Chapter 7

  I CAN HELP OUT.

 

We have a case to see by twelve noon," Jerry declared as he walked quickly into the office, his voice brief but even, with that same aura of authority that never ceased to make Aria's heart skip a beat.

 

Aria replied in a "Okay!" of casual and unflustered tones. The pound of her heartbeat betrays her.

 

 

 

He set the file on the desk halfway between the two of them, but she didn't move for a second. Her hands still under the desk, she clung a little longer before She did reach for the file, but when her fingers came into contact with the edge, his hand did as well. Their skin touched—flash, spark of electricity.

 

The touch surprised them both.

 

Neither of them retreated for a moment.

 

 

 

They locked gazes. Time was suspended, lingering in the air like a held breath.

 

That night burned on her cheeks.

 

Then, drawn by some force stronger than duty or sense, they leaned against each other.

 

Their lips merged in a hard kiss.

 

 

It wasn't hesitant or gentle. It was a scorching hunger, coarse, undeniable. Jerry's knuckles were clenched in her hair, and Aria melted into him, her fingers knotted in his coat lapels as if she'd been clinging for an eternity. The world retreated in that cataclysmic moment. The office, the case, the repercussions—none of them existed. Only this. Only them.

 

 

 

 

Her breath stalled as his lips traced along her jawlines, his contact sparking something dark and fiery inside of her. She wanted more—oh God, she wanted it all.

 

Then—RIIING!

 

The earsplitting, shattering ring of her phone ripped the air apart like broken glass.

 

They froze, stock-still.

 

 

 

 

Their breathing merged, hearts thudding hard as the rush of their closeness struck them, lips trembling with the reverberations of desire. And then the phone rang. A name flashed on the screen. Guilt struck like a flash of lightning. Reality intruded. What was right in the moment was bitter now. They stepped back, silence lingering, regret seeping in between each gap.

 

 

 

Her phone vibrated again on the table, face up, caller ID glowing like a bitter memory.

 

Husband Calling.

 

Aria's body grew stiff. Her face whitened.

 

She recoiled, reality came crashing down like a tidal wave.

 

Jerry's eyes glared at her, lips parted, guilt and lust warring in his eyes. "Aria…" he whispered, but the words became stuck on his tongue.

 

 

 

She was unable to speak. Her throat was sore with pent-up tears. Her heart was beating in her chest like a bird in a cage.

 

Shaking with fingers, she picked up the phone but did not dial. She could not.

 

"I didn't mean…. " She began, but even to herself, she was unsure.

 

For she had meant it. Her body had responded to him like fire to gasoline.

 

The pregnant pause between them that ensued became stifling, burdening them.

 

 

 

 

She turned away from him, concealing her face, ashamed of the woman she'd just become at that moment—a woman who kissed another man while her husband was on the phone, unaware of her heart in trust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind her, Jerry did not speak. Perhaps there was nothing to say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The phone went quiet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But already it was tainted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And at that very moment, it rang again!

 

 

I bet you're not going to answer the call!" he added, voice tinged with confidence as if he were sure.

 

She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to listen to what he had said, hand half-clenched into a fist.

 

Jerry's voice dropped to another octave, tinged with something; sympathy and calculated charm. "I know your husband's having an affair.".

 

 

 

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide open. There was pain on her face, sudden and brief like a flash of lightning before the storm. "How did you know that?"

 

"I said so," Jerry stretched out slowly, staring at her eyes, "I know he is cheating. I can assist you to get your revenge on him, let's take revenge on him."

 

"Don't get me wrong, I really wanna help you, I really can help out!" He added.

 

 

 

 

She blinked, her throat closing over as she swallowed. Her defenses began to swell, ache blazing in her chest as she was flooded with a muddled, suspicions cocktail. Her breath caught, trembling enough to betray the unrest behind her stillness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I don't know that you know what you're saying!" she shouted, her voice needing an ounce of assurance.

 

 

 

 

"I do," Jerry replied softly, but with steel in his voice. "I've seen it all, your husband and his secretary."

 

Her lips curved slightly, smiling. Her eyes welling, she looked away too quickly. A soft laugh escaped her, bitter and shattered. "Of course. Of course it's true. I must have been the last to know."

 

"You're not," he told her, gentler now. "You're just the one who kept believing in him."

 

 

 

She stared at the laptop on the desk, phone flashed again—his name. Her fingers hovered above the screen for a second before she flipped over the phone, face down, as if that would utterly cut him out. The room was colder suddenly, or maybe she was disintegrating from the inside out.

 

 

 

 

"I'm not telling you so," Jerry snarled, "but I've always seen how he treats you. As dirt."

 

She clenched her teeth. "Known, I don't recall knowing you until now? Why are you saying all this?"

 

His eyes locked onto hers. "Because I want to help you take back control again. To remind him you're not one to betray."

 

 

 

 

"And what? Let me help you so you can feel like some sort of hero?" she taunted, although the quiver in her voice disavowed it.

 

"No," he asserted. "Let me help you get your dignity back. But there's a condition."

 

She eyed him warily.

 

"You go out with me on a date."

 

There was a silence between them like a tight, stretched rope. Her eyebrows creased.

 

"A date," she repeated.

 

 

 

 

He nodded. "One date. No games. No lies. Just you and me."

 

She stared at him, poised to shriek because she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her mind recalling the flash of moment of cheating by her husband and secretary, her head clouded with too many emotions all at once.

 

But there was one thing for certain: she had something to decide.

 

And it would change everything.