She had known she wanted him from the very moment she had laid eyes on him, of that she was absolutely certain. Jessica eyed him up in much the same way a lioness might regard a lone wildebeest, and licked her lips. He wasn't overly attractive at all, he was remarkably average in virtually every respect. He was in his early forties with a gradual (albeit still noticeable) receding hair line. His slightly too tight jumper and shirt combo betrayed the dad bod that hid underneath that was just shy of a full blown beer gut.
His seemingly permanent five o'clock shadow on his jaw was peppered with grey, and his face was lacerated with wrinkles and laugh lines. Vague curly plumes of hair poked out from under his sleeves and occasionally through his shirt when he accidentally missed a button in the morning. He was almost old enough to be her father, and was hardly a silver fox in that regard.
The mug he kept at the office was a Star Wars one, he laughed too loud at his own bad jokes and at every office party he would sing Don't Stop Believin' at the top of his lungs and off key. Dave Ward was hardly an Adonis, and Jessica had claimed much more sought after prizes.
No, the thing that made Jessica Darleston so desperate to have Dave was the little gold band on the fourth finger of his left hand. It was the photo on his desk of himself stood beside a beautiful, though tired eyed, blonde woman and their two sons. There was nothing that Jessica loved more than married men. The more wholesome they were, the more delicious she found them. There was something so tempting about making good men fall, about corrupting and seducing honourable, doting husbands and fathers, and wrapping them around her little finger. Once you had them, they were yours forever.
Oh the bad husbands were fun too of course, but the thrill was far less intense with them. Men who cheat on their wives only did so for about three reasons: Loneliness, Desperation and Greed. By far the most common of these were the greedy men, those who had probably forsaken their marriage vows during the reception with a drunk bridesmaid. These were the men who only ever wanted more and more and more, and were never satisfied. More than anything else, they were the easiest to ensnare. Simply wear something a little revealing and glance at them over the rim of a drink, and they'd have you pinned against the wall in a cubicle in the men's room in no time. They were fun, sure, they were the bad boys who grew up but never grew good.
Every girl who had ever wanted the wrong boy at school was all too familiar with the greedy husband. Obviously there was something about fucking a man who evidently cared so little about other people that he'd throw the sanctity of his marriage away for a skirt who's name he didn't even know that made her skin tingle. But it wasn't a hunt, there was no thrill of the chase. The moment you made eye contact, everyone knew how the story was going to end and the payoff didn't have the same electric thrill.
The lonely men were the ones Jessica always felt kind of sorry for. They all had different reasons for being lonely of course, some had frigid, prudish wives who would be better suited to a convent than a marriage bed, or perhaps they were married to modern, career driven women who spent more time on the road than they did at home. Occasionally they had married the female equivalent of the greedy husband who wrapped her legs around every man that wasn't her husband for the price of a fruity cocktail and cab fare. Whether she was a greedy slut, a thoroughly modern go getter, or a nun, they always left their poor hubby all pent up with nowhere to go. Nine out of ten times if he cried after sex, he was a lonely husband. Through the tears they would always thank her.
There was the intermingled sensations of humiliation that they had just committed the carnal sin against their marriage, muddled with the elation of finally being able to release in a way that they hadn't been able to for too long, years in some cases. And just like with the greedy husbands, they were all too easy to claim. A little bit of tenderness, a hint of human connection and they crumbled like old cheese.
But then you had the desperate men, and these were the absolute best. Desperation came in many forms, but always it could be used to her advantage. Desperate husbands do not want to cheat on their wives, no, they're entirely too good for that. They are happy, they keep a photo of their family in their wallet, they probably haven't even looked at a porn site in years regardless of how much action they're getting. No, desperate husbands do not want to cheat on their wives, they have to do it. Desperation could be induced in many ways: place them in a compromising situation and do not let them out; offer something that appeals to their unyielding primal urges; push them too far so they can never come back. Oftentimes, if you offered them something they did not get at home, he couldn't help but want it more and more and more.
And of course, one could never overlook the appeal of sheer, unbridled seduction that forced them to stray. Of course once you pulled them past the point of no return, they were yours completely, the fun part was getting them there. None of them would ever want the Mrs to find out that they'd been a bad boy, and there was nothing like a little blackmail to keep them on a tight little leash, sometimes literally.
If Jessica had wanted, she thought, she had two numbers saved in her phone of adorable little pets she had managed to claim before that had been desperate husbands. She felt herself drip slightly at the prospect, but focussed her mind on the task. Two pets were fun, but a third would be a truly delectable menagerie of adoring men. Ultimately, the desperate ones were the hardest to claim, but they were far and away the most enjoyable. Greedy husbands used you, you were a pretty thing to get their rocks off with and then they'd discard you. Fun in it's own way perhaps, but not always the intended feeling. Lonely ones were too grateful for the most meagre human contact, they were too pathetic to even turn into pets. But the desperate ones, they surrendered to you. They retained just enough of their pride when you were finished with them to know that you owned them now and she felt a shiver go down her spine as she plotted her devilish scheme.
As luck would have it, her opportunity veritably landed in her lap. Dave was supposed to give a presentation to a panel of different regional managers on Thursday and had been working with Eric on it. Eric, unfortunately, had broken his leg while out hiking and would still be in the hospital when the presentation was due to be given. Without a single second of hesitation, Jessica had offered to step in and help get everything ready. Their boss thought it would be a good experience for one of their more junior members to see how things worked, maybe make an impression with some of the other managers and so she had agreed to let her work on it.
Jessica spent the next two days working tantalisingly close with Dave, helping develop and edit the presentation. Dave knew his stuff, so much so that Jessica was genuinely impressed by his competence. He did, however, still have a more limited understanding of PowerPoint and as such she was able to teach him a trick or two. She made herself amiable, affable and enjoyable to be around, as well as being genuinely willing and hard working. Phase one of her plan was going smoothly, luring the poor creature into her trap with a false sense of security. As far as Dave knew, Jessica was just a hardworking, diligent colleague. He hadn't the faintest clue that there was anything lurking behind those liquid emerald eyes. As the presentation neared completion, she was left with the full comprehension that Dave easily could have carried the whole event without her support. But she was hardly there for her corporate pride, and her time to strike was coming closer and closer.
Thursday came and the presentation went off without a hitch. The regional managers seemed suitably impressed, even though the representative from the North East could barely keep his eyes off of Jessica. She had never seen someone drink so much water in a half an hour meeting before. Once the meeting had concluded, the managers all stood, albeit one or two after a little bit of strategic repositioning under the table, congratulating themselves and shaking Dave's hand as they filed out into the hallway.