The Arrangement (14 page)

Lucas
walked along the corridor and headed straight into the men’s
toilets. It was only a short break so he wouldn’t have long.
The inside of the toilet had that horrible chemical bleach smell. The
walls were white, the floor was white, and the ceiling was white. No
one else was inside. ‘Just focus on your breathing,’ he
repeated one of the teachings he had read in a public speaking
manual. ‘When you talk to someone look them dead in the eye and
lean forward to place yourself in a position of power.’ He
walked to the urinal and pulled down his zip. ‘Use words like
we, or the company, to sound more commanding…’

‘People
will think you’re mad if you talk to yourself,’ said
Emma.

Lucas
could feel his heart stop.

He
glanced back over his shoulder to see her leaning back against one of
the sinks. She had her arms crossed over her chest, which only went
to push up her breasts and make them stand out more than usual. She
somehow managed to look sexy even in a chemical smelling men’s
toilet. Lucas turned back and tried to put her out of his mind. He
was already in mid-flow and there really wasn’t a great deal he
could do to stop himself.

‘How
is the meeting going?’ the sound of her heels clicked off the
floor.

‘Um…’
he could feel his cheeks start to warm. ‘It is going well.’

‘Is
there anything I can do for you?’ she whispered into her ear
from behind.

‘I
have a list of files I need faxed through from the main office.’

‘What
files do you need?’ she spoke in a low sexy voice.

‘The
list is in my pocket, give me a second and…’ before he
could finish Emma slipped her soft delicate hand into his trouser
pocket. Lucas swallowed down the lump in his throat at the feel of
her hand so close to his groin, as he held himself in his hands. He
released the breath he hadn’t even realised he had been
holding, as she pulled the list free from his pocket.

‘I
will get this for you straight away.’

‘Yes.
Thank you.’ He tucked himself back inside her trousers and
pulled up his zip. He turned around to find Emma standing directly
behind him. She looked up into the windows of his soul and seemed to
look straight through him. Even though Lucas was taller he was
starting to feel so small whenever she looked at him. She reached up
and brushed some dust from his shoulder and straightened out his tie.

‘Now
you look perfect.’ She smiled and headed for the door.

***

Scarlett
looked at the clothes laid out upon her bed. She had pulled out
nearly every outfit that she owned, but she was still none the wiser
about what she should wear for tonight’s dinner. Her hand
hovered above the selection laid out on the bed before her. Finally,
it dived down like some kind of bird of prey and latched onto a long
flowing purple dress. She held it up against her body, as she
examined herself in the bedroom mirror.

‘It
looks too formal,’ she told her reflection.

It
was tossed down into the rejection pile.

‘I
need something that looks good, but isn’t too slutty or
desperate.’ She returned her attention to the bed and grabbed
an outfit with each hand. The clothes were scrutinized in mirror. One
was a blouse and skirt combination, but something about it didn’t
seem right. It was too informal. She held the other dress against her
body. It was a very sexual dark red tube dress.

Scarlett
went to toss it down when she held it up against her body for a
second time. ‘Does it send the wrong message?’ she asked
the mirror. It was the type of dress she wore when she wanted to look
sexy for Lucas. It was true that Brandon was gorgeous, but they were
just friends. This was dinner with a friend. It wasn’t like
they were actually going out on a date.

Scarlett
placed the dress down into the maybe pile.

She
looked around her room. It was now a mess. She hadn’t meant for
things to get out of hand like this, but something inside her was
excited about going out with Brandon. She wanted to look good. There
was no harm in that, right? Scarlett caught her reflection in the
mirror, as she went to approach the bed. She was wearing nothing more
than a dark purple pair of matching panties and bra. Her slim toned
body looked good enough to be on the front cover of a magazine.

‘Maybe
I should go like this?’ a blush rushed up through her body and
bloomed like a flower upon her cheeks. She giggled like some sort of
school girl and gave her head a quick shake. ‘We are just
friends and this is not a date.’ She reminded herself for the
one hundredth time.

***

Lucas
watched the world blur by, as he stared out the side window of the
taxi. A beautiful red glow was stretching out across the sky. The sun
was starting to set. Many of the tall towering buildings of the city
already had interior lights on. Each light represented a person with
a story of their own, a life of their own, and a conflict of their
own. He slyly glanced out of the corner of his eye at his conflict.
Emma’s smooth long elegant legs came into view. She was sitting
in the back seat of the car with him. No one had said anything of
substance since they had left the meeting and got into the taxi. He
was finding it hard to say anything to her because the more they
spoke the more he seemed to like her.

‘You
can talk to me,’ she said into the silence.

‘I
know.’ He turned away from her and looked out the window.

‘It’s
just that you haven’t really said much of anything to me since
yesterday.’

‘Haven’t
I?’ he tried to play it cool, but it was the truth.

‘No.
You haven’t. You have avoided me since lunch time.’

‘I
wouldn’t say avoiding…’ he made the fatal error.

‘Oh,
and what would you say it is?’

For
the first time since getting in the car he looked up into her big
blue eyes. Emma had a face of an angel. He could see how sad and
conflicted she was through the windows of her soul. He could see that
she liked him and she could see that he liked her. ‘There is
certain chemistry between us,’ he whispered so that the driver
wouldn’t be able to hear. ‘You are one of the most
beautiful and sexiest women I have ever seen in my life, but more
than that you are so sweet and funny, kind and interesting. You have
so many levels to you and that is where the problem lies.’

‘Why
is that a problem?’ she whispered in reply.

Even
that seemed sexy to him.

‘It
wouldn’t be if I was single. If I was single, yesterday
lunchtime would have been very different. I wouldn’t have let
you walk away after touching me like you did, but I am madly in love
with my fiancée.’

‘I
understand.’ She gifted him with a smile. ‘I don’t
normally do this. I have never cheated on someone, or asked someone
to cheat, but I don’t know what it is. I just really like you
and I have had enough bad experiences in my life to know that when I
find something so amazing, I would be a fool to let it slip by. So, I
take what I want.’

Lucas
could feel his mouth becoming very dry.

Hearing
such a goddess of beauty say this to him was mind blowing.

‘I
will be good.’ She reached across the empty seat between them
and squeezed his hand gently. ‘I respect that you love your
fiancée. I have found a really good friend in you and I won’t
do anything to jeopardise that.’

‘Thank
you.’ Lucas let out a deep breath.

This
conversation really helped remove some of the pressure and stress he
had been feeling.

‘But…’
Emma continued. ‘You will have to stop looking down my top.’

Lucas
turned an interesting shade of red, which brought a giggle out of
her.

‘I
thought I was being more careful,’ he mumbled.

‘You
are doing better to conceal it, but then again I kind of like the way
you look at me. Why do you think I have so many of my buttons
undone?’ Her smile contorted into something naughty.

‘I
will try to stop looking down your top then,’ he replied.

‘And
I will stop trying to get into your pants.’ She winked. If only
she knew the effect she was having on him she might not have said
that.

***

‘I
am really proud of you.’ Lucas couldn’t help but smile at
the cheerful tone of Scarlett’s voice. He looked a little silly
standing in the middle of the busy hotel lobby with a big cheesy grin
on his face, but he didn’t care. It was just good to finally
talk to her again. He had felt so bad about how they had left things
last night. ‘I knew you could do it,’ she continued to
build up his confidence.

‘Well,
the deal isn’t signed yet.’ Lucas tried to keep his feet
grounded.

‘From
what you have told me everything seemed to have been tied up.’

‘I
think it has.’ The demon of doubt still lingered in the back of
his mind. ‘I will just be happy when it is all completed
tomorrow morning.’

‘So,
you will be home tomorrow?’ she asked.

‘I
will be. Why have you missed me?’

‘You
know I have.’ In the background he could hear the doorbell
sound. ‘Oh dear, I have got to go.’

‘Who
is it?’ asked Lucas.

‘I
said I would go out to dinner with a writing friend,’ admitted
Scarlett.

‘Well,
tell her hi and I will talk to you later.’

‘Okay,
dear. I love you,’ she told him.

‘I
love you, too.’ And with that the phone line went dead. Lucas
quickly put his cell phone back in his coat pocket, picked his bag up
off the marble stone floor, and headed over towards the front desk.
Emma had been stood over there in discussion with a young
receptionist for a good five minutes now. She turned to face him with
a ticked off expression painted upon her face. She looked like a bear
that had just been poked rather hard with a sharp stick in a
sensitive region. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘Yes.’
Emma glared at the receptionist and then looked back at Lucas. ‘It
seems that the company only booked us one room.’

‘Oh…’
was all that Lucas could say.

‘I
have tried to get us separate rooms, but this lady says they are all
booked.’

‘I
am very sorry,’ added the receptionist.

Emma
completely blanked her. ‘We can try another hotel.’

Lucas
let out a long weary sigh. Spending the night with Emma had “Bad
Idea” written all over it, but the long flight and longer
meeting had left him tired both mentally and emotionally. He didn’t
have the energy to go looking for another hotel.

‘It
will do,’ he said.

Emma’s
brow nestled into a cute little frown.

‘It
is only one night after all.’ The two of them looked at each
other for a long drawn out moment ‘Unless you have a problem
with that?’

‘It
is fine by me.’ Emma turned and snatched the key off the
counter.

‘Lead
the way.’ Lucas picked her bag up off the floor and the two of
them headed in the direction of the elevator.

***

Why
hadn’t she corrected him? The thought ate away at her, as she
placed the phone down on the phone stand. Lucas had said to say “Hi,
to her” because he thought that she was going to go out with a
woman. Why hadn’t she told him that the writer friend was
actually a guy? It wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong,
was it?

The
doorbell echoed throughout the house again.

Scarlett
quickly ran her hand down her dress to straighten out any of the
creases. Her heart was beating so hard that she felt like it might
burst out through her ribcage. No matter how many times she told
herself it was only a harmless date it didn’t stop her from
feeling so nervous.

‘Just
coming,’ she shouted towards the front door.

She
grabbed her coat off the hook and went to put it on. Suddenly, she
stopped. A thought occurred to her. She wanted him to see the
beautiful dress she had put on. It wouldn’t have the same
effect with the coat. She hooked the coat over her arm and grabbed
her handbag.

The
front door opened with a click.

Brandon
greeted her with that charming smile. His long brown hair was tied
back behind his head and he wore a dark blue shirt that displayed his
muscular physique. Scarlett hadn’t realised just how wide and
powerful his shoulders and chest actually were until this moment.

‘Wow.’
He looked genuinely shocked.

Scarlett’s
cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

He
was looking her up and down and wasn’t even aware he was doing
it. It was a clear sign that the dress had worked. The dress ran off
one of her shoulders, which left the other one completely exposed for
him to see. It gave just enough idea of what her toned body looked
like underneath without actually giving anything away. The black
fabric of the dress clung tightly to her body and mapped out every
single curve of her perfect hourglass figure and large firm breasts.
One sleeve ran down to her wrist, whilst the other arm remained bare.
The base of the dress stopped at her knees and then it was smooth
legs all the way down to her black high heels that made her look
deceptively taller than she actually was.

‘You
look stunning,’ he told her.

‘Thank
you.’ Scarlett blushed again. ‘You look pretty good
yourself.’

Brandon
smile spread even further across his face. He held out a hand towards
her. ‘Shall we?’ Scarlett slipped her soft delicate palm
into his hand. The date had begun.

***

Lucas
kicked off his shoes and dropped down ass first onto the edge of the
bed. The company really hadn’t pulled out any expenses for this
room. Lucas was just thankful that the room contained two single beds
that were separated by a bedside table. The hotel room was pretty
much big enough to squeeze in two beds, a bed side table, a dressing
table and a television. Glass doors led out onto a small balcony that
overlooked the swimming pool out the back. The hotel was built near a
top of a tall hill so it also granted them the perfect vantage point
for seeing the ocean off in the distance, but there were a lot of
tall ugly buildings between the ocean and the hotel to obscure the
view.