god, sissy. Now I know why you’re so horny earlier.” Then he pokes me on my side. I am speechless of what he said. “Me? Horny?” I ask myself.

“Do you think I didn’t notice? Tell me, did your ‘vagigi’ tighten when I whispered and blew to your ears? Because I felt the tension in your body?” He continues to tease me. I spank her on his back and he lets out a scream, “Ugh! I’m right, aren’t I?” Then, he looks at me devilishly.

“Shut up, Art!” I scream and blush. My body feels warm again. Blame my hormone for it, even the discussion of ‘sex’ itself makes me famished about it.

“Oh, my goodie goodie! You really need to get laid now! As soon as possible! Sissy, how old are you again? Even Kendra and I have better sex life than you. Why aren’t you provoking him?” Art starts interrogating me. If only he knew!

“Don’t remind me! What can I do if he doesn’t want to? That fucking moron! It feels like I am wasting my time here! I don’t even know if we are in a relationship at all. He is always at work. He seldom sends messages. Whenever we meet, it’s solely family dinner or business meetings. We don’t get to spend time with each other anymore.” I speak nonstop of my frustration.

Then, Art blocks me, and holds my shoulders and faces my body towards him, “Hold it, girl! This isn’t right! I will help you out.”

“Are you going to have sex with me?” I look him in the eye and ask him directly.

He slightly slaps my cheek with her right palm, “Sissy!” he calls out, then holds my chin. Now my eye level is just the same as his lips since he is tall. Unconsciously, I wet my lips and concentrate my gaze on him. But he blatantly rejects the idea. “Don’t me! I am taken! Listen, you’re beautiful and sexy, but you’re not my type. Why wait for him if you can have fun and explore?”

My head gets confused, but I continue listening to him, “Just go out and enjoy yourself. Meet people and explore yourself. Explore others!” He adds trying to convince me. His eyes widen and smile like a crazy man.

Interested but still hesitant about the idea, I nod once and raise my eyebrows. He hugs me excitingly and whispers about a site he recently discovered. We both giggle and continuously hug each other. The mood is great and I am happy to talk to someone about my dilemma.

The fun stops when a figure furiously watching us speaks from afar, “What the hell is going on, here, Avery? The figure has black brush-up hair: in his magnificent navy blue suit and brown shoes. His arms are crossed while breathing heavily. That my friend is my boyfriend. Art and I untangle ourselves as if we did something wrong. The man and I are dumbfounded. Art is the one who breaks the ice.

“Okay. I’m outta here, girl.” Art stands up in a manly manner, drinks the beer that is left from his can then crashes the beer out of annoyance. He then kisses me on my cheeks and takes his leave.

Right then and there, our bonding time ends. Now, I have to face this man’s wrath. Seid begins to walk towards me as Art makes his way out of the room. They both stop momentarily in front of the coffee table. The situation gets even more awkward. “Damn it, Seid!” I think.

With a weak but stern voice, “The second you’re back Arthur, look where I found you. You must have missed my girlfriend very much.” I can see Art’s facial expression changes.

“Damn it, Seid! What the fuck are you implying? Art’s my best friend!” I explode and stand up from where I am sitting.

But Art gestures me to stay put so I calm myself up, “It’s not nice to see you, too Seigfried, or should I say, our highness, Cohen?” He sarcastically responds while facing my boyfriend.

“Look, I know that you are gay, but I still don’t like you touching my girlfriend or being around her especially alone!” His remarks are already out of line.

“Seigfried!” I shout with a shaky voice. Once again, Art looks at me and sends the signal that he can handle him. So I let him deal with him.

I look at these men back and forth, the tension is heating up between two male species. I can feel the sweat all over my body. I see Art snickers and puts his hands inside his pocket. He walks adamantly towards my boyfriend. Despite his gender preference, he is not willing to back out. Seeing him, my boyfriend firms his posture and looks up to his face, staring nonchalantly. I can clearly see a two-inch difference between their heights. I didn’t know Art is now this tall.

I gulp as their conversation continues. I can hear my heart beating fast. I pound it once wishing it to calm down. I listen intensively since I am standing at least seven feet away from them.

Art moves his mouth closer to my boyfriend’s ears. Seid is caught off guard but prevails to hold his position and carefully listens to Art, “If you don’t want your girlfriend begging for other’s touch and attention, you better touch her yourself! Don’t make a fool out of her by ignoring her lustful desire.” His words strike my heart, but I remain silent.

“Fuck off! Who the hell are you to tell me what to do with my girlfriend! She’s mine and I don’t have to prove her anything!” Seid grabs him by his shirt and throws a punch. My feet are glued to the floor. My knees shiver and no voice comes out even if I try to shout.

Art blocks his punch. Art retaliates and grabs the back of Seid’s head. He pulls his head closer and once again whispers something to his ear. I can’t hear him any longer. To be clear, I can’t hear them anymore, all I see are images of them trying to hit each other. All I hear is my own sobs.

Seid’s face darkens as soon as Art whispers something, I wonder what could it be? With my mind flying elsewhere, I suddenly hear a sound.

Blag!

The next thing I see is Seid on the floor and Art exiting my office glass door. Their fight comes to an end, so I run to Seid and make sure he doesn't hit his head or something.