by Riley Moreno
"Your curves and hills will encourage men to want to explore every inch of you Roberta." she had said. "Only boring men like the skinny twigs, but a real man will appreciate your soft roundness. A real man will want to put his hands all over you and discover what makes you purr." Roberta had had plenty of lovers, but so far, no man had ever made her purr. She was beginning to think purring had been a slight exaggeration. She certainly felt good in the arms of other men. She had felt her body responding as they stroked her smooth brown-sugar skin, but a purring sound had never come out of her mouth.
Upon further inspection in the mirror, Roberta decided that she could use a little freshening up. She knew that she should get to work right away. There was after all a strict deadline. Pulling off the surprise wedding of the century would be no easy feat and Roberta had to go into battle reinforced with lotions and perfumes the way a knight was reinforced by his armor. Only, she didn't have any of her lotions or perfumes with her.
Roberta padded across the pink rug through an open door that she had assumed was the bathroom, but she could not be certain because the room was pitch dark. Her feet fell from the velvety carpet onto the cold marble as she fumbled for the light switch. She flipped it as light flooded the room. If Roberta had thought that the bedroom had been suitable for a queen, than the bathroom was for an empress. Pure white Carrere marble covered the floor and walls. The faucets and fixtures were pure gold and the mirror on the wall looked like the mirror in the bedroom's older and grander big brother. She ran her fingers along the claw-footed tub and noticed the bottles next to it. Roberta uncapped one and inhaled the scent. It was flower and citrus mingled with something earthier, almost animal and slightly pungent, yet when intertwined with the other scents, was perfect. She turned the faucet on, poured in the scented liquid, removed her clothes and climbed in.
Roberta closed her eyes and luxuriated in the bath until her water was no longer hot. It cooled to room temperature and Roberta began looking around for a towel. She couldn't see one. Why had she not taken the time before she climbed in to locate a towel or a robe to dry herself? She had assumed that because every other luxury she had ever desired had been present in the room, a towel would be as well. A soft, fluffy white towel that was so large, she could wrap it twice around her generous body. Roberta closed her eyes again and tried to plan her next move. She did not want to drip on the pink Turkish carpet and risk soiling it. Roberta felt something soft brush her face and abruptly opened her eyes. She saw the pure white towel from her imagination and almost believed that she had willed it to appear. The towel dropped and Roberta's eyes met the most piercing blue eyes she had ever seen.
"I thought you might need this." A feminine voice said. "Stand up and I will help you."
It was the blonde-haired woman from the picture. Her future bride-to-be. Roberta flushed with embarrassment and began to apologize.
"Stop," the voice commanded. "I hate it when women apologize. We are always saying sorry for this and sorry for that."
"I'm sorry" Roberta said again and began to laugh.
"Henderson is good but he will never be able to fully anticipate the needs of a woman. That silly man placed this towel in the wardrobe. A man might be able to resist taking their clothes off and climbing into this beautiful tub. Not a woman."
The blue-eyed blond held the towel open and ready for Roberta without averting her gaze. Roberta was embarrassed but sensed that even if she waited for her water to cool as cold as ice, the woman still would not leave her in privacy. She took a deep breath and stood up. The woman wrapped the towel around Roberta. It was soft and absorbent and probably cost as much as Roberta's rent. The woman's hands lingered for a second and then her index finger territorially touched a droplet of water that lay on Roberta's collarbone. She then placed her finger in her open mouth and licked it with her cat-like tongue. It sent shivers down Roberta's spine.
"Delicious" the woman declared, then turned and left before Roberta could respond.
Roberta put her own brown finger on top of the skin that the light thinner finger had just touched. Her skin still burned. She looked around, half-wondering if it had been a dream. As she lifted her eyes up toward the ceiling, she noticed something that she had previously overlooked in her anxiousness to bathe. A tiny black video camera was in the corner.
"Marianna, I have decided that this is crazy. I mean who agrees to be a prisoner in their Client's home? I know that the rate is incredible but I just..."Roberta trailed off.
"Are you in danger? Did something happen?"
"No"
"Then snap out of it Bertie. I cleared your schedule and told your clients that you were recovering from mono. I booked a ticket to St. Bart's that leaves in an hour and I barely had time to pack myself because I had to send your things to you. I love you hon but if I have to choose between watching you pace around the office in boredom and watching some bronzed foreign Adonis play volleyball, I'm choosing the Adonis. "
Bertie was silent.
"Come on girl, it's not like you to be scared away from something. If you are not in danger then what is the hurry? You love a challenge. Can you imagine what will happen to your business if you pull this off? Your waiting list will explode from 6 months to 6 years."
"It's a secret wedding Marianna" Roberta reminded her assistant, whom she admired for not backing down. This is why she had suggested a vacation. Marianna was a hard worker, but an even harder player. She needed a break every now and then. Roberta knew that Marianna would come back to the office refreshed, invigorated, and ready to work 80 hours a week.
"It's only secret now, afterwards EVERYBODY will be talking about it. Look I didn't want to tell you this before you left, but I don't know if you fully grasp how rich this Mr. Leon is. He is filthy rich Roberta. He could buy Bill Gates ten times over. If you satisfy his quirky desire to surprise his girlfriend into marrying him, you will be so in demand that you will be able to name your price and there will be a line of filthy rich people just chomping at the bit to hand their cash over to you. Forget vacationing in St. Bart's honey, you could own your own island.
Mariana had a point. She would not let this little mishap scare her away. She would have to try and assemble her professionalism. Maybe Mr. Leon and Henderson would never know of the incident with the blue-eyed beauty. They didn't even want Roberta to meet her in the first place. She would throw herself into her work and plan a wedding so beautiful and magnificent Mr. Leon and his blue-eyed beauty would think that they were living in a fairy tale.
Roberta hung up her cell. She didn't want to keep Mariana any longer. She looked at the bed and noticed her suitcase. She unzipped the Louis Vuitton bag and found a pair of blush pink silk pajamas laying on the very top. It was just like Mariana to anticipate the perfect wardrobe, even for sleeping in. She put them on and began to feel more comfortable in her own skin. Her stomach grumbled and Roberta realized how late it was. She wasn't used to skipping dinner. In fact she couldn't remember the last time that she skipped a meal. She thought it a bit odd that Henderson hadn't mentioned if and when dinner would be served. He had seemed so meticulous that it seemed out of character for him to overlook something as basic as a meal. She would just have to make her way to the kitchen and sneak a little something to tide her over until breakfast.
Roberta walked stealthily down the hallway. Her slippered feet were silent and made her step lighter than her black pumps had when they first traversed this long and seemingly endless corridor. She found her way back to Henderson's office and noticed that the door was shut. Henderson must have retired for the night, she thought. She silently opened the kitchen door and slipped in.
"Good evening"
Roberta jumped.
"I apologize. I did not mean to frighten you." It was Mr. Leon. He had aged a little from the photograph that Roberta had seen in the hallway. The wrinkles around his eyes had deepened, and his hair had a few streaks of gray, but it still looked soft. Roberta had to will her hand not t
o reach out and stroke it.
"I was hungry." she admitted.
"Henderson set you out a light supper. He was going to bring it to your room, but I told him not to."
"Oh?"
"Call me curious, I wanted to see how long it would take you to wander down to the kitchen. I did not think that it would take too long for a woman built like you to feel the urge to feed her appetite. It looks like I was right."
Roberta should have been offended. She would have been if it was Tore who made such an off-handed remark about her size but it did not seem like an insult coming from Mr. Leon. In fact, it seemed like a compliment. She decided to take it as such and sat down to satisfy her cravings. She uncovered the platter and a delicious aroma filled her nostrils. Henderson had outdone himself. The light supper turned out to be roast chicken, stuffing and biscuits. She began to eat. The food was delicious.
"I apologize for not meeting you earlier." Mr. Leon said. Roberta waved her hand. She was not about to speak to Mr. Leon with a mouth full of stuffing.
"How is the food?" he asked. Roberta swallowed.
"Delicious" she answered.
"So I've heard." Mr. Leon said and Roberta was not so sure that he was referring to the food. She decided to change the subject.
"Sir..."
"Call me Jeremy"
"Jeremy, I assure you that I will throw you a surprise wedding that no bride would be able to resist." Roberta blushed as she imagined how presumptuous her statement might sound to a man as wealthy as Mr. Leon.
"I assume then, that you haven't yet had the opportunity to go through the binder."
Roberta blushed a deeper shade of red.
"Not yet." she admitted. "But I will as soon as I go back to my room."
Jeremy took two steps closer to Roberta, then laid his hand on top of hers. Roberta froze. The warmth of his hand melted her frosty reaction and her skin slowly began to warm. She hadn't been as aware of another person's touch since earlier, when the blond had touched her collar bone with the tip of her finger. Her skin began to tingle as it remembered the sensation, and it began to tingle even further under the grasp of Jeremy's hand.
"There is no hurry" He told her. "In fact it probably wouldn't hurt if we got to know each other a little better. Would you like to play a little game Roberta?"
"Sure" Roberta agreed. She would do anything in order to have him let go of her hand. She would have a difficult time remaining professional as long as his skin was in contact with hers. She felt almost as if her skin had been waiting to be caressed by his touch. She imagined that his firm hard would have no difficulty exploring the hills and valleys of her skin. His hand would most likely be able to discover a part of her that others had missed.
"Finish your meal, and then meet me in the lounge for a nightcap." He left the room then said over his shoulder "It's five doors down on the left."
Roberta finished her meal. She felt better now that she had a full stomach. She was not yet tired. She knew that she should probably go back to her room and begin work. It was late but she could begin to compose emails to her vendors and organize a spreadsheet, detailing every aspect of the wedding plans. Most people were not aware of the amount of work that went into planning a wedding. Roberta took pride in ensuring that her brides and grooms were completely satisfied. As much experience as Roberta had, she had never yet planned a wedding with absolutely no input from the bride. She found herself imagining bluebells in the bride's bouquet. They would complement her eyes. The bluebells would be out of season and outlandishly expensive, but Mr. Leon, Jeremy could afford it. Roberta was getting ahead of herself. She didn't even know what type of flowers Jeremy wanted, or if he wanted flowers at all. Frankly, this had all been so out of the ordinary that nothing would surprise her. Before she started arranging the bouquet, Roberta would have to discover what the bride's name was.
Roberta walked into the lounge and saw Jeremy sitting in a leather chair, not unlike the one that she had sat in in Henderson's office earlier this evening. Before I fell completely into this rabbit hole, she thought. Jeremy gestured toward a dove gray linen chaise. As she walked over, she noticed that he had poured her a drink. It was a deep amber liquid in a cut crystal glass.
"Have you ever heard of two truths and a lie?" Jeremy asked her. Roberta did not think that she would have been more surprised if he has asked her if she wanted to play spin the bottle, or seven minutes in heaven, or any other game that she had played at her first boy and girl party in middle school.
"Of course" she answered. "We take turns telling each other three things about ourselves. Two are the truth and one is a lie. We then have to guess which the truth is and which the lie is."
"Exactly" Jeremy said. "Let's flip a coin to see who goes first. Call it in the air" He took a silver dollar out of the pocket of his night robe and spun it toward the ceiling.
"Heads" Roberta claimed as Jeremy caught the coin in his right hand and covered it with his left.
"Perfect, I always prefer tails" he said teasingly, and Roberta wasn't sure if it was the twinkle in his eye or the effect of the amber liquid, but she began to feel more comfortable than she had in a long time. Jeremy revealed the coin, it was heads.
"You first"
Roberta pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. She was not sure how revealing she should make her truths and how silly she should make her lie. She decided to really test Jeremy's ability to ascertain the truth.
"First," she began "I mistook Henderson for you when he answered the door. "Second-My favorite color is rose-petal pink. Third- I have never been in love"
Jeremy bit his lip.
"Your first truth is easy to decipher" he said "Everyone mistakes Henderson for me, he has the air of a billionaire and the wardrobe to go with it.
Roberta giggled "That he does"
"Your next two however are pose a little bit more of a challenge. You favorite color could most absolutely be rose-petal pink. It certainly would complement your complexion. I see how you would receive streams of compliments whenever you wear the shade. But, perhaps you did not wish to reveal a personal secret to me, and so you lied about your favorite color. Even if only the shade. You might adore pink, but a deeper magenta that matches your personality."
Roberta remained stone-faced. She did not want to give anything away. Roberta was competitive and it would give her a little thrill to be able to deceive this powerful man.
"Now as for being in love, any woman who is as beautiful as you would most undoubtedly have a string of suitors, I have no doubt that you have ever to experience a Friday night at home alone without having turned down three men willing to wine and dine you. But, to be loved is quite a different thing than being in love. As much as I want to believe that you have not had to go through life without ever being in love, I am going to go out on a limb and say the other truth is that you have never been in love. Am I right?"
"You are", Roberta said amazed. "My favorite color is gold."
"My turn" Jeremy said then he crossed his legs and tapped his forehead as he pondered what truths and lie to reveal. Roberta leaned forward in anticipation.
"Here we go Roberta. One- I never go sailing because I get dreadfully seasick. Two- I prefer the taste of molasses over the taste of caviar. Three- The one thing I have yet to accomplish and fear that I never will, is to be a father. Take your time"
Roberta took her time. She did not wish to pontificate aloud as she reasoned through the two truths and a lie. She was silent for several minutes. Jeremy sat patiently in the chair and did not pressure her to make a quick decision.
"You don't strike me as the kind of person who gets seasick." she said "I'll bet you that your stomach is as tough as nails.
"You got me!" Jeremy exclaimed, and as he did Roberta was briefly saddened. How distressing it was that she had never been in love and that Jeremy had not yet fulfilled his desire to become a father. How out of the ordinary that she felt the need to reveal the truth to this stranger
that she had not admitted to anyone else. She had not even told Marianna that she had never been in love. Marianna seemed to fall in love with a new man every other week, and revealed to Roberta the deepest feelings of her heart, never noticing that Roberta seemed to avoid the subject of love altogether. She could barely even admit it to herself. She had been so successful in life. She had made her living, and an enviable one at that, by planning the ceremony that joined two people in love together for life. Every day she met with people who were so in love, that they were willing to spend the rest of their lives with another person. Roberta wondered for the first time if she had chosen her occupation in order to bask in the light of the love of others in order to fill the void in her heart.
"Is it too late to join in on the fun?" a feminine voice asked and Roberta went rigid in anticipation and fear.
"Of course darling" Jeremy replied." Roberta, it is my pleasure to introduce you to my love, Cynthia."
"We've met" Roberta answered. Jeremy didn't look surprised.
"But I left before revealing my true identity." Cynthia said. She was dressed in a black silk dressing gown. It made an interesting contrast. Her light skin covered in black and Roberta's darker complexion enclosed by white. Cynthia's robe hung loosely from her slender frame while Roberta's pajama set hugged her curvy flesh.
Jeremy refilled Roberta's glass and poured one for Cynthia. Roberta gratefully drank. She was beginning to feel light headed and enjoyed the sensation. Cynthia sat cross legged on the floor in front of Roberta. She insistently patted the floor next to her and beckoned for Jeremy and Roberta to join her. They obeyed.