Black Tie Affair

by Rice, Rachel E.

  “Dr. Wolff, I have a problem.”

  “Yes, Alex, I know. That’s why you’re here,” he said staring at me over his half-moon glasses.

  “I met someone in my apartment elevator and I found myself attracted to that person. I have seen many men and the only man I have ever felt that way about was my husband, Max. I was wondering whether something was happening to our marriage. Maybe he’s finding another woman attractive as well?”

  “Does this new gentleman, he is a man I assume?” After raising my eyebrow and staring at him, I shook my head yes, “does he view you in the same light? What I mean is, is he attracted to you?”

  “He sent me flowers. I led him to believe that I was an employee of Max and not his wife.”

  “Did you do that because you wanted him to think you weren’t married?”

  “I don’t think so, but maybe,” I said hunching my shoulders and wondering about my intentions and reaching for the truth, which existed somewhere in my subconscious. If I lied then these sessions would be a waste of time.

  I stayed the full hour with questions about Max’s sexuality and my love life. Mostly me complaining that Max and I weren’t having vaginal intercourse. In the middle of revealing all the anal stuff, his secretary knocked and walked in, and said it was time for his next client, and he would be there soon. I stood, retrieve my purse, smiled, and exited through another door.

  I knew he wouldn’t forget where we left off and he would have answers for me next time.

  Dr. Wolff’s clients come in one door and leave out of another door so they don’t meet. I left the office feeling relieved and smiling. Reaching for the button, the elevator door opened. I stepped back to allow people to exit, but to my surprise, the man I feared stood before me. My mouth parted, there stood that smiling gorgeous seductive man who is not my husband, but someone I would consider sleeping with in a minute, if I wasn’t married to the sexiest man alive.

  He stood with his hand on the elevator door preventing it from moving. “After you beautiful woman of my dreams.” I looked up at him stunned and speechless. I slid under his arm and smelled his sexy just bathed scent. It had been weeks since I smelled a man like him. It had been weeks since I smelled Max’s body after a shower.

  “Damn you smell good,” he said to me with words I wanted to say to him. “That perfume is two hundred a bottle. You’re no dog walker, Mrs. Blackstone.”

  “How did you know?” I asked, my eyes narrowing and my lips in a hard line, angry that he had found me out and called me on it.

  “I didn’t, but when I see someone that makes me feel the way you make me feel, then I have to take notice and I find out everything there is to know about them.”

  “Now that you know who I am, and that I’m married, I hope we can just be friends.”

  “There is no way we can just be friends. You see, we are alike in so many ways,” he said smiling and showing all his white predator’s teeth. When he made that remark my eyes narrowed out of curiosity, waiting for him to say more, then I spotted a security guard hurrying in our direction.

  “Oh it’s you, Mr. Montgomery. I thought the elevator had gotten stuck again.”

  “I’m getting on the elevator,” I said looking at the guard and throwing a glance in Robert’s direction. “That’s his name. Robert Montgomery,” I murmured. The card on the flowers he sent said Robert. Now I have one piece of the puzzle. My hands trembled as I rode the elevator down to the main floor. I never experienced such nervous and crazy unexplained feelings before, except when I first met Max. I was relieved when the elevator door closed. I can still see his dark blue eyes following me as if he and I shared a dirty little secret.

  And we probably did. Thank goodness we can’t read minds. But I can read his face and he is dangerous. Not in the sense of bodily harm but dangerous to my marriage.

  ***

  I made it home in time to be disappointed once more. A text message came in from Max: Can’t get home today. Had to fly to Hong Kong.

  Love U.

  Another night alone. There were only so many books and romantic novels I can read before I began to feel as if the characters were having more fun than me. I tossed my latest romantic novel on the floor. I have to get out of here, I thought. I hate to go anywhere alone but tonight I would risk it. There was a bistro at the corner of Park Avenue just down the street from the Penthouse.

  Maybe I should interview my driver there. Max said I could have my own driver. I rushed to the bedroom and located the number. I sent him a text and told him to meet me at 560 Park Avenue at nine o’clock. He responded—Ok.

  I ate dinner with the children, put them to bed and showered and dressed in a little black dress with a black leather jacket. I wore my black and white Jimmy Choo’s with the ankle straps. I hurried to the bistro I had passed once on a shopping spree. The waiter saw me standing nervously waiting, and sat me at a small table for two.

  It is a small upscale stylish quaint restaurant with French themes. Candles lit on the tables covered with what appeared to be handmade table cloths. Colorful copies and posters of Toulouse Lautrec pictures hanging on the wall, a pictures of the Moulin Rouge and an assortment of nudes. The French singer Edith Piaf’s singing La Vie En Rose drift seamlessly in the back ground giving a mood of times gone by.

  I ordered a cognac. That was Max’s drink of choice. I tried getting into his world with the caviar and the wine and now cognac. I discovered that I could sip it without drinking much but my tolerance for liquor was low.

  The smell alone could render me drunk, but it gave an air of sophistication to sip and swirl the brandy snifter. I looked around taking in the quant bar, with its old fashion style and European charm. My eyes wandered, then settling on the back of a man sitting waiting with a drink in his hand. His hair showing an expensive cut, his shoulders wide, his legs long, and I recognized him. Was he following me? Apparently not, because in a few minutes of my gawking at him, in walked a sultry blond with legs that never stopped. She was taller than he by maybe an inch. Six feet three would not be a stretch to say the least.

  I watched as she gave him a kiss on the lips. The kiss lasted a few seconds then he stood and wrapped his long arms around her waist. He waved to the waiter and the waiter showed them to a table across from mine. I tried to slide down low in my seat but to no avail. There he was facing me when he pulled out her seat, and the model slash hot chick had her back to me when his deep blue eyes locked on me like a programmed armed missile.

  What is going on? I questioned fate or nature. I can’t seem to step out of my door without running into that exquisite man. When his eyes caught sight of me staring at him, I saw his hands tremble. I knew I had that effect on my Max but never had I experience that with a stranger.

  He nodded his head, and Edith Piaf’s rendition of Autumn Leaves set the stage for what happened next. Before he sat, he smiled lightly and winked at me. The young woman thought she had garnered that sexy smile with those incredible white teeth, but it was me he saved that suggestive smile for, I knew it and I will never forget it.

  But I need to forget him.

  When he sat down he ordered for both of them. It was not the same woman I saw in the elevator in my building. Clearly he controlled the situation. Clearly he had no trouble in the romance category. Why was he after me? His eyes would wander to me to the point that the young woman turned to see what caught his attention. She met my gaze. I gave her a quick smile, lowering my eyes and hunching my shoulder from embarrassment. I heard her say that he was rude for not paying more attention to her.

  He never reacted or changed his devouring gaze focused on my mouth.

  When I took my second sip of brandy, in walked a man in a dark blue suit and white shirt casually opened, young and good looking, eyes clear blue. I informed a woman at the employment agency to send me someone with stamina because he would be on call twenty-four hours, but I never imagine she would send a hunk of this magnitude. He stopped and asked the waiter so
mething. The waiter pointed and he headed in my direction.

  I saw a tinge of jealousy wash across Robert’s face. I noticed because of his new haircut that the tip of his ears flushed red when the guy stood in front of my table.

  I gestured for him to sit, and he smoothly pulled the chair out and sat down. His long legs extending to the side.

  “My name is Brandon Dewild, my agency said that you will need a driver on call twenty four seven.” I held out my hand and he shook it. His handshake not too strong and not too firm, and yet it had a sense of authority with it.

  “My husband suggested that I hire a driver but I only need one part time.”

  “I was expecting at least eight hours of employment, Mrs. Blackstone.”

  “Oh, I will pay you for the full eight hours, but you will only work a few hours a day and maybe weekends. If I can make some kind of arrangement with you for your services when I need you, I would appreciate that.”

  Robert stopped his conversation with the model and leaned in to hear what I was saying to Brandon. Why was he listening to my conversation instead of paying attention to that beautiful girl? “Would you like a drink?” I asked Brandon.

  “Oh no, Mrs. Blackstone.” He shook his head. “I never drink when I’m with a client.”

  That appeared to go over nicely. Because he was a handsome man, with a full head of dark blond hair, I found myself smiling more than usual. He was certainly a charmer. I asked him unnecessary frivolous questions. I asked him if he had a family, a wife and child, to which he reported that he did not, but he did have one interfering sister. I knew how old he was because I had his folder setting in front of me.

  “Where do you live?”

  “I live in midtown,” he continued talking, providing information that he thought I wouldn’t ask because I wanted to be polite, or because I was new at this. “I have an apartment with my sister who just came up from Nebraska to go to school. She wants to be a clothing designer one day.”

  We had a round of small talk and then I said, “Are there any questions you would like to ask me?”

  He looked at me and said, “Will your husband have a problem with me as your driver?”

  “No. He’s the one that insisted on me hiring one.”

  “I know, but you and I are about the same age. I’m twenty-four and...”

  “How did you know?” I asked Brandon.

  “I Googled you,” Brandon said to me.

  “Then you know as much about me as I know about you.”

  “I’m afraid so. When someone is as rich as Mr. Blackstone, their lives are an open book.”

  “I hope I can trust you to be discreet.”

  “If you hire me that is usually in the contract. In any case it will not be a problem,” he said with a shy wavering smile.

  I looked up and Robert was standing and leading his blond model out the door. He turned before letting the girl walk through the door and winked at me or it appeared to be a wink. Maybe in the dim lit bar I saw something that didn’t exist. It’s that way when a shadow cast a light across an object. That’s why you can never believe anything you see. Except my eyes didn’t deceive me, Robert is as handsome and stunning as Max and he makes me feel something deep down inside that is now absent in my relationship with Max.

  I concluded the interview, shook Brandon’s hand a second time and said, “Report for work tomorrow at noon.” I had plans to do a little shopping and I shouldn’t forget to call my good friend Joshua. It’s been too long since we’ve talked. I haven’t seen him since Crystal dumped him for Max’s twin, Jonas.

  Crystal left off with Jonas and the last time I heard, they were getting married. But knowing Jonas, it would be a cold day in hell before he did. He was too flighty and he had serious mental issues. Nevertheless, he had been stable with Crystal. She must have been good for him and kept him out of trouble.

  My thoughts were interrupted by the soft voice of Brandon. “Mrs. Blackstone, would you like me to walk you to your apartment? Or I can call you a cab.” I turned in my seat facing him, looking up into his big sincere trusting eyes.

  “I like to walk. And I would appreciate the company.” I paid the tab and Brandon stood and took my hand and I stood. We walked along Park Avenue with its expensive properties and shops. Max owned two of the buildings and as we looked up the insignia of Millennium could be seen for miles. His offices are at 504 Park Avenue. Not far from our apartments. What was I thinking to marry a man like him? Too much money and not enough time.

  Here I am taking a leisurely walk with my driver and not my husband. Everything is wrong with that picture.

  “We’re here Brandon.” The doorman opened the door when he saw us. I smiled at the doorman and we walked in.

  “Thanks Brandon, I’ll see you tomorrow around ten am. You can pick up the car then. I’ll show you around our garage. I don’t like limos. The Bentley will do nicely for me.”

  He had a smile on his face. I guess he didn’t like limos either.

  “I’ll give you an allowance for you to buy some new suits and whatever you need. Don’t forget at ten am.”

  “How could I forget? This is the beginning of the best job I’ve ever had,” Brandon said with a wide smile making my day and I’m sure his. Finally, someone my own age to talk to.

  I stood watching his nervous reaction to me, as he placed his hands in his pocket, straightened his collar and quietly waited for me to speak. He made me feel young again because we were the same age and it was good talking to people my age. I need to get back to college. I thought. I need to socialize, maybe go to a bar and get drunk.

  I shook his hand and he turned heading outside leaving me standing in the lobby. He waved when he walked out into the crisp cool evening air. Brandon looked back and I waved and through the open door trotted that impossible eye-catching man. I turned quickly and scooted to my elevator trying to avoid him. I stood at the door in the corner and fumbled in my purse for the elevator key.

  When I finally found it, I stuck it in the lock but a hand covered mine. The intense feeling of his touch shot in between my thighs making them quiver with need. “So we meet again,” he said with a hoarse sexy voice and a broad grin.

  I turned gazing into his big blue eyes. “I have to go,” I said breathing hard and fast.

  “I just want to say that I saw you watching me.” I turned to face him, furious.

  “I wasn’t watching you,” I said. “You were facing me, I couldn’t help seeing you. You should have given your date your full attention. Instead your eyes were on me,” I said livid because he was so observant or I was so obvious. “I think you were following me,” I said lacing my voice with icy contempt.

  “Does Mr. Blackstone know that you’re hot for me?”

  My mouth opened and I stood in shock. “Are you out of your mind?”

  “Yes. Over you,” he said in an erotic whisper. I was speechless. The door opened but he had positioned his body in front of me and blocked the entrance. “When are you going to give me a chance to get to know you?”

  “I’m married...” I said, my body unsteady. His eyes locked on mine and he could feel his effect on me.

  “You know if I kissed you and made love to you, you would leave Blackstone tomorrow.”

  “Why not today,” I said to him. He leaned in to kiss me and I leaned back with eyes blazing. “Why you presumptuous ass. You’re pretty sure of yourself.” I bit my lip and murmured, “Cocky bastard.”

  “Yes, that I am,” he said. “I know you, and I know your husband. Remember when I said that we know our kind. You are frustrated. Blackstone is neglectful. You have always been true to him and he doesn’t realize what he has. If you were mine, I would keep you satisfied every minute and never let you out of my sight.”

  “That’s your problem. No woman wants a man to shadow them day and night.”

  “But they want a man to satisfy their sexual desires, and I know that Blackstone has introduced you to a way of life, and he’
s neglecting you.”

  “How do you know that? Wait don’t answer that. It’s enough. I don’t care to continue this conversation with you.” I realize that I had given him too much information by just talking to him. I should have avoided him at all cost, but I didn’t. I question my motives. Why didn’t I stop this?

  “It’s your choice beautiful lady.” And he moved out of my way before cocking his head to the side and shooting me a grin with a little taste of laughter, which showed the predator that he is. And my body, boiling, burning, red-hot, scorching, and not even Max could put out the fire that was smoldering white hot within me, and soon could ignite and burn down the Blackstone Empire.

  Chapter 4

  I rushed into the elevator out of breath. He was the most obscene man I had come across since I met Max. I had to find out who he was because I was at a disadvantage not knowing anything about him, but clearly he knew me and Max. I tried Googling him and nothing came up. Maybe I hadn’t gone back far enough. Wait, he’s about Max’s age—thirty something. Let’s see. It struck me, I whispered, “Let me Google tenants in our building on Park Avenue.” And there it was, his picture and what a picture.

  Clearly he was a ladies man. Every page filled with him and a different women. His name Robert Montgomery and he’s a lawyer, and business man like Max. How curious. As I scrolled through trying to glean some idea of what kind of man would stalk a married woman, the doorbell rang. I shut down my laptop planning on returning later. “What now? Didn’t Lapita hear the door?”

  I walked quickly to answer the door. The doorman was taking his usual breaks and didn’t call up to notify me of a visitor. I opened the door, and the doorman stood with a basket of yellow roses with a judgmental expression. An eyebrow raised. “Who are they from?”

  “Mrs. Blackstone, I just make the delivery.” He handed me the beautiful basket overflowing with an assortment of long stem roses, placed it on the floor at the entrance to my foyer, and he stepped outside and went about his way.

  “What now?” I exhaled, and opened the card. Another present of roses. I bent to smell them and there was a key hidden inside the envelope. My breathing deepened.