Three

ELLIOT'S POV

Thoughts of Zora kept intruding as I worked. I did my best to push them to the back of my mind. I drew the files my secretary had kept on the desk towards me. I flipped through them, noting figures on a sheet of paper. I was engaged in this task when I heard a knock on the door. 

Annoyed, I looked up. My secretary knew I did not like to be disturbed at this time. I wondered what she wanted. 

"Come in," I said. 

My secretary put her head around the door, peered at me, then walked into the room. She looked ill at ease. 

"Sir, your wife wants to see you-" I opened my mouth to tell her off. She guessed my intentions and quickly continued. "I told her that you were very busy and didn't want to be disturbed. In fact, I told her that you had really important work to do but she refused to listen to me. She is bent on seeing you. I just came in to give you a heads-up because she might come in at any moment."

I sat back and regarded her coldly. "Isn't it your job to see that I am not disturbed while working? What do I pay you for then?"

I knew it was unfair of me to take out my frustrations on her. I knew too well that my wife could be a handful most of the time, but I needed to vent.

My secretary fiddled with the hem of her blouse.

"Sir," she said in a small voice. "Short of bodily carrying her out, I don't see what else I can-"

The door to my office flew open. Sharon sashayed in. She seemed to be drifting in a cloud of some flowery designer perfume. She carried a large shopping bag. She moved fluidly though she was wearing very high heels. The short gown she wore accentuated all her curves. I looked at her stolidly. Her appearance did not move me. 

She approached my desk, giving the secretary a wide berth and not even sparing her a look. I nodded to my secretary and glanced at the door, silently telling her to leave. She looked relieved as she did so. Sharon placed the shopping bag on my table with a flourish. Her painted lips widened in a smile. She fluttered her lashes. 

"Hi, honey," she said in her babyish soprano. "Missed me?"

"It's-" I glanced at the wall clock. "-past one in the afternoon, Sharon -a time when lots of people are occupied with work. You should know that I am a very busy man, busier than most. Didn't my secretary tell you that I wasn't receiving visitors?"

Sharon rolled her eyes and patted her blonde, beauty shop curls. Her hands lingered on her hair, calling attention to it. I scowled at her but her smile did not falter one bit. It was as though she was impervious to my mood. 

"Surely those rules do not apply to me. I really wanted to see you, honey. You are my husband, after all."

I gestured to the documents littering my desk. "As you can see, I was working before you came in. Please, tell me in one sentence what it is you want so I can continue from where I left off."

"Lunch," she said in a singsong voice.  "I knew that you would be tired and very hungry. You did not eat anything this morning, you know. So, I took time to prepare something for you…your favorites."

"Lunch!" I scoffed. "Why do you choose to live in denial most times, Sharon? I thought I had made it very clear that I do not want you coming to my office for whatever reason and certainly not for a flimsy reason as getting me lunch."

I might have been talking to myself for all the attention she paid me. Humming a tune under her breath, she made some space on the table, opened the food flasks, and served the food on disposable plates. I shut my eyes and groaned in exasperation. She stepped back, surveyed her handiwork, stepped forward again, and rearranged the cutlery. Satisfied, she nodded. 

"Make sure you eat a lot, okay? Sometimes, I think you work too much. You need food to keep your strength up."

She leaned forward and patted my shoulder. She seemed about to kiss me, but I supposed the look on my face told her that it was a bad idea. She contented herself with blowing me a kiss. 

"I'll see you later, love," she called over her shoulder as she walked to the door, her hips swaying. "Bye."

When I judged that Sharon would be almost out of the building, I pressed the intercom. 

"Come into my office immediately," I snapped. Seconds later, my secretary came in. "Take all these-" I indicated the food. "out of my sight, please. Now," I added when she hesitated. 

She packed up the food into the food flask and then into the shopping bags. 

When she was done, she asked, "What am I to do with them?"

When I looked daggers at her, she murmured an apology and hurried out of the room, taking the food with her. I sighed and once more relaxed in my seat. 

My mind automatically went to Zora. She had never really left my mind all day. Like practically everyone else, I had heard the news of her move to New York. It was hard not to keep track of all she did. As a successful model, she was always in the news for one reason or the other. 

Though I knew she now lived in the same city as I did, I had not really thought about meeting her. The memory of our confrontation this morning brought an unwilling smile to my lips. 

Zora was still as feisty as I remembered. She still hated people looking down on her or others simply because they had a lot of money to throw around. If my driver had been on his own, I was sure she would have given him a really hard time. I could already tell that she was in full battle mode. 

The appearance of the pretty little girl had somehow seemed to somehow unsettle her. The girl must be one of the twins she had from a one-night stand. 

I shook my head and glanced at the files before me. I tried to take my mind off Zora but I found that I couldn't. She was more beautiful than I remembered. There was also an air of confidence and self-assurance about her now. Those brown cat-shaped eyes haunted me throughout the day.

Later that day, I left the office and drove aimlessly around for a bit as I did not want to go home. I pulled over and put a call across to Drew, my friend. He picked up at the first ring. 

"Elliot," he said cheerfully. "How's it going, man?"

"Fine, I guess. Look, how about we meet up for a drink or two? You in?"

"Huh? Say that again?"

"I know you heard me, Drew."

He laughed. "Now why would you want to get wasted on a Monday evening?"

"I ran into Zora this morning," I stated simply. 

There was a harsh intake of breath from the other end. When Drew spoke again, it was in a tone of seriousness. 

"Meet me at Louis's bar in... twenty minutes," he said. 

***

The bar was filled with customers at this time of the day. The manager, who knew me well, had given Drew and I the best table in the house, where we could enjoy our drinks with minimal interruptions.

I took a sip of my beer as Drew said, "It's been five years, man. You can't stay away from Sharon forever. You know that. She is your wife after all."

"I don't see her as my wife," I said sharply, irritated at the use of the word wife in relation to Sharon. "There is no connection whatsoever between us. I have as much feeling for her as I have for a random stranger."

Drew frowned and made an impatient gesture. "To hear you talk..." He trailed off and took a huge gulp of his drink on which he almost choked. "Elliot, as your friend, I'm telling you that you cannot keep being this cold and emotionless version of yourself. To tell you the truth, I don't think it is helping you or anybody. Something has to give. Seriously!"

We sat in silence for a while, each drinking and thinking his own thoughts. 

"So, do you want to talk about your meeting with Zora?" Drew finally asked. 

"I ran into her, that's all." I leaned forward. 

"Now, Drew, I want you to do something for me. I heard that there is a new brand that Zora will be modeling for. Find out its name and bring me every single piece of information you can find about that brand."