Page 63 of The Virgin Romance Novelist Chronicles
In my haste to retreat, I didn’t happen to see the self portrait of his penis, lying on the floor so in the midst of my run, I added insult to injury and accidently slammed my foot through one of his smaller paintings, dragging it along with me, all the way down the stairs of the loft and out to the street.
It wasn’t until I’d hailed a cab, told him my address and took a second to gather myself, did I pull the picture off my foot and set the punctured penis to the side. My head rested against the cab window and a large, yet sad sigh escaped me as the lights of New York passed me by.
I didn’t think about what happened, how I just threw up on my date’s private parts, how I had a pubic hair stuck in the back of my throat or how I ruined yet another chance at being with a guy. I couldn’t stomach it, rehashing yet another fail.
The ride to my apartment was longer than normal, thanks to traffic, but once I arrived, I paid the cab driver, grabbed the dick picture, and walked to my apartment with a heavy heart and lighter stomach.
The apartment was dark so I went straight to my room, realizing it was quite late. We must have spent a good amount of time at the restaurant for it to be so late already.
I was now sober, thank you, puke session, and ready to just crawl into bed where I could put this night behind me.
I flipped my switch on and nearly screamed my life away when I saw Henry, sitting on my bed with a sullen look on his face.
“Henry, what the hell are you doing sitting here in the dark?”
His eyes bore into me when he looked up, and for the first time since I’d known him, he was angry . . . with me.
“Why didn’t you tell me where you went?”
Shit, I didn’t text him in my haste to get out of the office.
“I’m sorry, Henry. I forgot my phone at work.”
“Do you know how worried I was? That this guy might have done something to you? I had no way of getting hold of you, Rosie. No way of checking on you.”
“Henry, I’m a grown woman, I can take care of myself.”
“That’s not the point.” He spoke sternly and stood while running his hands through his hair. “I want to make sure you’re okay, that no one is taking advantage of you.”
“No need to worry about that,” I said while I tossed my purse and the picture on the floor and went to my dresser to pull out my pajamas.
“Where are you going?” Henry asked as he walked after me.
“To the bathroom, to change and wash my face. Do you mind? Or do I need to get your permission first?”
He stopped in his pursuit, a disturbed look on his face. “What’s your problem?”
“You. Just leave me alone, Henry.”
I walked into the bathroom and slammed the door, making sure to lock it because knowing Henry, he would just let himself in. I hated being angry at Henry, but I wasn’t a child. A virgin, yes, but I wasn’t completely stupid. Mostly I was so angry that I’d had three dates and had embarrassed myself so completely at each one. And Henry would probably laughagainat another Rosie Bloom disaster.I’m not ready for that. I’m not ready to show him I’m such a failure.
Taking my time, I washed my face, brushed my teeth, went to the toilet, and changed into a pair of short shorts and an oversized T-shirt with an American flag on it. My puke session was on replay in my head.How? How is that even possible?How impossible was my luck? Did that really happen to me tonight?
It did and honestly, it wasn’t entirely my fault. I wasn’t the one forcing my head into his lap. He was forcing me, I gave him fair warning, but he wouldn’t let up. Maybe it was a good thing I threw up on him. Maybe that was my body’s way of reacting to his pressure.Although the mere thought of that hair on the back of my tongue had me gagging again.
I applied lotion on my face and started to giggle from the last view I had of Alejandro—his dick swinging about while he shuffled to the bathroom to clean off. It was actually slightly comical. If I wasn’t so ashamed, I would be in a full-on belly laugh mode right now.
Satisfied with my nightly ritual, I walked out of the bathroom and into my bedroom, expecting to see Henry waiting for me, but my room was empty besides a small book that was on my nightstand. I went to look at it and saw it was a book about sex: a small guide on intercourse. I opened it up and saw on the inside a note from Henry.
Love,
Thought this might help with your research. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask.
Love you, Henry
Guilt washed over me. Henry could be a little too concerned at times, even though he’s my best friend, but he had good intentions. Taking a deep breath, I tamped down my stubborn pride and walked out of my bedroom and into Henry’s where his lights were off, the only glow in the room coming from the moonlight peeking through his window. My eyes landed straight on his bed where he was laying, back toward me.
“Henry?” I asked as I walked forward. “Henry, I’m sorry. I just had a bad night and I took it out on you.”
