Vanity's Pleasure

by Olivia Gaines

  The plane landed at 6:30 in the morning, right on time. The deep reclining seats on the plane made it easy to sleep and Vanity had snuggled up in Nigel’s embrace as they flew through the night from Las Vegas to Teterboro Airport near the Meadowlands. It was only a twelve-mile drive to midtown Manhattan to her building in the meatpacking district.

  There was no mistaking the warmth that emanated from him, and her mind started to wonder how it would feel to have his weight upon her. Finley was a far more skilled pilot than her cousin Chuck and the landing was smooth, barely waking Nigel as Finley put wheels on the tarmac. The curtains between their space and her assistants were closed and she wanted a moment alone with her husband. They would be heading to her home and would have about four days to be together with few if any interruptions at night. She needed to know what his plans were, so she would know whether to be on guard, on defense, or need to sleep in another room.

  Gently stroking his face, she spoke softly in his ear, “Nigel, it’s time for school.” He stirred to find her staring at him, “Welcome to New York.” She informed him they had landed and expressed her joy to welcome him and show him her city and their New York home. His hands went to his mouth and she handed him a small dry brush for his teeth which he quickly put to use. Nature was calling on two fronts, pulling Nigel to the loo, but the moment he rose from his seat, his wife noticed the obvious, her eyes wide with concern.

  “Nigel, are you...” she paused eyeballing the firmness of his twig and imagining the fullness of his berries, “hmm, hungry?”

  Confused, he looked at his stomach to see if maybe she had heard it rumble then he noticed his state. Afraid and very hesitant to answer for fear that he did not truly understand the question, it also let him know that she did not understand a man’s body even though she spent a great deal of time with her two brothers. An arched brow was all he could muster at this point any way.

  I just flew across America. Again. In a plane. Probably over some water.

  His head was swimming with thoughts. It was 6:30 in the morning, his bladder was full, and he had a raging woody that caused his beautiful wife obvious trepidation.

  “When my brothers are in need of some time with a woman,” she lowered her eyes away from him, “they say they are hungry.” She pointed to the bulge in his pants, “Are you hungry, Nigel?”

  His answer was a smile, along with the words, “I can’t be.” He helped her to her feet to stand toe to toe with him, her hazel eyes beseeching his blue ones, “I can only sate my appetite when my wife is ready to feed me.”

  The look of relief on her face was palpable. There were things which needed to be addressed between them before they left the plane. She needed to know he would not rush her, but he needed to know she wasn’t going to make him wait forever. A compromise was required.

  “Wilhelmina, might I have a moment?” He touched her chin with his forefinger, “A slight liberty, or a nibble if you will.”

  Her agreement yielded his hands to her waist as he angled her body and pulled her close to him where his need was pressed at the juncture between her thighs. He did not rub, grind, and grope at her. Instead his words were soft as he explained, “Together we will learn how to feed each other.” His words softly whispered, “I am excited to learn things that please you. I am eager to teach you the things that please me.” He planted a small kiss on her jawline.

  “I can’t wait to enjoy our hours together as we teach each other.” His lips grazed her neck as he continued to explain that there were non-invasive techniques, they could employ to enjoy each other. “I have so much to show you, so much about you I want and need to learn.” Another nibble at her neck and she found herself pressing closer to him, “You are my wife, my love, the woman with whom I will share the rest of my life.” She threw her arms around his neck and held him close.

  “I will give you all the time you need to get to know me and, I you,” he said in her ear. Deep down, he wanted to let her know that he was anxious for her to share his bed, but he didn’t want to come across as a man who was eager for her to serve as fodder his libido. “Each minute we spend together is special, dressed or undressed, Wilhelmina,” his lips found hers, “you feed my soul.”

  The kiss was deep, passionate, and all-inclusive. The feel of him against her was causing havoc on her hormones and she was ready to allow him to have his way with her. They heard the clearing of a throat and slowing pried themselves apart.

  “Your Grace, Vanity, the cars have arrived. We must depart,” Jessica announced.

  Nigel still held his wife close, never looking over his shoulder or letting her go as he spoke to the assistant, “Give us a moment please, Jessica, if you will.”

  Still holding each other, they both exhaled as Nigel whispered in her ear, “Damn, you feel so amazing in my arms.”

  Vanity Devons was not a woman to curse, but in her mind, she had just become a sailor. Her husband’s body felt amazing against hers as well and it was going to be a battle to be a lady and wait to get to know him.

  Vanity Devon’s body wanted to know him right now.

  {14] How you living...

  The limo drove down Hudson, making a right onto Jane, swinging back around to Horatio and stopping in front of a plain brick building with large windows on the fourth floor. During the twelve-mile ride, Jessica said very little other than to hand her boss and the Duke a yogurt and a banana to start the morning. She remained quiet when Vanity’s phone rang, but the familiar ringtone was from her twin brother. It was unusual not to speak with him every day and even more so for him not to have been at her side for her wedding, but she understood. He was on a honeymoon.

  The call was brief. He and Elsie had departed Puerto Rico, spent a few nights in Miami, and were headed her way. They were landing in an hour and wanted to spend a night with her and his new brother-in-law. She looked at Nigel, but there was nothing to say. Will was in route. The call ended. And she updated everyone in the car and asked Jessica to make sure Phan picked up pork chops for dinner.

  Nigel assumed that Phan was the housekeeper and since his wife had not chosen to elaborate on the subject, he did not make a mention of it either as they headed towards her home. Jessica pulled two envelopes from her tablet cover, handing one to Vanity and the other to the Duke, “As you requested Vanity.”

  Uncertain of what was in the envelope, Nigel opened it to find a check for $75,000. His eyes were wide, but Vanity only leaned in and kissed his cheek. “That’s your half of the earnings from last night.”

  He sat dumbfounded. I didn’t do anything but stand there. The world his wife lived in was very different from his own and he had a lot to learn in a few days. Nigel Strathmore looked forward to ever moment.

  THE BUILDING IN WHICH Vanity resided was a plain brick four story on the lower east side of the Hudson River. The limo stopped at the front door and Vanity climbed out, dragging Nigel with her. The car continued on around the block. The front of the building held no windows, just a large VP on the side of the structure with the signature bird logo. The left side of the building had a paned glass window which read, “Marzetti & Associates.”

  Nigel stared at the name. It sounded familiar. Vanity answered the question on his face by simple stating, “It’s Khalea and her husband Stephano’s New York offices.”

  As they entered the building, Nigel was surprised by how well-lit and bright it was inside compared to the dismal-looking outside. There was a very large reception area with closed caption monitors behind the desk. He noticed on the screen Jessica and Clarke loading luggage into a freight elevator in the rear of the building.

  Vanity said, “The first floor is an open meeting space. When Vanity’s Pleasure is in full production for a fashion show or a photo shoot, these rooms are used by make-up, hair, editing, retouches, and all those unglamorous things that make models look fabulous.”

  She continued to explain when they were not in production, the rooms were often leased out to artists, small
business owners, and locals who needed a meeting space or a small reception. “This way, the building helps pay for itself.” Nigel was impressed.

  The elevator behind the receptionist’s desk only went to the second floor where her offices were located. “VP is located mainly on the right side of the building, with the back-floor space as a photo area. We have 3200 square feet, the law firm has 1600, and they use the downstairs conference rooms for large meetings, which are rare.”

  The doors to the offices of Vanity’s Pleasure were glass with carved models adorning all but the handles. The lobby was simply decorated with overstuffed red and orange couches and large vases of glass flowers. Over the big sofa was a photo of a young Vanity Devons. The photo was taken at a beach. Vanity’s toes were dug in the sand and her arms were wrapped around her knees, her hair flying freely in the wind. A smile came to his lips because her eyes had the same intensity when she was ten as they did today. “That is my favorite photo,” Vanity said as she moved closer to the enlarged picture. “This was taken at the Lake House.”

  Nigel asked if it was the same Lake House from her brother’s wedding. “Yes,” she smiled a gigantic grin that also made Nigel smile with her. “This one was taken by my dad. He actually has a very good eye and is an amateur photog.”

  She took him by the hand, telling him, “Let me show you where I work.”

  There was a small conference room after the lobby which was directly across from the bathrooms. The next office was large, spacious, and meticulously organized. Two chairs sat in front of a wooden desk, and a small window that held fresh flowers had been cracked to allow in morning air. He knew this was Jessica’s office.

  The next office was slightly larger, with a work table, a sewing machine, four mannequins, and racks of shoes and clothing. This office had to belong to Clarke. The next office was a tad bit larger with a small glass desk, a sewing machine, a drafting table and fabric swatches. It was well lit, with a large window that faced the Hudson, and a large television. It was not at all what he expected.

  Across the hall from her office was a break room that had lots of counter space, a Sub-Zero fridge, and a large dining table. The back room held an open space. The right side of the room held a red runway carpet that ended with changing rooms behind the red curtains and was adorned with red cushioned chairs for viewers.

  The left side of the room hosted a wall with lights for all sorts for photography. The back wall held a massive green screen. “I save millions each year by shooting on a green screen versus on location. Since most of my lines are one of a kind and custom orders, most of the photos are for catalogue use only.” He nodded as they headed out a back door toward the freight elevator heading to the third floor.

  The third floor held corporate apartments. Apartment one belong to Jessica and apartment two belonged to Clarke. Three and four were corporate apartments for Marzetti and Associates and the remaining two were efficiencies; one belonged to VP and the other to the firm. “If Finley had opted to stay with you, he would have had use of one of these apartments,” Vanity smiled at him, then corrected herself, “or one of these efficiency flats.”

  Her smile was mesmerizing. Her hazel eyes were alluring. Her mind, sharp, but what he needed to see was her living space. Nigel had severed his relationship with several women because of the way the women lived, which said more about who a woman actually was than the designated representative she sent out in public. Thus far, his beautiful wife was everything he had believed her to be, but the moment of truth was around the corner. He felt himself getting nervous. Did she have a dirty secret that he would have to live with for the rest of his life? This was the one thing in this whole idea of his that frightened him, causing hesitation and dread. Either way, they were now married and he found he was sweating a bit.

  His fear was not unfounded. Several years prior, he had dated a model with a hyphenated name that also lived a hyphenated life. It was three weeks before she took him to her place. When he arrived, he was shocked. Every wall was adorned with Herculean-sized photos of her on the cover of magazines. Nigel felt he could have tolerated a bit of narcissism, but there were other things about her that rubbed him wrong.

  A firm believer that what you put in your body says a great deal about how you feel about yourself, alarm bells went off in his head when he opened her pantry to find only jars of pickles and olives. The fridge only held small containers of yogurt and bags of celery stalks. The freezer which truly concerned him, only held eight bottles of flavored vodka. The kitchen was only half of the nightmare.

  Her bathroom was disgusting and the bedroom had clothing strewn about the place. Many of the items of clothing were designer originals, yet she had little or no regard for the care of the fabric or the designer’s hard work. What really set his duff in a dander was when she gave a thousand dollar shoe to her Shit-zu as a chew toy. That was just no way to treat good leather.

  Nigel shivered a bit as he thought of the famous British actress that he dated for two months. Katlin’s London townhome’s walls were covered in mirrors so that she would be able to glance at herself no matter where she sat or stood in any room. In the two months that he dated her, Nigel had gained ten pounds from dining out. She maintained her figure by eating only once a day, and that was only dining on a few leaves of lettuce and a crouton. He, on the other hand, had adopted her eating habit, but by dinnertime he had been starving and would order large meals with dessert. In her townhome, her fridge was littered with takeout boxes, foil wrappers shaped like various fowls, and a weird smell that haunted him to this day.

  That could have been worked around, but she often referred to herself in third person, constantly dropping names of celebrities and royalty as if he didn’t know who was whom in Great Britain. Kaitlin was surprised when she had been invited to Buckingham Palace and forced him to come along. It never dawned on her that he was the Queen’s great nephew and that the Prince Regent was his cousin. All of that aside, he still enjoyed her free flowing attitude that was a direct juxtaposition to his no nonsense persona. It is what he loved about his wife. She brought out his playful side.

  A week after he had met Wilhelmina, he ran into Kaitlin at a social function of the Prince Regent. He didn’t recognize her. Her face was wracked with signs of Botox and collagen injections, and something was wrong with her lips. It was nonsensical to him. Physical beauty was a plus but a beautiful soul was a must.

  The things he felt were important in a wife and a companion had been evident with just three hours in the company of Wilhelmina Devonshire. He had only been in the U.S. for five days and had experienced things in a way that lightened his soul. The real Wilhelmina was about to be revealed as they took the elevator to the fourth floor and entered her living space.

  {15] Honey, we’re home...

  She opened the loft style sliding door and Nigel’s breath caught. “Whoa,” was all he could muster. The apartment was a large loft styled flat with lots of high windows that brought in tons of natural light.

  “Welcome home, Honey,” she said with a smile. The living, common, dining, and kitchen were all in a large bay. The living room was slightly recessed into the floor, but not quite sunken, with a farmhouse style fireplace facing the door. The overstuffed Corinthian leather sofa, with two matching loungers in the softest shades of gray, was adorned with red, sienna and deep orange pillows. Nigel wanted to grab a book from the bookshelf that started on the floor and went all the way to the ceiling and covered the entire wall and was laden with books. He moved closer to the bookshelf and realized it was a library and the books were organized by author and genre. He only stood quietly as he took it all in.

  The farmhouse fireplace had an actual cast-iron pot in it, and beside it were marshmallow roasting sticks. He began to imagine cold New York nights with a book, making s’mores and reading to their children. Over the fireplace was a photo that had been printed on canvas of two children running along the water’s edge. The children were beautiful, but
the look of terror on the little girl’s face made him move closer to examine the images. Nigel asked her, “What is that in the little boy’s hand?”

  Without even looking at the photo, she looked Nigel squarely in the face and told him, “It’s a snake.”

  Nigel’s eyes widened, and she went on, “Funny thing is, Daddy took several pictures of Will chasing me with that darn thing before he made him put it down.” Nigel looked closer at the photo and his Wilhelmina was truly frightened. Will’s face was of sheer joy, chasing her with the snake, and he momentarily envied her relationship with her brother. “Come husband, let me show you the rest of our home,” she extended her hand and led him to a large common area.

  He immediately noticed the upright piano, the comfortable chairs in red fabric, the big screen television, and a gaming table in the middle of the fray. He really loved this space. He even loved the colorful red, blue, and gray rug that tied the living room colors to this area. The color scheme continued into the dining room.

  The dining room table was a slab of gray granite that had been mounted on Mahogany table legs and trimmed around the edges with the same wood. It was clean, smooth and elegant. There was nothing pretentious in the whole space. It was an open bay dining area that seated twelve. On the right side of the room was a built in Mahogany Amish Columbus Buffet Hutch. The cabinet was flush against the wall and had granite that matched the table as a side serving counters and doors underneath. She noticed the look on his face and anticipated his question, “When the family is all here, there are lots of us, and we go through a lot of food.”