Chapter2

Derrick stood outside of the door of Felicia’s condo on 5th Avenue. She was expecting him, and he knew it. He’d called her to tell her that he was going to come visit, and she had been excited to hear from him and to have him drop by her place. It was set. All he had to do was make himself knock on the door, go in to ask her to marry him, and change his whole life.

It felt to him as if his hands were made of lead as he tried to raise one of them to tap his knuckles gently on the door. He had gone over and over the scenario in his mind. He would just ask her. She would say yes; it would be over. They’d get married. He’d ask her for a small wedding, though he wasn’t sure he’d get it, and then the deed would be done. He had told himself over and over that it was as simple as all that, and yet it felt like the most difficult thing that he had ever committed himself to doing.

With a deep breath, he finally got his hand to chest level and rapped on the door. He heard her light voice sing song out as she came to open the door for him. Felicia stood there beaming at him with a bright smile on her flawless face.

Her elbow-length, wavy blonde hair was pulled up loosely at the back of her head. Her hazel eyes were shining, and her smile gave away her absolute excitement to see him standing in her doorway. She reached both hands to him, closing them around his forearms as she pulled him into her condo and closed the door behind them.

“You’re here! I’m so thrilled! It’s so good to see you, darling. God, you look divine!” she lifted her heels off of the floor, adding a couple of inches to her five foot something frame, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek and then aiming to kiss his mouth, which he narrowly escaped by leaning in closer to hug her loosely.

He let her go and stepped away from her. “It’s nice to see you, too. Thank you for taking the time to see me. I appreciate that.”

She waved her hand through the air dismissively. “Of course! You know I’m always glad to see you. The real trouble is that I don’t see you nearly enough!” She took his hand in hers and tugged him along behind her.

“Come in here and sit on the sofa with me, and tell me what’s going on. I haven’t seen you since your father’s funeral. How are you doing?” She looked at him with wide sympathetic eyes.

He shrugged. There was no way that he was going to share with her just how he really was doing. That was for him to suffer through alone. He neither needed nor wanted her to be privy to any of his innermost emotions.

“Oh, I’m getting by. I didn’t come to talk about that, though. I’m here about something else,” he said nervously, trying his best to sound calm. His heart began to beat a little faster, and his mouth grew dry. She plopped down on the sofa and pulled him down right beside her, holding his hand in hers.

“Yeah? What’s that? What brought you over here to me?” she smiled coyly and began to stroke her fingertips over the back of his hand.

He drew in a long slow breath and looked around her apartment, willing himself to answer her. “Well, to be honest, I had a visit from your father the other day. It seems that… well, it seems that your father and mine have had this idea for ages that they want us to… that they want…” He had practiced saying it. He couldn’t figure out why he was having trouble getting the words out.

He cleared his throat, and she watched him closely. “What is it?” she asked in a soft voice, reaching her other hand up to the side of his face and combing her fingers through the longer locks of his dark hair, brushing it back over his ear.

He wanted to pull away from her, but he knew he had a job to do, and he knew he wouldn’t leave until it was taken care of. “I… know we haven’t really been with each other… romantically… in a long, long time, but…” he pulled the box out of his jacket pocket and opened it, handing it to her.

“Felicia, would you marry me?” he almost blurted it out. He had meant to try to be more gracious and romantic, but his nerves had gotten the better of him. He hadn’t felt at all romantic about it, so faking it came much harder to him. Honesty, he decided, was truly the best policy for them both.

Her eyes grew wide, and she g

asped, grinning as she clamped her palm over her heart and stared at the ring. “Oh my… oh my god… yes! Yes, oh my god…” she gushed and giggled and looked from the ring back to Derrick as tears formed in her eyes. “Oh Derrick, I’ve been waiting for years for you to want me like this! I love you so much! I can’t believe this is finally happening! God I love you!”

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheeks and then kissed his mouth over and over as she slid one leg over his lap and straddled him, her dress sliding far up her thighs. He kissed her in return a couple of times and then leaned his head backward and looked at her, bringing her attention back to the ring in the box in his hand.

Felicia looked down at it again and blinked, whispering as realization overtook her. “Is that your mom’s ring?” she asked reverently.

“It is,” he answered quietly. “I bought a band to go with it, and I know it’s traditional to go the other way, but because this is my mother’s ring, I’m going to give you the band now as an engagement ring, and I’ll give you her diamond ring when we have the ceremony, if that’s alright. I’ll just… hold onto it until then.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Yes… I guess that’s alright, I mean… that’s really breaking from tradition, but if you want to do it that way, then I’m fine with it! I’m just so happy that you’re finally here and that you finally asked me, and it’s really going to happen! I’ve been dreaming of this day since I was a girl!”

Felicia giggled again and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck as she planted her mouth on his and began to kiss him, tasting him as much as she could. He allowed her to kiss him for a few moments, and just as he was about to pull his lips from hers, she slid directly over his crotch and began to rock her hips gently against his.

His eyes flew open wide as her hands moved to his shirt and she began to pull his buttons open. Reaching for her, he closed his fingers around hers. She stopped kissing him and leaned up a little, looking at him questioningly.

“What is it, baby?” she blinked in confusion.

“I… I think we’d better wait,” he said softly, clearing his throat.

She laughed at him. “Wait for what? If you’re going to be my husband, I want you now! You’ve already made me wait so long for this. Let me have you now.”

He pushed her hands away from his chest and gave his head a subtle shake. “I don’t think so, Felicia. I mean… I know we haven’t done this since high school, that time we both got so drunk, and I’m not even totally sure that it happened then.” He thought back to a blurred and fuzzy night in his memories of them making out in the horse stables and trying to get as far as they could.

She giggled. “Oh honey, we did it. You and I lost our virginity to each other. How could you forget that? It was one of the most magical and special nights of our lives!”

He swallowed hard. It had not been anything of the kind to him, and he could barely remember much more than his amazement at seeing her without her clothes on. Nothing else really stuck out in his mind that night. Derrick knew he couldn’t tell her that and hurt her. He knew he had to be kind and considerate about their moments just then.

“Well, it was a long time ago, and we did have a lot to drink,” he said quietly, looking away from her.

“And there were a few times in college,” she reminded him with a blissful grin.

He looked back up at her once more. “Oh… right. Twice? Twice. I think we were both pretty drunk then too, weren’t we?” he wondered aloud, wishing he hadn’t been so careless in his youth.

She laughed at him lightly. “Well, you were drunk. I was having the time of my life and loving every minute of being in your arms and of making sweet love with you.” She sighed blissfully and leaned forward toward his face, “And now I get to do it for the rest of our lives with you. I’m so happy!” she kissed him again, and he kissed her for a moment and then pushed her back gently again.

“I’m sorry, Felicia, I really am, but I do have to get going. I have a lot of work to do, and… things. I just needed to come by to talk with you about this.” He moved to shift her from his lap, and she clung tighter around him, giving him a sexy pout.

“You aren’t going to stay? You could stay, and we could play in bed all afternoon…” she teased naughtily. “There’s so much for us to do and catch up on… I want to get a head start before my wedding.” She grinned, and he shook his head and somehow managed to stand up, leaving her sitting on the sofa behind him.

He turned to look at her. “I am sorry, Felicia, but I do have to go. We can talk about it all some other time.”

She stood up and pouted, but he reached for her hand and slid the simple band on it, giving the back of her hand a soft pat. “There you are. Now it’s official. You should let your dad know. I know he’ll want to hear all about it.”

Felicia looked down at her hand and grinned again and then lifted her hazel eyes to gaze happily at him again. “Of course! We have so much planning to do.”

Launching herself at him, she wrapped her arms around his neck once more and kissed him again, swooning in his embrace before he managed to pull himself from her grasp and turn toward the door.

“I know this probably wasn’t the most romantic way to do it, and I’m sorry about that, but I did want to make sure that it got done. I guess we’re official now. You’re welcome to plan all that you want to, but I think I’d rather have a small ceremony. Just family and perhaps a few very close friends. That’s my only request.” He meant it, and he let her know as he looked over his shoulder at her.

She nodded. “Okay! I’ll call you, and we can go over things soon. I love you, darling!” she cooed as he slipped out of the door and closed it behind him. He didn’t see the slight pout on her face when he left or the way the pout faded into a big grin as she held her own hand and stared down in elation at the simple silver band on her finger.

The elevator doors closed before him, and he leaned heavily back against the far wall of the silver box. With a long-winded sigh, he closed his eyes and bowed his head. “Okay, father, the duty is done,” he whispered.

***

Eva sat on her sofa, her long legs stretched out before her across the white cushions, her cell phone in her hand against her ear as she gazed out of the floor-to-ceiling windows behind her, looking out onto the streets of Manhattan.

The grin on her face made her even lovelier than she already was. Her shoulder-length straight hair was curled inward at the ends, her wide set dark brown eyes were fringed with thick black lashes, her full lips were tinted red, and her chocolate skin glowed with a honey bronze shine.

Eva had a trimmed and tone figure with generously rounded feminine curves, which she kept fit with regular workouts and walks throughout Central Park. She found that since she had moved within two blocks of it, she was visiting the running paths that twisted through the natural enclave much more often than she used to when she lived further north of the city.

“I’ve never heard you sound happier than you have been these last couple of weeks,” Jamie said with a bright smile that could be heard through the phone.

Eva nodded and looked blissfully around the city outside her windows. Spring was coming on, and everything was cool still but blooming with soft pastel colors, and the days were getting longer.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy,” Eva answered her. “It’s such a big change from my old life. The new job… the new home… it’s like I stepped out of my old life and into a dream of some kind. I never had any idea that my life could take a turn like this, and I love it!” Eva had grown up in a lower middle class home, always having enough but never splurging or having the very best of anything. She had worked hard to get good grades all through school and college, and she had graduated at the top of her class in high school and in college. She felt that all of her hard work had finally paid off.

“Is this new job still good? Everything going like it ought to?” Jamie asked interestedly. Jamie had been Eva’s best friend since middle school, and they had been sure that they had seen everything together, or at least as much as they could have by their mid-twenties. Jamie was still in college, but she was tremendously proud of her best friend for making it through school fast and well.

“Yeah, it’s really good! It’s a great job. I’ve got it all figured out now. I had a little bit of a learning curve the first week, but it’s running like clockwork now. It’s easy as anything now.” Eva smiled and watched a few puffy white clouds sail across the bright blue sky.

“That’s because you’re so smart!” Jamie laughed a little. “How’s the new boss? Is it weird being someone’s private secretary?”

“No, it’s not weird. I think it might even be easier than working for several different people or with the public because I only have to concentrate on one personality—his, and so far we fit together pretty well. He’s really something else.” She grinned and felt her cheeks warm slightly.

Jamie listened closely and then laughed a little. “Is that so? What’s he like?”

Eva looked upward and sighed with her wide smile. “

He’s amazing. He’s smart and funny and flirtatious and beautiful.”

There was a momentary silence on the other end of the line. “Oh girl… you like him?” She sounded surprised and wary.

“Yeah…” Eva admitted reluctantly. “I think I do. I guess I have a little crush on him. He’s so damn sexy! Jamie… the man is beautiful, and brilliant, and rich, and he’s really nice. He’s genuine… you know, the real thing. He doesn’t act with a lot of fake personality, he’s just… who he is, and that’s all. I am crushing on him a bit.”

“You better watch out for that! Do you think anything will happen between you two?” Jamie asked with cautious optimism.

Eva shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s a pretty good flirt with me too, but he doesn’t go over the line. Also, I don’t want to lose my job. I just got this job. I’m being really careful, but I’m enjoying the hell out of it in the meantime!”

“If he comes on to you, are you going to take him up on it?” Jamie wondered curiously.

She bit at her lower lip thoughtfully for a moment. “I don’t know, to be honest. For me, the most important part of all of this is the job. I definitely don’t want to lose the job, but if Derrick came on to me, I might not say no because he’s just so damn delicious! I can’t risk anything, though. I have this great new apartment because of my great new job as his private secretary, and I’m not going to lose it. I’ve never had anything this nice. Not ever. I’m not going to let any of it go because of a fling. I can’t take a risk like that no matter how hot the man is, and my god is he hot.”

Jamie spoke thoughtfully then. “Have you been with anyone since Ryan?”

“No, he was my last, and since that whole break up, I haven’t had any interest in doing anything with anyone else. I’m being careful with that too. This is no time for me to get tangled up in romance or love or anything like the risk of a broken heart. Things are good in my life right now. I need to keep it that way. I don’t want to rock the boat. Ryan left because he wanted to take that job in San Francisco. If he was still here, then we’d probably be together. He wanted me to go with him, but I just couldn’t leave my city, you know? I’m a New York City girl, and I didn’t want to live in San Francisco. I didn’t want to lose Ryan, but I had just started my job with Derrick and it’s a great job. I had just gotten my new place, and things were just coming together for me. I wasn’t willing to make the move, and he wasn’t willing to stay, so we said goodbye and that was that. We’re still friends, I guess. We still care about each other a great deal. At least there’s that.” Eva’s smile faded a bit. She had been sad to see Ryan go. She had thought for a little while that they might wind up getting married, but when he had gotten the opportunity to work on the west coast and they had discovered that it was all or nothing, they had both agreed to let their relationship go.

“What about long distance? Couldn’t you have done anything long distance with him?” Jamie asked with a slight tone of disappointment.

“No, because long distance relationships almost never work, and really, where would we be going with it? I’m never going to move out there, and he’s never going to move back here, so there wouldn’t really be any point to trying to stretch it out, would there?” Eva asked with the hint of a sad note in her voice.

“I guess not,” Jamie agreed. “That makes some sense.”

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really good guy and I miss him, but my future is here. My life is here. My whole new life… the new job, the new home,” she laughed a little. “You, you’re here. Everything is here. This is where I want to be. It’s where I’m happiest. Other guys will come along, and I’ll have my life all set on my own. This is what’s best for me.”

Jamie sounded pleased then. “I’m glad to hear it. I wouldn’t want you on the other side of the country either. I’m glad that you stayed, as selfish as that might seem.”

“It’s not selfish. I totally get it. You’re one of the reasons that I stayed.” Eva smiled again and reached for her coffee cup. “Now, tell me what’s going on with you and school. I can’t wait to hear all this news!”

They talked for a long while, and Eva filled her coffee cup twice while they visited. She was glad to have stayed in New York City, she was glad to have her elegant new condo looking out over northern Manhattan and her excellent new job as Derrick Madison’s private secretary. He was a beautiful man, and he was all of the things that she had told Jamie he was: smart, successful, and sexy as hell, and he was a flirt, but not over the line. He had given her a good future, and having him as a sweet and spicy part of that future as her boss was just an extra perk. She was looking forward to the future. It held all the promise of a dream turned real.