Eric returned to his desk, freshly showered and ready for the afternoon. He had grabbed an apple, a pear and some nuts to nibble on during his meetings. His first meeting he had trouble focusing on, with images of Corrine and Melissa occupying his mind until he had to troubleshoot an issue someone was having. The next time he looked up it was 4:30 and his last meeting was ending.
Melissa flipped her tank top off after her 2:00pm meeting finished. She took a moment to fill her water glass again before putting her head down and banging out some work for the rest of the afternoon. Corrine's afternoon was the much the same as Melissa's with the lion's share of her productivity coming after 3:00pm.
At 4:40, Corrine signed off and went downstairs to see Melissa.
"Hey gorgeous. That's what Eric calls you right?"
"Hey Corrine. He does. I don't think handsome works for you. Beautiful will though. Or we can be the gorgeous twins maybe."
"Work done yet? Farah should be here soon."
"I have one more thing to finish. I will be 10 minutes or so. Is there anything you don't look fabulous in? Gym shorts, an old crop top and no makeup and you could be on a magazine cover. I think I have to find an appropriate synonym for gorgeous or give up my title."
Corrine smiled, unable to suppress it, "Like I said this morning. I have to hang out with you and Eric every chance I get. You both make me feel good about myself."
Queued up on Melissa's tongue was to ask Corrine when Sam was due home. She stopped herself, unsure if that would steal away any good feelings Corrine might be having.
Corrine's doorbell rang.
"Shit. Farah? Already? Damn. I was at least going to brush my hair before she arrived."
"You're beautiful Corrine. Go and answer your door. I will be up in 10."
Melissa hammered out what she wanted to finish, then signed off. When she got to the top of the stairs, she heard voices coming from the kitchen. She walked in feeling nervous recalling Corrine raving about how beautiful Farah is.
When she turned the corner, Farah took her breath away. Wow. She was everything Corrine had said and it all seemed so effortless for Farah.
"Melissa. Hi. I would like you to meet my friend Farah. Farah this is Melissa she is..."
Melissa was marching directly to Farah with her hand out.
"Farah. It is an honor to meet you. Corrine speaks so highly of you. I am Melissa. I am Eric's assistant, when I can be here for a massage session."
Corrine scrunched up her face, looking at Melissa sideways.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Melissa. Corrine didn't mention that Eric had an assistant."
"Well, I'm not always available to help Eric, so it probably slipped her mind. I make sure Eric's customers are comfortable, have everything they need and I do an initial assessment so Eric doesn't use up any of your time assessing any problem areas you may have. I haven't done that for you yet, have I Corrine."
"No, you haven't."
"Next time for sure, then. Farah. It's a pleasure. I think Eric is expecting you around 5:30. Why don't you and Corrine come over around 5:15 and I can get you all set up."
Melissa turned and left. Now she had to go and tell Eric he has an assistant and figure out what the hell that meant.
"Can I get you a water?" Corrine asked Farah.
"Do you have something a little stronger?"
"Rough day at work?"
"No. I need something to calm my nerves."
Corrine turned to look at Farah.
"Nerves? What do you have to be nervous about?"
"I know I asked you about... you know... after the massage."
"A happy ending?"
"Yeah. When we talked, I was sure that was what I wanted. Now that I'm here."
"So just pay Eric for the hour. He won't mind."
"No. I still want that, but. Well. I've never had another man, you know. So I'm nervous."
"Never another man, or never another man since you've been married?"
"If I say both?"
Corrine was flabbergasted. Christ. Farah is so damn beautiful. But, kudos to Farah if that was true. Corrine tried to calm her mind and focus on Farah's problem.
"So... You want another man to touch you? To get you off?"
"Yes. No. I don't know. I'm so confused."
"It's okay Farah. It's okay. What's going on with you and... in your life?"
"This goes no further than us, right? I don't even know how to talk about this."
Corrine didn't know what was coming, "Just between you and me. I swear."
"Okay. Hang on. Ummmm. Our sex life. Ummm. I mean we still have sex but. Well. It has become boring. I mean. Not that it was ever. Well."
Corrine put an arm around Farah.
"Okay. It's okay. I understand. We all understand. Look. I don't need details."
Farah half hugged Corrine back, "Thank you."
"You're no doubt really nervous and a little excited and wrestling with desire and morals and..."
"You have no idea. I haven't been able to focus all day."
"Okay. No alcohol. You need to be clear minded when you're getting your massage. You need to know what you decide to do is because you wanted to do it. Okay?"
"Okay. That's a good idea. What if someone finds out? What if Sanjay finds out?"
"You husband will only find out if you tell him. So. Don't tell anyone except me. I know Eric. You can trust Eric. Eric will tell no one. Melissa won't know what happens, so she won't tell anyone either. And even if she knows what happens, she won't blab. To borrow a phrase, what happens in the room stays in the room."
"Okay. Okay. Thank you. Is it possible to know you want something but also not know?"
"Obviously it is. But know it happens to everyone."
"It's happened to you?"
"Of course. Many times, about many things. You know, you're out shopping. You see the most gorgeous pair of shoes you've ever seen, but they're $800. You want them. You don't need them. You don't want them, but you have to have them. I know. It's not sex. It's not cheating on your husband. But it's not that different. Part of what you're wrestling with about the shoes is having to justify the $800 to your husband for something you don't really need. The thing is, sex is something we need for our well being. The shoes, if we don't get them, tomorrow or next week some other object will catch our attention. Touch, if you don't get it, next week you will just want it more; and more; and more, until you might make a really bad decision to get it."