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
DORISThe Italian sun kissed my skin as I opened the large French doors and stepped out onto the patio.I could hardly believe it. I was in Rome! We were in Rome!"Rome!" I said. I lifted my arms high and wide and turned in a slow circle.We were in Rome, the ancient city of legend. "What amazing adventures await?" I asked the fresh air. "Historic ruins, amazing churches, and restaurants, museums I've read about?"Arthur joined me on the patio. He hugged me from behind and kissed the back of my ear. "And passionate nights you've only dreamed of?" He asked quietly.I twisted and looked at him over my shoulder. I turned so I could look at him.Arthur was just wearing pajama bottoms, and his beautifully sculpted chest muscles, tight abdomen and wonderful 'V' that was showing because his pajama pants were low on his hips were absolutely delicious and delectable in the morning light.Arthur’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. Mia woke up soon after us. As we expected, she was a bundle of en
DORISWe slept late on Sunday, a perfect lazy morning. Waking up wrapped in Arthur’s arms was just as incredible as I had imagined it would be.In the suitcase Arthur had packed for me, he'd included everything I would need, including new clothes in my size. However, he'd assured me we would do more shopping later in the day.We had breakfast on the back porch again. Then we went to the top of one of the smaller buildings in the villa. From the rooftop, we could see the interesting and oh-so-different from New York, skyline of Rome.We embarked on our daily family adventure. I was glad that Arthur had been thoughtful and planned the day out. Arthur had bought a kids' explorer pack that had maps, explanations, drawings, checklists, blank pages for notes.Mia was eager to see more of Rome and go to all the places Arthur had on his plan. Mia, our wide-eyed explorer, checked off everything on her little worksheet.Mia took notes and snapped photos with the cheap disposable camera Arthur
DORISI walked down the hospital corridor, feeling pretty good. I’m over the jet lag from the return trip from Italy, but I still have the high from the adventure.As I listen to my heels click on the clean linoleum floor. I’m happy with how the week has gone so far, although I haven’t seen Arthur. I made over 100 calls about real estate, and I signed a contract selling a small studio apartment on the upper Westside.I saw Mia twice, although just for a few minutes each time. Mia couldn’t stop talking about our Italy trip. One afternoon, we sang a Frank Sinatra song in front of the mirror, and I found myself wishing that Mia would be my daughter forever.As I approached the door to Noah’s hospital room, the huge black nurse was exiting."How’s Noah doing?" I asked."Good," the nurse said, in his extremely deep voice. "His blood numbers are good. His condition is stable. He’s had some more finger twitching.""All the nurses and I have been reading to him. I always hope all my patient
DORISAnother package arrived for me. It was a really beautiful gold necklace that matched the bracelet Arthur gave me a few weeks ago. There was a note from Arthur. He apologized for being absent since the Italy trip and promised that he won’t do it again.I held the note in my hand for a while. Again, I wondered if this was a pattern. Was Arthur retreating for a few days after a period of intimacy?It hurt less this time, and I thought I understood it more. Arthur's promise that he wouldn’t do it again made me feel better.I continued to scour all of the New York City government websites, especially all of the ones regarding building news and building permit departments.I found one that announced a small charity ball that was celebrating some private donations. With Arthur’s help, I managed to get myself invited.I wore the Dior limited edition dress. I was very glad that I had it back in my possession.Arthur said he would make it to the ball if he could but told me the possibilit
ARTHURI kissed Doris's ear, jaw, and neck. It was like she was becoming sweeter than ever, and I was becoming addicted to her. She arched her chest up into me, the silk of her nightgown rubbing against my bare chest.She let out this cute, throated moan, feminine and needy.I started rocking my hips into her. We felt it strongly, even through the thin fabric of my pajama pants and her silky nightgown. She was beginning to get so wet.Her little moans got louder. I releasee her wrists and clamped one hand over her mouth."Hush, Little Dove. We need to be quiet. You can be quiet for me, can't you?”She nodded.I used my other hand to knead her breast, and I rubbed my thumb around and across her nipple.Doris was so responsive. It just drove me higher."I'm going to squeeze you gently and get harder," I said, taking her pretty nipple and squeezing it between my fingers."You like that, sweetheart?" I knew she did. I also noticed she liked me talking about it when I did it.I plucked one
ARTHURIt was 5:30 p.m., and for once, I could wrap up my business day at a decent hour.I looked out my office windows from AmeriCapital. It had been a good business day.I leaned back in my deluxe office chair. I took a moment to breathe deeply and think about how the past few weeks had gone. Not bad overall.My phone pinged to let me know I had a text. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at it. It was from Doris.'I’d like to talk to you about a few things. Do you have time tonight or tomorrow to meet?'Even though the text should be neutral, it didn’t sound good. When a woman said I want to talk, that was never good.I paused for a minute. 'Today is better.' Who knew how tomorrow would go?'Sure, do you want me to come to your apartment?' I texted.The three dots indicated she was typing. The dots appeared and then disappeared. After a minute, they reappeared again.'Can we meet at the diner? I’ve barely eaten all day.''Of course, and you better take better care of yourself,
DORIS I took my time sauntering over to Arthur. I pulled my skirt up to my thighs and swung one leg over so I was straddling him. He yanked me closer to his body so my crotch was up against his. “That’s what I’m talking about,” Arthur said. He grabbed my waist with one hand, speared his fingers into my hair with the other, and moved my head where he wanted. “You’re my favorite meal to devour, baby. Tonight, you’re mine.” Then he kissed me. Right away, it was explosive. I moaned into his mouth and started rocking against him. It was like whenever he kissed me. I was powerless to do anything but his wishes. Our kisses went on as if they were timeless. Arthur reached between us and started rubbing me through the gusset of my panties until I soaked them through. “Oh yeah, baby. You are so wet for me. I love it so much. We are so perfect together. So, so perfect together.” He nuzzled my breasts through the fabric of my blouse before he coaxed me to raise my arms so he coul
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.