Becoming His Mistress

by Murphy, A. E.

  I flop back and he flops next to me.

  “Selfie,” he announces, his tone high and dramatic. When he raises his phone, I smile like a normal person and laugh when he takes two more.

  “What are you… Kim K?”

  “Duh. Look at my ass.” He gets up and shakes it a little. It’s a nice ass. “Hurry up, settle in, I’ve got to take you out again.”

  “Okie dokie.” I relax for ten minutes before I check my phone for the first time since landing after sending texts to announce my safe arrival.

  Laurie: Woohoo! Enjoy :D

  Ezra: Wish I could be there. Call me when you can.

  Ezra: Are you with Robert? He just posted a picture on Insta.

  Laurie: I hope you hate Seattle and decide to stay, just so you know.

  I respond to Laurie first.

  Rose: Miss you. <3 Wish you were here.

  Then Ezra.

  Rose: He picked me up from the airport. He lives here… or had you forgotten?

  Ezra: I know where he lives, I just didn’t realize you were both so close.

  Rose: We’re kind of friends, I guess. What’s the big deal?

  Ezra: He’s single.

  Rose: You’re jealous.

  Ezra: Just worried.

  Rose: About what?

  Ezra: That I’ll get an invitation to your wedding in a year.

  Rose: That’s crazy. I hardly know him.

  Ezra: He’s a good-looking, single guy, ready to settle down, he’s not a psychopath and he treats his woman well when he has one. What more do you need to know?

  Rose: Are you pitching your friend to me?!?!?!

  Ezra: Just praying you don’t end up liking him more than me while pointing out all the reasons you should. Does that make me selfish?

  Rose: No. Just jealous.

  Rose: I’m not going to sleep with Robert. Don’t worry.

  Ezra: I don’t have any right to tell you not to. Yet I find myself wanting to claim you. Still think I’m not selfish?

  Rose: I think this is a very confusing thing with a lot of bent and broken rules. You can’t help how you feel. I’ll call you when I’m back.

  Ezra: Why not before? I miss the sound of your voice.

  Rose: Because I need to know what life will be like here without you.

  Ezra: You love me.

  Rose: I love myself more.

  Ezra: Good girl.

  “Ready?” Robert asks, smiling at me and I nod my head eagerly. “Let’s go, my fair lady.”

  I take his proffered arm when I exit the bedroom and comment on how nice he smells.

  He just does that casual wag of his brows, ruining the moment.

  “I’m never complimenting you again.”

  We hit the city and he’s right, it is amazing. We head for dinner at a sushi bar, and then go for drinks at his favorite dive that plays really good live music. His friends are there and make me feel so at home and welcome, which is amazing and really makes me think about what Ezra said via text about Robert being a better choice.

  Not Robert in particular but just this. This is what my boyfriend should be able to do. He should be able to introduce me to his friends and take me on a tour of his home. I should be able to stay at his place at the end of the night.

  I’m not saying I need a boyfriend; it just sucks that I’ve fallen in love with one that I’ll never have. It’s so unfair. I want a family of my own because I’m sick of being lonely, and the first guy to like my quirks is a sociopath, and the second one is married.

  You can’t make this stuff up.

  I kind of want to laugh at the hilarity of it, except it’s not funny, just depressing.

  The next day I have my interview, meeting my potential new boss who is absolutely adorable and so sweet, and I leave crying because if I want it, the job is mine.

  I think this was mostly because I saw the staff list lined with their photos and remembered everything about them after one look at the sheet. My memory is a powerful thing.

  Robert: He’s singing your praises.

  I’m happy, of course I’m happy, but I’m also devastated because of what Mr. Watanabe said to me, that he had received a glowing reference from Mr. Conti saying how I’m the best PA he has ever had and likely ever will have.

  He made his choice too. We both know this is for the best.

  And Robert really has shown me what Seattle could be for me, and my new apartment, though he offered to share his bed with me at his. Of course he did.

  We parted on a tight embrace, I felt sad leaving him, not because I want him romantically but because we bonded over two days and I feel like I actually made another friend. My tapping doesn’t annoy him in the slightest either.

  When I touch back down in LAX and locate my bag, I go to buy a coffee from a machine because I don’t want to wait in the lines, when a chest hits my back, a face hits my hair, and arms squeeze me so forcefully I can’t breathe.

  I look down and smile when I see the familiar watch on his wrist.

  “What are you doing?” I hiss, stroking his arm with my hand. “This is LAX, any number of yours or your wife’s associates could be here.”

  “I don’t care,” he breathes, turning me and touching his lips to mine. I glance around, pulling him around the side of the coffee machine for at least some semblance of privacy.

  I sag into his body, clinging tight as our tongues dance together, but then I remember all the reasons why this is a bad idea and push him away.

  “We can’t.” I keep my hand on his chest, giggling when he brings it to his lips, gray eyes shining with so much love and passion.

  “No, we can’t… not yet… but in a few months when everything has calmed down, then we can.”

  My heart is hammering, something doesn’t feel right about this. “What are you talking about?”

  “I told Elizabeth that I want a divorce.”

  “WHAT?” I shriek, feeling faint and nauseous. “When? Why?”

  “After our texts, because I love you and I don’t want to miss my chance with you.” He pushes my hair back behind my ear.

  I shake him off and brush past him, letting him grab my suitcase. “I can’t do this.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “Somebody has to!” I look at him and then around, keeping my voice low just in case somebody we know is listening. That would be our luck. “You’re married. You promised your soul to another woman. You can’t just yank that back and give it to me.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because then how will I ever know that what we have is real? You will what? Divorce her and marry me someday? And then what? I’ll sit at home wondering every single night which receptionist you’re gonna fall for to replace me.” I stop and turn to face him. “You can’t leave your wife for me; you’ll end up resenting me if we don’t work out. Leave your wife because it’s what you actually want.”

  “It is what I want…”

  “Would you be divorcing her if you didn’t have me on the bench?”

  He bites his lip. “I thought you’d be happy.”

  “Happy about what? That I’m stealing another woman’s man?”

  “That’s not—” He blows out a breath, looking conflicted again. “Come on, I want to show you something and I want to hear all about Seattle on the way.”

  We change the subject and I tell him all about Robert and his friends, and how we stayed up until four singing karaoke and we both butchered “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” together which was hilarious.

  He listens with a smile on his face as he drives us through LA to location unknown. We head towards the ocean, to Santa Monica, only around a forty-minute drive to the office.

  “Where are we going?” I ask, peering out of the window at the bright lights of the pier, trying not to think about the conversation that is to come.

  “You will see,” he replies, grinning with excitement.

  Less than ten minutes later we’re parked in the private undergro
und parking of a tall, white high-rise. I still don’t know what we’re doing here.

  He tells me to wait so he can open my door and he holds my hand as we make our way through the busy lot and to the elevator. He scans something on his keys, a round disk of sorts, using a light below the elevator button. The button lights up red until he presses it and it turns white.

  “Seriously… what are we doing here?” I whisper, feeling the need to be quiet because of the lack of people.

  The elevator is modern, with clean mirrors and a row of numbers, some with names next to them such as “fitness center” and “pool terrace.”

  “Is this a hotel?” I ask, even more confused.

  He presses button thirteen and then cages me in to the wall, holding the silver bar with both hands, kissing my neck and my lips, making any questions I had fly from my mind. I hum and turn my head, giving him more access to the parts of me that make me shiver when touched.

  He grinds against me, showing me his arousal, and making mine ten times worse.

  We don’t stop until the doors ping open onto a spacious floor. It’s shaped like a hexagon with tall sweet-smelling flowers in huge twisted black vases to my left and right, and doors that have the numbers 13A and 13B on them.

  He spins the keys around his finger, holding my hand and leading me to 13A.

  This place is so fancy.

  “What’s going on?” I ask when he presses the same round disk to the underneath of the door handle, and it turns the lock green.

  He yanks down the handle and pushes it open. It smells so new and fresh, and clean.

  When we step inside, he commands, “MURPHY. AUTO LIGHTS ON.”

  We step into a nicely lit hall, white walls, wood floors, beautiful detail on the ceiling. The lights are like a snake of tiny white orbs leading further into the apartment.

  “Here.” He drops my suitcase as the door closes behind us and guides me forward a few steps only to push open a door. “Our bedroom.”

  “Our bedroom?” I question, stepping inside and assessing the amazing room, complete with bed, nightstands, massive windows overlooking the city, blinds that seem to be electrically powered. “What do you mean our bedroom?”

  He pulls open the closet doors, showing a walk-in closet with both a his and hers side, complete with clothing. Mine from my house, his from his. Oh my God.

  “This… how is this happening?”

  “Come on,” he states, kissing me and leading me around the rest of the apartment. It has a modern kitchen with an island, and a balcony overlooking the ocean, and a guest bedroom, a living space, a den where his laptop is already set up and so is mine on a second desk beside it.

  “How is this happening?” I’m so confused and spaced. “This is crazy.”

  “This was originally going to be a gift for my sister, but Steven has since decided they want to live elsewhere. When I told my wife that I wanted a divorce, it just clicked that I could still go ahead with the purchasing of this place, and we could make it our own.”

  I’m bewildered. Absolutely bewildered. “You’re telling me you want to live together?”

  “It’s soon, but you need a place to live, I need a place to live…”

  “This is crazy, you know that, right?” I whisper, moving to my suitcase and picking it up. I don’t know why. I don’t know if I’m staying or going. I want to pace and consider all this but he won’t let me.

  “It’s safe here, they have their own security, the entire building is locked down tight. You can’t get up to a floor without the right key. You can’t get into the parking lot without a key either.”

  “That’s all well and good, but how would we explain this to anybody?”

  “We won’t, not yet. As far as Elizabeth is concerned, I’ll be staying with my parents or in hotels, and that’s where I’ll have our daughter.”

  I drop my case and bite my lip. “I don’t know what to make of this.”

  “Stay here, stay with me, don’t go to Seattle. Be mine.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “I am. You make me insane. I want you to myself all day, every day.” He pulls me into his body and kisses me softly, but I’m so tense I can hardly reciprocate.

  “How did you make this happen in less than two days?”

  “The apartment was already furnished, all I did was add the second desk and pick up your clothes and fast-track the sale with a bit of extra cash,” he explains, flashing his eyes at me. “I’m serious about us. I’m never happier than when I’m with you.”

  “You promised yourself to another woman. What about her?”

  His smile fades and his eyes cloud with sadness. “At the end of the day, my wife deserves better from me. I’ve been cheating on her physically and emotionally.” He backs into the wall opposite me and we both stare at each other. “I’m not going to tell her about any of that because I don’t want to cause her pain, but I am going to leave her and give her the chance to find the happiness she deserves. Hopefully the same kind of happiness I have found with you.”

  “How can you be so sure about me? What if we don’t work out?”

  “Then I still cheated on my wife and she still deserves better, and I’ll just sit and drink whiskey every night while listening to Celine Dion remind me how much I miss you.”

  I laugh and look back towards the apartment again, and then towards the door. My fingers and thumb start to twitch. I want my stress ball. “We should have discussed this. What if I want to go to Seattle?”

  “Then I’m still leaving my wife and I still need a place of my own.”

  I inhale and then exhale. “You promise me that you’re not leaving her because of me? That’s just… it’s too much for my shoulders.”

  “I promise. I’m leaving her because of me. I’ll never blame you for that.”

  “Maria…”

  “Is a strong, intelligent little lady who will adjust and will one day understand.”

  Tears fill my eyes, I don’t know why, this just feels like a really sad and emotional moment.

  He cups my face with his hands and wipes away my tears with his thumbs. “Why don’t I run you a bath, pour you a glass of wine, order dinner from the restaurant upstairs and then make love to you in our bed?”

  “Okay,” I whisper, accepting another kiss. “That sounds good.”

  Smiling brightly, he claims my mouth and devours me against the wall, deepening it only when I wrap my arms around his neck.

  “Now you can say it,” he breathes, pressing his forehead to mine. “Now it’s safe for you to say it because I’m yours.”

  I pull away from him, pretending to not see the hurt that flashes in his eyes. “I’ll unpack.”

  “I’ll run that bath.” He stops in the doorway when I lift my suitcase onto the bed. “I love you. Don’t ever doubt that.”

  “I know you do,” I reply sadly. “But I just… I need time to wrap my head around all of this. It’s moving so fast…”

  “I understand.” He winks at me and vanishes through a door on the far left, leaving me to click my fingers and count to thirty-six before I can breathe again. I should be elated that a man wants me this much, but I guess I just wasn’t expecting it. It’s a lot to take in. Perhaps too much.

  I always had this idea that he’d leave me one day. Not his wife. Not for me.

  I hear the bath water start to hiss against the bath and focus on the sound to calm myself.

  When he returns and finds me sitting on the bed he crouches before me and places his hands on my knees. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not really.”

  “Did I upset you?”

  I don’t want him thinking that I’m ungrateful or unhappy with what he’s done here, so the least I owe him is an insight into how I’m feeling.

  “It’s the sneaking,” I mutter and grasp his hands as he lands on one knee and stretches so we’re closer to eye level. “I don’t like the sneaking and lying. There’s still the chance we�
�ll get caught and she’ll get hurt.”

  “But… I’m single, you’re not fooling around with a man who is going home to another woman every night.”

  “You’re not though, that’s the thing about marriage. You’ll never really be single until she’s moved on. There’s always the fear you’ll go back to her.”

  “I’m not going back to her. Even if you leave me.”

  “But what if she finds out about you having an affair and she wants to try again? Elizabeth doesn’t strike me as the type to just lose her husband to another woman. You love her too; you’ve loved her for longer.” I imagine them smiling and feeling giddy and afraid as they took their vows. It breaks me in half. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to be—”

  “I wouldn’t be here all the time. This would be more your place than mine. I have to stay at my parents’ and have Maria there… but eventually, in a few months when the divorce is final and things have settled, we can start dating in public. Okay? What’s a few months really?”

  I look around this amazing bedroom and look at this amazing man who steals my breath with just a glance. But then I think back to Seattle and how nice and chilled my life could be there with my killer apartment, new job, and no man troubles to worry about.

  I don’t want this ache in my chest. I don’t want this fear of being caught.

  I love Ezra, I know that I do, but is he worth all the drama that his decision will bring?

  “How did she take it?”

  He presses his forehead to my throat, and I run my fingers through his hair. “She was confused, angry… she thinks it’s because she doesn’t want more kids but that’s not it. She doesn’t understand what changed.”

  “She’s going to jump to the conclusion of you having an affair soon and she’s going to start digging.”