Quickies

mistaken - 4

"I don't suppose you need to leave soon because of that phone call."

He handed her the wine. His eyes were so intent on her that she felt it piercing, but it didn't scare her. Not since they met earlier that night had she felt any sense of danger with him, only anticipation. The good kind. The pleasurable kind.

She returned his gaze as she took the wine glass from him, deliberately touching his hand and lingering a bit.

Two can play at this game.

"No. As a matter of fact, it was my associate, telling me to finish my business here so that we can celebrate. Very eager, that one."

He followed her as she walked back to the coffee table, mesmerized by the smoothness of her arms. As she bent down to pick up her purse, he saw her perfectly rounded behind, making him pause and catch his breath. She turned around and saw him ogling.

"Hmm. Perhaps we can do this better over at the long table?"

He straightened up, turning red at getting caught but quickly regained his composure.

"I'm right behind you."

Her brows shot up, and he just gestured towards the table. She wasn't certain if he meant what she thought he meant. She took a sip of the wine to mask the already warm feeling that was filling her up. Any excuse to blame it on the wine. She walked slowly towards the table, each step calculated and intentional. The table looked so inviting right now, but she needed to take her time. Wine, time. She felt like everything around her at that moment was a rhyme, and this man just a few paces behind her, though a little misplaced in the jigsaw of her evening, is placing all the right pieces.

However erroneous all of it is.

"Have you had the chance to ponder more thoroughly about my offer?"

He asked her tentatively as she reached the table, seeing how her fingers are now making soft, tapping gestures. He needed to remain a safe distance away from her, for even with a few feet away, he could feel her pull. The gravity between them is getting strong, but he has to overpower it. He has to see this whole business through, even for the sake of learning where all of this will end up.

Even while he knows this deal he is faced with isn't exactly what he expected.

"Indeed, I have."

She still had her back to him, the low cut on her dress revealing toned back muscles and an ink of swallows on flight near her left shoulder. He didn't notice it earlier, for he was rather preoccupied studying her curves. He finds it intriguing, the tattoo. Perhaps he can quiz her about it some other time.

Should she allow another time.

For now, he waited for what else she had to say, even while fighting every urge in him to hike up her dress and...

"And I think, for now, I may not pursue my business with you."

He had this playing in his mind another way but he was brought back to the reality with what she said. He had to think fast.

"Perhaps you need more time. Did I not mention that if I am pleased with this initial venture, I can offer you a longer term arrangement?"

"Yes, you did. I'm quite confident that you will be pleased, actually. But tonight may have started under false pretenses. And I don't want any kind of partnership to start with...mistakes."

They were now face to face, and with a few steps he was just inches away from her. She could smell the whiskey he had back at the restaurant, he could smell the sweet wine that she just sipped. He wants to hold her, she wants him to just hoist her up his waist. All of these running through their heads.

And yet they don't move. Only heavy breathing, and should they have gotten any closer, they would have heard each other's beating pulses. Loud, trying to catch their attention, as if trying to push them towards each other.

But pride, damn that emotion, stubbornly tears them away. He takes a step back, drinking the wine from his glass in one gulp.

"I respect that."

"Thank you. I will no longer take much of your time tonight."

She placed her wine glass on the table, and walked away, towards the elevator door. He did not follow her, for he was desperately thinking of how to convince her to stay, now for an altogether different purpose.

He knows it was a mistake, of course he does. The messages and missed calls he got all told him so. Warnings by his associates. And frankly, he already knew the moment he invited her over to his office.

*Ting!

The elevator doors open and she stepped in. She pushed for the lobby and as the doors start to close, she saw his hands stopping it. He made no attempt to step inside, even as the doors keep trying to close. She pushed a button to keep it open, her eyes questioning and searching his.

"You do know that there have been unfortunate accidents of people whose bodies get halved because of elevators?"

"I'm very aware of that, yes."

She pushed the button to close the doors once more. He stopped it. She pushed the button to keep it open again.

"I know that you have insurance for all kinds of accidents but I have no intention of being a witness to it. Will you please stop trying to block the elevator from closing? Our business here is done."

"No, it's not. You said so yourself. You said 'for now'. It does not mean that this business is done. It's not over. It actually never began. It actually wasn't the real business that I was expecting. But I am rather interested now to pursue this, whatever business it is you are offering. And I do believe that that phone call you took also apprised you of what is happening."

Whether she was taken aback at what he said or not, he could not tell. She held his stare, listening to every word. She pushed the button again.

"Another time, then."

The doors began to close and he no longer tried to block it. He smiled and made one last attempt.

"I'm Richard."

And just before the steel doors closed in, she smiled back.

"I'm Nicomaine."

***

A man in a white shirt entered the restaurant and scanned the faces of the diners inside the restaurant. He knew she was already there, her agent called him to look for a woman wearing a black dress and a tattoo on her back. He couldn't wait to do this, he's heard so much about this 'escort' from his friends. She was expensive, sure, but he needed an 'adventure' before he gets married to his girlfriend of two years. He knows this is going to be worth it. He loves his fiancé, of course, but they agreed to take some time off before they actually get serious with the preparations for their wedding. They were both open about their relationship, anyway. For all he knows, she may also be exploring on her own. She's this top-notch business woman, the black panther they call her because she's a hard-ass player who can easily close deals by making tough negotiations. That's one of the things that he loves about her, her dominance. And she takes it to their bed, too. He enjoys that, sure, but every once in a while he looks for someone that he can be his submissive. And within the circle of his friends' friends, he got to know about this 'escort'.

He spotted her, back tattoo and black dress. She was facing the other way, but there was something vaguely familiar about her back. He approached her anxiously, getting turned on even as he has only seen her nape. He touched her shoulder lightly. And he was surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"Ah, Mr. Faulkerson, I have been waiting for thirty min...Juancho?!"

"Joyce? Love?"

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