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
DORISAnother package arrived for me. It was a really beautiful gold necklace that matched the bracelet Arthur gave me a few weeks ago. There was a note from Arthur. He apologized for being absent since the Italy trip and promised that he won’t do it again.I held the note in my hand for a while. Again, I wondered if this was a pattern. Was Arthur retreating for a few days after a period of intimacy?It hurt less this time, and I thought I understood it more. Arthur's promise that he wouldn’t do it again made me feel better.I continued to scour all of the New York City government websites, especially all of the ones regarding building news and building permit departments.I found one that announced a small charity ball that was celebrating some private donations. With Arthur’s help, I managed to get myself invited.I wore the Dior limited edition dress. I was very glad that I had it back in my possession.Arthur said he would make it to the ball if he could but told me the possibilit
ARTHURI kissed Doris's ear, jaw, and neck. It was like she was becoming sweeter than ever, and I was becoming addicted to her. She arched her chest up into me, the silk of her nightgown rubbing against my bare chest.She let out this cute, throated moan, feminine and needy.I started rocking my hips into her. We felt it strongly, even through the thin fabric of my pajama pants and her silky nightgown. She was beginning to get so wet.Her little moans got louder. I releasee her wrists and clamped one hand over her mouth."Hush, Little Dove. We need to be quiet. You can be quiet for me, can't you?”She nodded.I used my other hand to knead her breast, and I rubbed my thumb around and across her nipple.Doris was so responsive. It just drove me higher."I'm going to squeeze you gently and get harder," I said, taking her pretty nipple and squeezing it between my fingers."You like that, sweetheart?" I knew she did. I also noticed she liked me talking about it when I did it.I plucked one
ARTHURIt was 5:30 p.m., and for once, I could wrap up my business day at a decent hour.I looked out my office windows from AmeriCapital. It had been a good business day.I leaned back in my deluxe office chair. I took a moment to breathe deeply and think about how the past few weeks had gone. Not bad overall.My phone pinged to let me know I had a text. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at it. It was from Doris.'I’d like to talk to you about a few things. Do you have time tonight or tomorrow to meet?'Even though the text should be neutral, it didn’t sound good. When a woman said I want to talk, that was never good.I paused for a minute. 'Today is better.' Who knew how tomorrow would go?'Sure, do you want me to come to your apartment?' I texted.The three dots indicated she was typing. The dots appeared and then disappeared. After a minute, they reappeared again.'Can we meet at the diner? I’ve barely eaten all day.''Of course, and you better take better care of yourself,