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Aiden paced back and forth in the lobby, biting on her nails. She was anxious. She was so close to her dreams, she could practically taste them. Mr. Reid and his agency were her only hope.
Her legs soon began to get tired, so she sat down. She let her body sink into the cushioned seat as she began to wonder of Mr. Reid's personality. Was he kind? She had no idea.
Aiden is a big fan of Grotesque, its works and artists. No other agency as such could hold a candle to them and it was all thanks to Knox Reid. Even though Knox's success and net worth could be found easily in any search engine, his personal life, however, was a different matter. Aiden herself had tried digging up some information on him; things like where he lived, where he grew up, his past experiences, etc. But she couldn't find anything, not even a picture!
As she sat, she couldn't help but wonder: how old is he? What does he look like? How'd he get so successful? Aiden was just curious like that; it's the way her mind functions. She began to imagine Knox as a wise, middle-aged, Caucasian man with somewhat tired eyes and a full beard accompanied by specks of gray. She saw a man that owned an endless collection of suits.
Aiden hastily pulled out her sketch book and pencil, beginning to draw up her presumption of Knox. She drew him with an average sized head and broad shoulders. She drew the tired eyes, the somewhat gray beard, and a nose. His hair was shortly cropped to the scalp and his mouth was basically a thin line.
"Ms. Richter?" Aiden looked up from her sketchbook and locked eyes with the woman she saw earlier. "Mr. Reid will see you now." Nodding her head, she quickly stuffed the sketchbook into her shoulder bag and followed the lady as she led the way to Knox's office.
Aiden's eyes traveled up and down the assistant's body. The lady had some nice curves. Aiden thought her measurements would be great for a glass sculpture. She took the sketchbook back out and did a quick sketch of the woman's physique as she walked behind her. Just as she finished the sketch, the assistant, sensing Aiden's probing eyes, turned around and squinted at her. Aiden snapped the book closed and looked around, whistling as if she wasn't just staring at her ass.
The trip to the office wasn't a long one. Soon, Aiden was standing in front of a mahogany door that had a gold plaque on it with an inscription of Knox's surname. For a minute she just stood there, staring at the intimidating door. She was starting to second guess herself. Maybe Jenna was right; maybe she wasn't meant to be an artist. She had to admit, the things she drew were really wacky. And disturbing. And creepy. But they were still good... right?
"You gon' go in or...?" The assistant said, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Her statement brought Aiden out of her small panic attack. Her attention turned to the brown-skinned girl. She didn't know why the hell she was still standing here. Aiden was suddenly irritated by her presence. She sneered at the young lady.
"Don't you have to, like, do paperwork or something?" She replied smartly. The assistant scoffed and rolled her eyes before turning on her heels and walking away. With the girl gone, Aiden took a little more time to calm her nerves. She was preparing for the worst. Oh, well, she thought. I've come this far, so there's no backing out now; no need to start acting like a little bitch!
With those words on her mind, she took a deep, shaky breath and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Yelled a smoky, modulated voice. With quivering hands, she opened the door. There, seated behind a mahogany desk with a glass surface, sat a handsome, dusky, young man that looked to be no older than twenty-five. He was leaning back into his black leather office chair, his hands conjoined on top of the desk.
Aiden was shocked. The man in front of her had no resemblance to the man she drew. This man was young, tawny and highly attractive, whereas the person she imagined was old, white and unappealing. He didn't look stressed or tired. In fact, he looked perfectly healthy and content; as a man as young and successful as himself should be. He face was wrinkle free and smooth. There wasn't a facial hair follicle in sight.
Knox stood up and came to the front of the desk, leaning on it. His artistic eye discreetly studied the young, olive skinned girl from head to toe. He presumed her height was no more than 5'8". And she had to weigh at least 125 lbs. He scrutinized her round face, his eyes focused on the wavy blonde strands of hair- some of which had been pushed behind her ears- the small nose and the pink lips in the shape of Cupid's bow. Her attire was casual: ripped boyfriend jeans, a Mickey Mouse sweater, a white shoulder bag and red Airwalk shoes. Knox respected her choice of clothing due to the fact that females walked into his office wearing a skanky outfit, hoping to get a deal through seduction. Aiden had obviously come here with pure intentions. Knox was already liking what he was seeing.
"You're Mr. Reid?" She asked, shaking his hand. She wanted to be sure she was doing business with the right person. The man in front of her could easily be a nephew or younger brother of some sort.
Knox raised an eyebrow at her question. Was this girl serious? Did she think he was wearing this hot ass, expensive suit for play?
"Well, there's no one else here. " he began, "Were you expecting someone else?"
"No, I was just-"
"Maybe you were expecting someone older or...white?" Aiden's blue eyes widened when he said that. That's exactly who she was expecting but she didn't want him to think she was racist. She loved black people, honestly. She thought they were hilarious and enjoyable companions. She even listened to a little bit of hip hop every now and then. "You've never seen a successful young, black man before, huh?" Knox questioned, sadly shaking his head. "Damn shame." At this point, she felt like her eyes were gonna pop out of her head. Heat rushed to her face, her cheeks turning a rosy shade of pink. Her career hadn't even started and it was already over because she had offended one of the most important men in the art industry. She felt the tears swell at the back of her eyes and she struggled to keep from bawling. The tears were just about to come pouring out when she heard him chuckling.
Knox started laughing at the look on the poor girl's face. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. Aiden laughed to, awkwardly, though she didn't catch the punchline.
"I was just messing with you, sweetheart," he told her, his laughter dying out but the gorgeous smile never leaving his face. "Please, have a seat, Ms. Richter." Aiden grimaced and sat down tentatively. Knox went back to his original position in the leather chair.
"So, Aiden--may I call you that?--what brings you to my office?"
"Well, Mr. Reid-"
"Call me Knox."
"Okay... uhm, Knox, I came here because I saw this..." she let her sentence trail off as she dug into her shoulder bag, pulling out the magazine. Putting it on the desk for him to see, she pointed an unkempt fingernail to the upper, left hand corner of the cover page.
"Ahhh, the search..."
"Yeah, the search..." Aiden leant forward in the chair and conjoined her hands on the desk, like Knox. The nerves she had before were suddenly gone and replaced with determination. "Mr. Reid-Knox, I mean- I want to be a part of Grotesque. I am highly capable of being an amazing artist but I don't have sponsorship or the finances to reach my full potential. And, in my opinion, no other agency can give me those things but this one."
Knox, leaning back into his chair, nodded his head in agreement. His agency was the best, no doubt about it. "Do you have your portfolio?" Nodding her head vigorously, she reached back into her bag and pulled out a turquoise binder. In it were drawings, paintings, pictures and such that had been created by her.
She handed the binder to Knox, chewing on the skin of her bottom as he looked at its contents. Knox eyes were slit in concentration as he cautiously peered over each item in the binder. Aiden had replaced her lip with a fingernail. She sat back into her chair, her right leg started to bounce up and down. He wasn't even showing any emotion as he looked at her work which kind of freaked her out. She didn't know whether he liked it or disliked it and that was not sitting well with her curiosity, otherwise known as nosiness.
About ten minutes later, Knox handed the book back to her. He stood up and went around his desk, right in front of Aiden, leaning on it.
"You were right when you said you were capable of being an amazing artist, Aiden; in fact you are an amazing artist. It's shown in your work. Work that represents this agency very well. I mean, I've never seen artwork as fantastically disturbing as the things I just seen in that binder. It impresses me. It really does..."
"Thank you!"
"However," Aiden's heart dropped to her stomach at the mention of the word, "though I would love to just tell you, 'Alright, I love it, you've got a deal,' there are other things I have to consider. Things like: if people will take you seriously, being as young as you are. A lot of customers buy art from older, more experienced, uhm, artists. They think it's more valuable for some reason. Also, and I hate to admit it, this industry is sexist-"
"Okay, wait, so...you're not gonna sign me because I'm young and I'm a female? You've never seen a young, talented, female artist before?" Aiden told him and shook her head, "Damn shame." Knox couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped from his luscious lips.
"Ha! That was cute; I liked that. I liked that a lot," he said, smiling at a smirking Aiden. "But I didn't say that I wasn't going to sign you. I'm saying that there are things that I have to consider before I sign you. 'Cause there is no guarantee that your art will be liked. It may just be the exact opposite."
"Sooooo... What does this mean? What needs to be done? Because I want this, I want this bad. And I'm willing to do whatever."
"You'll do whatever, huh?" He asked her, an insidious look on his face. Aiden was immediately offended by this and stood with her fist balled up. She took on a fighting stance and her mouth was fixed to call him all kinds of things. She was pissed and any other person would have taken the look on her red face seriously but not Knox. As soon as she stood up, he doubled over in laughter. In his opinion, Aiden was just too damn adorable to be scared of. It just wasn't possible for him to be frightened by the cute, five foot blonde.
Once he was done laughing, Knox held hands up in surrender as Aiden murdered him with her eyes. She didn't find anything funny about him trying to use her. She loved this agency but there were other ways to get her work out there. She didn't have to be here.
"I was just messing with you, Ms. Richter, no need to be piqued. Believe it or not, that's not the kind of person I am. I have personal reasons to remind me of how wrong it is to take advantage of someone, their emotions, or naivety. I'm aware that I may have just lost a lot of your trust and respect but, hey, it is what it is." Aiden sat back down, her arms crossed over her chest, with a dour look on her face
"You sure are playful, Mr. Reid."
"That I am," he agreed. "Now about this deal-"
"This better not be anything crude or I swear I will-"
"It's not. Grotesque is having an art show in two months, in April, to introduce our new artist and sell some pieces. Now, this could be good for the both of us. It gives me a chance to see how the people will respond to you and your work and to see if you'd do the agency some good. This also gives you a chance to see if this is what you really want to do and if we're the ones you want to do it with. If you and your work are liked well enough, they'll be a fresh contract ready for you in my office. If that happens and some of your pieces get sold as well then we'll discuss how to split the profits."
"But what if I don't get signed and some of my pieces are sold, then what?"
"Then all the profits will go to you. It would be the least we could do for crushing your dreams as an artist." Aiden nodded her head in understanding. "So what do you think, huh? You wanna try the showcase?"
"Yeah, I wanna try the showcase."
"Cool. There'll be a minimum of twelve pieces from each artist and they'll all be handpicked by myself. If you decide that you want more of your work to be displayed then they'll be your personal picks. You can work at home or you can work here if you want. There's a studio here with all kinds of material for you to use. It's open until the gallery's closing hour, which is at four in the afternoon. You can ask Valerie, the receptionist in the main lobby, and she'll tell you where it's at. Okay?" She nodded her head again. "You, uhh, got any questions?" She shook her head. "Alright then, Ms. Richter, I hope I get the pleasure to do business with you in the near future. Have a good day, beautiful." He told her.
They shook hands, Knox's thumb rubbing the back of her right hand. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment and she sent him a small smile, dropping his hand and replacing it with the strap of her shoulder bag. She silently left the room, grinning as if she had just won the lottery. It was almost as if she really had. She hadn't gotten a solid no and that made her happy. All she needed to do now was make pieces that people would buy and like.
Smiling, she put a little pep in her step, ready to go home and tell her sisters about the showcase.
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"Bubba!" Kolina yelled excitedly as she ran down the steps of the elementary school and into Knox's open arms. She crashed into his chest, giggling as her older brother picked her up and spun her around. He planted kisses all over her face before he put her back down and kneeled to her level.
"Didn't think I was gon' come, huh? You see, I know how to keep my promises," he told her, pinching her nose. "How was school?"
"Good," was her simple answer.
"Just good, huh?" she nodded her head, her ponytail of long, wavy, black hair bouncing with the movement. "Nothing special happened?"
Koco placed a finger on her chin and squinted at the sky. She thought long and hard before saying, "I pooped in the bathroom today."
"Ewwww, you're nasty!" Knox said, tickling her. Koco squirmed and laughed as Knox tickled her ribs and attacked her face with more kisses. He scooped her up in his arms again and gave her a final kiss on her forehead. "What do you want to do today?"
"I wanna do what you want to do, Bubba."
"Well, I wanna do what you wanna do, Bubby."
"What I wanna do is what you wanna do."
"Okay, well, I want to jump off a cliff."
"I don't wanna do that!"
"Okay, so what are we gonna do, Princess?"
Like before, Kolina put a finger on her chin and squinted at the sky.
"Can we go to the aquarium?" She asked, excitement in her big, pretty, brown eyes.
"We most certainly can," Knox carried her to his car-he'd went home, changed out of his suit and switched his blue convertible for a black Subaru-and placed her in the backseat, strapping her up. After he was positive that Koco was secured to her seat, he closed her door and jogged to the driver side, getting in. He put his seatbelt on and started the car. "To the aquarium we go!"
•••
"Ooooh, Bubba, look at the fish!" Koco exclaimed. The little girl was running all over the place; She was exhausting Knox. Everything only held her attention for about two minutes and then she was on to the next best thing. The candy they'd bought at the gift shop-along with a toy dolphin, a turtle necklace and a mood ring-wasn't helping at all. She was practically bouncing off the walls. But Knox didn't mind as long as she was enjoying herself. "What are those?" she questioned, running over to a large, circular tank. People were standing around it, reaching into the tank and touching the smooth backs of the marine animals.
"Those are stingrays," Knox leaned over and looked into the tank. The stingrays were swimming around it, close to the surface of the water so that people could touch them. Their stinger had been removed so no one could get stung. Majority of the rays were very welcoming of the human hand.
Knox looked down at Koco, who was looking around the room at the people who were sticking their hand into the water.
"You wanna touch one?" He asked her and she nodded her head hesitantly. He picked her up, helped her roll up her sleeves and leaned her across the open tank just enough so that her little arm could get in the water. The sting rays were avoiding her at first but then some of them started coming to her. None of them could reach her hand though except one brave little ray in particular.
Kolina's hand ran softly over its back and she squealed and giggled in surprised. It felt so funny and yet so smooth, so nice. She wanted to do it again. The little stinger was still swimming by her and when she put her hand back into the tank, he immediately returned. Her hand ran over his back again and again until she was just there petting the little thing. The other rays seen this and came over to Koco; they wanted some love to. She put both hands into the tank, petting as much of them as she could while giggling.
Knox watched in awe as more rays came over. He was astonished by how they were reacting to her. It was an amazing sight to see. He looked up and seen that even the people around them were stunned. Who knew stingrays could be so affectionate?
They stayed there for almost twenty minutes. Knox's arms got tired and he had to pull Koco away from the tank. She was upset at first but once she saw beavers her entire attitude changed. She went back to running all over the place. Knox could tell that she had a thing for animals, especially the ones that lived in water.
They walked past another gift store on their way to see the sharks. Kolina's eyes widened as she saw a rack of stuffed stingrays that resembled the ones she'd petted earlier. Her eyes locked on the stuffed animals, she tugged on Knox's pants.
"Oooh, Bubba-!" Knox didn't even need to hear the rest of her sentence. He just walked into the store, Koco trailing behind him, and pulled his wallet out of his pocket.
•••
Knox smiled in the rear view mirror at a sleeping Koco. The trip to the aquarium had worn her out. She was in the backseat, cuddled with her stingray, snoring softly.
He pulled into the driveway of the two story, brick home he'd grown up in. There were icicles hanging from it and the front yard was covered in snow .The place, the snow, brought back memories, both good and bad.
Loretta watched Knox as he rolled what would soon be the snowman's head through the snow. She was impressed by him. He'd educated himself on how to make a snowman. And he made it well to.
The two snowballs that formed the body had perfect proportions, as far as she could tell. Knox had two similar twigs, an icicle, a scarf, a top hat, some berries, and five buttons laid out on the porch. He was gonna use them to make the snowman resemble a person.
Once Knox felt like the head was big enough, he rolled it over to the body. With cautious movement, he picked it up and placed it on top of the second snowball.
Loretta ultimately became bored and went inside to fix them some hot cocoa. She walked into the house, snatching the bulky coat off her body and headed towards the kitchen. She opened the cabinet door and pulled the box of hot chocolate off of the shelf. She decided to make one big thing of it instead of two separate mugs. Loretta walked to the fridge and grabbed the milk jug. Taking the cap off, she poured the milk into an electric, stainless steel kettle. She turned the kettle on and the milk started to heat up.
She sat on the counter, tapping her fingers as she waited. There was a window to right of her and she could see Knox. He'd started putting the twigs and stuff on the snowman. It looked as though he was almost finished. After one minute of watching Knox, she started to get restless. She was a bit hyper and she couldn't stay sitting for too long, especially when there wasn't a thing to do.
So, Loretta started to feel on herself. She pulled off her top and bra and started to play with her breast, bouncing them, squeezing them together, and rubbing them in a circular motion. This wasn't necessarily meant to be sexual. She was just examining them. She loved her boobs. They were just big enough to squeeze and grip, and just small enough to be perfectly perky. She was thankful that gravity hadn't gotten the best of her yet. She was four years away from being thirty and her girls were still sitting up. She hoped they stayed that way.
"Momma, I did it!" Loretta lifted her head at the sound of her son's voice. Knox came running into the kitchen, his coat swishing with the movement of his arms. He was panting, and his nose was a little red from the cold. Knox wasn't the least bit surprised to see her sitting in the kitchen, the blinds wide open, with her top off. He'd seen her naked chest too many times to count. "I finished the snowman!"
Loretta looked out the window and, sure enough, the snowman stood, completed, in the middle of the snow covered lawn. It looked good and was highly impressive. "Nice job, baby! Come give mama a kiss," Knox obliged and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her while she pecked his forehead. "Good boy, Knox."
A smug smile appeared on his face, and Loretta laughed. She pushed his head back so that they were staring into others eyes. Knox was a bit little shorter than usual since she was sitting on the counter. She leaned down and have him a kiss on the lips. They were cold and a little chap, but she didn't mind. Pulling away, Loretta went back to cupping her breast.
"Aren't they pretty, baby?" She asked the boy, pinching and plucking her nipples.
"They're alright," He said shrugging. "I've seen better in the Playboy magazines." Loretta scoffed.
"Those boobs are just as fake as their owners," she told him. "But these babies right here? They're about as real as they come."
"I guess..." Knox took a nipple between his pointer finger and his thumb. "Pussy is better though, Mama."
"How's that?" She asked, biting her lip as he twirled the nipple between his fingers.
"Because you can eat pussy, but you can't eat a boob." Just last year, when he was nine, Knox hated performing oral. But over time he grew used to it and started to do it willingly. It was now one of favorite things to do whenever he and Loretta had a "session".
"But you can suck on both of them," She replied, her sentence ending on a moan. Knox had taken both of her breast in his hands and started to suck and kiss on them. His tongue swirled around her right nipple while his hand massaged the other one. He sucked it into his mouth, making a slurping sound. Knox held the pebble of skin between his teeth, running his tongue over it. Loretta grabbed his head as her own fell back on the cabinet. She was so glad that her boy was a fast learner. Every "lesson" he was taught was perfected and she was loving how good he was at pleasing her. She couldn't wait until he got a little older and his puberty hit. Then they could get to the real fun. She was ready to ride him like no tomorrow.
"There's more to lick and suck on down there though," Knox responded in between kisses, licks and nibbles.
"Oh, really?" she questioned, taking his face in her hands and giving him a smacking, wet kiss on the lips. "Why don't you prove your opinion then, little boy?" Knox, being the ever obedient mama's boy that he was, did exactly that. He pulled her pants and panties off and proceeded to prove his point. The milk and hot cocoa was long forgotten as Loretta climaxed and squirted over the kitchen counter. As young Knox orally cleaned up the messed he'd caused, she shivered and came down from cloud nine. Still gripping the counter and Knox's head, Loretta panted out the words that he never seemed to get tired of hearing, "Good boy, Knox..."
•••
Knox snapped out of the flashback and was overcome with a feel of de ja vu. There were beads of sweat on his brows, and he was highly aroused and erect. The hand in his pants couldn't seem to stop moving and continued to provoke his member, gliding up and down his shaft at a desirable speed.
Knox gripped the side of his seat and bit down hard on his lip. His eyes were clenched shut and his breaths came out choppy. The hand moved faster, bringing him closer and closer to his breaking point. Knox stopped breathing as he became overcome by an explosion of pure and utter bliss.
Hid body relaxed and his breathing slowed down as he came from his high, the hand now moving in a circular motion around the head of his penis. His knuckles had turned white from his grip on the seat, but he didn't let go. With the hand that didn't have a death grip on the seat, he wiped the sweat off his face and kept his hand over his unopened eyes.
And suddenly, two things occurred to Knox. First, Koco was still in the back seat. However, he didn't hear anything from her so he assumed she was still sleeping. The second thing he realized was that there was a hand still stroking his member and he knew for a fact that it wasn't his own. His heart started to pound in his chest and he tensed up.
Knox's eyes shot open and he turned his head towards the passenger seat. Loretta's brown eyes stared into his own.
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