Cry to Me

Dulci woke up hot and sticky. She could feel the sweat beading down her back between her and Sidney. He produced more warmth than a heat blanket, and when she tried to peel herself out if his strong arms, he seemed to hold tighter. After a little bit of a struggle, she freed herself from his sleepy grip.She desperately wanted and needed a shower. After closing the bathroom door to have a little privacy and to leave Sidney undisturbed, she turned on the shower and made the water as hot as she could physically stand it. She stood there for a few moments and let the hot water run down the front portion of her body, enjoying how it soothed her. Grabbing the bottle of Sid's body wash, she opened the top and took a long whiff like it was a bouquet of flowers. She used it, happy that she would spend her long busy day smelling like him. When she turned to wet her back, her blissful shower ended.

"Oww!" She hurriedly stepped out of the stream of water, feeling her back, trying to find the source of discomfort. Her back felt raw by her shoulder blades and on the small of her back. Gently rubbing it, she tried to think what would cause such a reaction like that on such odd places on her back.

"Oh," she remembered, smiling as she bit her lip. She had rug burn from the previous evening in the living room. The memory made her like an adolescent having sex on the floor, but she didn't care because it was spontaneous, erotic, and oh so good, and she couldn't help but giggle at the thought.

"What are you giggling about?" Sid opened the glass door to his oversized luxurious shower, catching Dulci off guard. She hadn't heard him come in. She instantly covered what she could of body.

"I have seen you naked, you know," he smiled at her before kissing her tenderly on the lips.

"I know. You just scared me. That and when I'm naked in front of you, there's usually minimal lighting." And I'm not perfect like the rest of the girls you've probably been with.

"That doesn't mean I can't see everything," he said before kissing her again and turning to stick his face in the stream. When she thought about it, he was right, and that they'd had sex in the shower before. The first time they'd had sex was mid afternoon. Even worse was the cluster of their first encounter. Dulci thought about herself compared to Carly.She wasn't very tall, she had stretch marks on her hips, breasts, and inner thighs from being heavier during undergrad, she thought her boobs were saggier than she should be for twenty-eight with no children. Within an instant of thinking it, she was face to face with Sid, inches between the two, looking very sincere.

"I think you're perfect," was all he said before kissing her passionately, wrapping his arms around her back, digging his finger in like he was afraid she'd vanish into thin air. As the kissing and kneading intensified, He could feel and hear her wince as he dug his fingers into her shoulder blade. He slowly turned her around.

"What happened?" he asked with concern, lightly touching the irritated skin. She turn back with a dark, desirous smile on her lips.

"You. Last night on the carpet in your living room."

"Shit, I'm really sor..." Dulci didn't let him continue.Instead, she placed a couple of fingers on his lips.

"I liked it," she whispered before kissing him gently but fully, and it didn't take long before he matched her fervor kiss for kiss.

He picked her up, encouraging her to lock her ankles behind his back. She thought he was going to fuck her against the shower wall, but instead her turned the shower off and walked the two of them out toward his bed.

"What are you doing?" She asked, confused that they were dripping water headed towards his bed, but not concerned enough to stop kissing him or let him answer.

"Water is a terrible lubricant," he said after he dropped her onto his bed. He climbed on top of her before pulling her on top of him. She sat up, straddling him, feeling his erection under her. Without breaking their kiss, Dulci reached between them, holding his dick in place, and slowly lower herself on top of him. Dulci enjoyed watching his head fall back in pleasure. She took the opportunity to nip and suck at the flesh of his neck, slowly moving back and forth on his lap, eventually meeting his mouth as they kissed each other deeply.

"Sid? Are you awake?"

They both froze, wide eyed, staring at the door as his father knocked relentlessly.

"Please tell me it's locked," Dulci whispered in a panic, climbing off of his lap. He already questioned her motive for being Sidney's friend or girlfriend. She didn't want him to barge in and see her having sex with his son.

"Hang on!" Sidney called out to his dad as Dulci made a beeline for the bathroom, forgetting to grab her clothes from their pile on his chair.

Once he was dressed, hoping his underwear and shorts would hide his erection, Sidney opened the door, getting a stern, disappointed look from his dad after he saw Dulci's clothes.

"Pat has been trying to get a hold of you all morning for renegotiation with Reebok. Is getting your dick wet more important than your endorsements?"

Dulci tried to listen through the door as she wrapped a towel around her naked body.She couldn’t make out distinct words at first, but she could hear Sid loud and clear.

"First of all, what I do in my own home with my girlfriend is my fucking business. Second, I just got out of the shower."

"Yeah. You were in the shower with her.Don't let her distract you."

"I'm not discussing this right now while she's in the bathroom. I'll be down in a minute," Sidney finished before forcefully shutting the door.

While she was aloof as to why he was cold to her last night, she understood his demeanor after that comment.How could he think Dulci was a distraction? He didn't even know her, let alone have any credibility in making accusations about her. She quickly busied herself with brushing her teeth as Sid walked into the bathroom.

"I'm sorry about him. His biggest flaw is that he's so overbearing and protective when it comes to my career. It's like he's living vicariously through me," he complained as he pulled out his own toothbrush.

"I think it's a father-son thing. My dad pushes my brother very hard as well," Dulci added with a shrug.

"He tries to fucking dictate my personal life. What the fuck is wrong with having a girlfriend?" Sidney was borderline shouting, throwing his hands up in question. Dulci, while she wanted to sympathize with him, couldn't bite back the gigantic smile on her face when he reference Dulci as his girlfriend in front of her.

"Maybe it's me?" Dulci suggested, readjusting her towel around her chest. "Maybe he doesn't approve?"

"No. It's everyone. He's actually been pretty tame with you, believe it or not," he reassured her before gazing toward her chest as she fumbled with the towel. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him as the towel dropped around her ankles. While she wanted to kiss him and continue their moment on the bed, she also wanted to prove his dad wrong.

"You shouldn't keep your dad waiting," she said between kisses.

"He already dislikes me because I'm a distraction."

"You’re not a distraction.Forget what he says.Besides, at the end of the day it's who my mom likes, and she loves you," he finished with a quick kiss before leaving the bathroom.

Once she was dressed, she headed toward the kitchen. She heard someone in the kitchen and hoped Trina would be making breakfast. As she entered the doorway, she was met with Troy's less than amiable gaze. She had two options, she could turn and walk away, obviously avoiding him, or she could try to make him tolerate her, maybe one day actually liking her. She wanted to become a fixture in Sid's life, and being tactful with his dad was something she'd have to do.

"Good Morning," Dulci said meekly, not really expecting a reply.

"Morning.”Although he sounded unenthused to see her, Dulci was surprised she got a response. Walking into the foyer, she picked up her oversized purse she used for toting around her textbooks. When she walked back into the kitchen, she sat down at the kitchen island across from Troy.

"Will it bother you if I look over some notes in here?"

He shook his head no before going back to his iPad. Dulci hoped it wasn't that iPad.

"Can I get you some coffee?"

Dulci paused, not looking up from her books right away. She wanted him to ask again, just to make sure she wasn't hearing things.

"Dulci?"

She looked at him, trying to feign an I'm-so-engaged-in-my-books-that-I- didn't-hear-you look.

"Can I offer you some coffee?"

"Sure, that'd be great."

While she pretended to be looking over old notes, she secretly watched as he fixed her a cup. She knew it was puerile, but she half expected him to spit in it.

"Cream? Sugar?"

"Just cream, thanks."

He set the mug in front of her and returned to his seat. The two sat in silence reading their own material.

"What are you looking over?" Troy interrupted.

"I have a cystotomy to do today and I just wanted to look over my notes. It's been a while since I've done one." When she finished explaining, she looked up to find him looking confused but fully intrigued, leaning forward with his elbows on the island.

"Sorry. Bladder stone removal."

"Do you enjoy doing surgery?"

"When I first started vet school, I wanted to be a board certified surgeon. I love it. But I grew to love orthopedics and geriatric medicine more. Someone has to look after the older guys," she smiled nervously, aware that she was rambling.

"What was the most difficult surgery you've done?"

"Oh wow. Let me think. Probably the gunshot wound patient I did a couple months ago. She was bleeding internally, so I had to find the source and stop it. She had perforations to her intestine in a couple of places that needed suturing. I had to resect some of her liver from damage, and find the pellet. She almost didn't make it. She had to be revived twice."

"Sounds pretty intense."

"It was. But she made a full recovery," Dulci finished before turning her attention back to her notes.

"I'll leave you to it," Troy said as he placed his cup in the sink and left the kitchen.

As Dulci was putting on her vest and scarf, Sidney met her at the front door, pulling her into his arms.

"Can I come over tonight?" She whispered into hair.

"Only if you bring some of that sushi with you," she smiled at him.

"It's a done deal. Have a nice day at work," he said before kissing her goodbye.

----

Dulci was half way through her shift when the tone of the hospital shifted. As she walked through the lab toward the reception area to drop off some charts, she could hear people frantically whispering in the empty exam rooms, looking into the reception area.Thinking nothing of it, she walked toward the “to be filed” bin behind the front desk.She dropped them off, and when she turned toward the client, she smiled at the man who was handing over his credit card.He had a huge grin on his face with prominent white teeth.When the two made eye contact, Dulci smiled as she walked back to her desk.She noticed that the man had an accent, but she couldn’t place it off hand.Everyone was still whispering, but Dulci chose to ignore it.She had to document all of her charts on time or else she’d be late getting home to see Sidney.

“Dr. Hammett, your surgery discharge is in room four,” Alyssa poked her head around the door.

“Thanks Alyssa.”

Pulling the chart out of the cubby on the door, she could feel everyone in the lab looking at her. Brushing it off, she walked into the exam room to find the grinning man again.

“Good afternoon. I’m Dr. Hammett.I don’t believe we’ve met,” Dulci greeted as she extended her hand.

“Marc-Andre Fleury. You can call me Marc,” he returned the gesture.

“I feel like we’ve already met. Both Vero and Sid have said nothing but good things about you.Well, mostly Sid.Its nice to put a face to a name,” he said with a cheeky grin.

“That’s very nice of him. Hopefully I don’t disappoint.”Dulci could feel butterflies in her stomach.If guys talked like girls did about their love lives, then Marc knew a lot about her.She discussed the discharge instructions, laughing whenever Marc cracked a joke.She liked him instantly.

“When is your next evening off?” Marc interrupted their joking session.“Since you weren’t able to come to the last get together, I figured Vero and I could have you and Sid over for dinner.”

“That’d be lovely. Thanks.”

“Have Sid pick a day where our schedules allow it. It was great meeting you.And thanks for fixing my boy,” Marc said as he gathered his things to leave.

“You too. Let me know if you need anything for him.”

----

"Good evening, Dulci! How are you, love?"

No sooner had Dulci walked into her house before Aggie, her cousin, face timed her.

"Hi Aggie! What are you doing awake? It's close to midnight in Norwich," Dulci questioned as she threw her bag and jacket on her bed.

"I can't sleep. I've been killing myself thinking about this bloody wedding. How've you been?"

"I'm great! I'll probably be changing at we talk. I'm expecting company. I hope you don't mind?" Dulci place her phone in its dock before disappearing into her bathroom.

"Oooh. What kind of company?" When Dulci returned to the phone, she saw Aggie wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"That kind of company," Dulci counted with a naughty grin.

"You've been messing with this Henry fellow for quite some time." Although she knew Aggie meant nothing by it, hearing someone say Henry's name instead of Sidney's made her stomach turn.Thinking about what she had with Henry compared to how Sidney makes her feel was like oil and water.She felt kind of foolish that she deprived herself from being in a relationship for as long as she did.

"Actually, I'm actually seeing someone. At least I think we're together. His name is Sidney," she told Aggie as she held up two different bras, one black and lacy, the other a red satin push up. Aggie pointed to the red satin.

"He'd be a complete knob not to date you. What's he like?"

"Well, he's sweet, kind, honest, caring, intense. He takes my breath away," Dulci smiled feeling her face blush thinking about him.She hadn’t even thought about telling Aggie the one distinguishing fact that most of North America knew him by.It didn’t matter to Aggie, she didn’t know anything about hockey.

"Aww. How lovely! Will you be bringing him to the wedding?"

"I hadn't thought about it. It's only been a little over a month since we've known each other. Besides, he's pretty much bound here until the summer." Dulci was perplexed as to what she should wear, something casual like jeans and a tee shirt or something more put together.She stared at her closet like it was a maze and didn’t know where to start.

"Speaking of wedding, I'll need your input on a couple of things considering you're my maid of honor. We also need to discuss my hen party!"

The two talked briefly about bridesmaid dress colors, dresses, flowers, who not to invite in their family, hors d’oeuvres, main courses, open bar drinks, changing her venue site, and music choices.

"I don't understand how people plan these things for a living," Aggie huffed before yawning loudly.

"Aggie, go to sleep. You look exhausted and you have plenty of time before your wedding. I may be a six hour flight away, but I'll help you make sure its everything you dreamed it’d be," Dulci reassured her.

There was a knock at her front door. She instantly got butterflies and goose bumps. Aggie would be the first person in Dulci's family to meet Sid, even if it was only through face time.

"Is he there? I'm not going to bed until I see him," Aggie said excitedly, rubbing her palms together.

Dulci walked toward her front door, pausing momentarily to collect her nerves before eventually looking through her peephole.

"Fuck," Dulci hissed in a panic.

"What's wrong?" Aggie asked concerned.

"Aggie, I'll call you back." She hung up before Aggie could respond. She thought about ignoring the knocks and act like she wasn't home, except her car was sitting in the driveway and all of her house lights were on. However, the thought of Sidney getting there within the next couple of minutes would've been horribly uncomfortable and awkward.How could she possibly explain him being their when she hasn’t spoken to him in weeks?

"Dulci, I know your home."

She had to confront this head on. Opening her door, she was faced with someone she didn't care to see any longer. She hadn't thought of him at all since the last time she'd seen him.

"You're alive. Why haven't I heard from you recently? Tuesday evenings aren’t the same without you."

It was Henry.

Notes