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
ARTHURShe's not a princess, but she's better than a princess to me. She was too special. But I didn't need to explain that to Nathan.I heard Nathan say something but I had been paying so much attention to Doris on screen, whatever he said didn’t really register.“Excuse me? Come again?” My tone must have been colder than I meant it to be, because Nathan flinched.“I said, what makes her so special?”“Hhhmmn.” How could I describe it?It was more than her beautiful, sad, Caribbean beautiful eyes. More than her body. More than our sexual chemistry.I didn’t know what it was.I returned my attention to the screen. Doris was there, nervously holding the hem of glamourous dress, and staring wide-eyed at herself in the mirror.Nina seemed to be encouraging her. Doris surprised me because she looked unaware of her own beauty and very shy.“She’s extremely cute.”“What?” My voice had a possessive growl in it. I suppressed my inner cave man and nodded. “Yes, Nathan. She’s cute, beautiful, sm
THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVEArthur, looking strikingly handsome and exceptional in his custom-tailored Tom Ford suit, made his wedding debut. All heads turned to watch him because of his commanding presence. Everyone noticed his public expression of affection towards Doris.The wedding guests were stunned as they watched Arthur sweep Doris off her feet. All the guests were so jealous that, for a moment, the energy in the room felt like a pervasive envious wave. All the men, including the groom, Bob, were overshadowed by Arthur.But then Arthur’s magnetic personality drew everyone in. Doris bloomed like a flower under the attention. Her delicate beauty shone brightly when she smiled.Andrea as the bride, was self-absorbed for a moment, which was understandable. However, when Andrea saw that Doris’ boyfriend was Andrea’s own son, she was livid. Her anger was greater than every furious moment she’d had in her life put together.Andrea tried to keep her emotions in check and avoid losing
I grabbed Arthur’s arm. I had to wait a moment until some of the catering staff went back to the kitchen. My palm tingled with how good it felt, resting on top of the soft material of Arthur’s expensive suit jacket.When there was no staff close by, I said. “I don’t get it. How did you manage that so smoothly?”“I’m great with people. I have amazing acting skills,” Arthur said.“Oh?”Arthur continued solemnly. “You know what Shakespeare said, ‘All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players’.”I looked at him quizzically.“Life is like a play,” Arthur continued. “It all depends on acting skills.”“So you’re just pretending?” I was stunned. There had to be more to it than that. There just had to be.“Of course.” Arthur said and nodded, “I am just a stripper after all.”“...!”“Oh my God, your acting skills are un
Doris stared out at the crowd for a moment. From the stage the ballroom looked much bigger. It looked like there were four hundred guests there!For a moment, Doris was paralyzed with stage fright.Then the band started playing “Every Breath You Take”, and Doris started to sing.From the very first note, Doris had the crowd in the palm of her hand. All that singing she did in college paid off. Doris forgot about everything but singing as well as she could.Everyone was conquered by Doris’s beauty and heavenly singing voice. Many guests asked who the beauty on the stage was.Doris looked radiant and sounded fantastic. She had that kind of X-factor that stunned audiences and judges on reality shows.None of her colleagues could believe that shy little Doris could sing like that. First, she arrived in a limited edition Dior dress; then she had a movie-star-worthy handsome date who knew fin
DORISThe words to confess my love were on the tip of my tongue. I had finally summoned the courage to express my feelings to Arthur, but as fate would have it, the universe had different plans.“Arthur… Arthur, I want to tell you—”Arthur’s cell beeped with a message and then his phone rang. Arthur ignored it.Just as the interruption settled, Arthur’s watch alarm chimed. He glanced at his very expensive-looking Patek Philippe watch.“What is it, Arthur? Is this about the tech conference?” I asked.Arthur nodded. He pulled out his phone and looked at it.I couldn't see the whole text from where I was standing, but I caught the words 'get here now' and 'deal worth a hundred million dollars', 'thought you'd be here…' and 'confidential'.I watched as Arthur's eyes darted between his phone, his watch, and me, his expression filled with regret. 
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.