I glanced around me, marvelling at the hustle and bustle. The two kilometres Avenue des Champs-Élysées was one of the most famous streets in the world and after a long day's shopping, Luciana and I were enjoying a martini and a slice of cake outside of the Restaurant Le Fouquet's Parisian brasserie.
Each of our shopping bags was tucked away under our table. There was hardly room for them all. Had we really spent that much?
We'd flown to Paris in Orochi's private jet, although Luciana's husband hadn't been invited to join us. This was strictly a 'girls' trip, Luciana had insisted. She and I had become good friends since the uninhibited night I'd spent with them during their visit to Tokyo, and the trip to France had been more of a whim than anything else. Luciana had explained that the shops in Paris were to die for while the cafes were more than a place to pass the time of day.
They were an institution, a cultural phenomenon, she'd said.
So we'd packed our bags at a moment's notice and headed off on our overnight shopping trip.
We'd dressed more conservatively than normal—Luciana in a coral halterneck dress with its bust ruching. The top displayed just enough of her tanned cleavage to be classically sexy while the floaty skirt showed her long legs to perfection. I'd gone for a different look, dressing simply but sexily in a low-rise pair of skinny jeans that could have been sprayed on and an overly tight, sleeveless blouse that emphasised my breasts.
If there were two sexier-looking women in the whole of Paris, I'd yet to see them.
"It's so full of..." I softly breathed, glancing again around the outside of the cafe and then across the Champs-Élysées.
"Joie de vivre?" Luciana suggested, smiling warmly. "Paris is the most romantic of cities, and this is a plus belle avenue du monde."
I felt a shiver run up my spine. The Brazilian woman's accent was delicious enough anyway, but when she spoke in French it elevated her sexiness to another level.
"The most beautiful avenue in the world," she added by way of explanation as she reached across to push a loose strand of blonde hair away from my eye. "But just you wait until I take you to visit Rio de Janeiro at carnival time. I promise that you will never have experienced anything like it."
"I'd love that," I gratefully told her, my brown eyes glowing with excitement.
She'd spent an hour on the flight here recounting her experiences in Brazil—my own wild youth was nothing compared to hers—and left me realising that there was so much in life that I had yet to experience.
And yet, while the new world I inhabited was everything I could have dreamed about and more, there was a part of me that was still trying to come to terms with the way my life had changed so dramatically in such a short space of time. Six months ago I'd been a happily married woman and had relocated to Japan with my husband, looking forward to our new life together in a different country, learning a new culture.
But then Nick had become more and more involved in his work, leaving me alone for long periods, and to my shame I'd allowed the sexual frustration to get to me, with the inevitable consequences.
I'd gone from being a three times a day girl to a starvation diet and when Yoko had recognise my need and exposed me to so many sexual opportunities, I had quickly and willingly given in to the temptations confronting me. Yes, I'd felt guilt after each encounter, but with Nick working so hard and beginning to drink so heavily, that remorse had gradually been swept away.
I'd been carried along on a tide of sexual bliss that part of me never wanted to end. The problem was, there was another part that thought differently. The good girl in me. Yes, I enjoyed my sluttish side—what girl didn't—but why couldn't I express that side of me with my husband?
Luciana's view was that I was wasting my time with such thoughts, and that I should divorce Nick and move on. Yoko felt the same way, too. I could work for her, she'd told me, and have all the sex I could ever need while living a luxurious lifestyle. It was very tempting. But something was holding me back, and that was the hope of Nick finding himself again.
If he could stop his heavy drinking, and those long hours of work, then surely there was still the chance for us to move forward again? No matter what other people were telling me, I resolved to have one final conversation with my husband when I returned home.
"Penny for them?" Luciana suddenly asked, noticing the way I'd gone quiet.
"I was just thinking about how different my life is now," I morosely explained.
For whatever reason, I didn't want to tell her how much I was missing my husband. Or rather, I was missing the husband I'd come to Japan with.
"I could never have even dreamt of everything that's happened since I moved to Japan," I added, pulling my long blonde hair over my shoulder.
"No regrets?"
I hesitated and bought some time by licking a finger and picking up some crumbs from my plate. When I caught her eye again, her head was tilted to one side and she was watching me carefully.
"Regrets? That's a good question," I said after some thought. "Life is too short for regrets, but I loved being happily married, Luciana, and everything that went with that. I really did think it would last forever. Everything has happened so fast, sometimes I still feel like I'm in a daze."
Luciana comfortingly dropped her hand onto mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"There are lots of people who settle for what they have, rather than what they want," she softly said. "And that's fine for them. But people like you and I, Tiffany, we need more. My suggestion is that you just go with the flow, enjoy yourself, and you'll be surprised how quickly you forget all about your husband."
Forget about Nick? Why did that thought fill me full of dread?
"I have a friend, Husam al din," she went on, squeezing my hand again. "He lives in Dubai and made his money from oil. Orochi and he are close friends and my husband has been telling him all about you. Before we go to Rio, I'll fly you out there to meet him. He has some royal blood in his veins, and he looks so hot in his robes. His intention is to take a European bride, but don't let him enchant you until you really get to know him."
I laughed, but my heart skipped every other beat as I studied her. Yes, I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was being serious. I chewed a little on my lower lip, meekly looking away before glancing at her again.
"And he's got a big cock," she whispered, theatrically wiggling her eyebrows. "And an unusually open mind as far as sex is concerned. But listen, we'll talk about him again when we fly back to Japan. Right now, I'm more interested in tonight. Would you like to know what I had in mind?"
I nodded, still trying to come to terms with my doubts. The last thing I wanted right now was to become involved with anyone else, not until I'd finally worked out my feelings for Nick.
"Tonight?" Luciana repeated, recapturing my attention. She playfully ran a finger over her red lips as if she was pretending to think. "Let me see..."
She checked around us, until her searching eyes lighted on one of the waiters we'd noticed earlier. He couldn't have been more than twenty-one, maybe twenty-two, and we'd agreed that his cute smile, youthful good looks and the couple of curls fell that down over his left eye definitely put him in the 'sexy French men' category.
As soon as he caught her gaze, he hurried over to our table.
"You're name, s'il vous plaît," Luciana purred, putting on her sexiest smile.
"Henri, mademoiselle," he answered, in an accent so delicious that I thought I might cream my panties.
I was impressed at the way he tried to maintain steady eye contact with her, although there wasn't any doubt that he had been unable to stop his gaze from slipping down into her healthy cleavage.
"I am Luciana and this is my friend, Tiffany," she continued, waiting until his watchful smile had flickered from one of us to the other before continuing. "And we are looking for some entertainment this evening."
She plucked an olive from her glass and rolled it on her tongue before crushing it between her teeth. Even I felt the stirrings between my thighs at such a blatantly sexual action.