Part 1
I walk in the door at Boyrdon Pharmaceuticals, leaving behind the slightly chilly outside spring air and traverse the huge lobby in direction of the check gates to the office area. I feel good and refreshed, squeaky clean, well made-up and elegantly dressed as I walk along, collecting a few short, hidden glimpses from a couple of delivery guys over at the reception desk as I pass by.
Yes, I feel good; I feel great, in fact. I wear my favorite executive suit, a grey jacket with a white blouse, with a knee-long skirt, a pair of ultra-thin cooly comfortable stockings and medium high stilettos. An elegant white scarf with blue dots caresses my neck as I walk, and my handbag match my bracelet and my light brown belt, making me feel even better because I know just how very well the colors match. Under my thin blouse my bra feels light and almost airy, lightly caressing my nipples as I draw my card at the gate and get welcomed in by a short 'donnnng' and a shift from red to green on the index panel. The glass gate slides open with a mechanical sigh and I step up to the escalator that will take me to my well- known collegial department at the seventh floor for another exciting day of demanding, but very enjoyable project work.
Actually I don't know why I feel so well this particular morning. Maybe it has something to do with the weather? The temperature has been perfect for several days, leaving me the feeling of freshness all the way from my home and most of the day at work. I can never have enough of this feeling of freshness from coming directly from the shower, with well-shampooed and wonderfully smelling hair, discretely laid make-up and cool and clean underwear that simply caress and adore my body as I move out to the car and then from the garage and up to the corporate building down town. Or maybe there's a sixth sense hinting to me that this day will be special.... That it in fact will change my life forever?
I practically sing my 'good mornings' at the young lady at the seventh floor reception, and sprays equally joyous 'hello's' all over my colleagues on the way to my office. Yes, this is going to be a nice day indeed, I can feel it in every nerve of my body.
I work with a new corporate presentation for a few hours, until Selma sticks her head in and wonders if I'd like to join her for lunch out, across the street at Preben's. Why not, I think, looking at my watch and discovering that regular lunch is almost overdue already. Actually she saved me from a starving afternoon -- again.
We go down and out into the street. We wait at the red light to cross as I suddenly notice someone about 20 yards higher up the sidewalk. It's a girl, and I wouldn't have noticed at all hadn't it been for the peculiar stare I feel almost like a glow in my neck. I look her direction out of the corner of my eyes, and then stiffen. Suddenly I turn and meet her eyes. My jaw drops and I get completely pale.
"Lana..."
I look at her like she should be a ghost. She looks back at me... smile a little sheepishly, like she is sorry to bother me simply by being looked at. Yes, there's no doubt whatsoever! Who can forget that dark hair, those wonderful eyes, those red lips and almost glistening white teeth? She's even smaller than I imagined, but still she's filling my entire vision, and I don't even recognize that the lights turn green, and that all the people, including Selma, start crossing. I come to myself and pick up the cell phone from the bag. As Celma turns to see why I'm not coming, I fake a call and just wave her on, indicating that I'll be along in a moment. Then I start to move in the direction of the revelation from a different world that all of a sudden had materialized at my side, here, right in front of my company's main building.
I walk up to her, blinks at her and grab her arm. I guide her with me as we continue some thirty yards further up, until we're round a corner and are away from any prying eyes of colleagues or friends.
"Lana," I whisper, holding her shoulders against the wall with both hands, "what on earth are you doing here?"
"I -- I just wanted to see you. I just had to see you."
"Really.... Um... but I..."
Then it strikes me. Torben and the boys are away for another day, so that actually isn't a problem. But I have an arrangement with Brita this evening, we are going to --
I have to smile. And I bend down and kiss Lana on the mouth. The hell with Brita!! I have no one else but
LANA
right here in front of me. Brita can wait till the end of days. She's so incredibly boring anyway.
Lana blinks her eyes. Looks up at me. Still almost staring. I realize this is the first time she actually sees me for real, up close, and I try to look beautiful for her... flash my best smile possible, but feels it stiffen like a piece of dry wood, growing completely unnatural and embarrassing. I let go of her shoulders, realizing I'm almost pushing her against the wall, she straightens a little and reaches up to stroke my cheeks with both her hands.
"Tantala, I --" her lower lips shake, and a shiny tear appears in her right eye and runs wetly down her cheek. I bend down and kiss her again. Fetches my hankie from my purse, and tap the tear away just before it reaches her upper lip. Then I look around with a snug smile before I again take her by the arm and set course for a different restaurant, at the Excelsior, a place I know none of my colleagues will ever go for a regular lunch break. On the way I call Selma, excusing myself that there was an emergency call for a client meeting, and that I would just have to skip lunch today.
Me and Lana sit down in the elegant restaurant and talk for a long time. We drink coffee and she orders a big ice cream, one of her favorites, as I try to settle with a small plate of mixed fruit. I drown in her eyes as we talk, immerse in their mysterious blackness, dive into her soul and bath in her beautiful interior as I admire her accordingly stunning exterior. She's just as beautiful as I imagined her to be from the pictures, even wearing the same make-up she had at the first picture she sent me. I just can't leave her alone. I touch her cheeks, her shoulder, play with her dark hair as she talks, and follow each spoon of ice cream as it disappears between those full, red lips. Those delightful lips that have already promised themselves to me a million times in her over-heated emails. I remember, all of a sudden, and feel myself getting moist down there... almost immediately. And then getting ashamed... almost immediately.
She keeps talking. Telling me why she came here, how she came her. How she found me. It was easier than I could imagine, and I decide I have to be much more careful with my personal information in the future. What if this kind of information, about Tantala Ray's real identity, should get into the wrong hands? What if
THAT
should be known by my colleagues in the corporate office? I'd be dead and buried, that's for sure, right away, no question about that!
She tells me how much she loves me, and I grab her hands and tells her my feelings for her. Her hands are small, warm and gentle, almost like angel hands. And her eyes... with those long, black eyelashes... well that's a pair of angel's eyes too, for sure. I just can't get over those eyes...
I tell her I'll have to get back to the office for the afternoon shift. She tells me she understands. After all she's come here as a total surprise. She doesn't expect me to just throw away anything and run off with her. She smiles as she says so, much more confident now. She knows she will not be turned away, she knows my feelings for her are as genuine as her own, and that from here on there can't be anything but love and beauty.
We agree to meet again in front of the hotel at 5:30. She's there when I come, almost ten minutes late, smiling beautifully and adoringly at me when she recognizes me out of the crowd of afternoon-commuteers. I smuggle her down into the garage and into my car, and then drive out on almost screeching tires to avoid being seen by any of my colleagues. I know the rest of the world isn't ready for this at all. How could it, when I'm not ready for it myself!?
We go down town. We have a light dinner at StrΓΈget, walk down most of it on the way there, and then up again afterward. Even though it is light, I feel full and a bit sated as we're finished, and not as fresh as I did up until lunchtime. It's not warm, but still warm enough for me not to feel fully fresh any more in my clothes. But Lana doesn't seem to notice at all. She's admiring the charms of the Danish capital at the fullest, enthusiastically asking both herself and me why she hasn't thought of visiting such a beautiful place before.
Finally it's starting to dusk, and we get back to the car and head home. I cannot bring someone with me in broad daylight with my husband away and everything, even if it is a young lady. Lana is a stunning beauty, and people would be asking themselves about this, even if they wouldn't suspect anything about my sexual preferences.
I use the remote to open the garage door much earlier than usual, and again get inside on almost screeching tires to minimize the chances of anybody seeing us, although the darkness is already helping it a lot by now. We're inside and safe. Family is away for two days, and Lana is with
ME
, in
MY
house!!!
We sit down and have a drink. The tension between us hangs thick in the air. We've talked so much on email on what we would like to do once we would be together, but talking about it is different from actually doing something, obviously, and we both feel that difference intensely at the moment. I am thinking about preparing some dinner, but decide to call some catering service instead. Lana in fact insist that a regular pizza is okay, and I call for one with shaky hands. Then I excuse myself to the bedroom and bathroom to get a bit refreshed. The first thing I do is to wash myself thoroughly, especially down there, and then put on a good dose of my best perfume before I switch to a new pair of my best panties. I whiff at my skirt and find that it is tolerable, although I did let out a few small smellies during the day, without having any opportunity to vent it properly away on the spot, as I always try to do...
When I get back out again I offer Lana the same opportunity, and she's off with her usual wonderfully warm smile. She's gone much longer than me, and when she's back I notice that she has even worked over her make-up once again, clearly indicating to me that she wants to look her absolutely best at all times when she's with me... Oh how I love that beautiful girl! How I simply adore her!
We drink several glasses more of one of my husband's best cognacs. I thought of wine, but when Lana agreed without hesitation to my suggestion, we ended up with a four star 1998 Connisseur. There will be time later on to think of an explanation to Torben.