I stopped marking the days leading up to Valentine's Day on the tenth of February. Dennis was renewing his commitment to his wife and I had to accept that. I gave my best friend, Danielle, the ingredients for the gourmet dinner I had planned so that at least someone would be able to benefit from its aphrodisiac qualities. I was thankful that Valentine's Day fell over the weekend so that I didn't have to be subjected to the nauseating "look what my man did for me" squeals that came around the clock as bouquet after bouquet was delivered to the office.
At the close of the day a bouquet of the biggest, most perfect red rose buds came into the office. Anticipation built up inside me while the delivery man searched his clipboard for the recipient's name. When he said Molly Green's name instead of mine, I was crushed and hated myself for being so.
When I got home I tried not to look at my cell phone so that I didn't have to face that Dennis wasn't contacting me. At the same time I willed Dennis to call me, text me, something to let me know he was thinking about me. The silence was deafening. I busied myself by cleaning up around my apartment. With nothing left to clean I began organizing my closet and drawers. There, I came across every piece of lingerie Dennis had purchased for me. Some I had modeled for him before the purchase, when he snuck into numerous dressing rooms. Others he slipped into my desk drawer while I was his personal assistant five years ago.
Five years. I had been with Dennis longer than his two year marriage. He was giving me up for someone who had everything I now knew I wanted. At first, getting together with Dennis was strictly for fun. The benefits of fucking the boss made the day go by faster because we rarely worked. When we did work we worked hard though, we played harder. Dennis had enough money lining his pockets that my off hours were fabulously lavish and decadent. Life with Dennis was wonderful. He assured me that the marriage was, in essence a business decision, a social maneuver. It was to be something to get us both to the top.
I wanted him back. I pulled out a red bra and panty set. I had planned to wear it for the dessert following our Valentine's Day meal. I laid it out on my bed and planned what to do.
* * *
My gift to Elaine was a day of pampering. She spent the day at the spa. When I picked her up that evening for dinner, she was radiant, refreshed and ravishing in a simple gown. I was reminded of how easily it had been to ask her to marry me. I knew that I would have no trouble waking up to her face for the rest of my life, even if my heart wasn't in it.
The night was pleasant but cold like every February. Elaine hugged her body close to mine for warmth as we strolled up to her favorite restaurant. All of my plans seemed to be going off without a hitch. We were seated immediately. Elaine seemed pleased and that made me glad. Her smile never left her face between each course of dinner. She was talkative. When she turned the topic to her charity projects and I tuned out. The restaurant went quiet around me. I heard a voice in my head. It was a whisper really, followed by a pleasure filled moan. The memory of Sonja's touch crept along my skin. Before I could fully regret not calling Sonja, Elaine interrupted.
"Dennis? What would you like for dessert, dear?"
I looked into Elaine's face and then up to the waiter. Both were staring at me quizzically. Before I could answer I saw a woman walk by. Normally I would have looked away but something told me to keep my eye on her. She and a gentleman were walking arm and arm to a table diagonally across me. As she turned around to take her seat I couldn't catch a glimpse of her face because the waiter was blocking my view.
"Chocolate lava cake will be fine. Two forks," Elaine said.
My attention snapped back to Elaine who began to prattle on as soon as the waiter left our table. Eventually my eyes floated over to the two strangers at the neighboring table. To my surprise I found myself staring into Sonja's face. My body tensed. I watched the man remove her coat, revealing smooth bare shoulders. As the coat came off, his hands moved down Sonja's arms. The whole scene seemed to be happening in slow motion. He kissed her on the neck. I watched Sonja laugh and give him a beaming smile. The waiter returned with dessert and broke up my view.
I turned my attention back to Elaine. She had a worried look in her eyes. It made me feel embarrassed.
"What's the matter?" She asked.
"Nothing."
Elaine accepted that reply and asked me about work. I answered her, but my mouth was spewing out mindless babble as I looked over at Sonja between forkfuls of moist cake. Dessert got harder and harder to swallow with the sight of this other man touching her hand, looking into her eyes affectionately and feeding her bites off his plate. I was sick watching the display and let my fork rest on the plate.
It felt like forever before Elaine finished then excused herself to the restroom. I was free to look over at Sonja without Elaine's curious eyes, but I didn't dare. I sat at the table fiddling with my fork when I felt a hand slide up my arm, over my shoulder and then down my chest.
"Read this," was whispered into my ear. Even though the voice was low I recognized that it was Sonja's. I stared after her, watching the sexy sway of her hips until she disappeared around the corner leading out of the restaurant. I retrieved the heart shaped note she had slipped into my pocket. It read:
I want to be with you tonight. Give the wife an excuse. Meet me in our hotel. Room #1124.
S.
