DORISThe next morning early, I went to the New York City government land building department. I talked to one clerk after another and finally asked to talk to the manager. The manager was a bored man with thin brown hair on the sides of his head. He had a few oily strands pulled over the top of his head in a bad comb-over that almost covered his bald spot. I explained the situation again, and I gave him a piece of paper on which I had written the number for the tract of land. The manager talked in circles, explaining without saying anything, why the NYC government had to seize this particular piece of land and why his hands were tied.He put his hands out to his sides in a helpless gesture. "What can I do? I’m only a manager. There’s nothing you can do. I’m so sorry for your client's financial loss, and I understand you’re going to lose the commission. I understand if you’re angry."I squinted my eyes at him. His whole speech sounded rehearsed and insincere."But believe me when I
ARTHURThe next morning, I went to my mother's real estate office. I walked right past the busy ladies at the desks. I gave it a chin nod to Bob, not even bothering to say hello.I opened the door to my mother’s office in the back without knocking."Hello, Mother," I said formally."Oh, Arthur. Hello."I sat down without an invitation to do so."Mother, track 42345 in Brooklyn that the government is seizing to turn into a cemetery. Did you have anything to do with that?"She opened her eyes extra wide with exaggerated innocence, "Who me?" She asked."Mother," I said with a warning growl. She didn’t say anything."Andrea," I said. "I find it very suspect that a piece of land that Doris sold all of a sudden is so important to the US government."My mother still didn’t say anything. "I also find it kind of suspect that she was going to be hired by Cushman and Wakeman, and then suddenly wasn't. Did you have anything to do with that?"My mother didn't answer, but instead went on the atta
DORISIt was another long day. When the elevator doors closed, taking me up to my apartment, I let my body slump. I leaned my shoulder against the side of the elevator wall.Yesterday I couldn’t believe it when Mia asked why I didn’t live in the penthouse.Then this morning, I was surprised when I didn’t get any of the contracts back for the three apartments that I showed earlier in the week. I was so sure the couples were going to get back to me. I left phone calls for each of the clients, but I hadn’t heard back yet.I spent lunchtime brainstorming with Nina, trying to think of some ways to get that tract of land in Brooklyn back to the old man who bought it and out of the hands of the government. With Nina's help, I came up with some possible ideas. I would need Arthur‘s help and connections to pull off some of them. I refused to give up. I made myself feel optimistic.Nina still felt Andrea might be behind at all. I wasn’t sure.I hadn’t made any other significant progress this w
DORISFirst thing in the morning before work, I spent time writing more emails to the New York City building department. It was an exercise in frustration.My mentor Kate gave me a few more leads. I also called the three real estate possibilities that I was sure would be signed contracts by now. Unfortunately, none of those couples answered my calls. I spent the afternoon working my butt off for Heritage Properties, but nothing panned out.I visited Mia for a few minutes after work. Even though she was her wonderful, cheery seven-year-old self, I had to admit my mind was elsewhere.I made myself pay attention to Mia, knowing that her father was often distracted and her real mother had been absent her whole life. I left as soon as Mia finished telling me about her day.Then I went to visit Noah. I had to admit I felt good about moving him to the private wing of the hospital with his own private, upgraded bedroom. It was evident in this wing, the nurses had more time for him.When I
DORISWe were going to have sex. I knew it, and Arthur knew it.And I didn’t realize how much I wanted it until that moment.Arthur stopped kissing me for a moment, probably because we both needed to take a breath.He cupped my cheek, and he looked at me with tenderness.I tilted my chin up and smiled at Arthur. His lips looked masculine and perfect and so kissable. He bent down and kissed me again. I was in heaven.I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed in close. My lips opened more as if they were functioning of their own accord, inviting him more and more to conquer me.Arthur didn’t need any more hints than that. He took control. His tongue slipped in and glided against mine. Arthur moaned into my mouth. It was the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.“Bed, baby,” he said. He picked me up, wrapped my legs around his waist, and carried me to my bedroom.All my exhaustion of the day was forgotten in an instant.Arthur lay me down on the bed like I was the most precious thing i
ARTHURPerhaps there was nothing as beautiful as seeing Doris make her 'O' face. Head thrown back in the throes of ecstasy in orgasm. For a moment, I stayed inside her, even though my body was softening, and my mind too. I looked at Doris underneath me, and everything was right in my world.I disposed of the condom, took off my suit jacket and unbuttoned my shirt, and got back into bed with her.I gathered Doris closer to me so her head was lying on my chest. I put my arm around her and rested my chin near the top of her head."Little Dove," I said to her, "give me 20 minutes to recover, and maybe I will be ready for round two.""I guess I would be up for that," Doris said.She laughed a happy, little feminine giggle. Then she caressed my abs, and it made me glad that I worked out daily in my gym and could provide her with a hard body like she probably dreamed of."I still wanted to talk about our relationship," Doris said. "The more we have sex, the more confused I get." She gave
DORISI was at home looking at possible real estate leads and more marketing ideas that could utilize the new trends in A.I.There was a knock at my door. I opened it, and it was the Federal Express delivery guy."Package for you," he said in a cheery voice. "You need to sign for it."He thrust an electric tablet clipboard my way with a stylus, and I quickly scribbled my signature.The box was small. I opened up the cardboard box. There was a black box inside with Catherine’s Premium Jewelers written across the front in silver script.I opened the box, and the most beautiful gold bracelet I’d ever seen was lying on a pad of black velvet."Oooh," I said. I carefully picked the gold bracelet up and examined it. Every few links, a subtle line was woven through the bracelet that was more rose-colored gold and almost looked like hearts.I saw a tiny bit of white, and I lifted the black velvet pad to find a note from Arthur underneath.My Little Dove, Please forgive me for not being more a
DORISSaturday, Arthur, Mia, and I went to the Bronx Zoo. Mia loved the giraffes and the pandas.Sunday, we went to a museum I found by researching kid-friendly activities on the Internet. The museum was called Small Is Beautiful, and all the artwork was kid-sized. Because everything was small, of course, Mia loved it.Arthur only checked his tablet for work once. Mia caught him doing it. She gave me her secret finger signal, and all I had to do was give Arthur a chastising look, and he immediately put his tablet away. We had dinner in Little Italy, and neither Arthur nor I corrected Mia when she slurped up her spaghetti and pretended to be Lady from the cartoon classic movie Lady and the Tramp.Sunday night, Arthur drove me home again, this time in his Cadillac and not the Porsche.He walked me up to my apartment door. I was sure he was going to invite himself in, but he didn’t. Instead, he held my hands and looked into my eyes."I’d like to take you on some real dates, Doris, just
DORISI sang, and every song felt effortless.I went to the ladies' room at the break right before the last set, and when I came back out, there were 400 red roses all throughout the performance area. I knew this was Arthur’s doing. How did he get so many vases of roses into the Salton room in such a short time?The entire room smelled like a florist shop and looked like Valentine’s Day had come to the performance.I smiled at Arthur from up on stage and sang every romantic song I could think of.When we finished the last song, it seemed like the applause from the audience was louder than ever. Maybe all the roses put everybody in a good mood.Just as I was about to walk off the stage, Arthur came up and stopped me.“He stood in front of me at the bottom of the stage “This woman is the most amazing woman I have ever seen.”Then he walked up on stage and stood by my side. “Doris, from the first moment I met you, I knew you were special. You captured my heart and became part of my famil
DORISArthur and I exited the elevator of the penthouse and walked across the lobby, arm and arm. We had decided to work from home that morning, and I was happy that we had gotten so much work done.We were almost to the doors of the lobby when Andrea walked in. She was wearing a big cloak that covered her whole body.She opens her cloak to reveal a little baby in a sling strapped to her chest. The boy was swaddled in a light blue blanket. He was adorable.With all that had been going on in our life, I had forgotten that Andrea had probably had her baby by now.“Congratulations," Arthur said stiffly.Andrea beamed.“What are you doing here?“ Arthur asked.“The baby looks so much like you when you were a baby," Andrea said. "It made me nostalgic for when you were a child. All those times before…“ She let the sentence trail off, and I remembered how Arthur’s father died.Arthur must’ve been thinking of the same thing because he grimaced."It was a magical time,“ Andrea said. "And I want
DORISThe good news continued to roll in the next day. Mr. Owens' assistant called and said one of the hottest new songwriting teams had two songs available for me and the band to record. We set up a time to listen to them and decided we liked the first one better.Mr. Owens had an amazing recording studio and sound engineer professional lined up for us to use. I asked if Arthur and Mia would be allowed to come, and the record executives, the sound engineer, and the rest of the band hall said of course. Arthur cleared his schedule.It was an amazing week.We recorded the song. Even though it was hard work, it still went well. I was happy with the initial results, and I was sure it would be a hit.For a moment, it was all I could think about.Arthur and I were lying in bed that night. When I looked at his face, I could tell something was still bothering him.“Arthur, what’s on your mind?”“It’s Cathy. Not only don’t I understand why she did what she did, I can’t let her get away with i
DORISThe liquor store next to the Italian restaurant had a narrow fake hallway between the two stores. Interestingly enough, there were peek holes in the wall that allowed us to see from the liquor store into the restaurant.This worked out well for us because Nathan, Arthur, and I all got to peek out and look at Nina while she had dinner with Dr. John and Jeff.Nina looked absolutely gorgeous, and Dr. John and Jeff were entranced.We could see Dr. John and Jeff's faces completely and see Nina face in profile. We could hear them clearly thanks to the wire that Nina had stuffed down her bra.She had plied Dr. John and Jeff with liquor and flirtatious comments throughout dinner, staying clear from any serious topics.I perked up when she got to the good stuff."I can get a job with Arthur's pharmaceutical company as they rebuild," Nina said, "and I bet I could find out any secrets and new formulas they have." She let that offer hang in the air. The implications were like a tempting fru
ARTHURMonday morning, I got up while Doris was still sleeping. Despite a wonderful weekend with Doris and Mia, I hadn’t slept well.It had been a month since the fire, and I hadn’t made any progress in finding out who did it.I had my driver take me out to the pharmaceutical company. I stood in front of the charred remains of the original office building, lab, and factory.I had chosen to rebuild on another part of the property, leaving the destroyed buildings as they were as a show of what could happen when I let my defenses down.The sight of the blackened buildings filled me with grief and also a vile rage. The anger was almost too violent to control. My stomach felt like a volcano had taken up residence there and was churning, ready to explode.I had worked so hard on this pharmaceutical business. It wasn’t just the money that I lost having to rebuild that angered me. It was all the people who would have to wait longer before they could get treatment.It was the fact that formula
DORISArthur got me and an assistant for Heritage Properties, who had just gotten her real estate license. She was efficient and eager, and she took over all the real estate deals I thought would close soon.Arthur recommended an entertainment lawyer, and she went over my music contract and said it was very good, so I signed it.
DORISArthur hauled me against him. He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist and plastered myself against him."I need you in our bed," Arthur growled. "Right now."He carried me. I was too busy enjoying the feel of his body against mine— a sensation I wasn't sure I'd ever feel again— to pay attention to the elevator ride.I was too busy kissing Arthur’s neck to focus on him unlocking the penthouse, carrying me over the threshold, and kicking the door shut with his foot.Arthur kissed me like I'd been gone for months, not just a day.Arthur spun us, and my back slammed up against the drywall in the entry hall with a force that made me wonder if we left a dent.Arthur pinned me against the wall with his hips. He pulled up my shirt and stared like he couldn't believe I was here with him.His growl made my blood simmer and my breath catch. For the rest of my life, I'd never forget that animalistic sound of want and approval.My nipples hardened. Need roared through me like a
ARTHUREven though I could sense that Doris wasn’t in the apartment, I immediately began to search, going from room to room.I saw two of her suitcases in the smaller bedroom, and I immediately relaxed.I whirled around and
DORISI slept better than I thought I would. I didn’t know what my next step should be. Should I quit Heritage Properties and look for another real estate job?I was jolted out of my reverie when my phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize. My first thought was that perhaps it was Arthur trying to trick me, calling from a different number.