Taken

by Mia Ford

  "So, he sends his limousine to pick me up two times a week. He said he'd send it every day if I wanted him to but I would feel funny about that. Wouldn't you feel funny about that?" I asked Diamond whose eyes were rolling in her head.

  "No. I would not feel funny about that. Not at all." She took another sip and then began flapping her hands wildly. I knew that meant she had forgotten to ask something important before she took her last gulp of vodka.

  "Have you driven past your old worksite, you know, just in case any of those old cluckers are out there? Don't tell me you haven't at least thought about doing that."

  "Right?" I had to laugh. Diamond knew me so well. Granted, I was a little more discreet than she was, but we were always finishing each other's sentences, reading each other's minds and considering each other's feelings. It wasn't uncommon for us to feel an urge to just pick up the phone or stop by unannounced only to find the other once had some good news to share or bad news to work through. Like a set of twins from totally different parents we just had a connection. "I have. I'm such a snob but I have!"

  We laughed so hard I was sure the people around us thought that at five-fifteen on a Tuesday afternoon the two women in the booth in the back were already drunker than skunks.

  "Did anyone see you?" Diamond asked.

  "Nope. But I can't say I didn't have fun anyways." I said gushing like a school girl whose boyfriend drives a red corvette and picks her up at the front of the school.

  "And you're not giving up, right? You're going to keep going until someone sees you getting into or out of that stretch. I want to know the look on their faces. My gosh, you know whoever it is will leave skid marks they take off so fast to report what they've seen. You'll be like an urban Sasquatch sighting."

  By this time my stomach was hurting from laughing so hard.

  After ordering another round and calming ourselves down I shook my head and looked at Diamond. She was beautiful with black hair, thick black eyelashes and a perfectly placed beauty mark high on her right cheek.

  "And then there is the boss." I said. "Di, I can't believe I'm talking like this. This is what plays on an endless loop on the Lifetime network. Weird, unrealistic love stories that always end in..."

  "End in what? End in blissful happiness? End in mutual friendship? Nat, you are an awesome person. I can see why these dudes are both interested in you. You're just plain amazing both inside and out."

  Taking another sip I blushed at Diamond's compliments.

  "This is just too good to be true, though. I'm not the kind of girl who dates Billionaires, let alone two."

  "Well, I guess they don't know that." Diamond said, smiling at the waiter who brought us our drinks and watching him just a little as he walked away. "Now tell me. Joshua is the guy who got you the job with what is the runner-up's name?"

  "His name is Marty Reid. He's the President and CEO."

  "And you are the assistant to his assistant?"

  "Yes, and let me tell you his assistant Denise is a ballbuster. She doesn't take any crap from anyone, she watches over Marty like a hawk and makes sure everything is just so or else be prepared for a lecture." I said, my eyebrows well up into my forehead.

  "Is she mean?"

  "No. I wouldn't say mean. She's precise. Very professional. But she doesn't seem to bat an eye when Marty asks me to stay late with him."

  "How did that all come about?"

  I thought for a minute and was almost shocked at how easy it had happened.

  On about my third day at my new job I was still very nervous. Denise was rattling off instructions that I was scribbling down from the minute I got there in the morning to when I left at night. It seemed like everything that needed to be done had a specific procedure that had to be followed. That night she was leaving me to handle locking up her desk and Mr. Reid's. Except, when I went to lock up Mr. Reid's office he was still there.

  "You don't plan on locking me in, do you?" He asked, scaring the daylights out of me.

  "Oh, no. Well, you're not supposed to be here. Denise said I was to lock up. Are you leaving?" even though he was the big boss I answered to Denise and I didn't want to screw anything up.

  "Well, I suppose I could but I've got some Chinese food on its way."

  "Okay. I'll just wait around until you go then." I said, not really knowing what else to do. You know how bosses can be. If you assume they are going to do something that requires common sense you'll get bitten in the ass every time. I should know. Every boss I ever worked for lacked the sense of the common man. If I left without locking up Marty would leave, not think to lock his own office door and that would be the night the place gets looted. Who would they blame? Not the dumbass CEO who didn't lock his door. The secretary who was told to do it, that's who.

  "Would you like to join me for dinner?" he asked.

  I looked around as if he might be talking to someone else and he chuckled a little. It wasn't a condescending or cocky laugh. It was like he was surprised I was so surprised.

  "You said Chinese food, right?" I asked.

  "Yup."

  "MSG?"

  "Loaded."

  I smiled and walked into his office.

  "And that was it? No sweeping everything off his desk to make wild passionate love under the fluorescent lights?" Diamond laughed.

  "No."

  "Your cheeks are as red as a stop sign. What the heck, Nat? You better spill it before I beat it out of you. What kind of job security do you have?"

  "None. Really. I mean, yes, there is a connection with Marty."

  "Above or below the waist?"

  "Can you climb out of the gutter for just a few minutes?"

  "I'm sorry. I'm out."

  I looked around the bar we were at. It was a dumpy place with poor lighting and a jukebox that played the most horrible construction worker rock. As the night went on and the patrons got a little looser someone would inevitably play Journey's Don't Stop Believing, AC/DC Shook Me All Night Long or Tom Segar's Old Time Rock and Roll. There were no windows to speak of. The sound of the balls being knocked around the pool tables in the back of the room could be heard every couple of minutes. But what I liked, as trashy as it sounded, was the smell. People used to be able to smoke in here and had for years and years before the anti-smoker movement took hold. Now, it was forbidden to even light one within ten feet of the door let alone smoke inside these dingy walls. But the smell remained and I liked it. It reminded me of carnivals when I was a kid and sneaking into bars with my fake ID's as a teenager.

  "Marty isn't like a regular guy. I mean, when I'm on the clock he's very professional."

  "Professional how? Does he ignore you or does he talk to you like an equal to...say, Denise."

  "I don't think he'll ever see anyone on par with Denise. She's just that kind of secretary." I took a deep breath and let it out. "The best example I can give is that two nights ago we were in his office just talking. He was on his loveseat that faces the window and I had pulled the chair in front of his desk around to face him. Well, this Wally guy comes in, they talk a little business and he leaves saying goodnight to both of us like it was no big deal. Marty didn't make an issue. I certainly didn't and I don't know if Wally went and wrote it all over the stalls in the men's room but no one acted funny to me the next day."

  "Well, that sounds nice." Diamond said, seeming to soften up a little.

  "And most of the time he leaves his office door open when I’m there."

  I knew that would get the wheels turning in Diamond's head. I smiled at her and laughed as I took another sip of my new drink.

  "What do you talk about when the door is still open?"

  How did I explain this to my friend? Here I was just a little person who was no different from anyone else and this powerhouse businessman, whose net worth had so many zeros after it I couldn't even imagine saying the number out loud, who wanted to talk to me about some movie he saw that made him laugh or the kind of dog he wanted to get when he ret
ired.

  "You gotta be home for a dog or they get lonely. They're like children that way. I'm just not home that much right now," He said almost sadly.

  What kind of a billionaire worried about if their dog was lonely or not? He said he had birdfeeders all around his country home in the Hamptons and that to keep the squirrels from eating the bird’s food he put jellybeans all over the ground.

  When I asked him how he got into the business and he began to tell me about his father, he lit up like a Christmas tree. His eyes got all bright and happy and his hands became animated as he described coming to work with him as a kid. Then, he talked about his mother who obviously earned a different kind of respect from him.

  "Until the day she died I sent her flowers once a week. I only wish I could have found a wife and had some kids before she left." He said and stopped chewing on the egg rolls he had gotten from Wing Ho Chinese Restaurant a couple blocks down from the building. He missed his parents.

  "He's like an old fashioned gentleman wrapped up in a modern, three thousand dollar suit." I said shaking my head. "I don't think a lot of people just talk to him, you know. I think he is probably used to people always coming at him with an angle. And I don't want anything from him. Just my job."

  "Yeah, so, there is not attraction to this guy at all?"

  "I didn't say that! He's smokin'. His eyes are blue and his hair is sandy brown and all of his suits are custom fit and let me just say he wears them well."

  "Have...you...kissed him yet?" Diamond leaned in closer.

  "I'm not telling."

  "You're terrible!" she squealed. "I know you did. You can't fool me. Now what about Joshua? How does he fit in with all this?"

  Just the mention of his name made my whole body heat up. As much as Marty was a gentleman, Joshua was a firecracker. He was bold and liked to be seen.

  "It was his idea that he have his limo pick me up and take me to and from work. What kind of a guy does that, right? And he's very affectionate. He's always rubbing my back or holding my hand or leaning in close to me and whispering something in my ear."

  "Now, here is the billion dollar question. Oops. No pun intended!" Diamond laughed out loud at her own horrible pun. "Do you see a future with either one of these guys?"

  I sat and thought for a moment.

  "I think it is a little too early to tell. Besides, how often do you think these guys go out with women who are picking out china patterns after their first drink together? I don't want to be like that. I just want to be me and if the day comes that that isn't good enough for one or both of them I haven't lost anything."

  "So what you’re saying is you aren't getting too involved." Diamond asked.

  "The truth is I'm afraid to. I don't know, Di. Like I said, maybe I'm just not cut out for this kind of lifestyle."

  "Well, my advice would be to date them both. Men do it all the time, rich ones and poor ones. You aren't married, you can have as many boyfriends as you like. You're beautiful, smart, and hilarious to talk to. They should be ready and willing to spend every dime they have to keep you. In fact," Diamond tossed back the last gulp of her second martini. "They should be willing to show you how much they care by giving your best friend a stack of bills and a ride in the limo."

  She waved over the waiter indicating two more martinis.

  We continued our girl’s night out ordering some potato skins and fried zucchini. By the time I left and hailed myself a cab I was buzzing just a bit. I couldn't tell Diamond all about Joshua. Not yet. My gut was telling me that being with him was just a lust thing.

  He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. When he looked at me it was like there was something slowly smoldering behind that blue and he smiled all the time making his eyes squinty in the corners. It was obvious he worked out. I felt the muscles in his arms and the flat surface of his chest the first time I met him when he whisked me into his car. I don't know if he intentionally did that, letting a little bit of his ego show, or if he was just trying to keep me dry underneath the umbrella.

  When Mrs. Ogawa called and told me I was hired I immediately called Joshua to tell him and thank him.

  "So, as I see it you owe me diner." He said over the phone, his deep voice making my knees melt.

  "I'd like to but I haven't gotten paid yet. You may have to wait about two weeks before I can afford a fancy meal from McDonald's." I teased.

  "Then I guess I'll just have to pay for everything until then. Have you eaten already?"

  "No." I looked in the mirror and thought I looked a fright.

  "Great. I'll pick you up in half an hour and we'll go celebrate."

  "You know, I'm not dressed very fancy so can we keep it on the simple side?"

  "Natasha, you're going to learn I don't keep anything on the simple side."

  That was it. End of discussion. He was on his was to pick me up so I threw on a simple dress, put my hair in a ponytail, added some red lips and that was all she wrote.

  When he showed up he had a bucket of fried chicken, a bottle of Cristal, two straws and a big blanket. Driving for about thirty minutes out of the city we pulled into a beautiful park in a lazy suburb called Manooka.

  "Is this simple enough for you?"

  "It's perfect." I said, feeling my cheeks flash red as he looked at me. After he laid down the blanket, he took me by the hand, pulled me close to him and kissed me. I wasn't sure if it was the quiet of being away from the city or the unconventional gesture of laying out a picnic for me but I kissed him back with everything I had.

  Maybe it was because I hadn't been kissed like that in a very long time. Who am I trying to fool? So things progressed and we made love there, on the soft picnic basket as our food got cold and the Cristal got warm. I was sure I had blown any chance I could have had with him. No guy wants to spend too much time and energy on a girl that puts out so quickly. But I felt better than I had in a long time.

  If I never saw him again that was okay because I had a new job and the pay was better and there would be other men and other picnics and maybe no limos or Cristal but that wouldn't be the end of the world.

  You can imagine my surprise when he called me the very next night. I tried to play it cool, like "oh, hey, hi, uh, what's your name again?" But when he told me he had a little time before work to visit I found myself saying sure come on over.

  "You work at night?" I asked.

  "That is when I can get things done without interruptions of phones and meetings and all that."

  Sure. Made sense to me. Why more businessmen didn't do it I couldn't tell you. So, like a whirlwind I ran through my apartment picking up clothes and dropping dirty dishes in the sink. I fixed my hair and put on a shirt with a lot of buttons and a pair of jeans.

  I had decided that the previous day’s exhibit was a fluke. A one-time thing. I wasn't that easy and no matter how he looked at me, no matter if he took me into his strong, firm arms, no matter that I couldn't stop thinking about it all day I was determined to be a good girl.

  We didn't make love again. But instead he kissed me like we had never been intimate together. He pulled me close and I could feel his heart pound in his chest beneath a breastplate of muscle. I knew what he was doing. He was making me want him. And I did. I could barely see straight by the time he left. But I wasn't sure if that made me happy or upset or mad.

  No. I couldn't tell Diamond any of this. Little did I know that it would be Diamond telling me a few things about Joshua that I didn't know.

  JOSHUA

  This was different. If I had to predict the actions of Natasha Morgan to my future protégé at this stage in our relationship I would have been completely wrong. That doesn't happen. Not to me. I could tell that my luck had gone from good to great. How could a woman who has completely blind-sided me with her behavior be great luck? I had met my match.

  After our lovemaking out in the open just steps from the kiddies playground in a slightly secluded alcove that was private enough for a picnic but not so much to be
pleasuring such a passionate partner I had resigned myself to the fact that my relationship with Natasha would burn fast and fizzle quickly.

  It was just a matter of hours after dropping her off that I had begun to plan my exit strategy. It would be full of drama. I'd forget to return a phone call or two. She'd be promised an evening out where I wouldn't show up or call. A few dozen roses to work she'd forgive me and welcome me completely thinking her sex was enough to keep me coming back.

  Do you know how many women thought this was the key to getting a man like me to marry them? To just give it up like they would to any bar-back, valet or grocery bagger that gave them a wink made me wonder what mothers were teaching their daughters these days.

  So you can imagine my surprise when the next time I saw Natasha she had locked up the candy store.

  "I'm sorry about last night." she said. Her voice was adorably embarrassed. But I have to admit I thought it was just another act. "I got caught up in the moment. I haven't been on a date in a good while, let alone anything else. You must think I'm just big ol' whore."

  "What?" I laughed. "Well, I don't think that."

  "Sure you don't." she said back. I could hear her voice relaxing just a little. "It's just that you helped me so much and you've been very; well, seductive with some of your gestures toward me. So I really should blame you one hundred percent for my fall from grace."

  A girl who made me laugh was a rare and precious thing.

  "Natasha, I don't do these things for just anyone."

  "Yeah, I bet you say that to all the girls."

  It took me a good while to convince her I'd be on my best behavior. Finally she agreed and at the end of that second date she left me at the stoop of her apartment with nothing more than a kiss and an ache in my lower extremities.

  The Universe was having a grand time making me work. But every time I saw her I felt closer to solving this mystery of Natasha Morgan. What I needed was a little inside information.

  It had been about four months into our relationship and still Natasha had not given herself to me again. I knew she wanted to. I could tell by the way she got all breathy before she'd leave me and the way her eyes would glaze over just a little as she looked at me. But the girl's willpower was like steel. "When do I get to meet some of your friends?" I asked her one night while we sat in a quiet corner of Amici's. I liked that restaurant. They didn't let just anyone in and they took pride in making sure no one on the outside knew who was filling the seats there. It was romantic for her and discreet for me.