Some Guys Have all the Luck

Chapter Six: The Next Day

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Matrix, etc, etc.

Lara stretched lazily in bed the next morning. Yawning widely, she got out of bed and went out to the living room. Her feet felt as good as new. Lara smiled happily and slowly ran her fingertips over her lips remembering how it felt when Jones kissed her goodbye before he left last night. When he took her in his arms and held her tight against his body as they kissed, was a feeling she knew she would not forget anytime soon.

It was past two a.m. when Jones took his leave of Lara. She accompanied him to her door and again both of them did not want their time together to end just yet.

Steeling himself for rejection, Jones took a step towards Lara and bent his head to kiss her. His arm snaked around her back and held her, delighting in the feel of her delicate feminine form against his hard masculine one.

“If you don’t want me to kiss you,” he said, his voice a bare whisper, “then you’d better stop me now.”

“I have no intention of doing that, Jones,” Lara said softly, looking deep into his eyes. Their lips met in a kiss that made the small hairs on the back of Jones’ neck prickle. For her part, the contact of their lips made Lara’s nipples become firm and she was sure that Jones could feel their hardness through the thin silk of her dress. However, as the kiss between them deepened and progressed quickly into full-blown passion, Lara was not aware of her surroundings; the only thing her mind could focus on was continuing the exquisite sensations of being kissed by Jones. Her lips parted further and her tongue brushed against his, exciting him even more.

Passion was increasing exponentially inside Lara with each passing moment and she wildly ran her fingers through his hair. Jones, greatly desiring to touch her in the same way, removed the barrette that held her hair in place and her auburn tresses tumbled to her shoulders and over his hands. Jones buried his hands to the wrists in the fragrant locks, savouring the silky feel of her hair running over his fingers.

Jones was curious as to what she was feeling as he kissed her and since he was very proficient in analyzing the streams of coding for another program, Jones accurately deduced that she liked his attentions very much. Very much indeed. His eyebrows rose several millimetres when he realized that she was not wearing any panties, but gallantly did not bring the subject up when they had recovered enough breath to converse again. I wonder if her genital hair-removal was so painful that it hurt her to wear underwear, Jones thought, intrigued and aroused.

Not trusting his body to accept his mental wish to leave while he still could and not take advantage of Lara’s obvious desire, Jones thought it wise to bid her goodnight and make a hasty retreat to the sanctuary of his car. Despite the fact that the night air was brisk, Jones turned on the air conditioning to its coldest setting without hesitation. However, even with the A/C unit on full power, it was not nearly enough to quell the hot lust and desire that coursed through every pathway of his system.

Leaning back in the driver’s seat, Jones ripped open his shirt and panted heavily as the frigid air from the A/C blasted over his bare, sweat-slicked chest and torso until his system temperature returned to its normal parameters and his erection subsided somewhat before starting the car and driving off.

lllll

Lara bustled out of the shower in time to pick up the receiver before the caller had hung up.

“I wanted to see if your feet still hurt,” Jones’ deep voice said over the phone, causing a shiver to race from the top of Lara’s head to her feet.

“They’re all right. They don’t hurt anymore, thanks for asking. I would like to see you today, if you don’t have any plans,” Lara said boldly and crossed her fingers for luck.

“I’d like that too,” he replied eagerly, a thrill of excitement coursing through him at the idea that she wished to continue their time together even though their date was long over. “What should we do, then?”

“I don’t really know,” she said honestly. “Wait. The park goes by your place, I think. How about we go for a walk and take it from there?”

“That sounds nice,” Jones said. “Instead of me picking you up, I’ll wait here until you arrive?”

“What time should I show up?” Lara asked.

“Anytime after ten,” Jones suggested, choosing a time at random. That will give me a chance to work out for a bit before she gets here and burn off some energy, he thought.

“See you then,” was Lara’s cheerful reply before she hung up.

As soon as he heard the dial tone, Jones immediately stripped to his boxers and began his usual weight-training workout. It was not long before he was sweating with exertion, forcing his mind and body to focus on what he was doing. He succeeded so well that he forgot that Lara was on her way over until the doorbell rang.

He opened the door without a second thought.

lllll

Seeing Jones there wearing only a pair of boxers and sweat lazily meandering its way down his body, Lara could only stare at his almost nude form from head to foot, marvelling at the near-perfect specimen of manhood that stood directly before her. With a blush, she realized that because of the copious amount of perspiration he had secreted during his workout, his white boxer shorts were rendered almost transparent.

Lara gulped.

She had had some inkling of Jones’ body size and strength from the night before but to see so much of him was frightening and arousing at the same time. My God, has he got a body, was Lara’s first thought, before innate modesty made her turn her eyes away.

“I caught you at a bad time, I’m sorry. I’ll come back…” Lara turned to go, but Jones caught her elbow.

“Don’t go, Lara. I’m sorry about you seeing me like this,” he said. “Let me take a shower and we can leave. Please come in,” he said, stepping aside so that she could enter. “Sit down, and I’ll be out in less than ten minutes.”

Lara found she could only gape and stare at the rippling muscles of Jones’ back and shoulders as he turned away from her and headed for the bathroom. Lara felt her face turn red as erotic thoughts flashed through her mind. For goodness sake, girl, stop blushing, Lara sternly told herself. You are no virgin; you have seen naked men before!

But not one of them had six-pack abs and a butt you could bounce a quarter off of, a small voice inside her head informed her.

Shortly after, Lara heard water running in the shower, causing her to fantasize about what hot water and soapy residue being rinsed off his magnificent form would look like and she grateful that Jones would never know the strength of her arousal for him. The height, weight and proportion of his body was flawless. From what she could tell, there was very little fat on him and even the thick tangle of hair covering his chest was perfection itself.

How those women at work could prefer the slighter builds of either Smith or Brown is a mystery to me, she thought. Their suits give them added bulk but take their clothes off and they would be just plain skinny. Jones on the other hand, has a physique of Adonis or Hercules—strong, manly and virile. Enough to make any woman go weak at the knees just thinking about him.

A girl would feel protected while being held by Jones, but with Smith and Brown? No way. Brown is too young and Smith is too creepy. Lara shuddered with fear and revulsion at the thought of being anywhere near the leader of the agents. With or without his clothes, it didn’t matter; she feared and despised him.

She made a mental note to call Celia that afternoon. Poor thing has a date with Smith, she grimaced. Celia spent a lot of time making me gorgeous and desirable for my date. The least I can do is do the reverse on her. I have to make Celia as unattractive as I can, Lara thought. But I think that any man who had eyes would get a hard-on for her even if she were wearing a potato sack.

lllll

Jones braced himself against the shower wall and let the water cascade over his back and shoulders. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he cursed himself. How could I have forgotten she was coming over?

I can only imagine what she is thinking of me, coming to the door dressed in only my shorts. I suppose it doesn’t matter now, the damage is done. She probably thinks I was showing off. Well, I can’t stay in here any longer, he thought, turning off the water before wrapping a towel around his waist.

He entered his bedroom through the other door in the bathroom and in less time than he told Lara, he was ready. She turned as he re-entered the living room and smiled. Even away from the office, Jones was impeccably dressed in his customary black suit and tie.

“Jones, we are only going for a walk, there’s no need to dress like you would for work. Look at me—jeans and a t-shirt. Saturdays are dress-down days, a time to relax.”

“What would you suggest I wear?” Jones asked uncertainly. “Look in my closet—all I have is black suits; all Company issue.”

“Well, I have an idea that might work even with a black suit. May I?” she asked, coming over to him. Jones nodded his acceptance that she could do whatever she liked to change his appearance. Hardly believing her own boldness, Lara reached up and removed the tie clip followed by his tie as Jones watched curiously, without saying a word or hindering her in any way until she had completed what she set out to do.

“There. That’s much better,” Lara remarked. You look much more relaxed, she thought, trying to keep herself from staring at the hair on his chest that was revealed by the two buttons that she had undone. “What do you think?” she asked, looking up at him as he glanced down over his more casual appearance.

“I feel a bit under-dressed, but I like it,” Jones said honestly, as he surveyed himself. Not bad at all. “Shall we go, then?” he asked, and a quiver raced through him as he felt her place her small hand in his.

lllll

They strolled through the walking trails of the park, each enjoying the scenery, the quietness of the solitude from the more obscure areas of the park, and above all, taking a great deal of pleasure in the company of the other.

Lara drew closer to Jones as she became aware of a group of rowdy, teenaged boys ahead of them who were showing off their skateboarding skills to impress several seemingly uninterested girls that were nearby.

“Those boys up there….” she whispered, squeezing his hand tighter. Jones returned the gesture.

“I see them. Don’t be afraid, Lara, I would never let anything happen to you. Even if they do start something, I am armed. Besides, they’re only human.” As soon as they had passed the gang of adolescents, he heard Lara sigh in relief. It wasn’t until then that Jones realized that his companion had not had as much contact with the human inhabitants of the Matrix as he.

“You must see them from time to time,” Lara said. “How can you stand it? Being near them, I mean?”

Jones shrugged. “I don’t mind them as much as Smith or Brown. It’s a necessary but distasteful part of my job, to interact with them when I have to.”

Not wising to discuss his work--and reveal how many times he had had to kill them--he sought a slight change of subject, one that would be more acceptable to Lara to talk about; Jones did not want to tell her how many lives, either human or program, he had had to take during his years as an agent. The last thing I want is end our relationship before it even begins. No woman wants to think of her potential boyfriend as someone who kills others for a living—especially since it is true in my case.

“How do you like your job?” he inquired.

Lara shrugged. “To be honest, it is boring and repetitive, but there is nothing I can do anything to change it, so I learned to just live with it. Being a secretary is my purpose after all, however much I would like it to be otherwise.”

“If you had a choice and you were able to change your job, what would you prefer to do instead?”

As he expected, Lara was forthright and honest; two qualities, Jones had discovered, that he liked best about her. Once asked for her opinion, she would always speak her mind.

“I would like to get into the field at some point. Not do what you do of course, but a change, any change would be nice.”

“Well, who knows what may come to pass in the future.”

It had to be supremely boring for her, sitting in a small cubicle day after day, doing the same thing for hours on end: typing reports and field notes while she doesn’t even have a window to ease the tediousness of her job. No wonder she would jump at the chance to do something as different as fieldwork, Jones thought. At least I get to go outside but she does not.

Jones was well aware that Lara’s friend, Celia, had an upcoming date with Smith later that evening; Brown was counting on him to get all the information he could, so Jones asked Lara to provide more details.

“Did Ms. Alvarez say anything to you about where she and Smith will be having dinner tonight?”

“Well, since we had such a good time at that Italian place last night, I’m going to suggest they go there.”

“What time will they get there, do you think?”

“I think Celia told me around seven or so.”

Lara was puzzled at Jones’ curiosity about this matter that surely did not affect or concern him in the least but she answered all of his questions nevertheless.

“But if all goes according to plan, I think I can prevent Celia from ending up in one of Smith’s “Feed ‘em, Fuck ‘em and Forget ‘em” files,” Lara said confidently.

“Oh? What were you and Celia going to do?”

“I’m going over to her place and help her get ready for her date. Smith won’t believe his eyes when he sees her. You see, I am going to do the reverse that she did on me: instead of making her beautiful, I’m going to make her as unattractive to Smith as possible. No tight or revealing clothes. No makeup. No personal hygiene. I wonder how long it will take Smith from picking her up to kicking her out.”

They stopped walking as if of the same mind and stared into each other’s eyes. Without realizing it, Jones was staring at Lara completely mesmerized, his future reflected in her eyes; a flash of premonition dazzled and filled him at that moment with such intensity, he doubted that even the Oracle herself could have matched it for accuracy: he would never have to sleep alone again. Having a companion at his side. She would be a friend, a lover--hopefully in the not too distant future--and finally, a wife. My wife. The mother of my children.

The deep swirling of hope and love stirred the volcanic depths of his virtual soul, shaking him to the very core of his programming. He would do whatever it took, however long it took to fulfill his vision of the future. Nothing would stop him. No one, not Smith, not even the great Architect himself, would ever put up a roadblock to deter or detract him from his goal.

“Lara….” The shrill chirping of his cell phone broke his train of thought and he scowled as he read the text message he had just been sent. Damn. However, this was neither the time nor the place to tell Lara how he felt or to do something about it. He needed time and space; to think clearly, to examine from every possible angle and vantage point on the best method on how to proceed to win her heart.

“I have to go to the office,” he said slowly. Smith is going to have my ass, I know it, Jones thought. I haven’t had my earpiece in since last night and because he had to resort to using a cell phone instead of contacting me directly, there will be hell to pay.

“On a Saturday?” Lara asked, surprised and disappointed.

“It would seem some rebels have been spotted. I’m sorry, Lara, but I have to leave.”

“I’m sorry, too,” said Lara sadly.

“I had a nice time today,” Jones said, “I only wish…..”

“I know. You had better get going. Smith is not the type to wait,” she said, trying to force a brave smile so he wouldn’t see how disappointed she was at his leaving. He can’t help it, she thought, he has to jump whenever Smith snaps his fingers. He has to obey instantly and without question.

“I’ll call you later,” he called out as he turned the corner and disappeared from sight. Lara barely had time to turn around before she noticed that Jones was in front of her.

“That was….” Lara wasn’t even able to say the word “fast” before being enveloped in his strong arms.

“I didn’t get a chance to say a proper good-bye; Smith can wait for a minute or two,” Jones said softly, as Lara, realizing that he had returned expressly for the purpose of kissing her, raised her mouth to his and hungrily returned the kiss he gave her. Lara was dimly aware that his cell phone rang again and again in angry impatience as the tip of Jones’ tongue parted her lips. She opened her mouth wider, to allow him to have greater access to her oral cavity, to kiss and explore its depths all he wanted.

Jones groaned in rapidly rising passion when he felt her nipples harden against his chest and he longed to caress and fondle her breasts and feel their delicious fullness in his hands, hearing Lara moan as he did so. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep a tight rein on their mutual passion and Jones had to struggle to restrain himself from acting on his desire.

He could feel their warm softness brushing against his fingers as he gripped her forearms. Suddenly, Lara raised her arms so that they encircled his neck, bringing their bodies into closer contact, arousing and stimulating their senses even further. Not only that, the unexpected movement on Lara’s part enabled Jones to brush his hands against her breasts for a moment before he slid them down the sides of her body to grasp her derrière and grind his hips into hers. He felt Lara freeze into stillness and the realization of what he had just done made him push his body away from hers before he could be tempted to take any more liberties.

“I’m sorry--I didn’t mean to…” he said, expecting Lara to slap him for his actions but she did not. Her face was flushed with as much passion as his. Lara was not one of those women who would wilfully and knowingly encourage a man to touch her body and then punish him for acting on his arousal a moment later.

Instead, she reached up and touched his face in a gesture of such simplicity and complexity that Jones knew he was not mistaken in his choice of Lara for his future fiancée. The annoying, persistent ringing of Jones’ cell phone interrupted their mutual contemplation.

“You’d better answer that,” Lara said wryly. “Smith sounds pissed. You’d better go,” she whispered. “I know your duty as an agent has to come before everything else. I can wait. Besides, we will be seeing each other again on Monday.”

In a gesture both sad and touching, he kissed her hand and held it over his heart. Not for long, Lara, he thought wistfully. Soon, I hope, my duties as an agent will be of lesser consideration and you won’t have to wait for your wishes and desires to take precedence for my time and attention.

lllll

Without preamble, Lara entered her best friend’s apartment. “I’m here as I promised, Celia.”

Celia came out from the kitchen and it looked as if she had been crying.

“I just can’t sleep with Smith,” Celia said, her voice almost cracking, “I’d rather quit than do that! Not to mention having to do Monty afterward….”

“Don’t worry,” Lara said, her arm comfortingly around her friend’s shoulder. “He won’t want to sleep with you after I’m done!” she said, trying to sound hopeful so that Celia would feel better.

“He said he’d pick you up around seven, right? Well, we have hours to get you ready. However, first things first. Do you have any booze in this place? You and I will need it, trust me.”

lllll

“So what’s up?” Celia asked, trying not to slur her words too much. She and Lara had drunk up all the tequila that remained in the bottle and both were feeling tipsy.

“What do you mean?” Lara asked.

“I mean what happened on your date with Jones? When you came here, you were practically glowing. What’s the scoop? What happened? Did you guys kiss?”

“You bet we did!” Lara said, giggling and blushing. “Last night AND today when we had to say good-bye in the park.”

“And?” Celia demanded, leaning forward anxious to hear the particulars of her friend’s date with Jones. “C’mon, don’t make me beg! Details, woman! Tell me the details!”

Lara’s eyes and face lit up when she recounted what had happened. I knew it, Celia thought triumphantly. If she had told me he only wanted to shake her hand at the end of their date, then I would’ve bet my bottom dollar he was gay or something. But it seems that Jonesy does have more than just friendship on his mind with my little friend. Good! I am so happy for her! If he couldn’t resist grabbing her ass and copping a feel the way he did, I sincerely doubt that he can last a month, two at most, without wanting to sleep with Lara. Now if only I could have the same luck with Brown, everything in my life would be hunky-dory, Celia thought, sighing sadly.

She bent her head and tried to keep the extreme unhappiness she was feeling transmit itself and spoil Lara’s upbeat mood. She hastily excused herself and almost ran into the safe sanctuary of her bedroom before throwing herself on her bed and giving in to her anguish.

A comforting arm was thrown across her shoulders as Lara held her best friend.

“Celia, please don’t cry. It hurts me to see you so sad.”

“If I have to sleep with Smith, I’m going to kill myself, I swear I will. I am NOT going to go through all that bullshit again,” Celia said, and a chill of foreboding raced down Lara’s spine as she realised her friend knew exactly what she was saying and meant every word. Lara remembered all too well the incident with Derek Steele and the sexual and physical abuse Celia was forced to endure before a sniper’s bullet ended his life all those years ago.

“Have you forgotten,” Lara demanded, fear and anger competing for prominence in her system and she jerked her friend’s tear-stained face up roughly so she could look in her eyes, “that I’m here to help you get through tonight? You helped me and now I’m going to do the same.”

“No, I can handle myself. You should go home now in case Jones calls again.”

“Fuck him!” Lara said angrily. “Not that I wouldn’t mind, mind you, but not tonight. And you think you can handle yourself against Smith? No way.”

She got off the bed and opened the doors to Celia’s closet. “You are going to wear the unsexiest, most God awful clothes you’ve got. Trust me on this, I am—or rather was--the reigning Queen of Dowdiness. Sit down and take notes: I am going to give you a makeover Smith will never forget! When I’m done with you, he probably won’t even want to get through reading the entrée menu before he ditches you in the restaurant. It would be a good idea to bring a lot of money; that bastard probably won’t chip in for cab fare before he tosses you out of his sight!”

Celia could not help but smile at Lara’s determination. She sounds so convincing, I just might be tempted to believe her, she thought.

Despite her brave words, Lara was apprehensive but her resolve to do as she promised stiffened her spine. I have to do this and do it well or Celia will be tempted to hurt herself and whatever the cost, I cannot allow that to happen. She is my best friend and I won’t lose her because of Smith and his overactive sexual libido.

lllll

“There!” Lara said, placing Celia before the mirror so she could see her own reflection. It had taken quite a bit of digging, but Lara found what she thought was the perfect outfit for her friend to wear. Every woman has at least one outfit in her closet that could be categorized as “what the hell was I thinking when I bought this??” and being the rabid clothes buyer that she was, Celia had more than a few items of clothing that easily fit into that category, thereby giving Lara a good selection to choose from.