Sara was nervous the entire car ride to the place. It was a quiet place, located in a really exclusive building along the Tori River that ran through the city. It was clearly expensive.
“-are- are we really eating here?”
Edmund laughed. “I have a gorgeous dinner companion tonight, I’m not going to waste her time by taking her to some cheap lousy place.”
Sara didn’t realize that Edmund had just attacked her entire life with her husband. The waiter guided them to a private room with a view of the river. The private room had special mood lighting, and flowers. There were office towers on both sides of the river, and it was very, very romantic.
“Would you like to have some wine, tonight?” Edmund offered, as a waiter came with the wine pairing selection.
It was the mood. It was her dress. It was everything up to this moment. The praises. The gentle words. A part of her wanted to feel accepted here. So, she nodded. “Yes.”
Edmund ordered a four-course meal, the starter was a simple platter of fruits and vegetables with some fancy sauce. It was probably overpriced for what they served. The second dish was some kind of clam chowder variant. It was thick and creamy.
“Do you like it?” Edmund asked.
What could she say at this point. She nodded as she slurped the tasty chowder soup. “Yes. It’s great.” She said as a bit of the soup dripped onto her chest. Edmund reached over with a cloth and wiped it off the top of her breasts.
She blushed, but somehow, it felt so natural and normal that she didn’t resist. Instead, for that moment, she wished so much for this life. Edmund teased. “Be careful. I don’t have a spare dress.”
She laughed. “Are you always so cheeky?”
“Only with beautiful women like you.”
She chuckled. The waiter served the third dish, which was a just some kind of fancy fried sea fish with fancy sauce. Edmund decided to pretend as if her husband didn’t exist. Instead, he focused her attention on her work. “Your photos today were great, and I think you can pull off different kinds of swimsuits too. Next week, we have something more interesting, and we’d like you to try them on.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
Edmund then raised his glass of wine. It was some fancy vintage she didn’t remember, and they both sipped. Sara sipped her drink whenever he took a sip, as if taking cue to his pace.
But she wasn’t a great drinker, and her face heated up. She was red. The fourth dish was a dessert, a type of alcoholic ice cream paired with fruits. It was way overpriced for whatever Edmund paid for.
But the mood was so romantic, and Sara didn’t notice it when he sat closer, and closer. She was getting a little tipsy too.
He began talking closer and closer to her. Then he held her hand once more. They were pretty much sitting next to each other. “Sara, I mean what I said to you this afternoon. You really are a beautiful woman. You’re sexy. You’re gorgeous. Any man would want to be with you. You need to have confidence, and I want you to show off that sexiness. Show off your beauty. Then you can really reach for the stars.”
Sara blushed. Her rational mind intepreted it as Edmund asking her to work on her sex appeal, so that she could be a much better model. But her heart intepreted it as a confession. And under the influence of the alcohol, she asked, seeking validation from the man who she felt was her boss. “Would you be with me?”
“Yes. Of course.” Edmund said.
They were so close, and Sara’s mind shut down. The mood was right. Edmund knew he just needed to make it easy for her. He got so close but not touching. It was her that leaned a bit closer, and their lips brushed against each other.
A brush, and a jolt of pleasure passed through the housewife. Then she pounced like a starving wolf. A momentary lapse in judgment, as she moved her body closer to his.
It was Sara who pressed her lips against his, as they shared an intense kiss. Edmund’s hand wrapped around her waist, as he pulled her closer. It was just a moment.
Then Edmund pulled away, intentionally. Sara was bewildered.
“Sara.” He whispered.
Her mind suddenly regained her sanity. “Oh. Oh dear. I’m- I’m sorry. Can you- can you not speak of this?”
Edmund nodded. “You’re forgiven. I won’t tell anyone.”
She relaxed.
“But if you want me to keep it a secret, kiss me again.”
She stared. Edmund placed her in a position with no good moves, and her heart screamed to go with it. So, she leaned closer, and they kissed again. Sara’s hesitation for the 2nd kiss faded as soon as their lips met. Her suppressed passion and desire burned like an intense flame, and her hands reached out and pulled him ever closer.
It was intense, and she felt her brain turn into mush.
Then their lips parted again.
“I like that.” Edmund smiled and said. Sara couldn’t help but secretly admit, she enjoyed the kisses too. He knew that was it for today. “Let’s get you home.”
Edmund drove her back to the studio. It was only 9pm. She felt guilty for what she did, and she stared at her phone. She immediately texted her husband. “Dear, what time are you coming home today?”
Her husband replied. “Midnight. I’m not done yet.”
The studio was quiet at night, and Edmund waited outside while she changed back to her normal dress. Yet, somehow, in that changing room, when she was in her normal dress again, she felt like Cinderella, who’s dream had ended at midnight.
She was back to her old reality again. Her plain life.
“I’ll walk you home.” Edmund said from outside the dressing room.
She walked home. It was empty. It was as it was when she left it. There was some decorative items, some painting. But Sara knew it could be much more.
She took a shower, and a realization washed over her. She kissed another man!
She pinched herself. He treated her well. She could see him working hard. She should feel grateful to have a hardworking husband.
“Why?” She asked herself that question, and realized- because she was feeling discontent. Their life was stagnant. Her husband’s career seemed to be going nowhere. Their love life and family plans on hold because of their precarious financial position.
Despite all his efforts, which used to touch her, time made her tired.
She sighed.
