by Katie Dowe
*****
“He called me at work today.” Abby sat down on the sofa where her friend was curled up typing at a very fast pace as if she wanted to get what was in her head on the pages.
“Who?” Jenny asked distractedly.
“Tyrone.”
Jenny looked up at her sharply. “I hope you told him off.”
“I did and Lorenzo Romano heard the tail end of it. At least I hope it was the tail end of it.”
“What did he say?”
“He said if I was having problems I should let him know.”
“Maybe you should,” her friend said quietly.
“It’s my first day on the job, I am certainly not going to let them know that I made the very bad decision to go out with an asshole.”
Jenny laughed at that. “We are entitled to bad relationships, honey.”
“Yes, but I heard the rumors and still went out with him. How desperate was I?”
“You were just going through your lonely phase. Stop being so hard on yourself.”
“We are quite a pair, aren’t we?” Abby wriggled her toes and stretched. “You dated a man who did not tell you he was married until his wife called you and I went out with a player and a woman beater.”
“The good thing is he did not lay a finger on you.”
“I am a big girl, honey, so he would not be so stupid.”
“I am swearing off men for about a year. I seem to pick the wrong ones,” Jenny said as she got to her feet and went to the kitchen.
“So am I,” Abby called out. “At least for a little bit. I have my career to think about.”
*****
Edward stared around the table and stifled a yawn as he looked around the table where he was having dinner with the men from the banking industry. The food was not good and the conversation was far from stimulating. It was the same thing each year and he was going to have to make the decision to stop coming. Interests rates and balloon profits seemed to be the only topic the men around the table knew and he was beginning to wonder if that was all there was to them or maybe him.
“Hi, you look a little disinterested,” a voice said at his elbow. He turned to see the sultry blonde woman who was one of the banker’s wife and noticed with distaste that she was coming on to him. “My husband is distracted so he would not notice if we slip away.”
“I would notice,” he told her coolly. “I am not into other men’s wives.” Without waiting for her response he excused himself and left the dining room of the hotel. He went outside and the valet hurriedly came forward. “Please bring my car around.”
“Right away, sir.”
It was still early and it was the weekend so he decided that he would go by the club to kill some time. The big empty house did not hold a lot of appeal just now. He saw Bradley Wellington and Patrick Copeland having a friendly tennis match and sat to watch. He wondered how come they were here now as they were family men who took their responsibilities very seriously.
“What for you, sir?” A new and very young waitress came over to the table he was sitting outdoors. It was the end of August and the sultry heat had given way to a very cool night.
“A martini please.”
“Yes, sir.”
He looked up as Lorenzo came walking over wearing tennis shorts. “I did not see you playing.”
“I was around the back trouncing Garth.” He slid into the opposite seat and signalled for a waiter.
“I did not expect to see you here tonight. Monique put you out?”
“The girls are having some sort of function and I was missing her so I decided what the heck.” He made his order and turned to his friend.
“So I must be a very poor substitute,” Edward said dryly as he sipped his martini.
“Absolutely.” Lorenzo grinned. “So your big day is Monday and I told Ms. Johnson to burn the clothes she takes from your place.”
“I am sure she told you that you are out of your mind.”
“In so many words. I told her to bring them to me and I will burn them.”
“You are not burning my clothes, Lorenzo.’
“She works for me, man, or actually for my wife. Who is she going to obey?”
“I am the owner of those clothes so actually me.”
“We will see,” Lorenzo said mystically.
Chapter 2
Abigail passed her hands over her short black skirt a little nervously as she sat behind the wheels of the car she had been assigned to at Romano’s. The truck transporting the clothing had come and had delivered the things beforehand. Now it was her turn to go in and convince Edward Moore that he would look better in dark blue jacket and wine red tie than he did in tweeds. She had stared at the place as she was coming in and could not believe that people really lived like this! It was like an old country estate and the building was built way back from the gateway. There were wild roses growing on either side of the high fence. Apple trees and Poinciana’s vied for supremacy along the eastern side of the building and there were trellises weaving their way up the weathered pink stones. She caught a glimpse of a large swimming pool with clear water gurgling from rocks jutting from what looked like a cave even though she was sure it was not one. She got out and stepped on cobbled stones as she made her way to the door. It opened before she could knock and she had a feeling that he had been waiting and watching her.
“Ms. Johnson, please come in.” He did not look anything like one of the most powerful banker in the world! He was wearing an old t-shirt and baggy pants and his ash blonde hair looked mussed as if he had been taking a nap. And he was barefoot!
“I hope I have no caught you at a bad time.” She was wearing flats and he seemed to tower over her. He was a little on the thin side but his dark grey eyes were disconcerting as they looked at her.
“As far as clothes go, with me it is always a bad time.” He indicated that she followed him and they went into a living room that was much too big for one person and there was a chimney! It was a charming place that looked very much like the old stories she used to read about princesses and princes! “Would you like something to drink?”
“No thank you.” She went to where the pile of clothing were on moveable racks and the shoes and socks and other stuff were placed neatly on the sofa. She had come armed with even tie pins and cuff links with his initials. “Any mirrors?”
“For you?” His light eyebrows lifted in puzzlement and she almost laughed.
“No, Mr. Moore, for you.”
“Oh.” He looked lost for a moment and then left her in the room returning a few minutes with a beautiful cheval mirror which he placed against the cool lime colored wall.
“Thanks.” Abigail took out a jacket suit in rich dark brown with a tan shirt and green tie and held them up looking at them quizzically. “I think we should start with this.”
“You want me to try them on?”
“Of course. How would I know how they look on you?”
“Are you going to stay while I undress?” His voice was a little amused.
“I will turn my back if you are shy,” she told him meeting his eyes without flinching.
He shrugged and whether or not it was to respond to her dare he pulled the t-shirt over his head revealing a surprising muscled chest. Next came his pants and he stood before her in his underpants. She handed him the pants first and then the shirt. She had brought belts as well and she gave him a brown leather one. He buttoned up and went to stand in front of the mirror to stare at himself. She brought the tie over and knotted it herself, biting her bottom lip in concentration as she made sure the knot was secure. She stepped back as he pulled on the jacket and secured the tie pin and the cuff links. The transformation was amazing! Edward Moore had gone from a geeky looking banker to an extremely successful looking one. The green tie brought out the hazel flecks in his eyes and for a moment she stared at him.
“What do you think?” He stretched his hands out for her to see the full effect.
“I
think I am going to ask for a raise,” she said with a grin. Now it was his turn to stare! She had dimples that looked like quarters could hold in them and her white teeth with the gap was the most beautiful he had ever seen. His eyes had passed over her when she got out of the vehicle and he had stared at her bigness for a moment but it had never been in his character to judge another person by how they looked. He had spent years in high school being ribbed about his skinny as a rail body and the fact that he never socialized. The only reason why he was not bullied too much was the fact that he was Edward Moore and his dad probably held most of his classmates’ parents’ accounts in his hands but he had felt the loneliness of growing up without friends because he was deemed to be different!
“Mr. Moore?”
He blinked his dark grey eyes and realized that she was looking at him strangely.
“I am sorry,” he said ruefully. “I was wondering what the guys in my science club would think if they saw me now.”
“You belonged to the science club. Of course,” she said before she could stop herself. “I mean-”
“Don’t spoil it now,” he said openly amused. “I was quite a geek growing up.”
“No!” she said with a wicked grin that had him entranced once again. “I would never have guessed.”
Edward moved away abruptly and went to stand in front of the mirror. For the first time in his thirty years he felt desire clawing at him and it shocked him so much that he had no idea what to do! He closed his eyes and tried to stop the hammering of his heart and the clamminess of his skin.
“Would you mind leaving them here? I promise I will try on every one of them and let you know how they look,” he said tightly.
Abby stared at his stiff back puzzled wondering if her forthrightness had offended him. “I am supposed to take pictures.”
“I will get them to you. Please I need to –” He took a deep breath and turned to face her. “I have to finish up something urgent and I just remembered.”
“Okay.” She looked at him strangely and he wondered if she could see how affected he was around her. She gathered up her huge pocketbook and took one last look at him in the suit before walking over to pick out another in teal blue matching it with a ruby red tie. “Either this or the one you have on be sure to wear it to work tomorrow. Ask your secretary to take pictures and shoot them to us please.”
“Of course.”
She hesitated and then turned around and left. He did not follow her to the door like he was taught to by his mother but waited until the door had closed behind her before he walked to the window to look at her. He saw her sitting behind the wheel and knew she was wondering what she had done to make him want her to leave. She pulled out of the driveway and disappeared from his sight. He leaned against the cool glass. He was hard! He had never been so hard in his life and it was for a woman he had just met! He had wanted to taste her! He groaned as he felt the weight of his penis inside the underpants he was wearing. He thanked heavens that it had not happened when he had taken off his pants in front of her. The embarrassment would have been too much! He walked back to look at himself in the mirror before taking them off and hanging them up carefully. He wondered what he was going to tell Monique what had happened!
*****
“Hey how did it go?” Jenny asked her as soon as she entered the apartment. She had spent the time driving from his place to her apartment wondering what she had done wrong on her first assignment. What was she going to tell Monique! They were going to be making up collages of before and after photos and she had this idea of putting out a magazine of that effect. Now she had messed up everything and more than likely she would be fired!
“I don’t know,” she said slowly as she took off her light sweater and her shoes and sat at the kitchen counter. Jenny was still in her PJs from this morning because she was suffering from intense allergies but that did not stop her from banging on her laptop. She lifted reddened eyes to her friend and used the napkin to blow her nose.
“Be more specific.”
“One minute we were there and he tried on this dark brown suit that changed him totally and we were laughing about it and the next thing I know is that he said he had something to do and I had to leave. If we were on a date I would be feeling rejected right now.” She sniffed the chicken soup and decided to have some.
“But you were not on a date,” Jenny said practically as she looked at her friend through bleary eyes. “This was a business something-” She gestured vaguely. “So he liked the suit or not?”
“It appears so.” Abby dipped the spoon into the bowl and took a sip closing her eyes as she crunched on the carrots and the pieces of chicken. “This is really good.”
“I know. Chicken soup for the body and I am thinking about blogging about it in my next article. Chicken soup the cure for loneliness and ‘manlessness’.”
“Is it?” Abby asked her in amusement.
“A bowl of that and you forget that a man has not laid on top of you for the past year,” Jenny said with a wicked laugh that turned into a cough.
“You probably should put the laptop away and go and take some Allegra,” Abby said with a dry look at her. “You look like crap.”
“Thank you, darling,” Jenny said as she got to her feet. “I can always count on you to keep it real.”
“Any time,” she said as the girl made her way out. “And if he likes the suit then that means you did well. Don’t worry about it.”
But she did worry and even when she had washed up and gone to bed she could not stop wondering how she had gone wrong. After about an hour of agonizing she finally closed her eyes and went to sleep.
*****
“He loves them!” Monique burst into Abigail’s office, her eyes shining.
“He does?”
“Yes, of course! Every single one of them and he said to apologize to you personally for being so abrupt but he had an emergency that he had not remembered.”
“I see,” Abby said slowly as she looked at the animated look on her boss’ face. The woman was wearing a cerulean dress that barely touched her knees and she looked every inch of the successful woman she was. Her hair was caught at the nape of her neck by a jewelled clip and her makeup was flawless. It was almost nine in the morning but Abby had recognized that even when it had reached six in the evening she looked the same. “What exactly did he say?”
“He wore the first one you picked out for him and he has been getting compliments from everyone at work. His secretary is as pleased as punch and will be calling to thank you in a few minutes.”
“Phew!” Abby expelled her breath at that. She had been so worried before but now she was put at ease. “For a minute I thought I had done something wrong.”
“You have done something right,” Monique said with a smile. Abby’s phone rang just then. “I will leave you to it. We have a meeting in an hour.”
She picked up the phone and with a smile in her voice she answered. “This is Abigail.”
She heard the pause and for a moment wondered if it was Tyrone. “Ms. Johnson, it is Edward Moore.”
“Mr. Moore, how are you?”
“I am okay. Look, I want to apologize for last evening.”
“No need, Monique already told me that you had an emergency. I hope it was nothing too serious.”
He wanted to tell her that it had to do with her and that it was serious but he held his tongue. “Not quite.”
“I understand you are wearing one of the suits.”
“Yes,” he responded. “I feel quite unlike my old self.”
“Quality clothes will do that to you.”
Suddenly, a female voice came on the line. “Ms. Johnson, I want to personally thank you myself. When he walked in here I almost did a double take. I told him if I wasn’t already happily married I would be in trouble.”
“Lisa, please get off the line.”
“We will talk, Ms. Johnson. Edward, you have a conference call in ten minutes.”
> “Sorry about that.”
“Your secretary?” Abby asked in amusement.
“I keep threatening to fire her but she knows I do not mean it.”
“I am sure she does. Well, I will talk to you some other time.”
“Wait! I was thinking that you could stop by the office when it is convenient to you and finish advising me about the color coordination.”
“You want me to do that?”
“Of course. Your job is far from done. Haven’t you heard how hopeless I am at this fashion thing?”
“I heard rumors,” she said with a faint smile.
“There you go. How about Friday at six?”
“I will be there. You don’t have to cart the clothes to your office, I have the catalogue of what I brought there. I will coordinate them and bring them to you.”
“Good. Thanks.”
“You are welcome.”
He hung up and she sat there thinking about the success of her first hook up and was very pleased!
*****
Tyrone was waiting for her when she got to her apartment that night. She had stayed behind going through the next step with Monique and had no idea that the time had flown by so quickly. It was when her husband had come by to collect her for them to go home together that was when they had realized how late it was. Monique had apologized to her and she had told her that it was fine.
Her spirit dimmed as she noticed the tall black man lounging on his car. “I want you to get into your car and leave my apartment before I call the cops.”
“I just want to talk,” his voice wheedled.
“We have nothing to talk about.” She held her pocketbook as a weapon determined to use it if needs be.
“Come on, Abigail. I have apologized to you for like a million times! Why can’t you give me a chance?”
“Because I don’t date men who beat their women.”
“You are a bitch and moreover you are a fat bitch. You should be lucky I am pursuing you like this,” he told her coldly.
“I am not lucky, as a matter of fact I feel repulsed that a slime like you thinks it is okay to be pursuing me. I am a big and beautiful woman, Tyrone, and much too much for you.” With that she swept past him and went into the apartment, her heart hammering inside her chest. She smiled at the friendly security guard as she made her way to the elevator. She took a deep breath as the doors closed behind her. She did not trust him one bit and if he continued to show up at her place she was going to take out a restraining order against him!
