The Pandora Affair

by Tiffany Toto

  An extremely loud knock woke Samantha from her slumber, lifting her off the bed quickly. She was rather disoriented. She took a look at her watch, wondering if she had slept the night away already. It was nine o’clock. Not sure if it was morning or night, she looked out the window. It was still dark. She hurried down her hallway and peeked through the peephole. She did not recognize the beautiful, perfectly sculpted man who stood at her door but she didn’t want to hold that against him. She figured he was about 6’0. His maple brown hair and light hazel eyes were a nice fit for him and he had the muscle tone of an athlete.

  “Hello!” he said to her from the other side of the door. “H-Hello, can I help you?” she asked him. “Sorry to impose this late, but you just moved in, right? My name is Tyler Ashton; I live a few doors down. I thought I would welcome you, before you get sucked in to the rumor factory around here.” Samantha unchained the door, flipped the lock and slowly opened the door. He smiled as he offered his hand. “I’m sorry…ru...rumor factory?” she acknowledged almost staring into space. The disorientation slowly began to dissipate the longer she gazed at the handsome stranger, her smile perpetual.

  “May I come in?” he asked. She wasn’t accustomed to letting strange men in her apartment, but she didn’t see or feel a threat from him. “Of course, where are my manners, please come in.” she offered. “I brought some wine and goodies; I thought we could sit and get acquainted and veg.” Tyler said. “Yeah, sure…I am still getting moved in. Don’t mind the mess. I’ll get some glasses.” Samantha walked to the kitchen and rifled through some boxes trying to find some glasses; she glanced over seeing the glasses that were used earlier. Rinsing them out quickly in the sink, she did a quick check on her make-up and hair from the reflection on the microwave just above the sink.

  “Here we go, just bought these today and already broke them in once, won’t hurt to do it again,” she said as she handed Tyler a glass. “We can go shopping and get the most fabulous airbrushed glassware at a shop downtown, the artist is amazing…incredibly amazing,” he offered with a smile. She knew at that precise moment that the hair and make-up check was useless. She took a seat on the floor against her new lounge and held out her glass. He filled her glass halfway as he took a seat himself.

  Tyler told Samantha all about himself and everyone else in the apartments around her. Within a thousand foot radius was a tramp and a sweet old lady who loved to play matchmaker and continued to try to set him up with the woman upstairs. “I don’t think she has a clue she is barking up the wrong tree. I don’t have the heart to clue her in that men are more my cup of tea,” Tyler said. He lived two doors down on the left. He told her he was a public relations rep and that he was exploring the possibilities of freelancing if his boss did not come through with a workable deal soon. He just got out of a relationship of two years with a confused boyfriend who constantly cheated on him with the tramp. He was not looking for another relationship right now, because it was a hard breakup.

  He already adored her because she was so easy to talk to. He would say something and she knew exactly where he was going with it, finishing his sentence. Samantha understood how hard it was trying to start over. She told him her story about moving from a small town up north. She was so happy to finally have a new friend that she could talk to. They stayed up finishing the wine and watching I Love Lucy reruns. Evidently, they hit it off wonderfully.

  She had been so lonesome; it looked as though like her luck was changing all around. By the end of the night she found her new best friend; buddies for life and he even adored Baby. She passed out on her fifth glass of wine and Tyler felt it was his responsibility to put her to bed since he had provided the wine. “Come on honey, time for bed.” He scooped her up in his arms and gently flipped her over his shoulder. Tyler knew his way around the apartment, since he had almost the same layout at his place. He pushed open her bedroom door with his foot, then laid her on the bed and covered her up.

  He cleaned up the mess that was made and washed her glasses for her before getting ready to leave. He went back to the living room and realized he had locked his keys in his apartment. He didn’t think she would mind if he crashed on the couch but he did not want to make that assumption. Tyler racked his brain trying to think of an alternative. It looked like he did not have a choice. There was not a maintenance man available since theirs had just up and quit and they were in the process of looking for another. He supposed he would have to take his chances, hoping she would understand. He was after all the perfect gentleman. He found himself a blanket and stripped off his shirt helping himself to her new, very large and comfortable couch.

  Tyler awoke the next morning to a knock at Samantha’s door. He was quick to his feet, making his way to the front hall. He did a quick check down the hall to her bedroom. She still was not up. Not wanting to wake her since it was fairly early, he opened the door. There stood James, who was not expecting to see another man, especially a shirtless one. Samantha slowly opened her bedroom door, slightly surprised. The look on James’s face is priceless, Samantha thought to herself as she stepped from her bedroom into the hallway. She watched for a few minutes as James re-checked the number off to the side of the door. “I’m sorry; I must have the wrong place…” James stammered, confused at how he could make a mistake such as this. “Are you looking for Samantha?” Tyler inquired. James’s head swung around to Tyler.

  “Good morning!” she greeted them as she walked up to Tyler and gave him a quick, friendly kiss on the lips. Tyler caught on to her game and was more than happy to play along. He loved making other men jealous, whatever the situation. “Good morning! I have to get going, but I will call you later. Last night…what can I say? You are amazing!” Tyler gave her another quick kiss on the cheek and smacked her bottom with his hand as he left.

  James watched him walk past and down the hall, his left eyebrow cocked and his lips formed into a small thin line. “Would you like some coffee?” she asked while trying not to smile. She could sense his irritation before he even said anything. She watched his jaw clench before he spoke. “Being sociable with the neighbors already?” James blurted out sarcastically as he shut the door behind him. She recognized the tone in his voice, its name was jealousy and it seemed to have reared its ugly head. “Oh yeah, I love it here, people are so friendly, Tyler is great. He has lived here for four years and was giving me the heads up,” she told James. “Yeah, you two have so much in common,” he huffed out in a deep breath. She remained silent for a minute allowing him to get worked up.

  “Including what kind of men we like.” Waiting to see if he perceived what she just said. He looked at her. “You have to be careful, you don’t want to get involved with…OH…well of course there are plenty of decent people around this area, that’s why I chose it. Is the coffee ready?” His temper seemed to have turned 180 degrees as he tried to change the subject. She handed him his coffee and made herself a cup. “I thought coffee stains your teeth.” “Coffee stains everyone’s teeth, it doesn’t have a personal vendetta against me…I plan on drinking enough coffee to survive your B.S. from now until the day I quit. Plus, you can afford to send me to the dentist whenever I feel the need to get my teeth whitened. So that basically covers the issue of my coffee stained teeth.” “Someone rolled off the wrong side of the broom this morning,” James scoffed as he took a hefty drink of caffeine, sounding as though he had enough of her attitude.

  “James according to my contract you have no right to get into my personal life. I want to set this straight before we go any further.” She repented immediately for the way she told him to butt out of her life. He was used to her curt tone with him by now; he said nothing more about it. He knew he would have to bide his time to get through her jagged exterior. She looked away hoping for a subject change as they both sat there. It was though she could feel his offense in his light eyes.

  “We have a busy day. Roger’s out with the flu and I have to open Pandora’s, so how about we get going?�
� He helped himself to more coffee rebounding quickly from her emotional morning bitch session. “I have a better idea, why don’t you go and get started and I will meet you there after a quick shower,” Samantha suggested as a compromise that would hopefully break the uncomfortable tension. “Fine, I just thought we could get an early start,” he said. “We will, but I have to take a shower and you’re not invited,” she said, pushing him out the door. He turned around to say something to her. She grabbed his coffee cup and closed the door.

  Samantha rummaged through some boxes to find some clothes to wear to work. The movers packed everything so tight it wrinkled most of them. She laid her clothes out on the floor and went over them with the iron before she hopped into the shower. Deciding she better not push her luck on her first official day as an assistant she hurried through her makeup. She made her way out to her new car unaware that the alarm was set; she slipped in the car slamming the door behind her. She sat there for five minutes bemoaning the fact she never learned to drive a stick shift. She was afraid to attempt it so she ended up walking to work. It was a good thing it wasn’t far.

  “Shortly? An hour and half later is shortly?” he asked her as she walked through the front door. “What? I had a minor problem with the new car this morning,” she huffed. “Your new car? What’s wrong with it? It’s right from the showroom, it should be perfect…” She came over to the front register as he was counting a drawer for the morning hostess. He heard her respond, but was unable to make out what she said. “Samantha, what’s wrong with your new car?” He stopped what he was doing and waited for her to say something.

  “I don’t know how to drive a stick shift,” she admitted as though it was a dirty secret, avoiding eye contact with James. “You can’t drive a stick?” He acknowledged her statement making sure he heard right. “I guess it’s about time you learned.” He slammed shut the register and shoved the current register receipts in his front pocket for safekeeping and walked off. She tried to make herself busy trying to pretend not to hear what he said.

  Samantha collected all the menus from the back that needed to be brought up front then took a bucket of silverware to start rolling it up in the napkins. James just watched her as she worked; he was impressed that she took it upon herself to get something done if needed. She had a great work ethic; he knew she would never let him down. He couldn’t help but speculate what made someone so soft and small, so angry and defensive. He hoped she would eventually come around to find out he wasn’t the bad guy here.

  “Sarah called in. She said her son is sick,” she told him. “That’s just wonderful. She was my opener. What is this? Is everybody in L.A. sick today?” Frustration became an apparent part of his expression. “No worries. I’ve opened with Roger, I’ll take opener today.” Dashing in the back to find a uniform, she came back looking as though she had waitressed right out of the womb. Her apron was taut against her body bunched between her boobs. Having the sudden urge to breastfeed he made a mental note to get different aprons for the waitresses, never before noticing how the cloth deliberately separated their breasts, giving even the smallest chest an adequate amount of cleavage. “No worries,” she assured him, breaking the seductive trance her boobs besieged upon him. She gave him a small wink as she flipped the open sign. She never ceased to amaze him, the queen of ice turned into the queen of nice in the blink of an eye. He shook his head as he walked back to the office to put away his receipts.

  It was the busiest morning that Pandora’s had in a long time, yet not one complaint about the service. Samantha multi-tasked very well, James could not help but wonder how well. He was more than willing to find out. By the second shift she was absolutely exhausted. She changed back into her street clothes, touched up her make-up and let down her hair. She then joined James at his regular table for lunch. “Wow, maybe I should have kept you as a waitress!” teasing her as he mopped ketchup with his seasoned french fry. “Yeah, yeah, you like it better this way and you know it…so what’s next? I mean what happens now?” She wasn’t sure what to say, it was an awkward moment for her. She felt uncomfortable with him.

  “Well, the second shift is coming in; the assistant manager will be here to take my place. I will be free to get some actual work done. Did you have something in mind?” He glanced over at her, thinking a piece was about to break off the iceberg. “No.” The simplicity of her abrupt answer exposed her fib. She bit her lower lip. “I need to get home; I am hoping Tyler knows how to drive a stick so he can teach me.”

  Samantha lifted herself from the booth and excused herself. James didn’t budge, just continued with his lunch. “Alright then, talk to you later,” was all he said, not even an offer to help her learn to drive her car came up. Not that she could blame him, she hadn’t been the easiest to get along with since they’d met. He thought it best not to offer any more help unless she asked for it, that w ay there was no confusion or hurt emotions.

  Chapter 4

  It had been a month now, and she was skilled on how to drive a stick shift after all, but all Samantha could think of was how far she had come since she met James. She looked down at Baby and rubbed behind her ears, turning to look over at her answering machine. There were no messages again. She swore to have a more active social life but her work consumed all her time. When she did find someone worth dating her boss kept her busier than accountants during tax season.

  She thought through her list of recent dates. There was Justin the brilliant financial advisor who would no doubt never be poor, but had the sensitivity of a drill sergeant. There was Anthony, who was devastatingly handsome, the only problem was…. he knew it. And lastly there was Andrew, the poor artist who took her out to eat at Pandora’s Bar and Grill because he knew she worked for the owner and everything would be on the house. The first time he swore he did not know. The second date lasted as far as pulling up to the restaurant parking lot. James banned him from Pandora’s with pleasure.

  Thoughts of all three mistake-men fabricating the ideal man bounced around in her head like an out- of- bounds tennis ball. They each had desirable qualities. She was going through additional qualities picking and choosing what she would add to make the perfect man, as if he were an omelet. Midway through the list her phone rang, it was the ultimate man, the man of her dreams. It was Tyler. “What’s up my love?” he said charismatically.

  “You’re such a tease, why can’t you be straight?” “Why aren’t you a man? Good lord what is that vibrating sound, what the hell are you doing?” “I’m holding Baby, she is shaking up against the phone, and I am wondering why she is the only one that loves me,” she answered. “Oh girl, please! Save the drama for daytime TV, you know I love you!” In reality Tyler had more drama then a roomful of women together. “Anyway, the reason I called is… to actually tell you how fabulous I am…and…that I got us into Club Keys!” Samantha heard his gloating through the phone. “LIAR!” she roared. “How did you get us in??” she demanded. “I slept with the bouncer, darling! He is the most obvious in-the-closet case in the history of closet cases!” Ty retorted. “LIAR!” she roared again with laughter. “OK, you got me, they are looking for a new PR rep and my boss recommended the most marvelous rep he had…me…I was just hoping the bouncer was an in-the-closet case because it would make it that much more fun!” he told her. “You’re such a WHORE!!” She told him. His laughter echoed in her ear. “You’re just jealous that I get more men then you do, doll! I have a meeting in one hour and I still have to get a quick workout in!” Ty hung up the phone. She mocked Tyler in her head you’re just jealous that I get more men then you do! It produced a smile as she hung up the receiver.

  Samantha jumped in the shower to get the day’s humidity off her, curled up with her latest magazine to find out the newest way to please your man article; not that she had one to please but it’s always nice to know. Baby curled up at her side, that’s when she knows it’s time to go to sleep. She reached over to turn her lamp off. She slid deep under her silky shee
ts and gave Baby a prolonged scratch behind the ears. Baby, if I had a man as loyal and loving as you, I would have it made she thought to herself, slowly drifting off to sleep.

  Samantha had just awakened and was still in her underwear when a knock came to the front door. She slipped into her robe and answered her door. “Good morning sweet cakes!” Ty said as he walked in, making himself comfortable at the kitchen table. “I am getting ready for work. What’s up?” she asked as she walked into her bedroom. Tyler got annoyed when she started talking and walked away from him at the same time. He got up and followed her. She stripped off her robe, back to her un-matched panties and bra. Ty cocked his perfectly formed brow, shaking his head at her mismatched intimate apparel, another one of his pet peeves. “I thought we could go shopping for a Club Key’s outfit,” he offered, digging through her underwear drawer, picking out an actual pair that matched and tossed them to her. “I can’t today; I have so much running around to do!” she replied apologetically. “How about tomorrow? Tomorrow would be perfect.” She waited for his approval of her rain check offer before slipping on her matched set of underwear.