DORISFirst thing in the morning before work, I spent time writing more emails to the New York City building department. It was an exercise in frustration.My mentor Kate gave me a few more leads. I also called the three real estate possibilities that I was sure would be signed contracts by now. Unfortunately, none of those couples answered my calls. I spent the afternoon working my butt off for Heritage Properties, but nothing panned out.I visited Mia for a few minutes after work. Even though she was her wonderful, cheery seven-year-old self, I had to admit my mind was elsewhere.I made myself pay attention to Mia, knowing that her father was often distracted and her real mother had been absent her whole life. I left as soon as Mia finished telling me about her day.Then I went to visit Noah. I had to admit I felt good about moving him to the private wing of the hospital with his own private, upgraded bedroom. It was evident in this wing, the nurses had more time for him.When I
DORISWe were going to have sex. I knew it, and Arthur knew it.And I didn’t realize how much I wanted it until that moment.Arthur stopped kissing me for a moment, probably because we both needed to take a breath.He cupped my cheek, and he looked at me with tenderness.I tilted my chin up and smiled at Arthur. His lips looked masculine and perfect and so kissable. He bent down and kissed me again. I was in heaven.I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed in close. My lips opened more as if they were functioning of their own accord, inviting him more and more to conquer me.Arthur didn’t need any more hints than that. He took control. His tongue slipped in and glided against mine. Arthur moaned into my mouth. It was the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.“Bed, baby,” he said. He picked me up, wrapped my legs around his waist, and carried me to my bedroom.All my exhaustion of the day was forgotten in an instant.Arthur lay me down on the bed like I was the most precious thing i
ARTHURPerhaps there was nothing as beautiful as seeing Doris make her 'O' face. Head thrown back in the throes of ecstasy in orgasm. For a moment, I stayed inside her, even though my body was softening, and my mind too. I looked at Doris underneath me, and everything was right in my world.I disposed of the condom, took off my suit jacket and unbuttoned my shirt, and got back into bed with her.I gathered Doris closer to me so her head was lying on my chest. I put my arm around her and rested my chin near the top of her head."Little Dove," I said to her, "give me 20 minutes to recover, and maybe I will be ready for round two.""I guess I would be up for that," Doris said.She laughed a happy, little feminine giggle. Then she caressed my abs, and it made me glad that I worked out daily in my gym and could provide her with a hard body like she probably dreamed of."I still wanted to talk about our relationship," Doris said. "The more we have sex, the more confused I get." She gave
DORISI was at home looking at possible real estate leads and more marketing ideas that could utilize the new trends in A.I.There was a knock at my door. I opened it, and it was the Federal Express delivery guy."Package for you," he said in a cheery voice. "You need to sign for it."He thrust an electric tablet clipboard my way with a stylus, and I quickly scribbled my signature.The box was small. I opened up the cardboard box. There was a black box inside with Catherine’s Premium Jewelers written across the front in silver script.I opened the box, and the most beautiful gold bracelet I’d ever seen was lying on a pad of black velvet."Oooh," I said. I carefully picked the gold bracelet up and examined it. Every few links, a subtle line was woven through the bracelet that was more rose-colored gold and almost looked like hearts.I saw a tiny bit of white, and I lifted the black velvet pad to find a note from Arthur underneath.My Little Dove, Please forgive me for not being more a
DORISSaturday, Arthur, Mia, and I went to the Bronx Zoo. Mia loved the giraffes and the pandas.Sunday, we went to a museum I found by researching kid-friendly activities on the Internet. The museum was called Small Is Beautiful, and all the artwork was kid-sized. Because everything was small, of course, Mia loved it.Arthur only checked his tablet for work once. Mia caught him doing it. She gave me her secret finger signal, and all I had to do was give Arthur a chastising look, and he immediately put his tablet away. We had dinner in Little Italy, and neither Arthur nor I corrected Mia when she slurped up her spaghetti and pretended to be Lady from the cartoon classic movie Lady and the Tramp.Sunday night, Arthur drove me home again, this time in his Cadillac and not the Porsche.He walked me up to my apartment door. I was sure he was going to invite himself in, but he didn’t. Instead, he held my hands and looked into my eyes."I’d like to take you on some real dates, Doris, just
DORISThe Italian sun kissed my skin as I opened the large French doors and stepped out onto the patio.I could hardly believe it. I was in Rome! We were in Rome!"Rome!" I said. I lifted my arms high and wide and turned in a slow circle.We were in Rome, the ancient city of legend. "What amazing adventures await?" I asked the fresh air. "Historic ruins, amazing churches, and restaurants, museums I've read about?"Arthur joined me on the patio. He hugged me from behind and kissed the back of my ear. "And passionate nights you've only dreamed of?" He asked quietly.I twisted and looked at him over my shoulder. I turned so I could look at him.Arthur was just wearing pajama bottoms, and his beautifully sculpted chest muscles, tight abdomen and wonderful 'V' that was showing because his pajama pants were low on his hips were absolutely delicious and delectable in the morning light.Arthur’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. Mia woke up soon after us. As we expected, she was a bundle of en
DORISWe slept late on Sunday, a perfect lazy morning. Waking up wrapped in Arthur’s arms was just as incredible as I had imagined it would be.In the suitcase Arthur had packed for me, he'd included everything I would need, including new clothes in my size. However, he'd assured me we would do more shopping later in the day.We had breakfast on the back porch again. Then we went to the top of one of the smaller buildings in the villa. From the rooftop, we could see the interesting and oh-so-different from New York, skyline of Rome.We embarked on our daily family adventure. I was glad that Arthur had been thoughtful and planned the day out. Arthur had bought a kids' explorer pack that had maps, explanations, drawings, checklists, blank pages for notes.Mia was eager to see more of Rome and go to all the places Arthur had on his plan. Mia, our wide-eyed explorer, checked off everything on her little worksheet.Mia took notes and snapped photos with the cheap disposable camera Arthur
DORISI walked down the hospital corridor, feeling pretty good. I’m over the jet lag from the return trip from Italy, but I still have the high from the adventure.As I listen to my heels click on the clean linoleum floor. I’m happy with how the week has gone so far, although I haven’t seen Arthur. I made over 100 calls about real estate, and I signed a contract selling a small studio apartment on the upper Westside.I saw Mia twice, although just for a few minutes each time. Mia couldn’t stop talking about our Italy trip. One afternoon, we sang a Frank Sinatra song in front of the mirror, and I found myself wishing that Mia would be my daughter forever.As I approached the door to Noah’s hospital room, the huge black nurse was exiting."How’s Noah doing?" I asked."Good," the nurse said, in his extremely deep voice. "His blood numbers are good. His condition is stable. He’s had some more finger twitching.""All the nurses and I have been reading to him. I always hope all my patient