The Pandora Affair Read online

  Surveying her endless closet she picked out a white shirt and a red bare midriff shirt and held them up for his opinion. His expression spoke before he did. “What are we doing here, screaming scarlet in the daytime? Wear the white.” He told her as she frowned at him. I like this shirt. Samantha mumbled as she slipped on the white sleeveless button shirt and a pair of navy Capri’s. His jaw dropped. “You look like a sailor, what the hell is wrong with you today? Wear the tan Cargo pants with the white shirt. Quit being a fashion victim…my god woman!” A strong pout expressed her offense. His constant criticizing started to annoy her, but unfortunately his taste in clothing was impeccable. As he picked up her woman’s magazine, he gave her his friendly, loving smile. There was no way she could stay annoyed with him forever. Come to think of it, quickly trying to think back, the longest she was ever mad at him was twenty minutes, tops.

  “Off with the blue and on with the tan,” she said with a sigh. Studying her reflection in the bathroom she decided to keep her hair up today, humidity was already rearing its ugly head. She snatched up her bag from the dresser, informing Ty to lock up when he was done reading the ‘How To Please Your Man’ article. He waved her off and she locked the door behind her.

  Chapter 5

  “Where are you??” James asked. She knew by the dull aching monotone voice he was slightly annoyed. “I need you to run those papers over to my lawyer before the restaurant opens!” Samantha always got a kick out of going to James’s lawyer. Darrin always made her sit down; making her watch his latest magic trick he was trying to perfect for his grandchildren. He insisted she help herself to the candy bowl he laid out just for her. He always somehow worked in that James was a good-looking, single fellow and needed to settle down with a nice looking young lady with lovely dark brown hair and green eyes. Her answer was always the same; if I see a lady with that description I will make sure to introduce them.

  “James, I am on my way to see Darrin now. I have plenty of time and he only charges you double when I tell him you’re being a slave driver and are mean to me!” Tormenting him with her zealous voice was one her most recent pastimes. James thought back to the last time his lawyer charged him for bringing something late. It was before he hired Samantha, What a little vixen, he thought to himself with a smirk. “James? Earth to James, are you at the restaurant?” “Yes.” Pulling his head from the clouds, “Yes, I am at the restaurant. Don’t you remember just yesterday? You called me the Pandora appendage because I never leave…Yes…yes I do believe that was you, short, stubborn woman, incredibly sarcastic, sound familiar?” A brief silence followed.

  “Who are you calling short?” she argued sarcastically, producing a smug grin. He could not help but think how much he loved her voice and how she laughed. A forced smile pressed his almost unwilling lips. “I also remember telling you that’s why no one wants to date you! Who wants to date a man and his restaurant staff? Anyway…I’m hungry will you make me breakfast??” she asked. “What? Who works for who? I have to pay you, put up with your abuse AND make you breakfast? You’re lucky I don’t fire you!” “You won’t fire me. No one else would put up with your stubborn ass! I will be there in less than twenty minutes. You can even time me if you want.” “Time starts now!” James snapped shut his cell phone. He should fire her for stealing his heart, but it wasn’t in her contract. Ever since she put him in his place, if it’s not in the contract, it doesn’t happen, plain and simple. Her rules not his, he abided by the rules as if he were still in the military.

  Recently impure thoughts of her boss poisoned her mind; she constantly fantasized about having an affair with her extremely sexy and handsome employer. Sometimes when they were working late, sitting in that damn booth side by side, she has been guilty of brushing her amazing braless chest against his rigid body more than once. She even went so far as to sit across from him propping her perfectly cute feet in his lap. He restrained himself, perfectly uninterested. Unfortunately business and pleasure never mix; plus he was married to his work.

  Married to his work, work can never be fully satisfying

  Samantha repeated over and over to herself as she dropped the papers off to Darrin Maples. Who was she trying to convince? She was trying extraordinarily hard to convince herself that he had no time for relationships because he had no time for a personal life. If he wasn’t working, he was talking to her about work or finding new work for her to do. God, give him the potential husband of the year award.

  Being James Kennedy’s personal assistant was not the easiest job in the world, but it paid the bills and then some. She loved working for him; he was an extremely cool boss. She loved how mind-boggling he always looked. He could be both the suit and tie kind of guy and the relaxed look kind of guy. He seemed to break the mold on anything he wore, at least that was her opinion. Lately, he had looked overly desirable to Samantha.

  His best friend was the restaurant manager Roger, lifelong friends that grew up in the same neighborhood. Both men were former military Spec OPS, joining the military together right from high school. Both served in Iraq, and honorably discharged. Old habits die hard, they could enter a room without a soul knowing, efficiently and sharp-witted. Alarming her when they came up behind her without a sound, they found it amusing to tag team her and scare the wits out of her.

  James’s house was right on the beach and he surfed every morning to relieve stress. He opened Pandora’s four years ago and it continued to grow as one of the top restaurants in town. She guessed she was lucky in that factor, because she hardly ever had to buy groceries. Basically most of her meals were eaten at Pandora’s or James was taking her somewhere else. She was not sure why he was so good to her. What she did not know was that he had been in love with her ever since she told him he must be a pain in the ass to work for. Why was she even spending so much time thinking about this? Because he was the only one who could get under her skin, that’s why. She detested that about him.

  “You lied to me.” James said to her. “You said less than twenty minutes and according to my watch it has been 22 minutes and 32 seconds…33 seconds…and look… your breakfast is cold,” he said expecting a laugh. “What can I say, I had to stop and give my pimp his daily booty or I would be on the streets again.” Her snide remark managed to temporarily shut him up as she scooted next to him in the booth. “And god, am I tired.” She huffed out a strong breath then shoved a piece of bacon in her mouth. She always managed to get his goat. “Well I hope you’re not too tired to do your second job!” he remarked as he put his arm up on the top of the booth.

  Sliding closer to him, she opened his books and put together his deposits that needed to be delivered to the accountant. He inhaled her perfume. Her scent was mesmerizing. Samantha drove him wild without even realizing it. His animal instincts kicked in and he wanted to ravage her right there. He closed his eyes and took in the scent of her perfume again and let out a vigorous sigh. She looked at him as she finished the remainder of her breakfast following it with her glass of orange juice. He gave her several errands to run along with the receipts for the accountant. Afterwards she was meeting up with Ty to pick out a dress for Club Keys. She chose to take the remainder of day for herself after her tasks were complete. Anything James needed he could tell her tonight when they met for dinner.

  Samantha hurriedly fumbled around for her keys to get into her apartment. She heard the phone ringing on the opposite side of the door; the priority ring told her it was Tyler. She pushed her way through the door just as the answering machine picked up. “Samantha, tomorrow night we party at Club Keys! We will hit the stores to find something fabulous…” “Ty! I’m here…hold on…” she announced as though he could hear her talking. She reached over to turn the machine off. “Tyler…ok…I’m here,” she said almost completely out of breath. “What on god’s green earth have you been doing and why didn’t you answer your cell phone?” he demanded hoping it was something with juicy details. “I just got home…from work and I did not hear it r
ing.” “Oh…well then…does Mr. Moneybags still have an open line of credit anywhere you want to shop? If he does honey, you’re buying!” he laughed. “I can’t abuse his generosity like that! You are so evil sometimes Ty, I wonder if you really are a woman trapped in a man’s body! Give me thirty minutes and I will be there!” she told him. She heard him still laughing as she hung up the receiver.

  Chapter 6

  Samantha drove up to one of the most popular shopping places in L.A., where Tyler was waiting for her impatiently. She searched through the racks for something suitable; everything she tried on Tyler winced at. The sales consultant was getting rather annoyed with her and Tyler’s opinions, mostly because she worked on commissions. She became rude and short tempered, making assumptions she shouldn’t have made. Tyler studied the dress Samantha had on. “You must have more in the back…this is mostly last season.” The clerk glowered at him “What you see is what we have. Maybe you should try the second hand store in Hollywood; it could be more to your liking and in your price range.” Her dull voice was curt with him; obviously she had no idea who she was messing with. Tyler was the queen of mean. Tyler jerked his head in her direction and gave her the silently dead stare.

  “Look, obviously you must be upset about something. Most likely you hate your pathetic excuse for a life. It could be that your ass is just too big, who knows, who cares. Most likely, you leave your dead end job at the end of the day and wonder if a gallon of Rocky Road would take your misery away. It certainly would explain the size of your ass. Friday nights must be the hardest, waiting by the ‘messageless’ answering machine, waiting for someone not to call. Now...I know for a fact you have the new season in back…why don’t you scurry off and either return with the new line or the manager, one or the other. I don’t care which one,” Tyler told her in the most pleasantly evil voice he could muster. The clerk stood there in shock. “Shoo!” Tyler demanded. She turned and stormed off; embarrassed by the way she was dismissed. She promptly returned with the manager and a smug grin on her pretentious face.

  “Is there a problem?” the man said. “Yes, in fact there is a problem. My name is Tyler Ashton, public relations rep, and here’s my card. Now obviously someone in my line of work can bring a lot of publicity to a store….like this.” Tyler looked around acting as though the store was not much to look at and he definitely had the manager’s attention. “Now, I know you can help us, it’s just a question if you’re willing to.” Tyler held his cool as the manager whispered to the sales clerk and watched her reluctantly walk off. He turned his attention back to Tyler.

  “Of course I am more than willing to help; I will take care of you personally.” The clerk came back pushing a rack of new clothes, then the manager shooed her off. “We don’t usually release these until the beginning of the month. Do you see anything you like?” “Not yet, we will let you know. If you will excuse us,” Tyler said nonchalantly flipping through the new clothes. The manager gave him a nod and left, Samantha stared at him. “You are such a bitch…” Her laughter was heard throughout the store. He just smiled back as he held up the dress he was looking for. “It’s perfect!” She touched the fabric, and pulled it close to take a look in the long mirror.

  Samantha came out of the dressing room wearing the most unbelievable dress she has ever put on. It was a sheer black dress with spaghetti straps, cut mid- thigh, that hugged her hips and made her legs go on forever. It accentuated her curves and the low neckline made her flawlessly rounded breasts look absolutely breathtaking. “Mmmmm mmmmm, honey you could turn a gay man straight in that outfit! We need to look no further my love; you have perfected the woman in this outfit.” He was ecstatic. Her ego mentally fought with her conscience.

  “Nineteen hundred dollars Ty, it costs nineteen hundred dollars!” she said.” “I am sure Daddy Warbucks will never know. If he does, he won’t care …once he sees you in this little number. Little Orphan Annie has to become a woman sometime and honey, now is the time for her to let it loose!” “It’s too much, if it was less expensive…” Ty heard the disappointment in her voice. “I know you’re not standing there like Miss America and actually telling me after ALL the DRAMA I just went through to find that dress, you’re not even considering buying it!” She looked at him and then back at herself in the mirror, then again at the price tag. She stood quiet as can be.

  “Look at you Samantha, the sensual vibrations coming from you…It’s absolutely erotic. You’re a sensuous woman, you need this,” Tyler observed as he stood behind her, straightening the straps on the dress. She looked at herself in the mirror and she did look incredible. Either way she felt guilty, spending James’s money on a dress or cheating herself on something that she really deserved to have. She picked out a pair of black stiletto heels as well as a new purse and charged it to her sugar daddy. She hoped she could subdue the amount of guilt that was currently haunted her on the inside with a banana split Tyler was about to treat her to, he just didn’t know it.

  Arriving home from her guilt ridden outing with Ty, she locked the door behind her out of habit. She strolled to her bedroom, hanging her new dress on the back of her closet door. She captured another look at her new heels before she put them away. She slipped her tan sandals off and lined them up with the other thirty pairs of shoes she had neatly lined up in her closet. Her eyes wandered over to the clock. Having to get ready for a meeting with James at eight o’clock, she rolled off the bed and walked into her closet. She skimmed out of her clothes, slowly slithering out of her underwear. She stepped out of them one leg at a time, tossing them into her white clothes hamper. She reached for her red satin robe on the back of the closet door.

  She continued her way to the oversized bathroom to draw herself a hot bath and had to close the door behind her because Baby liked to join her in the water if she didn’t. She lit the candles around her bathtub and poured some bath beads into the water. She slipped her robe off letting it fall gently down her silky back. She sat by the side of the tub wading her hand back and forth trying to mix the water with the beads.

  She delicately lifted her hands above her head tying her hair up in a clip. She turned and slid her body around facing the tub, gently guiding herself into the water. She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. The bath seemed to have taken all her troubles away.

  Samantha took hold of her pink bath pouf and body wash, gently squeezing the sweet passion scented liquid gel onto her sponge and rubbing it with her hand to make lather. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the top of the bathtub. She ran her sponge up her right leg followed by her left, making sure not to miss an inch of her sleek skin. She moved the sponge up her stomach until she reached her breasts. It felt so good to be touched; she had not been with someone in so long. She missed being touched and held.

  While guiding the sponge she lathered one breast, and with her other hand she circled her nipple with her index finger. She slowly moved the sponge up to her neck, to the side of her face and dropped it over the side of the tub to the floor. Her arm draped over her head clenching the side of the tub as she guided her other hand back down her stomach down to her hip and slowly down her thigh, she moved her hand up to her inner thigh and let out a soft sigh.

  Her moans escaped her. She wanted to be held so bad and have someone explore her until she exploded. She continued to massage herself, gliding her middle index finger deep inside, back and forth along her beautiful flesh. Her hips began to rock as she began her climax and settled into a sway as she became completely satisfied and exhausted. She dozed off in the bathtub.

  Chapter 7

  Samantha awoke startled and disoriented She looked at her bathroom door and it was open. She heard shouting and had no idea where it was coming from. She heard her name and tried to associate a voice. “James?” she asked. She was terrified when she heard a door slam. James abruptly made his way into her open bathroom where she was in the tub completely naked.

  Mortified she quickly stood up reach
ing for her robe, but not before he got a view of her amazingly flawless body. He turned around impulsively to let her get decent, cursing himself under his breath. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t get a hold of you and usually you answer your voicemail within twenty minutes, I thought something happened to you…so I came down here to check and see if your car was downstairs in your garage and it was. I tried calling you on your home phone and cell phone and no answer, you didn’t answer your door and I…I thought something was wrong. I have never had a problem getting a hold of you before…I will get your door fixed. Why didn’t you an…answer your phone?” He rambled on until he was breathless.

  He was worried…

  “I…I guess I fell asleep in the tub, what time is it?” Samantha said still rather bewildered. “It’s 9:30 at night, you were supposed to meet me at the restaurant at 8:00.” He turned to the side, not all the way around. She saw his half profile and him nodding his head in disbelief that he had walked in on her while she was in the tub. “I am going to fix your door now,” was the only thing he had left to say to her at this very moment. He quickly exited her bathroom.

  Samantha could not understand how she fell asleep in the tub. She was not even sure what day it was. She looked again at her bathroom door, as if it was alive. How was it open? I swore I closed it, she thought to herself. Maybe Baby pushed it open; she does that every now and again if it’s not shut tight, she convinced herself as she looked over at her bed. Baby was lying sprawled out, looking more than a little pleased with herself. She tightened the belt on her robe and joined James in the living room. He was working hard trying to fix her door.