by Lola Swain
Zoe was a mass of nerves as she brushed her limp hair off her forehead while she was stirring risotto over a steaming pot. She managed to cover the dress she wore with an apron, but she knew her makeup had practically melted off her face by the time she heard the doorbell ring.
“Babe,” Dr. Connor called from the dining room, “I think our guests are here.”
“Can you get the door?” she said as she scraped the sticky rice from the bottom of the pot. “I can’t leave this.”
“Okay, okay,” Dr. Connor said as he walked down the hall toward their front door with a large scotch in his hand.
He opened the door and inhaled sharply as he stared at Vicky standing on his front stoop. She looked absolutely stunning in a tight, nude low cut dress. Her diamond earrings caught the light over the front door and practically blinded Dr. Connor. He walked toward her, ready to give her a tight hug, when Mike Frederick appeared from the shadows.
“Hey, Doc,” he said and clapped Allen on the shoulder as he walked through the front door, “nice pile of bricks!”
Vicky extended her hand to Allen and allowed him to lead her into the house.
“You look absolutely amazing, Vicky,” Dr. Connor said as he stepped back from her and extended her arms out.
Vickie stared into Dr. Connor’s eyes and licked her lips. As she opened her mouth to reply to the object of her lust, Zoe barreled through the kitchen door and she bit her lip to keep from laughing as she saw her limp-looking, harried friend.
“Well, I figured someone should sex it up a bit,” Vicky said and winked at Dr. Connor.
Dr. Connor turned and looked at Zoe and shook his head.
“What?” Zoe said as she looked from Dr. Connor to Vicky.
“Nothing, you look nice, darling,” Dr. Connor said and gave Zoe a kiss on the cheek. “Just a bit prim.”
“Yes, prim,” Vicky said and smiled. “That’s it exactly. Zoe, you look very sweet.”
Zoe looked down at her modest violet dress and back at Vicky in her curve hugging dress and her heart sunk.
“I should change,” she said.
“Don’t be silly,” Dr. Connor said and walked toward the living room bar to make drinks, “you may burn dinner.”
“Thanks,” Zoe said and scoffed as she walked back through the kitchen door.
“Let me get you some drinks,” Dr. Connor said as he led Vicky and Mike into the living room. “Have a seat.”
Mike and Vicky sat on opposite ends of the room, something Dr. Connor noted with interest. It was obvious to Dr. Connor that this Mike person was Vicky’s beard and someone to make her feel better about herself.
Dr. Connor made Mike and Vicky drinks and Mike looked around the living room and whistled.
“Man, these people sure know how to live, don’t they, babe?” Mike said.
“So, Allen,” Vicky said as she took a stubby rocks glass filled with scotch from Dr. Connor’s hand, “any word on my application?”
Dr. Connor leaned in the doorway of the living room and looked down at Vicky sitting on the velvet loveseat below him.
“Your what?” Dr. Connor said and took a sip of his drink.
“My application! Have you forgotten already? The day I came to see you?”
“Oh, of course. Well, I did turn it into our H.R. Department. I will be sure to check on it in the morning.”
“Yeah, doc,” Mike said after he drained his scotch in one pull, “that would be awesome if you could pull some strings. Don’t want Vicky sitting around and becoming all domesticated. Shit like that gives females bad ideas, don’t you think?”
Dr. Connor looked up at Vicky’s buffoon of a date, sure that whatever was going on between them wouldn’t last a minute if he got his hands on Vicky.
“I’m not sure, Mike,” Allen said. “Seems that Vicky has a lot of ambition. Graduating top of her class is no easy feat. Where did you go to college, Mike?”
“You remember?” Vicky said and smiled.
“Of course I remember,” he said. “I always remember drive and ambition in ladies. Many women out there lack drive. I find laziness a most unattractive trait in women.”
It was then that Vicky decided to divulge Zoe’s secret and ruin her perfect dinner party and drive a wedge between her friend and Dr. Connor.
“Well, I am anything but lazy,” Vicky said and finished her drink. “Anything but.”
“Yes, I—”
Dr. Connor was interrupted by Zoe summoning them all into the dining room for dinner.
Vicky couldn’t help but be impressed at the lovely table that Zoe set. She also managed to fix her hair before placing four bottles of expensive wine on the table. Vicky made sure to overemphasize the toughness of the steak by allowing the Wusthof steak knife to squeak against the Wedgewood china when she cut into the meat.
“Sorry,” Zoe said as she clapped her hands over her ears, “I suppose I should have cooked them a little less.”
“No, it’s fine,” Vicky said. “I like well-done.”
“You did an amazing job, baby,” Dr. Connor said as he poured a glass of Merlot into a large-mouthed goblet. “The table is set beautifully.”
“I’ll drink to that, doc!” Mike said and drained his wine glass.
“More?” Zoe said and stood to pour Mike another glass.
“Yes,” Vicky said, “fill us all up. I want to propose a toast to my beautiful friend.”
“Oh, how lucky, I am,” Zoe said as she filled the four wine glasses at the table and then took her seat.
Vicky stood and smoothed her dress over her hips. She looked around the table and smiled. She then locked eyes with Dr. Connor.
“I want to say that I am extremely happy for you and Zoe. I admit I was a bit jealous when she began blabbing to me about this wonderful man she met, Allen. But looking around this house, seeing the room you made for her in your life, makes me very happy. I’ve worried about this girl. She is something special. And when she told me she quit her job, I was even more worried. I thought she was too special to have housefrau as her biggest talent. But seeing her happiness, her obvious domesticity and her love for you, puts my mind at ease. Salute.”
Vicky raised her glass and took a drink. Mike drank all of his wine and clapped.
“Great speech, babe!” he said.
Zoe looked down at her plate and Dr. Connor looked from Zoe to Mike.
“Can you stop clapping, please?” Dr. Connor said to Mike. “I’m sorry, I think I missed something.”
Dr. Connor turned and faced Zoe and put his hand on her arm.
“Did Vicky say you quit your job?”
“I—” Zoe said and shook her head.
“You, what? Were going to tell me?”
“Yes,” Zoe said and sighed.
“When? When I caught on to the fact that you’ve been lying to me when I ask you how your day was?”
“I didn’t—”
“When I asked you how your day at work was, what did you tell me?”
“I, I—”
“You-you told me it was fine. How was your day at work today, darling? Fine, baby, you said!”
“Oh, fuck, Vicky,” Mike said and chuckled. “Sounds like you shoulda kept that cat in the bag!”
“Yes, maybe you should have!” Dr. Connor said as he stood from the table and threw his napkin in his plate.
“No, baby,” Zoe said and reached up and grabbed his arm. “Let me explain.”
Dr. Connor looked down and shook Zoe’s hand off his arm as if it were a cockroach.
“I’m sorry, I need to leave,” he said to their guests.
“Leave? Where are you going?” Zoe said. “Baby, we can talk about this. Just don’t leave.”
“I have rounds. I guess I didn’t tell you. Thank you for coming,” he said to Vicky and Mike. “We’ll do this again another time.”
Zoe watched Allen leave and bowed her head. Mike finished his wine and looked at Vicky as he nodded toward the door. Vicky, while all
owing a concerned expression to melt into her face, was elated.
“Well, Zoe,” Vicky said as she stood from the table, “we better go. Or would you like me to help you clear the table?”
“Why did you do that?” Zoe said as she stared at Vicky with tear-filled eyes. “Why did you make Allen mad at me?”
“Me?” Vicky said as Zoe opened the door to the argument she wanted to have. “What the fuck did I do? I was honoring you with that toast!”
“You knew Allen didn’t know. You knew how he’d react.”
“Are you completely insane? How would I have any idea how a man I barely know would react to the news you quit your job? Did you tell me to keep it secret?”
“I assumed you would know.”
“No, answer the fucking question! Did you tell me to keep that a secret?”
“No,” Zoe said and cried.
“No, you did not! You should have told him. You better get it together or you are going to be out of your man and your new house.”
“I love him so much,” Zoe said as she looked at the front door.
“Well, love is not enough obviously. His behavior should tell you something about how he feels toward you.”
“What?”
“He left. He cut and ran. Or do you mean to tell me you believe that hospital excuse? Rounds are scheduled, Zoe. And he did not get an emergency call.”
“Ladies, I think I need to go,” Mike said as he stood at the front door.
Vicky threw her napkin on the table and walked out of the dining room. Zoe sat at the table crying and watched Vicky and Mike leave the house.
Zoe was beside herself, but she knew how to reel a man who seemed displeased with her back in.
She ran around the house like a maniac, periodically checking the clock while she erased any evidence of the tragic dinner party and made the place spotless. She then went to work on herself. She showered, did her hair and makeup to perfection and chose a beautiful pink peignoir set she purchased at an expensive boutique in Boston. She was saving the set for her honeymoon, however circumstances being what they were that evening, she pulled out all the stops.
Zoe arranged herself on the bed in a most tempting pose and waited for Dr. Connor’s return. An hour later, she pushed herself off the bed and went into the bathroom to rearrange her hair and fix her make-up.
“Three hours gone,” she said as she glanced at the clock and stared at her reflection in the mirror. “What the fuck is he doing? What the fuck am I doing?”
“You are trying to win your man,” a female voice said.
Zoe spun around as her heart pounded. It was the same voice she heard clearly from the living room that called her an imposter.
“Who is in here?” Zoe said as she grabbed a hairbrush off the vanity and walked to the doorway of the bathroom.
The bedroom was dark except for the glow of the clock on one of the bedside tables. She saw a female form standing beside the bed and she dropped the brush and clapped her hands over her mouth.
“Don’t worry,” the woman said as she walked toward Zoe, “I won’t hurt you. Come.”
The woman held her hands out toward Zoe and Zoe shook her head.
“Who?” Zoe said as she rubbed her eyes.
“Don’t do that,” the woman said from the shadows of the bedroom. “You’re smearing your mascara.”
The woman walked into the light coming from the bathroom and Zoe stared at her. She was one of the most beautiful women she ever saw and couldn’t have been more than twenty-three.
Glossy black long hair curled around the girl’s long neck and ended at the tops of her ample breasts. Her eyes were as dark as her hair and her long eyelashes curled up and nearly touched her perfect eyebrows. She licked her full, puffy lips and smiled at Zoe to reveal perfect teeth. She wore a red, short negligee and the chiffon hugged her curves.
“Come sit on the bed with me,” the woman said as she grabbed Zoe’s arm.
Her hand was hot, as if she held it in front of a fire. Zoe moved back and the woman smiled.
“Wait!” Zoe said. “Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?”
“I’m Sam,” Sam said. “Samantha, really, but I go by Sam. I live here.”
“You…what?” Zoe said as she followed Sam into the bedroom.
“I will explain,” Sam said as she sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her. “Sit down with me.”
Zoe sat next to Sam and Sam placed her hand on her leg. Zoe’s leg tensed under Sam’s hot touch and Sam smiled.
“What was your first question while you were looking in the mirror?”
“I-I don’t remember,” Zoe said and stared at Sam’s smooth hand.
“Well, I do. You said: what the fuck is he doing, right?”
“Yes,” Zoe said and ran her fingers through her hair, “I suppose. Look, tell me who you—”
“There is time for that,” Sam said and touched the side of Zoe’s face and turned her head to face her. “Let’s talk about what you think Dr. Connor is doing. You believe he is up to no good, right?”
“I don’t know. I mean, he stormed off and hasn’t called. I’ve been waiting for him on this bed for—”
“Four hours,” Sam said as she glanced over Zoe’s shoulder and looked at the clock. “He was very angry when he left.”
“No shit. I am really pissed at Vicky, that’s my friend. She told Allen a secret and I swear I was going to tell him, but Vicky told him before I had a chance. Now he’s gone.”
“Vicky is no friend to you,” Sam said.
“It’s really not her fault. I didn’t tell her I hadn’t told Allen.”
“Trust me,” Sam said as she brushed a piece of hair off Zoe’s forehead. “She is not your friend. Never has been. What do you think Allen is doing right now?”
“I’ve no idea,” Zoe said and sighed. “I am hoping he is at the hospital doing rounds. However, he was so mad and—”
“Why do you love him so much?”
“Because he’s my ideal,” Zoe said and hung her head.
“Ideal what?”
“Ideal man, ideal husband, ideal lover.”
“But he’s only made you cum once. The first time, right? That’s not ideal,” Sam said and ran her fingernails up Zoe’s arm and rested her hand on her shoulder.
“And how in the world do you know that? That’s not at all true!”
“Yes it is,” Sam said and nodded as if it was the truest thing in the world. “Not since the first time he fucked you.”
“I loved Allen before I even met him. A woman makes sacrifices.”
“You loved the ideal. And the ideal is always very different than the real. Trust me, I know. You sacrifice first your pleasure, then your heart and then, your mind. It has begun.”
Zoe stared at the beautiful girl sitting next to her and wondered how she knew so much about her life.
“Is this a dream?” Zoe said and shook her head.
“No, pretty girl. This is a nightmare,” Sam said “I know exactly how this will end and I know exactly what your ideal is doing right now.”
“What is he doing?”
“Fucking someone else.”
“No! Who?” Zoe said and lay back on the bed. “Is it you? Is that who he’s fucking? Is that how you know so much about me?”
Sam turned around and crawled up on the bed and knelt beside Zoe. She stroked Zoe’s forehead and stared into her eyes.
“Such a beautiful girl,” Sam said. “He doesn’t deserve your devotion and all that you sacrifice for him. He’s a selfish pig and he doesn’t even make you cum.”
“I only care about his pleasure,” Zoe said as tears came to her eyes. “I just want him to love me. Will he leave me?”
“You will leave him,” Sam said and bowed her head and brushed her full, cushiony lips against Zoe’s cheek.
“Never! I will never leave him. I’ve waited for him all my life.”
“Let me give you some pleasure,” Sam
said into Zoe’s ear. “You’ve never been with a woman. Let me give you some power. You may change your mind about your ideal.”
Zoe raised her shoulders of the bed, but Sam placed her hand on her chest and pushed her back down against the bed.
“No!” Zoe said as she struggled under Sam’s weight. “He’ll be home soon.”
Sam took her lips off Zoe’s ear and looked up at the clock.
“Shhh….we have time. I have a feeling this won’t take very long.”
Despite her confusion and fright, Zoe softened under Sam. It was as if the heat coming from Sam’s body caused her to melt into the bed. Zoe was wet as Sam ran her lips up and down her neck and her clit throbbed. Something she had not felt in months with Allen…arousal.
It should have been obvious to Zoe. When you ignore your own pleasure and think nothing of pleasing a man so he will not leave you, something burns out. Sam ignited Zoe once again.
“What do you want more than anything, pretty?” Sam said as she swung her long toned leg over Zoe’s body and straddled her waist.
“I want him to love me,” Zoe said and closed her eyes. “I want him to think of only me.”
“But for yourself, you want to feel pleasure,” Sam said.
Sam lowered her head and pressed her lips to Zoe’s mouth. She wiggled her tongue between Zoe’s lips, pried past her teeth and explored Zoe’s mouth with her tongue. She felt Zoe’s acquiescence and lifted her head and smiled.
“You do want pleasure,” Sam said and licked her full lips.
“Yes,” Zoe said and sighed.
Sam grabbed Zoe’s hands and placed them on her breasts. Zoe massaged Sam’s large, firm tits and felt Sam’s nipples harden as she looked into her eyes. She arched her back a bit and spread her legs as the throbbing intensified. She didn’t care any longer that she was confused about who Sam was or why she was there. She didn’t even care about Allen at that moment. She only wanted Sam to make the throbbing go away.
“That is what I’m here for, pretty,” Sam said and pulled the straps of her negligee from her shoulders.
Sam pushed her nightgown to her waist, exposing her perfect tits. Her nipples were hard, pink buds and she pinched them and shuddered. She untied the pink ribbons that held Zoe’s nightgown closed and pushed the chiffon aside. She bowed her head toward Zoe’s large breasts and sucked one of Zoe’s nipples into her mouth.