Mr. Big(24)

“Very well, thank you. It’s just been busy here at the office, but things are coming along.” He paused a moment and she could hear him smiling as he spoke again. “I feel like I need some downtime. I was thinking that if you aren’t busy on Saturday, I’d like to take you for an outing in Central Park. Are you free?”

She felt her heart begin to beat even faster. She glanced at her calendar and took a deep breath trying to steady the delight and thrill going through her. “Oh that sounds like so much fun! As it happens, I am free on Saturday. I’d love to see you! Thank you for asking.”

She couldn’t stop the spread of a wide smile over her face. She felt a little blush warm her cheeks as she chided herself for being so elated that he had called her. She knew that she shouldn’t feel anywhere near as excited as she did about a second call and a second date from a man she had just met. It was beyond ridiculous as far as she was concerned, and it was certainly not like her at all.

Mia closed her eyes and took another deep breath before opening them and sitting up straight to relax herself as she exhaled.

“I can pick you up at ten. I’m bringing a picnic for us, so we’ll have some fun and a lunch while we’re there. How does that sound?” he asked interestedly, and she could imagine him sitting at his desk, looking out of the window, thinking about the time they would spend together. She felt butterflies dancing in her belly, and she curled her fingers tighter around the phone in her hand.

“It sounds like probably the most fun Saturday I will have had in a long time,” she replied as she grinned.

He chuckled softly. “Excellent. I’m glad to hear it.”

“Can I bring anything?” she asked curiously.

He paused. “You could bring a blanket for us to sit on, and you might want to bring a sweater or light jacket.”

“I can do that,” she replied happily.

“I’ll see you at ten on Saturday,” he said in a soft voice.

“Thank you, Alexander. I’ll see you then.” Mia hung up the phone and sat back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling with an enormous grin on her face and she could not stop the rush of a thrill that flashed through her. Closing her eyes tightly as she giggled to herself, she tapped her toes on the floor in excitement and then took a deep breath and sighed, gazing out of the window in bliss.

No one could have been more surprised than she was at how much his attention affected her. She had been trying to keep him from her thoughts, trying to keep him from getting to her on any level. She was supposed to be finding out whether or not the rumors about him being amply endowed were true, not developing any kind of emotion toward him, and yet there was something so deep and real about him that she couldn’t help being drawn to him, and the nearer she got to him, the more of her objectivity toward the challenge was lost.

She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but the more she got to know him, the more she wanted to know, and the more he seemed to saturate her thoughts, piquing her interest and her emotions. Mia made up her mind that she was going to have fun with him on Saturday, but that the day would in no way change anything about her from the inside out. She was on a mission; she had one objective and that was all she was going to have. She would seduce him into her bed, then she would report back to her friends, and then she would go to Rome and nothing further would ever happen between them after that.

One time. That was what she promised herself. She would forget all about him after that, and there would be no need to see him again afterward. There was no reason to look for more with him beyond that. She promised herself. Nothing more. One time with him. She resolved to stick to her goal, but she thought at the edges of her mind that between that moment and the time he left her bed, she could still enjoy the delight she felt inside, and the dazzled butterflies that careened around inside of her.

She texted Liam, Ava, and Maddie. ‘Date with Mr. Big on Saturday. Details to follow at next cocktail.’

All three of them responded to her in minutes, wishing her luck and told her to call him if she wanted to at any time. She thanked them each individually, and thanked Liam for being such a good friend. Then she turned her attention to her work and focused with laser beam intensity on it, driving herself to think only of what she was doing at that moment, and not of anything that may yet happen in the days to come.

***

Saturday came almost immediately and almost a thousand years later, simultaneously, it seemed to Mia. She had tried not to count every minute between the phone call he had given her and the moment he rang her doorbell, but many moments had been counted, and they had finally come to their end.