Incest/Taboo The Bitch and a Half

"Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"No, wouldn't mind it one bit. You do have your license, right?"

"I do, just never needed a car in the city, so I never bought one since I don't live far from work. Hey, if you're using movers, would you mind if I throw some of my things on board, it's just my clothes, not worth one of those big trucks."

"Sure, I'll send you my address once I get back to the apartment the company has after my house hunting. Hey, question..."

"Yes?"

"You're accent is it..."

"Real? Oh yes..." Elijah felt his cock twitch at her soft hiss. "Why? Do you like it?"

"It's... very nice."

"Just nice, hmm?" Elijah wanted to beat his head on his steering wheel in frustration at how sexy Janice sounded. He knew it was wrong to picture her like that due to their friendship, yet his horny mind couldn't help but picture her naked as she continued that sweet, alluring hum of hers.

"But I thought you had a boyfriend; how did he take the news, if I may ask."

"He wants to stay here. I want to go home, so we split. So where in Tennessee is the office located?"

"Northwestern side of Jackson," Elijah said, noting the he was a block away from his first condo of the night.

"I've been there. My aunt and grandmother used to take me up to Jackson during the summers."

"Good, then you can be my tour guide," Elijah joked.

"I can do that."

"Hey, listen, I'm about to pull up to the condo I'm looking at tonight. Can I call you back once I'm done?"

"Of course! If it's a good place, shoot me some pics."

"Sure, if you want."

"Bye, Elijah."

Janice cast glances at Tony as he drove her over to Elijah's place once he had called her once he was sure his wife had left for work. As sad as she was about this part of her life was ending since she always thought she and Tony would be together well into her later years. She knew they couldn't continue on like they had been otherwise. They would grow to resent each other. Tony had been her friend since elementary school, and she didn't want to end up hating him, nor did she want him to hate her either. As they pulled onto Elijah's street, she could see the big box truck in the driveway, reaching over and gently squeezing Tony's right hand, offering her last loving silent goodbye. She tried not to tear up as she watched the man she had spent so many years with driving off to let his own life lead him where it would without her.

"Hey, you okay?" Elijah asked. He knew the pain she was feeling at the moment.

"No, but I will be, and so will he," Janice said, drying her eyes.

"This all your stuff?" Elijah asked, gesturing down to the boxes at their feet.

"It is, so how much more do you have left that you need to pack?"

"Oh, most of it is already on the truck. I'm only taking what had been in my bedroom, but originally, it was the guest bedroom. I want nothing that has any ties to that woman. If she finds me and has me served, I know the courts will make me give her half. So she can keep the house, it's worth half a million dollars now, that's well over our combined accounts. Plus, I hate that house, so it's no big loss to me," Elijah said, walking up the ramp to store Janice's boxes as she laid the one she was carrying on the floor of the cargo hold.

Janice waited by the passenger side of Elijah's car as he did his last walk-through to make sure he had everything he wanted. She turned her head as she heard the air brakes disengaging before the truck pulled out of Elijah's driveway. Her light blonde hair lifted as the cold wind made her tighten her coat around her. She couldn't wait to get back to the South, where it rarely got down to the teens. She wondered if she could take a weekend to see her folks. While she did call her parents every day since she left home and her sister every other day, yet she hasn't seen any of her family since they left.

"Hey, Dad," Janice answered her phone once she had connected the call.

"Hey honey, so your mother told me you're moving to Tennessee."

"I am, got a promotion, we should be on the road here soon."

"We? Tony coming with you?"

"No, he would rather stay in this ice-encased town than move nearer to home, so we broke up," Janice said; even if she had had a week and a half to grow used to being single again, that didn't mean she wasn't very sad of the end of a very long relationship.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that, then how are you getting down here?"

"I'm catching a ride with a friend from work; he's the one who offered me the job. But I have to find a car for myself. The company is letting me use one of the apartments they have in Jackson till I can find my own place," Janice said, filling her father in.

"I see... and this friend of yours... how well do you know him?"

"Oh, he's funny and sweet, he's a good man, he could have said no when I asked, he even let me put my things on the moving truck the company hired for him so I'm not leaving everything I want up here," Janice said, noting movement through the windows of the top floor. "I'm just waiting on him to be sure he has everything he wants from his house before we go."

"Well... tell him thank you for me, I've hated having you so far away from us. Your mother and I will be heading up next weekend to see you, so don't make plans then."

"Okay, Dad, I really missed you two."

"As have we, honey, it hasn't been the same since you've moved away."

"Will Stacy be in town?"

"No, she and Rick are still on their long haul; you know how she goes with him when he does those cross-country hauls."

"Yeah, at first, I thought she was just being paranoid; now, however, I can understand why she does travel with him."

"Tony didn't cheat on you, did he?"

"No... not that I know of; I don't know if he wants me to tell his story; it's kind of personal for him," Janice said, noting how Elijah stepped out of the house, tilted his head back, she could see the stress just leaving him as he stood on his stoop. Once he had locked the door, he removed his house key from his key ring, lifted the mail slot, and tossed the key through it. "Dad, we're about to leave, I'll text you if we stop."

"Okay, you tell this friend of yours that he better drive safely, given he has something very precious to me in his car."

"Dad, stop," Janice whispered, feeling her cheeks heating as she looked at the tops of her feet. "I love you too."

"Alright, I'll let your mother know you're on your way."

"Sorry," Janice said, quickly pocketing her phone.

"What for? Nothing wrong with having a good relationship with your folks, it's me that should be sorry for leaving you standing in the cold," Elijah apologized.

"It's okay. Can we get in now? I'm freezing!" Janice uttered as her teeth chattered.

"Right, right, can't have the pretty lady freezing on me," Elijah said, seeing her blush, not knowing if it was from the wind or she liked his compliment. "There, the seats should get warm in a few seconds," he stated after turning on the passenger seat warmer.

"Wait, this car has seat warmers?!" Janice asked in surprise.

"It does help on days like these while the car warms up," Elijah uttered as he waited for the car to warm up before he left his former life behind for good. Unless the company sent him back up here for whatever reason, he wasn't planning on returning to Maine in his lifetime. He smirked as he watched Janice just wiggle her butt into the seat once he felt his own seat warming up.

"Oh, these things are so lovely," Janice sighed once they had got on the road.

"They do have their moments," Elijah agreed as they began their twenty-plus-hour drive to Tennessee.

"So Elijah, just how old are you?" Janice asked after being on the road for an hour.

"Thirty, birthday is next month, why?"

"No reason, I thought you were older, given the position you were in."

"Ah, yeah, I moved up the ranks pretty fast. Didn't have much to do, so why not advance my career, you know?" Elijah said, shrugging his shoulders. "So... where are you going to be living?"

"Oh, for now, the company is letting me stay in one of their apartments," digging out her phone and opened up her text messages, the one Julie Ann had sent her. She saw him nod along as she read him the address of the apartment.

"Good, that means you don't have to go all over town to find it."

"Huh?" Janice muttered, confused.

"I've been living in the same building while I wait for the real estate agent and HR can come to an agreement on the condo I want. So if you need a ride to work, just let me know," Elijah said as he settled in for the long drive.

"How about we switch every five hours? That way, you're not too tired, and we don't have to stop to sleep if we don't want to," Janice said, very eager to get back to the warmth of the south.

"You sure?"

"Mmmhmm, wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't," Janice said happily. She had been slyly studying him. Sure, for five years their conversations were only when he came in in the mornings. She had no idea when he left at night since she was normally off at four-thirty. Still, that didn't mean she wasn't attracted to him. She watched how the sun played along his face as he sped down the interstate. She knew it would be wrong of her to broach the subject with him. She wouldn't do that to Tony, nor would she do that to his wife; that was before he told her what was happening with his marriage or lack thereof. "Hey, Elijah?"

"Hmm?" Elijah hummed.

"Did you like being married?" Janice asked innocently.

"Before I found out the truth about the..." Stilling his tongue, he didn't want to curse in front of Janice.

"Go ahead and say it; I know what you were about to say; the title fits, I say," Janice said, reaching across and lightly laying her hand on his arm.

"Whore, yeah, I thought I had a loving marriage; afterwards, I hated going home. You have no idea the will power it took not to slip up the stairs and strangle her with my bare hands. However, that bitch and the fuck she's screwing aren't worth me going to prison for life. Would it feel sweet? Sure, but that's temporary; I knew the cops would be looking for me if that happened. She might have wasted twelve years of my life; I wasn't about to let her have the next sixty."

"So, do you think you'd do it again?" Janice asked, hoping he didn't read too much into it.

"I don't know, have to see how I feel and who I'm with if that ever happens to me," Elijah said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I hope you don't close yourself off to the possibility. Not all women are like your wife... you are going to divorce her, right?"

"Right now, no, I want her to sweat when the bills begin to pile up and she can't keep herself in the fancy clothes she so loves, and when she comes looking and can't find me, I'm going to laugh myself silly," Elijah chuckled.

"Then what are you going to do?"

"In order to keep her from getting a cent of my money, she's going to have to file for abandonment. Given that I've given her the house, that should keep the sharks from coming and looking for me. Afterwards... can't say, maybe treat myself to a cruise, hear single people do good on those things," Elijah said, unsure why it seemed Janice was upset by his answer.

"I see... so I'm going to have to bring a huge stick to work with me to beat all those hussies off of you," Janice grumbled as she peered out the window as she crossed her arms below her 36B breasts.

Elijah had no idea where all that was coming from, nor was he going to ask. Since he was going to be her boss, and while he did find her a very beautiful woman. He wasn't about to become one of those types of men who sleeps with his assistant unless she was the one who approached him. He didn't want it going around that he was nothing more than a womanizer or, making it appear that he was pressuring Janice to sleep with him. He liked her to not want her reputation in tatters because of him. So he drove on in silence.

"Hey, Mom," Stella said once she answered her phone as she sat at her desk as Kevin's PR person. "How's my girls?"

"They're fine; what's Elijah going to think when they aren't home when he gets home?"

"Mom, you know Elijah doesn't come home until eight on weeknights. He's the one who wants to stay away from us, and honestly, I want him to, too. He kind of scared me two weeks ago. Never seen him that deranged. If I didn't know better, I would say he wouldn't have a problem with doing what he threatened to do. I'm hoping the vacation he was forced to take helped him some."

"So he hasn't come to accept the way things are going to be?"

"No, I told you he would never. I tried to get him to bed two weeks ago. Just the thought of making love with me makes him gag. I thought when you set this up, I would be able to keep my husband and my boy toy. Yet, for five years, that hasn't happened. I'm thinking this wasn't all that worth it."

"Whatcha talking about? You got Kevin all but wrapped around your finger. I told you his wife's a cold bitch. She's known all about you since the first time you and he slept together. What has she done? Absolutely nothing!" Stella didn't know if that was worth laughing about as her mother chuckled over the line. She knew her father kicking her out of his house was because of her poor actions as a wife. Yet little did either know was Kevin's wife was like Elijah, only waiting for the right moment to destroy them when they least expected it and would wound them the most at the same time. "Do you want me to have a word with Elijah? I don't mind putting that man in his place."

"Mom, Elijah is more likely to duct tape you to the wall and get out his potato gun and shoot sharp objects at you than listen to you," Stella said truthfully. "Just let me handle Elijah. He might hate me since he sure as hell doesn't love me, yet I know how to talk to him and keep his temper in check."

"He's not like that, right?" Kevin asked, he didn't mean to eavesdrop, yet he needed to go over the photoshoot that was going to happen in two days for some children's hospital that was about to break ground.

"Have to go, Mom, I'll call you later. Hello, Kevin. Yes, I'm beginning to think Elijah is turning into that kind of man," Stella said sadly. While she might want her cake and eat it too, she did love Elijah less now after the last five years. Yet she did hope that she could keep Elijah in the dark and live out her life like her mother had done back in the 70s. She thought that there still might be a chance for them if she could get him to make love to her. However, when Elijah gagged at the thought, she knew then their marriage was long dead and not even the hand of God would be able to bring it back to life.

"I'll just keep out of his way then, but I need your eyes on this; make sure everything is up and up. I can't have anything bad coming out, not yet, not when the DNC has their eye on me," Kevin said cockily.

"Oh?" Stella leaned forward; her interest pegged. She knew he was looking at running for President she just didn't know that the DNC was looking at him for it. "Sure, Kevin, you know I'll make sure it makes you shine like a star."

"I know; I can always count on you since he normally doesn't come home until late; how about we have dinner tonight?"

"Would love too, Kev, yet Abegail has that recital tonight, I told you about it Saturday."

"Right, right, you did; with all this, it's got me twisting in the wind, forgive me?" Kevin asked, laying on his charm.

"I understand; this is big news, babe," Stella said, smiling up at him. "I'll record it for you. We don't want anyone wondering why a State Senator is at an elementary school recital. I know Abegail will play her best if she knows it's for her Papa," she said in a sweet voice. She knew if he did go to the White House, he would be taking his staff along. Which meant she would be leaving, and maybe Elijah could find some peace without her in his life. She would even give him the house and minor alimony. She was just sorry that this had hurt him so much and destroyed what she thought was a wonderful marriage.

It was three-thirty that afternoon as she pulled into her driveway. Her girls squealed in laughter as they skipped towards the door, their backpacks bumping against their backs as they did. As she walked up the steps of her house, pulling out her keys as she did, she did note a strange interest from her neighbors, pondering on what they found so fascinating about her home. Stella listened as the tumblers fell into place as she turned the deadbolt. Her daughters rushed past her once she had gotten the door open, not hearing the sliding of metal along the floor in her daughters' rush. She was in the middle of picking up the mail, leafing through it as she stood up. It was the words Celle spoke that caused Stella to quickly look up.

"What did you say?" Stella asked sure she had misheard her eldest daughter.

"Not Daddy left his door open. Can we go in?!" Celle asked with mischief in her eyes.

"No, you know better than that. Do you want Elijah upset at you?" Stella intoned as she stared down at her daughter, watching how Celle's face grew pale before quickly shaking her head. "Good, now go upstairs and get ready for Abegail's recital, we leave in an hour." A warm smile formed on her lips as she watched her girls run up the steps to their bedrooms. Her mind went back to the early years of their marriage and how good Elijah was with the girls before the truth came out. She had no idea how he figured it out, not that it mattered any longer. She knew if they could get through the next two years, than Elijah would be free of her. She knew there was just no way Kevin would lose the election. Not with her making sure his image remained spotless. Her heels clicked on the floorboards as she ambled over to Elijah's bedroom. The mail fell from her hand as she stared at a barren room. A wave of sadness washed over her; she knew he was gone forever. Her thumb brushed along her wedding band as all the good years came rushing back to her.

After picking up her mail, she logged onto her banking app, making sure she could cover the bills since she doubted Elijah paid that month for her. She knew it would be tight; she might have to sell the house; she didn't know if she could do that without his signature. As she laid her purse on the kitchen table that was when she saw the envelope with her name on it in Elijah's handwriting. She didn't know why her heart was in her throat; Elijah made it very clear what he thought of her. At first she thought he got off on it since he didn't divorce her once he found out, only to find out he just didn't want to give her half his money. With a sigh, she opened it and pulled out Elijah's letter.

'To whom it may interest,' her ire rose at the fact he couldn't even address her in his Dear John letter, 'I leave here on this day of the 14 th of January... now that's settled, bitch you can have the house, I don't fucking want it. It's worth more than what we have so you get nothing else from me. Good luck paying the bills... I wonder what old Kevy boy will do when his whore can't make it that night? The good news is you only have to wait a year to file for abandonment. Don't try to find me, you won't, don't call, have nothing to say to a two-timing cunt of a whore that who I thought was a sweet girl I met in high school. I do have a question. Were you a whore back then like you're now? But then I think about it, I don't fucking care anymore. I hope you have a fucked up life and every guy from now on takes a massive shit on your life. Good riddance and fuck off.' Her lips were pressed into a scowl as she dialed Elijah's office number.

"Hello, this is Peter Strong; how can I help you?"

"You're not my husband; where's Elijah? Get him on the phone right this instant," Stella demanded.

"Ma'am, you sure you're okay? Wouldn't a wife know her husband no longer works in this office?"

"What?! That's not right, since when?!"

"I can't discuss personal information. I don't know where he went. I've been in this position for the past two weeks," Peter lied. He knew where; he was just repaying his friend for the recommendation for his replacement.

"Oh... thank you, sorry for disturbing you," Stella apologized, brining up her phone to her ear when she dialed Elijah's cell only for it to go straight to voicemail. She tried four more times before she realized he had blocked her number. "Celle!" she yelled up to her eldest.

"Yes?" Celle's little legs carried her hurriedly toward the first step of the stairs.

"Get your phone for me, mines not working," Stella fibbed, blowing her daughter a kiss as Celle ran back to her room. "Thanks, baby, I won't hog it." Elijah might have blocked her number she knew he didn't with Celle's since she's never called Elijah on it. She paced her kitchen as she listened to it ring before she heard the click of the line connecting.

"Hello?" Why did it sound like someone was singing and that someone sounded like a woman.

"Elijah, don't hang up!"

"Why would I do that, you would just keep calling me, borrowing phones of whomever just to talk to me. I would rather get rid of you now then deal with your annoyance. What do you want?"

"This is how you end it?"

"Bitch you ended it eight months into our marriage the first time you slept with that ass. Get to the point of this call, or I'm tossing my phone out the window."

"Where are you going?" Stella pressed her lips together at the 'Ha!' it got out of him.

"Tell me why the fuck would I tell you a damn thing?"

"El, I know this isn't how I wanted any of this to go, but I am genuinely sorry."

"No longer give a shit, you want forgiveness, take that up with God, you ain't getting that from me."

Elijah looked over at Janice as she pulled his car into the rest stop when he was on the phone with his estranged wife.

"Bo, who are you talking to?" The confusion was etched on his face when he looked at Janice when her southern accent came through like a wave of unbridled lust and need, clearly taking Elijah by surprise as his mind caught up. "I know you told me it was over with her." His Adam's apple bobbed wildly as Janice half-leaned, half-crawled over the console of his car. "I told you; I'm not sharing you," Janice cooed, it wasn't lost on her on the effect her voice was having on a certain part of his body. "That all of this is for me alone." Her deep purr overshadowed the voice she heard coming out of his phone as her face was an inch away from his.

"J-j-j." Elijah's voice died in his throat as he grunted deeply as Janice grasped his manhood through his pants. He felt his phone slip from his fingers as he couldn't pull himself way from the wildfire look in her eyes.

"Hey, sug', he's mine now; you have everything you need, so I'm going to end this so I can give him something only a real woman can," Janice said in a sultry tone as her eyes ran down his chest before ending the call, placing it in the cup holder before retaking her seat. "Too much?" she asked with an impish smile on her lips.

"Umm could you like look away for a moment?" Elijah stammered as his hard-on strained his pants.

"Why? So you can readjust your hard-on?" Janice bit her lip as she pointed at it; she would admit what she had felt, felt very, very nice.

"How can you do that?!" Elijah asked as he moved his cock to a less painful position. "Mean, speak with and without your accent," he clarified when she gave him a questioning look.

"Oh, people up north, at least the ones I've met, tend to see my accent to mean I'm an inbred country moron. So I learned to speak without it, but now, this is how I'm going to speak. Can you handle it?" Janice asked with a coy smirk as she pulled out of the truck parking space they were in and got back on the road.

"Ear plugs, I see ear plugs in my future; I will be like Odysseus when he lashed himself to the mast of his ship when he traveled past the Sirens," Elijah jested.

"Oh? I'm a Siren, am I? Hmm... interesting," Janice said, belting out a laugh when she saw Elijah blushing. She found it cute that she could do that to a man seven years older than she was. Although, she couldn't really explain why she did all that, namely, grasp his cock. She had noticed a slight possessive feeling creeping in whenever he talked about other women or his (she hoped) soon-to-be ex-wife. She would just have to figure out the meaning behind that as she saw the sign for the exit to the detour their GPS was taking them due to an accident ten miles south of them.

"Hey, thanks for helping bring up my clothes for me," Janice said as they rode up the elevator to the fourth floor.

"You're welcome, glad we got there in time to catch the movers before they left the storage unit I rented. I think you might like it here; I don't know how the pool is, but I assume it's nice when summer gets here. So tell me, how bad are summers here?" Elijah asked as he used the box to hide his erection. He just couldn't help it; for whatever strange reason, every time he heard her voice, his little soldier would stand up and salute.

"Hot and humid. Sometimes it gets so hot, and humid there's like twenty pounds pressing on you, also you're sweating bullets in five minutes. Ah, so good to be back in the south," Janice sighed, taking in a deep breath of the sweet Tennessee air.

"Hmm... means I'll have to go suit shopping for some summer suits," Elijah muttered to himself.

"Hey, if you want, I'm more than happy to tag along."

"Had you hooked when the word shopping appeared, huh?" Elijah chuckled at the big, knowing smile she had on her lips.

As Janice set down her last box of clothing from Elijah's car, a sudden surreal sense she might have made a mistake flooded her mind; however that was quickly stamped down as fast as it roared its head. She was a little scared starting all over again alone, yet she knew if she got in trouble, her father would come rushing to save her. She heard the jiggling of keys from behind her, causing her to peer behind her.

"What's this?" Janice asked, looking oddly at his outstretched hand.

"Since you need a car, and the company gave me a new one, I thought I might be able to help. I only have three grand left on the car to pay off. You cover that the car is yours, no strings attached," Elijah said, watching how she was gauging the truthfulness of his words while her eyes glanced at his hand and then at his face.

"You mean I don't have to fuck you for it?"

"Do I look like that kind of man to you?" Elijah asked in all seriousness.

"Never know these days," Janice muttered, "thank you, Elijah, that takes the stress off of me and don't get me wrong, I was going to miss it for the seat warmers alone. So what kind of car did the company get you?"

"Oh, you chose the car they just cut the check. It was the BMW you parked next to," Elijah said; gooseflesh raced across his skin at the soft touch of the pads of her fingers as she plucked the keys from it.

"Oh, you're so driving us to work tomorrow," Janice said with a huge smile on her lips.

"Well, I'll leave you be so you can unpack. I'll get some sleep if you're hungry, say in three hours," Elijah stated, checking his phone so he could sleep that night and not be dragging at work tomorrow.

"Sure, I need to see what I need to go buy after I unpack," Janice said, waving to him as he headed toward the door.

"Hey, Mom," Janice spoke loudly so her mother could hear her on speaker phone as she put away her clothes.

"Hey honey, did you get in already?"

"Yep, putting away clothes as we speak."

"So your Dad told me you need a car, any thoughts on that?"

"Oh, got that covered; I'm going to buy Elijah's car from him since the company provided one for him."

"How much?"

"Three grand for a newer model, Audi. I think I got lucky," Janice said, explaining all that happened on their trip down.

"I'd say, well, good, now you can come home when you want to, and I was a little worried about you being alone in that city with no means of getting around. You will be introducing your father and me to this 'friend' of yours when we come to see you next week, yes?"

"I guess if you want, I'll have to see what he's doing next week. I don't know when he's going to be moving into his condo."

"Still, we would like to meet the man who brought our baby back home to us."

"Mom!" Janice groaned, yet had a smile on her face at the love she heard in her mother's voice.

"What?! Can't a mother be happy her baby is home?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I missed you too, Mom," Janice said, feeling how hot her face was as she put up the last of her clothing.

"Do you have everything you need?"

"Don't know yet, been busy unpacking to check, but since I'm done with that, I was about to do a walk around and see what I had to go to the store for," Janice said, walking into the kitchen. As she walked around her new kitchen, seeing what she had to go get, sending a silent thank you to he who is on high when she noted the dishes, the pots, and pans. While she still had to buy some for her own apartment at least she could put that off until she found her own place. "Mom, let me go. That might be him now," she said when she heard the knock on her front door.

"Okay, you be safe, do get some rest, you have a big day tomorrow!" Janice just shook her head at her mother's words. There was no mistaking the love her mother had for her. When she opened the door she was not expecting to see her sister Stacy and her husband Rick standing there. Janice squealed in delight as she danced in place, holding out her arms to her older sister. Who hugged each other for a few minutes before she greeted Rick.

"What are the two of you doing here?!" Janice asked, welcoming them into her apartment.

"Well, Dad called me to tell me you were coming home. Since you haven't been back in five years, we didn't take a return load back with us after our last stop so we could get here today. There was no way I was going to let you wallow here all on your own the first day," Stacy said, taking stock of her sister's temporary new place.

"So, is this a permanent thing?" Rick asked as he took the stool by the small island.

"Mmmhmm, or until my boss gets another promotion, then I'll probably follow him if I want the pay raise that goes with it," Janice said, leaning against her kitchen counter.

"So, where's all your stuff?" Stacy asked, not seeing a mountain of boxes all over the apartment.

"All I brought were my clothes, perfume, that sort of thing, so I wasn't carting half a house on my back," Janice joked. "I can get the rest of what I need as I hunt for my own apartment."

"So Dad told me about your friend; where is he?" Stacy asked, giving her sister a once over when a light blush appeared on her sister's cheeks.

"Over at his place; it's about lunch anyway; let me go see if he's awake yet," Janice said, pushing off the counter and walking out the door. She didn't think her sister or her husband would follow after her.

"What? I'm not about to let you warn him about us," Stacy said with a sneaky grin.

"Just keep the claws sheathed," Janice warned as she knocked on Elijah's apartment door. She waited a few seconds, seeing if she could hear anything through the door, before she knocked a little harder, again and again. After the third knock, she heard shuffling of feet nearing. She took a step back when she heard the deadbolt being thrown open.

"Yeah?" Elijah muttered sleepily, his brain not registering with him that he was standing bare chested in front of Janice and two strangers in only his pajama pants.

"Well... hello, sailor," Janice hummed as she ran her eyes down his chest, wondering were he was hiding all that beneath his business suits. Also wondering if she could use his washboard abs to scrub her wet panties on. "What ya think, sis?" she asked, peering over her shoulder.

"They're nice; Rick's are bigger," Stacy taunted and stroked her husband's ego.

"Sorry, Elijah, this is my sister and her husband, and since it's close to noon, I thought you might be up, again sorry for waking you, and they wanted to meet you. Plus, if you want to come with us, I would really enjoy your company," Janice said, trying to keep herself from getting aroused when she noted how her voice still affected him in his groggy mind. She's never experienced a man getting hard just from the sound of her voice. She had no idea how to take that or what to do with it at the moment.

"Okay, let me put some clothes on, nice meeting the two of you," Elijah said, trying not to yawn as he held out his hand to Stacy and Rick.

"So, what's the deal between the two of you?" Stacy asked as they waited in her sister's apartment.

"Nothing, we're just friends," Janice said, brushing off her sister's questions.

"Uh-huh, sure you are," Stacy uttered, not believing a word.

Elijah yawned softly as he tugged on the hem of his shirt and straightened out his coat before leaving and locking up his apartment. He heard their voices through the door as he approached. Three soft rasps arrived at the door, announcing his arrival.

"Hey, Elijah, come on in; we were just catching up," Janice said, who had used the time to redo her hair. Something she hoped Elijah would like. She kept her smirk hidden when his eyes gave her hair more than a once over before he stepped into her apartment. "Did you ever have any Tennessee BBQ when you were down here?" she asked as her jacket settled onto her shoulders.

"No, mostly take out, given the hours I was putting in to get caught up on the work that had been piling up," Elijah said, keeping his thoughts to himself.

"Then we need to go to Brooks Shaw's Old Country Store if you want to hook him on good southern food," Rick said with a knowing smirk at his sister-in-law. He and Stacy joked about how Janice was acting while she was in her bathroom, sprucing up her makeup and hair.

"Nice choice," Janice said, teering Elijah out the door so her sister and Rick wouldn't see the blush she was supporting.

"So Elijah, what brought you down to Tennessee?" Stacy asked as they waited for their meal to be served. Plus, she was definitely going to use the time to grill the man that her sister clearly was interested in. She just didn't know why her sister was acting the way she was. Since for as long as Janice started to date she's never once been so timid when she was with someone she was attracted to.

"Was offered the position of Director of Technology Southeastern Region for our company; what do you and your husband do for work?" Elijah asked, taking a sip of his water with lemon.

"My wife and I are long haul team drivers," Rick said, studying the man across from him; so far he didn't get any weird vibe coming off of Elijah. He knew that would be one of the main things Stacy would be worried about.

"No one following you down?" Stacy inquired, wincing as Janice kicked her in her shin beneath the table. She was rather perplexed by her sister's behavior as she mouthed something she didn't catch.

"No, at least I hope not," Elijah admitted. That's all he needed was for his estranged wife learning she indeed loved him and uprooted her life to follow him. He wasn't that egoistical to think she would even care he was gone or that she suddenly realized he was the best choice for her. However, the nightmare of her showing up at his door did weigh on him.

"So, been a single man all this time?" Rick asked, joining in, ignoring Janice's glare.

"No, just don't have a wife any longer, is all," Elijah said truthfully.

"Oh, sorry," Stacy said, a little embarrassed. Although, she did see hints of anger in his eyes when he said those words.

After a few seconds of silence, their meal was served. While their meal was somewhat quiet, Stacy and Janice did use the time to get caught up on things she had missed since she'd been gone and what had changed in their hometown. Elijah thought their lunch was rather nice, if not intrusive, into his personal life for someone they had just met. When the bill was settled, the four of them parted, given how Stacy was going to take Janice out shopping for the things she needed for her new apartment. As he climbed into his car, he nodded and waved to Janice, who was doing the same before he backed out of his parking spot.

Six months later...

Elijah's jaw muscles clenched tightly when he was watching the YouTube news video of Ol' Kevy announcing his candidacy for President. His nostrils flared as he noted Stella just standing off to the side and out of the way of Kevin's passionate speech. However, he didn't miss how the man's wife looked at him. An evil smile formed on his lips at what that woman was going to do to the ass once he had his pound of flesh. His eyes glanced up as he heard the sound of a phone somewhere off in his department. He heard her voice, saw the strands of her blonde hair through the slits of his blinds before he returned his attention to the video.

"So, is that him?" Janice's voice caught him off guard as he was startled in his seat, which got a coy smile out of her.

"What makes you say that?" Elijah stammered.

"I've never seen you look like that at anyone here since we moved here. So it has to be him," Janice said, hearing the news anchor coming out of the speakers of his monitor. She had seen it when it came out a week ago. She did worry that Elijah was obsessing over the man and his soon-to-be ex-wife. For the past six months she has secretly been growing closer to him, especially after Elijah had helped her move into the apartment she had found after her first month in Jackson. While yes she had gone on dates with three different men, she had to see if what she was beginning to feel for Elijah was real or not. The dates never ended as the men would have liked, namely fucking their brains out. Although, the last guy she went out with got a little possessive on their second date. She wouldn't have gone, yet she still hadn't reached the conclusion she was seeking. In truth, deep down, Janice already knew who she wanted. She was just ignoring what her heart was telling her.

"Yeah, it is."

"So you still aren't over..." She knew she errored when she saw the look in his eye.

"I've been over her for five years. What I'm not over is how she's getting everything she wants, and not a damn thing seems to come back and bite them in the ass," Elijah hissed.

"As my pastor told me when I was growing up, sometimes God works through you to bring about the karma for the sins of another," Janice said, watching how he would take her religious background. She had to know how he would take to her being a firm believer in her faith.

"Oh?" Elijah mused, wondering if that was a sign to go ahead with what he had been planning for when the man ran. But first, he needed to make sure nothing could be traced back to him when he set his plan into motion. He didn't need the ass coming after him if he thought he had a hand in his downfall. A man with nothing to lose was a dangerous man. "I'll have to think about that."

"Maybe you would like to come with me someday, I think it will help you," Janice said just to spend any amount of free time she could with him.​