Whereabouts

 

“Where have you been?” Lea asked Glen as soon as he got home.  “You promised that you’d get in early so that you could fix the door.  It’s been like that for weeks now.”

“I was at the office,” he said wearily as he removed his shoes and coat.

“I called you but got your answering machine.”

“I was probably away from my desk.”

“I called your cell too.”

“It’s turned off when I’m in the office.”

“You were with her, weren’t you?”

He didn’t answer.

“Stop seeing her, Glen or else…”

“Or else what?”

She didn’t answer.

 

100 Words

 

This was written for the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields For more details, visit Here.  To read other stories based on this week’s prompt, visit Here.

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The New Year’s Eve Visit

I was sitting at my desk when she walked into my office, dressed in a sleeveless, low cut black dress that hugged her snugly.  I tried not to give away the fact that I was turned on.  What was she doing here?  I wondered.  She knew better than to come to my office.  Fortunately, no one else was around.  It was New Year’s Eve and everyone had left early.  It was just me in a place that was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.  The windows blocked out the sounds of the traffic below.

I watched as she came closer.  She had that come hither look.  I was tempted to leave the desk but I stayed put.  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“It’s New Year’s Eve.  I wanted to stop by and wish you all the best for 2019.”

“You could have called instead of coming all this way.”

“I know but I wanted to see you.”  She was standing over me now, her body inches away.  I could smell her perfume.  It was as intoxicating as she was.  My heart is racing now and it’s becoming increasingly hard for me to act like her being there didn’t matter.  It did.  More than I’d like to admit.  I ached to touch her.

“You’ve seen me.  You can go now.”  I swung my chair so that my legs were no longer underneath the desk and I was facing her.

“Not until I’ve had a chance to do this,” she murmured.  And leaning over, she kissed me on the mouth.  “I couldn’t do that on the phone, could I?” she said when she drew back.  We were both breathing heavily.

That was my undoing.  Muttering under my breath, I grabbed her and pulled her down onto my lap and my mouth found hers.  I kissed her like a ravenous wolf.  Her response and the feel on her fingers digging into my scalp were a huge turn on.  I put my hands under her legs and stood up.  I carried her into the conference room next to my office where there was a leather sofa.  I put her on the sofa and dragged the dress off her.  I quickly stripped and then my mouth and hands were all over her.

We were like two animals in heat.  We couldn’t seem to get enough of each other.  Her nails clawed at my back, digging into my flesh but I didn’t feel the pain.  All I felt was pleasure–exquisite, mind-numbing pleasure.  The kind I never felt with anyone else.  She made me feel things I never felt before.  Being with her was like riding on a roller-coaster.  I wanted to get off but the ride was so exciting, so exhilarating, so tantalizingly sweet…And when it was over, I get off, thinking that this is the last time but it never is.  All she has to do is show up and I’m going for another ride.

This session seemed to last longer than all the others.  Maybe it was because I didn’t want it to end.  When it was finally over, I stood up and got dressed.  She followed suit.  We didn’t say anything as we returned to my office.  I sat down behind my desk.

“That beats going down to Times Square,” she remarked as she picked up her handbag from my desk.  “I’m glad I didn’t take Dwayne up on his offer.”

My head shot up and my gaze narrowed as it met hers.  “Who’s Dwayne?” I demanded.  I was jealous.

“He’s a guy I’ve been out with a couple of times.”

“Have you and he ever…?”

She shook her head.  “No.”

“Are you going to see him now?”

“No.  I’m heading straight home now.”

“Are you going to see him again?”

“No.  What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you and Lillian still separated?”

“No.  We’re divorced now.”

“So, you’re a free man again.”

“In a matter of speaking, yes.”

“So, what’s stopping us from hooking up for good this time?  This on and off thing you and I have isn’t working out for me.  If you don’t want me in your life, just say so and I’ll walk out of here and you’ll never see or hear from me again.”

I stood up at once and pulled her against me, my face earnest as I declared, “No, I don’t want you out of my life.  I know I’ve behaved like jerk.  My only excuse is that I wasn’t ready for another serious relationship.”

She put her arms around my neck.  “I understand.  I just wanted to know where I stand with you.”

“Are you hungry?” I asked suddenly.

She nodded.

“Let’s go to Buffalo Wild Wings and celebrate the New Year together.”

She smiled.  “Sounds good to me.”

Over ultimate nachos, beer-battered onion rings, gooey mozzarella sticks and boneless wings and Fountain Sodas, we made plans for our next date.

Sometimes love shows up at your doorstep whether you’re ready for it or not.

Sources: TIME; Buffalo Wild Wings

Wyatt to the Rescue

Wyatt and I were standing by the table, about to help ourselves to more of those puff pastries which my sister made when I heard Claudette’s voice.  My heart sank.  She was my cousin.  Why was she invited?  I thought my sister had a falling out with her.

It was my sister’s engagement party and I was there with Wyatt, my boss.  The problem was, my family believed that he was my boyfriend.  Claudette knew otherwise.  She’d dropped by my workplace unexpectedly one afternoon and met him.  She embarrassed me by flirting shamelessly with him and after I got rid of her, I vowed never to speak to her again.  And here she was, about to ruin my evening.

I braced myself.  When she walked in and saw us, she sauntered over.  “You couldn’t find a date so you brought your boss?”

Wyatt put his arm around me and said, “I’m her boss in the office but outside…” before kissing me.

Miffed, Claudette walked away.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.”

I smiled.

 

175 Words

 

This was written for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers hosted by Priceless Joy and Joe. For more information visit Here.  To read other stories based on this week’s prompt, visit Here.

In A Jam/Beneath #writephoto

Photo by Sue Vincent

 

Where was the brooch?  She hadn’t seen it since…her face turned pale when it hit her that she hadn’t seen it since the night she was at the cottage with…Ron.  She got up from the desk and began to pace the room, trying to figure out what to do.  She couldn’t go back there and look for it.  What if she ran into someone?  No, it was too risky.  But what if someone found it?  It was one of a kind.  It was a 1948 gold and silver squirrel broach with a pearl which her grandmother had given her when she graduated with honors from university.  People had seen her wear it in public.  There were photos of her online wearing it.  In a couple of interviews she had been asked about it.  And now she would be appearing on television later today without it.  What was she going to do?

She ran wrung her hands, feeling sick at heart.  If only she had ended the affair when she planned to.  If only she hadn’t gone to the cottage.  If only…

“Ma’am, there’s someone here to see you.”

“Juanita, I can’t see anyone right now.  I have to leaving soon for the office where I need to go over some notes before heading to NBC.”

“She said that she has something that belongs to you.”

The Mayor considered it for a moment and then, said, “Show her in.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”  Juanita left and returned shortly with a petite and flashy dressed woman. She looked around her like she wasn’t used to such opulence.  She looked out of place.

The Mayor observed her carefully.  When they were alone, she asked, “Who are you?”

Instead of answering that question, the woman held out her clasped hand.  “I believe this belongs to you.”  She opened her hand to reveal the brooch.

The Mayor stared at it.  She reached for it but the woman closed her hand and withdrew it.  “Where did you find it?”

“I’ll answer your first question, Madam Mayor.  My name is Helen Burns.  I’m Ron’s wife.  I suspected that he was two-timing me but I never imagined that it was with you, Madam Mayor.  I found your brooch on the floor beside the sofa.  I picked up and put it away for safe keeping.  I guess it was lucky for me that you didn’t drop it in the lake and unlucky for you that I found it.  I watched you as you called the police before you ran out of the cottage like a bat out of hell.”

The Mayor swallowed.  “What do you want?”

“I want a hundred thousand dollars.”

The Mayor gasped.  “For returning my brooch?”

“No, for my silence.  You pay me the money and no one has to know that you were with my husband when he died.”

“A hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money.”

“You can afford it.  It will cost you a lot more if you don’t pay up, Madam Mayor.  I will be in touch.”

“My brooch…?”

For the first time since they met, Helen Burns smiled.  “I’ll hold on to it, if you don’t mind.  You have a beautiful home, Madam Mayor.  It would be a shame to lose it and all that you’ve worked so hard for.  I’ll see my own way out.  Good-day.”  She walked out of the room, whistling and with a bounce in her step.

The Mayor went over to the sofa and collapsed.  Her head was spinning.  How she longed for a drink but she had the interview.  Where was she going to get a hundred thousand on such short notice?  Anthony Spinelli.

She got up from the sofa and took her cell out of her handbag.  She quickly punched in a number.  “Spinelli.  It’s me.  Remember that favor you owe me?  Now’s your chance to make good on it.  Meet me this evening in the parking lot.”  She ended the call, put her cell away and grabbed her keys.  “Juanita, I’m leaving now.”  She stepped out into the sunshine.  If anyone could get her out of this jam, it was Spinelli.  She smiled.  Things were looking up again.

 

This was written for #writephoto Prompt – Beneath at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo.

Flight

Photo by:  Jodi McKinney

She had to get out of there before someone showed up.  It would be disastrous for her reelection bid.  After making sure nothing was there to implicate her in any way, she ran out of the cottage and to her car.  After fumbling in her handbag for the keys, she started the engine and sped away.

Behind her the sun was setting.  It would be completely dark by the time she got to the office.  She’d go through the private entrance to avoid the security guard at the front. As far as anyone was concerned, she’d been at her desk all this time preparing her speech for tomorrow.

Hours later, the police responding to a tip, went to the cottage and found a naked man lying on the sofa.  It appeared that he’d suffered from a heart attack.

She was in her office, when the phone rang.  “Hello?”

“Madam Mayor?”

“Yes?”

“It’s Kelsey Bryant from NBC calling to confirm that we’re still on for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Kelsey.”

“Great.  Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”  I need a drink.

174 Words

This was written for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers hosted by Priceless Joy and Joe. For more information visit Here.  To read other stories based on this week’s prompt, visit Here.

Gordon’s Weekend/Onward #writephoto

Photo by Sue Vincent

It was a long, winding road that seemed to stretch endlessly before him, surrounded by mountains and fields.  It was a drive he normally enjoyed, especially after a hectic week at the office but today, he was too tensed up.  Relax, he urged himself.  You’re doing the right thing.  You’re ending a relationship you had no business getting into in the first place.  You’re getting married in a couple of months time to an incredible woman.  Yes, he was marrying Tessa, something he had been looking forward to for a long time.

His family liked her.  They thought she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.  She was different from the other women he used to date.  In fact, she was not the type of woman he was usually attracted to.  And when they met, it wasn’t love at first sight for him and he wasn’t even interested in more than a platonic relationship with her.  But, after his bitter breakup with Christina, Tessa had been there for him.  Her friendship had helped him through those dark moments.  And little by little, as time passed and as they spent more time together, his feelings for her began to change.  They started dating and then last year Spring, he popped the question.

Why on earth did he get involved with Chanise?  Sure, she was a very attractive woman but there were other women at the office who were very attractive too but he never once looked at any of them.  Yet, the moment he met Chanise, he was attracted to her.  And it didn’t help when they were paired up to work on two very important campaigns.  There were a lot of late hours in the office and working closing together.  He was so conscious of her that at times, it was near impossible to concentrate.  He was relieved when the assignments were over and things went back to normal but he couldn’t stop thinking about her and sneaking peeks at her when they were in the office.  Her desk was adjacent to his.  He could hear her talking on the phone and tried not to listen.  When Tessa called him, he spoke low into the mouthpiece so that Chanise couldn’t hear.

Last year at the office Christmas party, they both showed up without dates.  Tessa couldn’t go because she had a bad cold and Chanise had broken up with her boyfriend.  He tried to avoid her for as long as he could but half way through the night, they ended up talking and then they were slow dancing.  By the end of the night, he was ready to take her back to his place because it was closer.  When he mentioned it to her, she was up for it.  That’s when he knew that she was attracted to him too.  That thrilled him and after saying their goodbyes, they left.  No one seem to think anything of it–after all they were co-workers.  As far as they were concerned, he was just giving her a ride home.  No big deal.  Besides, he was engaged, right?

They didn’t say much in the drive over to his place.  At any time, he could have changed his mind and taken her straight home but he didn’t.  He wanted this.  If he were honest with himself, he would admit that he had wanted this since they met.  As soon as they got to his place and after removing their coats, he took her to his room where she spent the night.

Even though he was plagued with guilt after that first tryst, it didn’t stop him for doing it again and again.  Pretty soon, they were having an affair.  When they were at the office, they acted like nothing had changed between them.  The funny thing is that when they were together, he didn’t think about Tessa at all.  It was only afterwards, when he was alone that he did.  He hated what he was doing to her.  She had no clue.  She trusted him.  He felt like a complete jerk but every time he tried to end his affair with Chanise, he chickened out the moment he saw her.

Last night, he couldn’t sleep.  The guilt was weighing heavily on him.  He had to end his relationship with Chanise.  He had to.  And today, he was on his way to do that.  They were supposed to be spending the weekend at his cottage.  It was in an idyllic rural setting.  He bought it a couple of years ago.  It was his escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.  Tessa loved it and thought that it would be a good idea for him to sell his flat and make this their home once they got married.  She loved the countryside.  He loved it too but wasn’t sure that he wanted to move out of the city.  Besides, being in the city made it more convenient for him to see Chanise.  Chanise.  He sighed heavily.  Breaking up with her was going to be very, very hard but he had to do it.

Her car was parked outside of the cottage when he got there.  Heart racing, he turned off the engine and got out of the jeep.  He walked up to the door and opened it.  She was in the living-room.  She got up from the sofa and went over to him, smiling.  “Hello, Gordon,” she murmured as she put her arms around his neck.

Unable to resist, he hugged her tightly against him.  He buried his face in her neck.  “Chanise…” he muttered thickly.  I can’t do this, he thought.  I can’t break up with her.  He raised his head and his mouth sought hers.  As they exchanged kisses, he picked her up and carried her upstairs to the master bedroom.

Tessa smiled as she drove along the winding road, her eyes danced behind the sunglasses as they swept over the mountains looming ahead. Hold on Tight by R3HAB, Conor Maynard was playing on the radio.  It was the same song that was playing the night Gordon went over to her place after breaking up with his ex.  They sat on the sofa not saying anything.  She knew that he didn’t want to be alone at the moment and she was just there for him.

I bet, he’s going to be surprised to see me, she thought.  She was supposed to be spending the weekend with her aunt in Bristol but her aunt had gotten the dates mixed up.  This weekend she was going to be in Manchester so they were on for the following weekend.  Tessa didn’t mind at all.  She was driving up to the cottage to be with Gordon and looking forward to spending a nice, romantic weekend with him.  She couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face when she showed up unexpectedly.  She laughed at thought and pressed her foot a little harder on the accelerator.

This was written for the #writephoto Prompt – Onward at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo.

Take the Fall

“This is madness,” he thought to himself but yet here he was parked outside of the university, waiting for her.  Sometimes she would be with a friend or in a group and other times she was alone.  And each time, when she saw him, she would look at him without making it obvious.

He had no business being here.  “I should be heading back to the office and finish marking the stack of term papers sitting on my desk.”  Yet, he remained, his eyes scanning the drove of students for her.  Would she be alone today?  He hoped so.  And if she were, what was he going to do?  He hoped she didn’t think that he was stalking her.  He was no stranger to this campus.  In fact, it was at one of his lectures where he first laid eyes on her.  She was sitting in the second row.   He could still remember what she was wearing that day.   And he remembered thinking that her lipstick was way too bright.  How he managed to get through the lecture, he had no idea.

At the end, while other students were crowding him and asking questions, she stood beside the chair where she had been sitting and watched him.  Their eyes met and held for what seemed like eternity before she turned and walked away.  He watched her go, wondering if he would see her again.  For the rest of the afternoon, he could think of nothing else but her.  What was her name?  What was she studying?  Did she have a boyfriend?

Driven by a compulsion he couldn’t explain, he found himself outside of the university the following day, hoping that he would see her.  And he did.  His heart pounded wildly against his ribs when he saw her walking towards his car with a friend.  She was laughing at something the other girl said when she spotted him.  Without missing a beat, she met his gaze directly, making him blush before she walked past the car.

He broke out of his reverie when she appeared now.  She was alone today and when she saw him, she stopped and stood there, staring at him.  Today, she was wearing a black hat, black jacket over a white tee shirt and jeans.  Her hair was pulled together in a side plait, making her look much younger and her lips were bright red.  And then, she moved.  She’s coming towards me, he realized.  Nervousness and excitement filled him.  He ran his hands over his hair, straightened his clothes before getting out of the car.  He leaned nonchalantly against the car and waited.

When she reached him, she smiled and held out her hand.  “Hello, Professor Remington,” she said.

She remembers my name.  He cleared his throat, smiled and shook her hand which felt very small in his.  “Hello, Miss–?”

“Sydney Bradshaw”

“Pleased to meet you, Sydney.”

“I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed your lecture.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” he said.  “I have another one coming up next month.”

“Where?” she asked.

“The University of Roehampton.”

“What’s the lecture about?”

“Self-victimization or victim playing.  I will explain what it is, the reasons why people engage in it and the signs.”

“That sounds very interesting.  I’d definitely like to come.”

“I hope you do,” he said.  “You don’t have a boyfriend, do you?”

She shook her head at once.  “No, I don’t.”

“Good.  And I don’t have a wife or a girlfriend.  I’d like to continue our conversation more over cappuccinos.”

She smiled.  “I’d like that too.”

He walked around to the passenger-side of the car and opened the door for her.   They went to a nearby cafe where they the rest of the afternoon, talking over cappuccinos and the following evening, they had dinner at a charming French restaurant.   By the end of the year, they were engaged.

…ignore the risk and take the fall. And if it’s meant to be it’ll be worth it all – Daniel Seavey

Sources:  Genius; Wikipedia; The Daily Evergreen;  Rate Speeches