He was onto his fifth cup of coffee this day and as the clock moved beyond eight and the sun set below the hills outside his office at Goldbud Farms, he realized that he had the shakes. He'd already spent the better part of the past two weeks trying desperately to come up with a new corporate logo for the rebranding of his company, and now, after two sleepless nights, he was no more than a husk of his usual self...a zombie marketing VP in the fruit growing industry of Northern California.
Marcus was feeling hopeless. Ownership of his company had changed and everyone's job was on the line as the new management scrutinized and evaluated everything. Goldbud grew the best peaches in the country, perhaps even in the entire world, but competition from Georgia, South Carolina, and even Canada was squeezing the profits from every company in the business and trimming the fat was now the order of the day.
Evelynn was at home. They'd met and married only last year and he'd whisked her away from her position at a law firm in San Francisco. She was bright and competent, an environmental litigator and graduate of Stanford. They'd met at a party held at the De Young Museum for green products and he'd been there to represent his outstanding company. She was tall and thin, but curvy in all the right places and their eyes had connected across the grand hall. She stood a head above the rest and while sipping his champagne, he'd watched her, seeing nothing but her face...the face of an angel. She was talking to one of the many admirers who'd surrounded her but kept looking at him even though he was at least fifty feet distant.
He was dressed to the nines in a tux with winged collar; unusual for him at any time, but he was comfortable and elegant in his costume and looked like he could live in such clothes. She imagined him in top hat, white gloves and cane, strolling the boulevards of Paris or King's Road in London in the nineteenth century, the object of much admiration and perhaps the cause of fainting spells in the weak of heart. But she wasn't one of those kinds of wallflowers. Certainly not. She knew her powers of attraction. She knew the effect she had on men...and even on many women. It was already apparent that he could not take his eyes off hers and she smiled knowing full well that all he could see was her face from the chin up. Would he simply combust when she walked his way, separating herself from the crowd? Would she have to help clean up the ashes?
Anthony Law, a fellow attorney, stood beside her. He was a sweet boy, kind and ebullient at all times, but what set him apart was his mind and his photographic memory of faces and people.
"Tony?" She asked, placing her long and beautiful hand on his shoulder. "Do you have any idea who that man is over there at the other end of the room?"
"Sure thing Eve." Anthony looked up to her pristine face a foot above his own. He was so gay that one would think she'd have no effect on him, but Anthony was smitten by her beauty and could not help but want to be around her at each and every function.
"That's Marcus Branson. He's a marketing exec with Goldbud. Pretty fucking gorgeous, isn't he?"
She smiled.
"You're about to just saunter over there and make a conquest Eve, aren't you?"
"Uh huh...that's exactly what I'm thinking of doing."
"Bitch," he smiled. You've got it all, ya' know that! It kills me that I've been lusting after that man for years...just to be in his company. But he doesn't go in that direction and blows me off whenever I'm around. Well, that's not fair really. He's very nice and polite...just not interested I guess."
"You wish he blew you off Tony."
"Yeah. I guess I do." He replied.
"You planning on torturing him a little. Want an introduction?"
"No need. I can do this myself. Is he married or attached?"
"Not that I know of. He's really driven and one of the most passionate marketing types I've ever known. He is a great public speaker and is a very interesting man. He attended CAL and I heard him lecture there last year and he had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Afterwards he spoke intelligently on so many different subjects that I was left stunned. Been a fan ever since."
Hmmm
, she thought.
Anthony shows disdain over everybody but likes this guy...worships him is more like it. Okay, now I know where my energy will be spent tonight.
She took a step out of the circle.
"Are you going over there now?" He asked.
"Just watch me Tony. Just watch me do my magic."
Marcus had watched the face in the clouds speaking to someone below her chin. All the time they spoke, her eyes never left his, almost as if she was speaking to him and not to her close company in the crowd. Then it happened. She started to press her way out of her circle and head in his direction.
Okay,
he thought
, now we'll see what goes with that lovely face.
WHAM. He stood stunned and made sure his mouth wasn't hanging open.
This chick has legs that end at her neck! Fuck me!! Wow.
I watched her as she broke through the ring of people surrounding her. Both men and women turned as she left and watched her ass move away from them with undisguised admiration and in many cases, lust.
Oh my God...oh my God. She's headed straight here. And that smile and those boobs. Jesus Christ. Be calm, be calm.
He watched her every movement on her slow approach. She came at him in waves of height and fullness and moved in so sinuous a fashion that his attention was drawn first to one part of her body, then another. But the syncopated motion of her hips and bust was killing him. What a motor, what gears and lines. She was a Lamborghini, a Super Etendard, a Faberge egg made for the Romanoff's. She was high design at its best and she knew it. Fuck...look at her eyes, even at this distance.
He had thought she looked like an angel from afar, and on her approach, as she got closer and closer, he could see that her complexion was to die for. She is an angel. Then her brows angled down like some sort of Vulcan warrior and the devil in her came forward, front and center. He immediately knew that whatever battle he was about to face was already a lost cause...pointless. But he would put up the good fight. He would not surrender. Never! Never let a beautiful woman know you are stricken with her beauty until you've had a chance to see her mind and hear her thoughts. That kind of conquest sucked; the "image only" kind of attraction. He was not going to fall for that. This was a test. He knew it was a test. Being and remaining aloof is the best defense. Okay...I'm ready. Let the games begin.
She had arrived. Her mischievous smile was killing me.
"Hi...I'm Eve and you're Marcus."
"Yes I am."
"Nice strong name. A Roman name like Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Know him?"
"Yes I do."
"Bullshit...who is he then?" She frowned.
"Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa...general and admiral of the first emperor of Rome, Augustus Caesar."
She looked at me and her face was awash, her expression softened and the hot bitch receded and the warmth of her visage was to die for.
"Oh my God. You have got to be kidding me." She said.
"Why...because you've finally met someone who knows who Agrippa was? He's one of my heroes in antiquity." I smiled.
Shit, that's it...she's mine.
"So how do you know my name?"
"Anthony Law told me. He said we'd get along. Now I know why."
"Because I know the name of a Roman general? You're kidding me. What makes that so special?"
She lifted her hands and adjusted my black bow tie.
"Holly shit. You tied this yourself. It's not some sort of clip on."
"I'm not lazy. I know Roman generals and how to tie a tie. Is there anything else I need to know in order to bring you home with me? Because I'm already stricken and would be very disappointed if I have to remain at this party for even one more minute in public without knowing I'm gonna' end up taking you home."
"Okay...let me think. I've got it." She said. "Veal scaloppini...with garlic, or without if you are adding Marsala?"
I laughed to myself.
She likes to eat. Hot damn!
"Veal scaloppini con porcini secchi." I replied.
Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. She looked up again...thank God I was taller than her.