Wife and Girlfriend

Epilogue

Otanyi

11 months later

Working at Solaris became a little more difficult over time.

It wasn't necessarily any coldness from Hunter, although he looked like he was having a much rougher time transitioning back to the 'professional only' between us. But I knew that our time together as employer and employee had a shelf-life from the moment he'd come back. And when he'd tried to convince me for the final time to transfer to another area of the company, as he had in the beginning, I had my resignation letter drafted before the end of that day.

The unpacking that normally occurred at the end of whatever it was that Hunter and I had didn't occur. But that was likely for the best. So, I walked away from Solaris and over to a competitor shop in the building over, but with Hunter's blessing and a beautifully crafted letter of recommendation.

Now, our contact was limited to industry events and the one or two times that we'd bumped into each other at the valet stand. I remembered the last time as a moment when I truly knew that I was on the right path.

"This is you? Beautiful," and I couldn't tell if he was talking about the fully loaded Land Rover that the valet had just pulled to the front of us or me as his gaze spent a little too much time away from my face and over my body.

"Thanks," I smiled easily.

"How is Evans treating you over at The Brink?" I heard him ask me as I took the keys from the valet, who gave me a knowing look interjected with a bit of pride, I think. He even winked.

I'd landed nicely into my role as a features editor at The Brink, which was slightly smaller than Solaris, but on track to do similar numbers in terms of reach and profit by this year's end. In fact, there was an IPO scheduled for early in the first quarter of next year that the street was already whispering about. I was truly financially set once that took off.

"My Chief is amazing," I announced in reply, making sure to emphasize the word 'my' as I dropped my Birkin and briefcase into the passenger seat.

The smile that I saw at the edges of Hunter's mouth let me know the moniker hadn't missed its mark.

"And everything else?" he said sheepishly.

I doubted that he really wanted to know the inner workings of my relationship with Tiger, especially since our engagement had been announced by nearly every major news outlet except for Solaris. Or so I'd been told by Aziah.

So, I didn't bother to answer him directly.

"I hope you're keeping well, too," I said before taking a seat. I pulled away from the curb without looking in my rearview mirror. There was no reason to look backward. That was the past.

***

"I'm going to spend each and every day of my life reminding you of why you're the love of my life."

"I love you, Mr. Davis," I said in return.

"I love you too, Mrs. Davis," Tiger exclaimed to the uproarious and enraptured applause of our nearly five hundred wedding guests.

"Hey, that's my job," the pastor whispered before leaning back up and announcing into the microphone, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."

And when we kissed, I felt all the passion of the moment. This was my plus one forever, and I couldn't imagine a better life even if I could've written it myself.

Tiger was clearly making the most of it as well when he raised both of our intertwined hands up in the air to another wave of screams and cheers.

We'd kept the cameras out of the actual ceremony, although it would be filmed for posterity. But if I never saw another camera flash again in this lifetime, it would be too soon.

I watched the faces of those I loved most erupt into the brightest smiles. My parents were enamored of Tiger, almost as much as I was. And my sister had come around pretty quickly, too. She and Aziah, along with Francis and Georgia, made up the bulk of my bridesmaids, and I'd never seen my sister look more healthy than she did at this moment. Tiger had researched the best facility for her treatment, and she was down to one prescription instead of the several she'd been balancing to get through a day. And his Ona was reasonably well enough from her treatments to not only celebrate with us, but I'd insisted that she move in with us once she was discharged. I remember fondly kissing her on her cheeks and squeezing the resistance out of her when she'd protested that we were going to be newlyweds in need of our own space.

"We have a plane to catch, husband," I leaned over to him to say in what I hoped was a whisper. I loved the celebration, but I couldn't wait to be on a beach with him. Especially since he'd promised it'd be a private beach so we could walk around in the nude. Having that type of freedom, away from the media glare, was too good to wait.

"Flying private wife means we leave whenever we want to," he answered me. He was enjoying being the center of attention. I was still getting used to it.

I rubbed my hand over the top of the bulge of his pants.

He hissed and grabbed my hand.

The look that he gave me then could've burned my dress and undergarments to dust.

Oh yes.

That look promised another night of hard and soft fucking.

My love, my life. I loved this.