Part 2: The Media

SATURDAY

Last night's blowjob had been alright. Nicole was enthusiastic, but clearly she was a novice. I spent half the time trying to avoid her teeth. And when I came, despite my warning, she choked and wasn't able to swallow anything.

But if at first you don't succeed... And so I awoke this morning to find Nicole's head bobbing up and down my morning wood. She smiled around my cock and then went back to focusing on me. For some reason... she was a LOT better this time around. No teeth, great suction, and now she was getting her hands into the pumping motion.

Three minutes later, I was clutching her head in my hands and I moaned in warning, "Nicole!!!"

She was prepared this time, and as the first jet hit the back of her throat she was swallowing quickly.

When we were done, this vivacious young woman was leaning over me and kissing me hello. I could taste the slight saltiness in her mouth, but she had to deal with my morning breath, which I'm sure tasted a hell of a lot worse.

"Good morning!" she bubbled. And I held her close in my arms.

We lay there, enjoying the warmth of the bed for several long minutes and saying nothing. The only sounds were purrs of contentment from both of us. And just when it seemed like we would finally wake up and get started with our days, Nicole picked her head up and stared at me, her hazel eyes bright and sharp at the same time. "I have to warn you... I'm really falling for you..."

I smiled and kissed her nose while stroking her hair. "The feeling is mutual."

She pressed her lips to mine again happily, and then rolled off to the side, stretching out. "Isn't saying that supposed to be the fastest thing that kills a relationship? Frightening people away?"

"Ordinarily, I'd agree with you. But that's only if your feelings are stronger than they can handle, or if the sentiment is not returned." I turned and held her once again, this time with my head on her chest. "But my feelings are just as strong as yours, I think."

"I never knew falling in love would ACTUALLY feel this great."

"Me, neither..." I sighed.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. And so after Nicole fixed us a quick breakfast, it was time I should go.

I'd called my driver to come get me. And when he called up to let me know he was out front, I kissed Nicole goodbye. "I'll call you tonight."

"Promise?"

"Absolutely."

I floated on Cloud 9 the whole way back to my new apartment.

Cassandra greeted me when I arrived home. "Good morning, Jonathan."

Ooh, I loved her Aussie accent when she said my name. I smiled back at her and then headed to my room to clean up. My butler and housekeeper, Edward and Dorothy, were in the kitchen, and they nodded to me in greetings as I passed. It was going to take me a while to get used to having live-in staff in my home.

Fortunately, my personal quarters were spacious enough to live in if I wanted privacy. Heck, my bedroom alone was almost as big as my old apartment had been. And as I wandered around this place I'd only seen last night, I felt like I was in a luxurious hotel, not my own bedroom.

As I basked in the warm torrent of water pouring out of the multiple shower heads surrounding my body, I thought back on my life. I was enjoying the most heavenly shower I'd ever felt in my life. I had a palace for a home and more money than I could ever count or spend in my lifetime. I no longer had to work nor ever worry about financial security for the rest of my life. And best of all, I had a budding new relationship and the love of a pretty young woman.

Everything in my life was absolutely perfect. All I had to do was accept and enjoy it, pursue whatever my heart desired for the rest of time. All the things I wanted to do before I turned 30, all the business ideas I didn't have the capital to put in motion, they were mine to pursue.

I spent the rest of the day exploring my new home. Cassandra and I spent two hours talking about redecoration ideas. She'd done a marvelous job doing a mild redesign within the one day she had. But we could still come in, change paint colors, and add a few personal elements to really make the place mine.

Dorothy made a fantastic lunch, and I invited all four of us to sit together and get to know one another. Edward and Dorothy made a very cute older couple, and seemed to have had a very long and happy marriage together. I found myself wondering if Nicole and I would end up like them.

By the mid-afternoon, I wanted to relax and start planning my evening date with Nicole tonight. So I puttered around for an hour making romantic arrangements and ordering flowers and booking carriage rides. We'd done the simple dinner thing last night. Now I wanted to open things up. I was a billionaire now. I had to dream big. With money as no object, I could plan the most outrageous date possible.

I made the phone calls myself. Sure, I could have had Cassandra make all the arrangements for me. But somehow asking a beautiful woman to plan a date for another woman just didn't seem right.

Once I was done with my date planning, I wanted to chill out for a couple of hours. Within the area of my private quarters was a separate sitting room, my own little entertainment center if you will, which I continually referred to as my private lounge. And so clad in my boxers and a plush bathrobe, I sunk into the comfort of my overstuffed new couch and grabbed the remote.

While I flipped through the channels on my new huge screen TV, I hit the intercom and asked if Dorothy could make me a smoothie.

"With pleasure, sir," the sweet woman replied. I could get to like this life.

As I scrolled down the channel guide, one entry caught my attention. It was the Weekend Edition of Celebrity Sightings. On impulse I hit SELECT and let my brain turn itself off as the latest Brangelina sighting was reported in breathless detail by a familiar young anchorwoman.

Two minutes later, the next segment came on.

"Oh, they did NOT," I blurted.

But of course, they did. And I should have expected it.

This time, the photo was of Taylor and me walking down the street together on Thursday, followed by a montage of other shots at different apartment buildings. The female reporter gushed about how the new 'it' couple of Manhattan, Jonathan Kwong and Taylor Brynn, were house hunting together. They made it seem like we were a deeply intimate couple, all alone. Our real estate agent and Cassandra, of course, weren't in any of the photos.

I just stared mutely at the screen, the next segment moved on to show Taylor and I having sushi together while Taylor was patting my back. I remembered how I'd been choking a bit after a particularly racy comment she'd made. But the still photograph made it look like she was caressing me.

The next photo had Taylor leaving my building on Friday morning while the anchorwoman gushed about how Taylor had spent another intimate night with me...

"... and then leaving yesterday morning." But the juicy part was still to come. "And THEN... later that same night, we found Jonathan Kwong out on the town with a new leading lady."

The next series of photos showed me helping Nicole into a cab outside her apartment building and then our dinner at a romantic Italian eatery. Somewhere in New York, a woman was yelling to her friend "I TOLD you that was Jonathan Kwong!" The final shot was of me getting into my Maybach just this morning. "Why would a man of Jonathan's financial means be taking a cab on a date? Perhaps he was trying to sneak out without being noticed?"

The anchorwoman continued, "Now Jonathan Kwong leaving this apartment building in the morning would not ordinarily be considered unusual. After all, this is where he made his home for the past four years. But our sources have confirmed that Jonathan Kwong moved OUT of the building earlier in the day, his apartment left clean and empty for re-rental. We can only assume Jonathan spent the night with a woman we have now confirmed as Nicole Gellar, an accountant with a Wall Street Consulting firm."

The program then zoomed in to a close-up of Nicole's face from one of our date photos and lined it up with her yearbook picture from college.

I couldn't watch any more and turned the TV off before dropping the remote onto the floor.

Oh, hell. My perfect life was going to be a lot more complicated than I expected.

Twenty minutes later, I sat on my couch, in my own private sanctuary, still in numb shock. The Celebrity Sightings report was replaying over and over in my mind. From the house hunting with Taylor to her departure in the morning. This was followed by my date with Nicole and the cab and my spending the night at Nicole's.

It's not every day that you find your face in the news, and yet this was the third different time in eight days. I couldn't believe the splashy details of my personal life were being aired for the whole country to see.

People already thought I was dating Taylor. Now people would be thinking I was buying an apartment for Taylor and me and then cheating on Taylor with Nicole.

Nicole. I had to talk to her. I had to let her know how much I cared about her, no matter how awkward the celebrity gossips might make things look. Taylor wouldn't give a shit. If anything, the free exposure would be good for her career. But I had the sinking feeling that Nicole wasn't going to react in quite the same way. I didn't even really care how the story might affect my reputation. All that mattered was how Nicole reacted.

So I reached for my phone. But hell, what was I going to say? And so I was sitting there with the phone in my hands when the knock came at the door. "Yeah..." I growled.

Cassandra came in, a concerned look on her face. The Bluetooth earpiece was on her ear, and she was just now removing it and dropping it into a pocket. "I just heard." Her accent made her seem so softly sympathetic and alluring at the same time.

Without another word she came and sat next to me on the couch. "You okay?"

Her presence was calming. We may not have known each other very long; but she was a familiar face and that was enough, given the state I was in. After a minute, I composed myself a little better and turned back to her. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I should call Nicole, though."

Cassandra nodded, and then put her hand onto my shoulder reassuringly. "If you ever need to talk, just let me know."

I nodded back. She waited another few moments, scanning my expression with concern, and then she got up and left the room.

I turned back to the phone. The extra moments had allowed me to get over my shock, and I was thankful to Cassandra for that. Dialing through my phone's menus, I quickly got to Nicole's number in my address book and hit TALK. If I could just talk to her, everything would be alright.

But of course, I got the busy signal on her phone. Crap.

Two minutes later I tried again. Still busy. Frustrated, I threw the phone down again.

A second later, I picked it up again. This time I was dialing my driver. "I need you downstairs in thirty seconds."

My new apartment building had a private garage, so I never would have to worry about photographers entering and exiting my own home. My old apartment building? That could potentially be a different story.

I lucked out in that there were no paparazzi hanging around outside my old building when I arrived. I didn't know whether to feel relieved or insulted. At the very least, the Maybach would eventually attract attention, so I told the driver to park around the corner and I'd call him later.

Building security just nodded to me as I hit the elevator. I was sure they knew I didn't live there anymore, but they didn't seem to care. One of the guards even gave me a knowing wink, thinking I was going upstairs to get laid.

Nicole didn't exactly react the same way when she opened the door.

"John!" she exclaimed. At first she moved forward and opened her arms to fling them around me in a cathartic hug. But then she stopped, closing her arms back together and then stepping backwards into her apartment.

I followed and closed the door behind me. "I assume you've seen the show?"

She nodded listlessly and then sat down at her couch, not looking at me. "I always do..." she replied in a melancholy tone. "When I first got here, I always watched Celebrity Sightings. It was like they weren't humans; they were these alien beings with the soap opera lives. It was good entertainment and it made me appreciate how normal my own life really was."

I said nothing but moved to sit next to her. And to my absolute dismay, she shifted away from me on the couch.

Tears started reforming in the corners of her eyes. I could already see the dried streaks from before. "Now I'm the alien."

Still not knowing how to respond, I tried to change the conversation to something that would allow me to talk to her about our feelings, despite what was being said publicly about me. "I tried calling you right away. The line was busy."

She turned to me, a gleam in her eye filled with ironic humor. "My mom called. Can you believe she actually asked if I was still a virgin?"

"Nicole..."

"I can't handle this, John."

"What are you saying?" I moved forward to hug her, and this time she let me wrap her up in my arms.

"John, I feel like I'm falling for you. But seriously, we've only been on ONE date. And I think we should stop this before it goes any further and we both end up really hurt."

"Do you really want to stop?" I whispered in her ear while clutching her even tighter.

"No," she wailed softly, a choking cry. "But I can't handle this." She began sobbing into my shoulder. "I'm a simple girl from a small town. I'm not a celebrity."

"Maybe that's why I want to be with you." I whispered into the back of her head. I could feel the crushing pressure of knowing I was just moments away from losing this beautiful person from my life. And with the tightness of emotions, I thought I would start crying myself in a moment.

"I want this so much, John. But we can't work." Even as she said this, she clutched me even tighter.

"Why not? Come on, Nicole. It's just me. Just the awkward guy getting Chinese delivered. Just an ordinary guy you met in the elevator, remember?"

"I want to believe that. But you're not just an ordinary guy. No matter what, you will always be Jonathan Kwong... New York's newest billionaire. And I will always be the girl who avoids the limelight. While other girls flirted and found boyfriends, I stayed home and studied. When they primped and preened to get noticed, I stayed in the background. But now... because I met you... my face is on national television. And I hate it..."

"The tabloids will get over it in two days and move onto something else."

"Just like you'll get over me in two days and move onto someone else." Nicole released our hug, pouting. I could feel her emotionally withdrawing.

"What? No!" I desperately had to reconnect with her. Already she was backing away from me. "I swear to you Nicole, I have zero plans of moving on. In the middle of this whole thing, all the money and all the toys and all the perks, you were the brightest light in my heart."

Despite my heartfelt words, I could sense my own impending doom. Her tone then became accusatory, "Then why were you with Taylor?"

"I told you, we've been friends for years. I appreciated her input in picking out a new home. And that sushi dinner? I was choking and she was patting my back. The TV spins it however they want." I held her hands in my own and look deep into her eyes, now a brown storm. "Nicole, I'm here with you. I want to find a way to work this out."

She slowly shook her head in my grasp, her eyes clamped tight and a frown barely held her from bawling in tears. "I can't... I'm sorry, but I can't... A client aggressively trying to flirt with me at work is one thing. Having photographers following me when I go to dinner is quite another. It's just... too much."

"Nicole... please..."

Suddenly, Nicole grabbed my head and pulled me to her, mashing her lips against mine, sobbing even as she kissed me.

Something deep in my soul cried out in pain at the same time I started crying tears from my eyes. All the heartache and love Nicole had to give went into that kiss.

And then Nicole pulled away. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." And then she stepped away from me and went into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

I knew that was my cue to leave...

... Didn't mean I was walking away from her.

I came to her bedroom door, finding it locked. "Nicole?"

"Please... John... just go away."

"Nicole..." I pleaded.

"Go away..." she pleaded right back.

I felt it best not to push her. "I'll call you."

"No... just... please don't... I can't see you anymore."

I sat in the backseat of my car, oblivious as it wound its way very slowly through the crowded streets of the Upper East Side. Actually, I was pretty oblivious to everything. There was a buzzing noise somewhere around me.

At first, I fumbled around as if searching for my alarm clock before realizing I was in a car. That's about when I noticed that the buzzing was coming from INSIDE my pants.

Taylor was calling me. Growling in frustration, I answered the phone. "Yeah."

"Johnny! I've got great news!"

"Really," I answered with biting sarcasm. "I'm not having a very good afternoon."

"Yes, yes." She didn't really hear me. "I got a new photo shoot! I'm going to Paris!"

"Wait, what?"

"Paris! I got a new photo shoot. Fashion Forward called me this morning and asked me to do a cover for them!"

"Wow... That IS great." And I meant it. My voice didn't sound very perky, but as crappy as I felt at the moment, a part of me felt quite happy for Taylor. The magazine was huge in the modeling world and was the kind of thing that would establish a girl as a bonafide star. Taylor was a good friend and she was finally starting to make it big as a model.

"Come with me," she said breathlessly.

My mind blanked out at that point, not sure what to say. I'd been experiencing that feeling quite a lot in the last hour or so. "Wait, what?"

"Come with me! Come to Paris. Get away from your life for a week. It's not like you can't afford it."

She had a point. And at this moment of utter despair, a vacation sounded perfect. "Well..."

"What's there to think about? A week with me in the most romantic city in the world. The City of Light. The City of Love. A week with me fucking you until you can't walk straight."

Automatically I felt a stirring in my groin as I imagined taking her doggy-style at an open window with the Eiffel Tower in view.

"A week away from the cameras, Johnny... A week away from Celebrity Sightings... Just you and me."

And just like that I made my decision. "Taylor, I can't." A vacation was a wonderful idea. But the mention of Celebrity Sightings reminded me that everything I did with Taylor would end up, somehow, on network television in New York. Taylor and I might be halfway around the world, but people would find out eventually. And more specifically, Nicole would find out.

"What?" She sounded completely shocked at my answer. "Why not?"

"I just can't go. I've got other stuff I have to do." The fact was, a Celebrity Sightings report that New York's 'It' couple of Jonathan Kwong and Taylor Brynn jetted off for a weeklong fuck-session to Paris would pretty much kill my chances with Nicole, forever.

"Oh, Johnny... come on. If you don't come I'm going to have to find some Parisian hunk to satisfy my urges."

"What, like you wouldn't fuck a hot French dude if you ran into him in New York?"

I could hear Taylor's smile through the phone. "Well..."

"Have a great time, Taylor. Call me when you get back."

After dropping the phone into the seat next to me, I lay my head back and sank another two inches down. Me and my stupid heart. First it wouldn't let me let go of my pain stemming from Nicole shutting me out. Then it wouldn't let me fly away and have wild sex for a week straight. I was feeling thoroughly depressed.

The minibar then caught my attention, and I reached out to grab a tumbler and select an appropriate mind-number. Hell, no sense having a minibar in your car if you're not going to use it. And I wanted to drink so much I would forget my own name. Forget the name, forget my life, just forget everything for a little while.

"Driver, I don't want to go home just yet. Let's go for a ride."

Cassandra was waiting for me when I got in the door. "Jonathan!" She stood up from the living room sofa and immediately walked over to me.

Earlier in the day I was feeling depressed. Now, I was feeling depressed AND drunk. I guess I looked so pitiful that she didn't bother with a 'how are you doing?' or a 'what's wrong?' She simply reached out and hugged me in the middle of my foyer.

She'd never hugged me before, but I wasn't about to comment on the non- professional action. Automatically, I felt myself sag into her embrace, a relief pouring over me that some other human being might understand what I was going through. She had to fight just a little to keep me upright in her grasp. I sagged just a little too much and after pounding several shots of toxic waste in the car, I was already rather trashed.

After a minute or two of feeling her warm hug, she directed me back towards my private quarters. I staggered along, supported by Cassandra with my arm over her shoulders. She was surprisingly strong for such a slender woman. Finally, she got me onto my comfy couch in front of the big TV and I just let my head loll against the backrest.

Somewhere off the side I heard her say, "Coffee... and make it strong" followed by the click of the intercom turning off. And then Cassandra was by my side once again.

She had already cleaned herself up for bed. It made sense since it was past 11pm and I'd been 'riding' around New York for hours. She was clad in a satin silver pajama set, with long pants and a button-down blouse. But I don't think there was much underneath there as the blouse contoured against her very full breasts with the hint of her nipples. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her makeup gone and she smelled of shampoo and soap. It was a very pleasant smell, especially after the rancid taste of alcohol had been the last thing filling my nostrils. To top off the ensemble, a delicate pair of thin-frame glasses were perched on her nose.

Like a concerned mother, she leaned over me and rubbed the top of my head while I half-focused on her face and half-drifted in drunken stupor. No words were spoken for a few minutes; none were needed. She was just there for me.

Then Dorothy came in with a tray: small pot of coffee, little silver pouring cups for milk, cream, and sugar. Cassandra fixed it up for me and then held my back as I leaned over to start drinking.

I managed a nod of approval, and then Dorothy left silently, closing the door behind her. I simply closed my eyes and returned to my coffee, holding it with both hands and letting the warm vapor steal their way into my nostrils.

Once the caffeine started to percolate inside me, I managed to awake. At that point I realized that Cassandra was still with me, quietly supportive with eyes attentively watching.

As if seeing her for the very first time, I managed a weak "Hey..."

"Hey..." she murmured back, still stroking my back.

Instinctively, I leaned towards her as if to kiss her. It just felt so comfortable being around her like this, as if she'd been a part of my life for many years. And then I realized what I was doing and pulled back suddenly. Even in my drunken state, I knew it wouldn't be proper.

There was a flicker of disappointment in her eyes as she similarly backed away and sat up straight. At least I wanted to think it was disappointment.

After a moment of just looking into my eyes, she fixed me with a concerned expression and said, "So I'm guessing things didn't go so well with Nicole?"

"You would be guessing correctly."

"I'm sorry..." And she really meant it.

I saw in her eyes total acceptance. No judgment, just understanding and sympathy. And somehow, someway, I felt safe with her. That's when the waterworks opened up.

I was crying, and the next thing I knew my head was buried against her shoulder as I sobbed without restraint. She just hugged my head against her, quietly cooing and whispering words I couldn't comprehend and yet understood.

Cassandra held me patiently, waiting for me to let it all out. The warmth of her body was a soothing salve for the pain, and her arms cocooned me to shield the world away. I wasn't feeling happy, but I did feel better.

She felt so comfortable that I actually started drifting off to sleep. When she noticed I'd been still for some time, she turned and whispered, "Let's get you to bed."

She helped me up and I walked unsteadily towards the bedroom. But on the way, I tasted my own alcoholic breath mixed with the coffee. I detoured to the bathroom before realizing that she was still following me.

"Thank you, Cassandra. For everything. But I'll be fine. You don't have to wait for me."

She folded her arms beneath her breasts and leaned against the wall. "As long as you don't mind, Jonathan, I'd rather stay and make sure you get to sleep."

I managed a smile and then turned to the sink. There was no self-consciousness as I brushed my teeth and washed my face. A full shower, however, would have to wait. I was just too damn tired.

Cassandra held my hand as I staggered into the bedroom, shedding my clothes down to my boxer shorts as I went. She even pulled back the covers as I slid inside and promptly collapsed into an awkward sleeping position. And when she sat down on the mattress beside me, one hand on my head, I felt a calm peace wash over me. I had a guardian angel.

The last thing I remembered, before sleep blanked out my consciousness, was rolling over and holding Cassandra's waist in my arms as my head pillowed against her side. And then I was off to enjoy my dreams.

SUNDAY

I blinked and felt totally at peace. There was a dull ache in my head, familiar as the remnants of a mild hangover. But besides that thick cloud, I felt great. There was a happy energy flowing through every inch of my body.

No wonder, I had a warm body snuggled up to me. Actually, I was spooned around behind her, my left arm snaking beneath her neck and clutching her tightly against me. Long, blonde hair smelled wonderful in my face, and the tight ass rubbing against my crotch felt even more wonderful.

My right arm was wrapped over the top of her, and somehow my hand had slipped beneath the hem of her pajama top and I had a very full naked breast palmed into my hand. I felt a smile cross my lips as my fingers cupped at the round firmness, a nipple being teased to erection by the soft rubbing of my hand.

It felt like the wonderful bliss of a happy morning after passionate lovemaking. Only... I couldn't remember the lovemaking part. Actually, I wasn't sure where I was or who I was with.

Glancing around, the bedroom looked half-familiar. But I didn't know where I was. Whose place was this?

The woman with me stirred a bit in her sleep, and my hand slipped out of her top while I turned to try and get my bearings, a momentary surge of panic welling up inside me. But then her head turned and I saw sweet Cassandra's face. And everything came back to me.

For the first few days I had known Miss Cooper, my personal assistant, there had been nothing but cool, professional detachment between us. A part of me even resented her as a symbol of the radical changes that had been forced upon my life. But there had been a warm affection buried underneath that evidenced by the blush that came into her cheeks every time she called me 'Jonathan'. And now as I looked at her face, all I could see was Cassandra, a friend.

Well, a gorgeous friend... a gorgeous friend with great tits that I'd just been fondling. And she was gorgeous friend who was now turning around, turning until her head was pillowed on my left shoulder, her face just inches from mine as she smiled in her half-awareness. Her left arm wrapped around my torso while her left leg came up and stretched across my hips. The position felt so intimate and comfortable.

I couldn't help it. More to the point, I didn't want to stop myself. I leaned my head down and kissed her forehead. She just hummed and hugged herself closer to me.

A moment later, her eyes slowly blinked their way open. And when she was able to focus, she found me looking right back at her. I could sense her feelings through those eyes. They were grey when she was serious and a light blue when she was happy. Those eyes were light blue now.

Her lips met mine halfway as I experienced one of the softest kisses of my entire life. And when I let my neck rest as my head fell back against the pillow, she followed me down before snaking her tongue into my mouth.