DORIS
I was excited to get off work early. I planned to make a special dinner for Bob's birthday, and because my meeting cancelled, I had even more time to make something delicious.
It was a gray day. The New York City smog and noise were worse than usual.
But I whistled a happy tune. I walked down 5th Avenue on a cloud.
Bob, my boyfriend of a year, and the most senior real estate agent in the firm where I was an entry-level marketer, said he didn't want to wait to plan a big wedding. He wanted us to elope at the end of the month.
Promising me we'd be together in an expensive house with a pool was a little much. It was a lot, considering how hard I worked just to scrape by. Bob said I should pay the whole rent so he could save for a dream house for us.
It's hard paying the expensive rent by myself, but Bob is so adamant about buying us a fancy villa, I have to believe him.
Bob and his tales of our fantastic future quickly became my whole life. The least I could do was make him his favorite dinner.
Our boss, Andrea, has had me traveling a lot during the last six months. Bob has pushed for my long travel assignments too.
Now I know it's because he was thinking of our financial future.
Surely his encouraging Andrea to give me such challenges was a sign he wanted me to do well.
As I turned the corner, I saw the jewelry store window. "Oh, my God." My hands flew to the side of my face.
There they were, the most beautiful wedding rings I had ever seen. They were perfect, just like Bob and I.
I stared at the rings for a long time. I knew I had to have them. They were so beautiful; if I didn't get them now, someone else would.
"Don't, Doris," I said to myself. "It's the guy's job to buy the rings, and you need every penny you've got to pay for Noah's hospital expenses."
I put my hand on the glass. Sadness overwhelmed me for a second, just like it did every time I thought about my foster father's valiant heroism and resulting coma.
Noah couldn't come to our wedding, but he would be there in spirit.
I put my hand on the window. "No, Doris," I told myself firmly. I walked away, but the call of the rings sucked me right back.
The rings were so beautiful. They'd wipe out my entire savings, but it would be worth it.
I stepped into the fancy mirrored elevator in our building. The woman looking back at me is not the cute 26-year-old I expected. Instead, the tense woman I see is thin and serious.
"That can't be me," I whisper to myself. But it is.
My long brown hair was carefully coiled up. My pale face starkly contrasted the dark circles under my eyes. My usually sparkling hazel pupils looked dim.
I leaned forward and applied the dark Chanel lipstick Bob liked so much.
It just makes me look older, not more sophisticated. Not like a woman with rings in her pocket bursting with happiness.
Not at all.
Bob used to be so sweet and attentive, but lately, he's been distant. Something just doesn't feel right.
Maybe it's just my imagination, but I can't shake this feeling of unease.
I took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator, determined to put my worries aside and surprise Bob with the beautiful rings I had just bought.
I walked toward our apartment, excited. I couldn't wait to see Bob's face when I showed him the rings.
As I opened the door to our apartment, the sounds of sexy moans assaulted my ears.
Was Bob watching porn?
No. As I stepped closer, my heart dropped. All the air left my lungs.
That sounds like Bob's grunts.
An icy chill gripped me.
Bob was having sex with Andrea, our boss.
No. It can't be.
But it is.
Andrea was twenty years older than Bob and thirty years older than me! My stomach turned as I saw lipstick smudged on Bob's neck. The same color. That bastard gifted Andrea the exact same lipstick!
I tear my eyes away from their naked bodies.
My legs felt like jelly. My hands shook so hard that I dropped the wedding ring boxes, and they popped open.
I bent to pick them up, but my skirt ripped.
Bob laughed, whether at my mortification, naiveté, or shabbiness, I don't know.
The words, "But you love me," get stuck in my throat.
Bob doesn't look guilty or remorseful. He looks proud of being next to a rich woman.
"This is a one-time thing, right?" I whispered, sounding broken and pathetic. "Because of your birthday?"
Andrea laughs. "This has been going on for six months. I'm pregnant."
I stood frozen, breaking.
"No, no, no," I cry.
Then I ran out of our apartment.
"Stupid, stupid," I scolded myself as I jammed the elevator button repeatedly.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.
The darkening sky reflected how I felt – betrayed and numb. Bob ripped my heart out.
Fuck him.
I ran down the streets, barely looking where I was going. Finally, I stopped in front of one of the most trendy dance clubs in New York City.
It's a large, two-story building with a neon sign that flashes "The Strip" in bright red letters.
I wanted to let loose and have fun. I deserved to have fun for once. I'd been such a good girl, and where had it gotten me?
The inside of the club was dark and smoky, with a dance floor in the center, a stage on the left, and a bar along one wall. There were tables and chairs scattered around the room.
I leaned against one wall, having one drink after another.
It doesn't make me feel any better.
The lights flash over the stage. A bunch of male strippers sauntered on stage for a Magic-Mike-like performance.
The first group of strippers are all dressed like cowboys. They're good dancers. The songs are short.
In the next group, the guys are all dressed like firemen.
There's a male singer on the band stage by the bar, and he's not bad.
The next group of strippers are dressed like policemen. Their routine is funnier and raunchier. The audience loves it.
I take another drink. This was a good idea.
I ditch my jacket and open my shirt to reveal my black lace bra, which looks like a fancy bandeau.
The next group of guys dressed like naughty doctors.
A female singer replaces the male singer, and she's not as good.
When I drink, I lose my inhibitions, and I've drunk a lot. Those sexy doctors deserve better accompaniment.
I grabbed the microphone away from the singer, hopped up on the bar, and started to sing, rap, and shake my hips. I'm on fire.
The audience loved it. The stripper doctors looked thankful.
When their number was over, they sat down with several strippers from the previous songs.
"We'll be right back with our sexy businessman and angel/devil revue," an overhead speaker announced.
I jumped off the stage and walked up to the table of strippers dressed like businessmen.
The biggest, sexiest one, with the sad, dark gray-blue pupils, short golden-brown hair, and masculine chiseled jaw, has been staring at me since I started singing.
I open my shirt even more as I approach him and boldly put my hand on his chest.
He smells fantastic.
The beast inside me roars, roaring, craving something primal, something carnal.
"Bail on your stripper routine. Come back and have a one-night stand with me right now."
One of the other businessmen strippers gasped, but my guy gave him a stony look.
I fisted the handsome stripper's expensive-looking tie. "I need to forget. I'll give you five hundred dollars to come with me and make me forget everything."
He raised one eyebrow. It was a challenge and a promise.
He nodded.
"I'm Arthur," he said. His voice was husky, smokey, sensual.
"I'm Doris."
He took my hand and led me to a nearby hotel.
I knew I was in for a wild night. I didn't care. I was ready to let go and indulge in my desires.
My trembling hands fumbled with the card key as I raced to unlock the hotel room door.“Want help?” Arthur said, his voice low and full of innuendo. He leaned over my shoulder. His incredible smell – subtle expensive cologne and underneath that sexy, raw male power – made me speechless. I just shook my head and breathed deeply.I could do this. I wanted this. I needed this.I nervously opened the door to my apartment, heart racing as I led Arthur inside. I couldn't believe I brought him home with me! Yet from the moment I saw him, I felt pulled to him by some invisible cosmic force. Yes, his incredible good looks helped, but it was much more than that.As soon as we got inside, we were all over each other, a frenzy of want. He pressed me up against the door. I had one second to admire his chiseled jawline and barely banked lust in his piercing gray-blue eyes.Then he kissed me with the kind of hunger I’d always dreamed of but never thought I’d have.I could feel the chemistry between
ARTHURI sighed as I listened to my mother's grating voice on the phone."Are you listening?""Of course, I am, Mother."It was impossible not to hear her. She couldn't stop hounding me that I needed to meet her boyfriend, Bob."I can't meet your boyfriend tonight," I said. My seven-year-old precious adopted daughter was my priority. "You know I always spend extra time with Mia on Sundays.""I can't believe you're choosing your not-even biological bastard over my fiance!" my mother screeched.I hung up on her.Monday morning, I boarded my private jet to France for a business negotiation."I know you've got a very tight schedule," my assistant, Nathan, said. He handed me a stack of papers once we got settled. "You'll find this deal has a great return on investment."I nodded, quickly scanning Nathan's good work.“One more thing Nathan, I need you to investigate the woman I was…intimate with last night."“What?!” Nathan stared at me with a look of surprise, but he quickly composed himse
ARTHURI stared down at Doris and time stopped. Then my mind flashed back to first turning onto Madison Avenue. I replayed the last few minutes from when I was in my Rolls Royce.I only planned on driving by where she worked, but as the limo moved on, I saw her. She appeared deep in thought, pushing up her attaché case and purse and beginning to unwrap a large sandwich.Then I saw Doris give food to a homeless man.My heart…expanded somehow.I told my driver to slow down.I looked at the report my assistant, Nathan, gave me and scanned it again.Doris. The name suited her. Hard-working and conservative on the outside, a fireball of lust waiting to be released on the inside.I hadn’t planned on stopping. I wanted more time to think.As I watched her, I couldn't help but be drawn to her infectious energy. There was something about her that captivated me, something that made me want to get to know her better."Slow down even more," I told my driver. When he immediately slowed the car, I
DORISThe ladies continued their conversation with Arthur. It seemed innocent, but their questions were getting more pointed.Brittney babbled. Is she flirting? Arthur was polite but aloof; his subtly cutting words made him even more attractive.Anna spoke up, asking him specific AmeriCapital questions.My heart raced.I tried to change the subject, but Anna wasn’t having it.Anna definitely once said her boyfriend worked at AmeriCapital Investments.The colleagues looked like they could see my guilty conscience.These women should be my friends! Instead, they winked and continued to stare aggressively at Arthur.Worse, they wouldn't stop asking questions, including if Arthur knew Peter, Anna's fiancé, an AmeriCapital executive.I didn’t know what to do. I’m doomed.AmeriCapital.God, of all the companies I could choose, why did I pick that one? I berated myself.I hoped to avoid disaster. Hopefully Anna's boyfriend wouldn't know.Anna asked a pointed investment question.Shit.I cou
DORISOn the other hand, Arthur was so much hotter than Bob. I wanted to show Bob that I could land a great guy, and rub it in Bob’s face.After lunch, Bob corned me again.“You’ll bring your boyfriend.”“Su-sure,” I stammered. “Of course...he’ll come.”“Good,” Bob smirked, looking like he had me corned.“Then it’s settled! I want to see how good your new boyfriend is.” Bob smirked.“Alright, definitely.” I fought down panic.I needed to figure out how to make Bob jealous. If I could only find sexy Arthur, he would be just the person to help me.That night I went to the small tavern where my friend Nina recently got a job.As I walked into the tavern, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. The place was shabby and run-down, with peeling wallpaper and creaky wooden floors.The air was thick with the smell of smoke and stale beer, but despite its shabby appearance, there was something undeniably charming about the place. I liked it.The walls were adorned with old photographs, and there was
ARTHUR“Tell me again what the bride’s name is?” I asked. I heard Doris. It was just such a coincidence I needed to hear Doris tell me again.I couldn’t believe it. Of all the things for Doris to ask me. She wanted me to go with her to the wedding. This wedding.I lit a cigarette, stalling. “Sorry, I can’t promise you this.”“Why?”Doris was clearly puzzled. I couldn’t explain it to her.I already declined to attend my mother’s wedding multiple times. My crazy mother bashed a window of my new Maybach she was so furious. I couldn’t just change my mind.“Why not? It’s just one little favor?”“Why is it so important to you?”“Bob is my ex. The women at my office made a big deal about how great you are and Bob thinks I made it up. Bob cheated with Andrea while living with me…” Doris trailed off.I get it. God, they were both such awful people.Doris looked at me with pleading eyes.I gently caressed her cheek. I hated to turn her down."Please," she whispered.“I’ll think about it.”“Than
DORISA vivid image of the sexy Arthur kissing me passionately flashed in my mind. My heart beat wildly.I quickly picked up my water glass and drank it.Maybe I should focus more on Dr. John... no. I can’t.I needed to keep my sanity."Thank you, John, but I'm sorry I can't accept your kindness.""I thought you were willing to go out with me because you had the same good feeling about me." John gave a regretful expression, which made me a little uncomfortable."The truth is, you're very handsome and very good, just ......" I pondered how to make him feel better. I've never been very good at rejecting others. "It's just that, I have no desire to fall in love until my father wakes up.""I see." John nodded.God, what did he understand? I bet he got the wrong idea."I'll try to get your father to wake up as soon as possible." John reached out and placed his hand on the back of mine."Thank you, thank you very much, John."I drew back my hand.After eating, I insisted on paying the bill,
DORISNina accompanied me downtown to SoHo to accept the gift certificate from BelleBelle Luxury Boutique. “I envy you, Dore. An gift certificate out of nowhere just when you need it? That’s some amazing good luck.”My lucky had seemed better, inexplicably, since I met Arthur.Nina practically bounced with excitement when we pushed open the doors to the exclusive boutique.As we entered the store, a well-dressed saleswoman greeted us with a smile. "Hello.” She nodded at us politely and gave us a minute to get our bearings.“Wow,” Nina said as soon as we walked into the store. “This place is really nice. I’ve never been in here before.”“It is great. They have the newest fashions.”“How can I assist you today?" The saleswoman asked."I have a gift certificate," I said, handing it over the award I printed from my email.The saleswoman scanned the barcode on the certificate and nodded. "You have three thousand dollars to spend. Let me show you some of our latest arrivals."I thought Ni