Chapter 9. Daniel

The Benefit is tonight, and I'm getting ready to take Cher out. Couple weeks ago I wasn't feeling like myself, I hardly ate that much and I didn't want to go out. So I had Nick come by, we sat watching basketball and then we went back and forth between that and football and we drank a few beers. It helped me get my mind off of things, but not once did I mention Cher. Just for a bit I tried not to, I thought of her these past few weeks, and getting to see her at work seemed to help a bit too. We talked here and there, but I haven't invited her into my office. Last thing I need is for people to get suspicious, especially Nick.

Tonight I went for a simple suit and tie look, and Nick came by wearing a suit and tie as well. Which is weird for me to see, this is probably the only time he dresses so nicely. I told Cher I'll be picking her up by 6 and that the benefit starts around 7, and I did tell her that it was a black tie affair, I know not everyone will be all dressed up and I told her she didn't have to dress all fancy. I'd prefer her in nothing, but I better shake those thoughts out of my head for right now. I check my watch and see that it's 5:30, Nick and I head over to the car and we get going to Cher's apartment. We got there in about 10 minutes, she told me to come on up to the apartment to let her know I was there. When I walked up the flight of steps to her place I knocked lightly on the door, the door opened and a woman I never met poked her head out. "You're Daniel." I nod. "Just one minute." She heads back in and I hear her yell for Cher. About a few minutes later Cher poked her head out. "Hey." She smiled at me. Cher had this beautiful black laced dress, her hair cascading in curls. My dick hardened by the sight of her. Shit!

"Hey." I couldn't stop staring at her, she was just absolutely breathtaking. "I'll see you later Kelly." Cher yells at the girl that came to the door earlier. "Bye Cher, bye Daniel." She shouted from the apartment. Cher and I laughed, "Yeah, that's my friend." She seemed a bit embarrassed, seeing her turn red was adorable. "You ready?" I hold my arm out to her and she grabs hold of it and puts her arm around mine. "Ready." The two of us head back downstairs and to my car. I noticed the Nick moved to the back of the car, so I opened the passenger side for Cher. I race back to the driver side and we were off. By the time we got there, I could see that there were already so many people. The door was crowded with people trying to get through. It was a nice turn out this year. Hopefully people are actually willing to donate this year.

Once we entered the building I recognized half the people here, most of my employees were here with their partners and some clients were here as well. Time to get them acquainted to Cher. I could sense she was a bit apprehensive by the way she was clinging onto me. So before I went to introduce her to anyone, "Would you like a drink?" She seemed to calm a bit once I mentioned getting her a drink. We went over to the open bar and ordered some drinks. Cher got something fruity, but it she did look more confident now that's she's had a few sips. "Thank you, I needed that. I'm not very good with crowds." I know how she feels, I may be used to these kind of things but I'm not big on crowds either. "There's Bobby Turner, he works in HR." Bobby was an older gentleman whose been working for company since my dad took over. "Come on I'll introduce you." I took her hand and brought her over to Bobby. "Danny, how are you?" Bobby took my hand and shook it, "Whose this?" He asks. "This is Cher Evans, she started about a month ago. She's one of the software developers. And I'll have to say one of the best." Bobby went over and began to shake her hand, "It's nice to meet you Cher." She shook his hand and smiled, "You too." We talked with Bobby for a few minutes, and then I spotted my mother in the crowd.

"Maybe I should start calling you Danny." Cher laughed, "That's okay. You can call me whatever." She laughed again, "Okay, Danny!" My mom saw the two of us approaching and excused herself from a conversation she was in. "Sweetheart." She gave me a hug and then looked over at Cher. "This must be Cher. I heard a lot about you." Yes, I talked about Cher to my mother and I didn't even mention liking her but my mom seemed to know. I told her not to say anything in front of Cher though, I didn't want her getting embarrassed. "Cher, this is my mother Theresa." Cher took my moms hand to shake but my mom insisted on hugging instead. "Nice to meet you Theresa." She hugged my mom right back. At least I know my mom likes her. "Danny, I've been meaning to talk to you." My mom leaned over to whisper, "Everything okay?" By the way she looked at me, it didn't seem that way. "Excuse me for one moment, Cher." I told her that she could roam around and introduce herself or go buy another drink. As I walked off, I noticed that she went back to the bar, and Nick was there. Last night I asked Nick to keep an eye on her just in case I wasn't around, and thankfully he was.

No one will mess with Nick, and no one will mess with Cher since Nick is there. Good thing too, I know that some of guys here are single, so they'll know to stay away from Cher. It's not my place to keep her away from anyone, it's completely her choice if she wanted to get with one of these guys tonight. Yet I'm hoping she doesn't. My mother and I go to a spot where there aren't any people, and she's about to say something when I hear a familiar voice from behind me. "Hello Daniel." The voice sent chills up my spine, and not the good chills that I feel when I'm around Cher. I turned and saw my ex fiancée standing behind me. She looked exactly the same since the day I met her, her hair was shorter though and I noticed that her skin wasn't as smooth as it used to be. "Valerie." I say, "Oh I missed you so much Danny." She pulled me into a hug, I tried hugging her back, but I couldn't seem to do it.

I looked over back at the bar and I saw Cher looking this way, she said something to Nick and he said something back to her. I hope she doesn't think I'm a liar. Valerie and I haven't seen each other in years, this is the first time she actually showed up at my mothers benefit dinners. For years I tried getting her to come with me, but she always had some excuse not to go. To be honest I don't know what I ever seen in her? She was my first actual love, we met in High School and we were inseparable for years. I thought I was in love with her, but I was wrong. After we broke off our engagement, I would ignore her phone calls, she would try visiting the office but I would say I was too busy. Now she shows up, after all this time she decides to show her face. "What are you doing here?" She tried to act like she missed me, but I know damn well she didn't. "I know how you always wanted me to come, so I thought why not? And I really wanted to see you." She smiled up at me, for some reason when she smiles I feel sick to my stomach. It doesn't do anything for me. "Daniel." This time it was Cher's voice I heard, and instantly I felt a lot better. "Cher, Valerie. Valerie, Cher." Valerie gave Cher a fake smile and they shook hands.

Last thing I want is for things to be awkward between the two of them. "Nice to meet you." Cher says, her words were a little slurred. I look over at Nick, he just shrugs. "You know what, I think it's time for us to sit." I take Cher by the hand and help her over to the table. "That's a great idea." Valerie said and grabbed my other hand. Great! "So Cher," Valerie sits on my left, while I have Cher sitting on my right. "How do you know Danny?" She was up to something and I didn't like it one bit. "Oh, I actually works for hmm." She hiccuped, "Sorry, I'm one of the software developers." She continued. "How fascinating." Valerie said as she moved some of my hair to the right side of my face. "Mom, maybe we should get things started." I said, I wanted to get it over with so I could take Cher home.

A lot of people donated money tonight. And my mom had a toast for everyone that donated, "I want to thank each and everyone one of you for donating. It truly means a lot." She continued with her speech as Cher drank a few more shots, it was Nicks idea for her to have them. After my mom finished with her toast, she looked over at me and Cher. "So Cher, you and my son are a cute couple. When are you going to

make me a grandmother?" Cher choked on her drink, I patted her on the back. "Mrs. Sanders, you're son and I are... we ... he's my boss. That could never ..." hiccup. "Sorry, that could never happen." Damn, that hurt just a bit. She's right, it probably could never happen, but why not? Yes I'm her boss, but that shouldn't stop her wanting to get together with me. Who am I kidding though? After tonight and having her see me and Valerie, she probably wouldn't want to be with me. Looking over to my left I saw that Valerie had a smug smile on her face. No chance in hell would I get back with her.

All this awkwardness tonight, I'm ready to leave. But not before I have a few words with my ex fiancée. "Valerie," I sit up from my seat and have her follow me. "Danny can I just say it was so good to see you, and I was hoping we could pick up where we left off." Is she fucking serious? "You mean, you cheating on me and then throwing the ring at my face and saying that you hate my guts?!" She didn't seem to like how I put it, but that's basically what she did. "Danny, that was then. I've had time think, and I really miss you so much. We can go back my place and do what we always used to be so good at." She's really trying to flirt with me and try to get into my pants. She's fucking insane. "No." What else does she want me to say? "Why not?" Oh I don't know? Because you're a total bitch? "Valerie, come on. We are not meant to be together." That got her mad, I can tell by how red her face got. Whenever she got mad she would turn red and this vein would pop out of her neck. "What are you trying to say? Are you in love with that Cher girl?" My silence was answer enough for her. "Fine. Good bye then. Hope you two will be happy." Before I could say anything back she walked away. I'm just hoping this time good bye means never seeing her again.

I walked back to where everyone was and I saw Cher with Nick and the two of them were laughing about something. "You okay?" I take Cher by the hand, she's had way too much to drink and I was worried she was going to get sick. "Nick, I'll need you to take Cher home." He nods and gets ready to leave to get the car. Cher looks up at me, she had fire in her eyes it looked like she was about to eat me alive and in good way. I could feel my dick harden, she slowly inched her lips closer to mine. The smell of alcohol on her breath was a bit much, but I ignored it because so really wanted to kiss her. Her mouth was on mine, and her lips slightly parted. Our tongues entwined together and it was amazing. For awhile I always imagined what it would be like to taste her mouth and to be able to kiss her. We continued to kiss for a few more minutes, I was the first to break apart and instantly regretted it. This time her hands were all over me, she found her way to my hard dick, and I grew even harder. This isn't right though, she's drunk and I'm not going to take advantage of her. "Cher," my voice raspy, it felt so good with her hands on me and I had to put my arms around her before she fell over. "Cher, we can't." She looked up at me, sad eyes this time. "Why?" She asked quietly. "Believe me, there are so many things I want to do with you. I would bend you over right here, but I can't. I'm not going to do that while you're drunk." I kissed her on the lips this time. And when I looked back at her, she smiled at me but she still looked sad.

Nick was watching us kiss one last time, his eyes were so wide. "Whoa! Didn't mean to interrupt." He put his hands up. "Please take her home." I whispered to him. When I looked back over at her she was passed out in my arms. She was beautiful, I can hold her in my arms forever. "Actually, I'll take her." I said to Nick. I lifted her up into my arms, and carried her out the door. Nick helped open the back door of the car and I laid her down in the back seat.

The drive to her home didn't take very long. Nick helped me get her out and I lifted her back into my arms. Once we got to her floor I knocked on the door and waited for Cher's friend Kelly to open it. When she opened the door she looked half asleep. "Is she okay?" there was a hint of concern in her voice. "Yeah, she just had a bit to drink." I walked into the apartment, and saw there brown couch in the living room, I thought about putting Cher on it but then I thought it looked a bit uncomfy. "She drank?" She didn't sound too happy about it. "She hasn't drank like that in a long time."

"What do you mean?" Now I was concerned. "Back in college there was a guy she liked and he was an ass and whenever he was around her , he made her feel insignificant and he drank all the time. I don't know? She would go to the parties and one time she got super drunk..." just by listening to this story it was pissing me off. How could someone be so heartless and not give a shit about this amazing woman. "She never mentioned that."

"She doesn't like to talk about herself that much." That makes sense. There were times I've tried asking her questions about her life, but some things were off limits. That must've been one of them. "I promise you this, I would never do something like that. I could never hurt her." Im saying this as if she's already mine. But she's not. "I know."

"Um, where's her room?" I wanted her to be comfy. "The first door, down that hall." She pointed. Walking into this woman's room was a little strange, but at the same time I felt comfortable in here. It wasn't a big room, but it was perfect for her. She had a twin mattress with floral sheets and pillowcases, her wall was covered with posters of her favorite boy bands. This room definitely suits her, it's adorable just like her. I set her down gently onto the bed, I pulled the blanket over her. I didn't bother taking off her dress, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to see her that way. Even though I've had many fantasies of her naked, but that was it just fantasies. I kissed her cheek and walked out of the room.

"Have a good night." I said to Kelly as I was leaving. "Thank you for taking care of her tonight." She came over and gave me a hug. "It was no problem, really." I would do anything for Cher. "If she ends up getting sick, tell her it's okay if she doesn't come into work." And then I was out the door and back into my car. "Is it cool if I crash at your place tonight?" I almost forgot that Nick was even in the car with me, my mind was occupied with thoughts of Cher. "Oh yeah, that's cool." I tell him. And the rest of the way back to my place was silent.