The Affair

Conference Room

Marlena looked at her watch and knew that she had a least an hour and a half before the Titan Board Meeting began. She gathered up her things and left her office for the meeting. She had already told her secretary to take the rest of the day off. Marlena knew she would not be coming back to the office after the meeting. She had purposely kept her afternoon free. Even though it only took her 30 minutes to get to the Titan Building she wanted to be there early. In fact, she needed to be there early. She had to face her demons and she knew it would be hard. If she had time alone in the Conference Room she would be able to put the past in the past. She had not been in that particular room since the night of the Titan Party. The night she and John made love on the conference room table. The night she broke her marriage vows to Roman with John.

The day after the affair, John showed up at her home. Marlena was in a panic. She was worried Roman would come home. John told her Roman was on a police call, he checked before he came over. Besides, he told her he just wanted to talk. John apologized for taking advantage of her and the situation. He knew that she was vulnerable and he should have been stronger. He told her he would honor her wishes. The night before, after they made love, she asked him not to pursue her anymore. She wanted to remain faithful to Roman. She would take the rest of her life and make it up to him. She told him that she loved Roman.

John looked at her, shook his head in agreement and said, “I know you do Doc. I know you love him, but you’re in love with me. There’s a difference.”

Marlena replied, “I love my husband and I will be faithful to him from this moment on.”

Again John looked at her and said, “Doc I will honor your wishes. I will not try to make love to you again. I will be there for you in what ever capacity you need me to be. If it’s just a friend you need, I’ll be your friend. If you need a shoulder to cry on, I’ll be that shoulder. If you need to be comforted, I will comfort you. I will not make love to you again.”

John walked to the door, turned around and said, “I mean it Doc. I won’t make love to you until you ask me too. Until you come to me and ask me to make love to you, I will respect your wishes.”

“John, wait a minute. There won’t be a next time. Last night was the last time. I mean it.”

“I know you do Doc. Until you come to me I will be there for you in what ever capacity you need. I love you Doc and I always will. Whether you want to admit it, you love me too.”

John opened the door and walked out of her house. Marlena stood there in silence. She knew John was a man of his word. If he told her he wouldn’t pursue her, than she knew he meant it. And since she was determined to stay faithful to Roman there wouldn’t be any problems. All they had to do was keep there distance from one another for the time being. As time went by, those feelings would slowly fade away. At least that’s what she told herself at the time.

As she pulled into the parking garage she turned off her car and just sat there. It had been several weeks since the Titan Ball. She had kept herself busy and true to his word John hadn’t stopped by to see her. Today would be the first day since the affair that they would see one another. She was getting up the courage to walk in the building. As she sat there, she began talking to herself.

“This is stupid Marlena. Get it together and walk in there. No one knows what happened and no one will ever know.”

She checked her appearance in the rear view mirror one last time and got out of the car. Walking into the building she felt like she had a big Scarlet Letter on her jacket. A for Adulteress. Knowing this was all in her imagination, she calmly walked up to the reception area and announced her arrival Hoping she didn’t sound like a babbling i***t, she told the receptionist she realized she was early, but she had been running errands and it was easier for her to arrive early than go back to her office. The receptionist listened politely and told she completely understood. It was ok if she wanted to go up early. She would let Mr. Kiriakas know that she had arrived. Marlena told her not to bother him. She would use the time to catch up on the agenda for the meeting. Just then the phone rang and as the receptionist answered, Marlena walked to the elevator and pushed the button for the right floor. The doors opened, she walked in and leaned against the back wall. Marlena let out a big sigh of relief. She was alone in the elevator. That meant she didn’t have to make small talk. She could just relax. So far she was ok. She knew the big test would be when she walked into the conference room.

As the elevator doors opened she realized the moment was here. She also realized she had been gripping the rail in the elevator as tight as she could. Letting go of the rail, she proceeded to walk to the conference room. The door was closed. Hopefully it wasn’t locked. She didn’t know what she would do if she had to get someone to unlock the door. She needed to be in there by herself. With her hand on the door knob, she took a deep breath and turned the handle. It opened. Again she let out a sigh of relief. Not knowing what to expect, Marlena walked in and closed the door behind her. The minute she heard the door shut, she was overwhelmed by all of her emotions. She knew this would happen, she expected it to happen, she just didn’t realize it would be this intense. Slowly she regained her composure and walked to the table. Marlena didn’t want to be anywhere near the table but she knew she had get it over with. After all, she was a Titan Board Member and she would be here for meetings in the future. She couldn’t skip all of the meetings and if her re-commitment to Roman was going to work, she had to get over this last hurdle.

Marlena put her hand on the table and immediately pulled it back. It was as if she had touched a hot stove. Just that one touch brought back all of the feelings she was so desperately trying to get over. Just that one touch made her relive the moment she and John made love on the table. If was as if she was looking at a movie. Only it was her and John. She could see everything and feel everything.

Her breathing became shallow, her n*****s became hard and she felt wetness come over her. Weak and dizzy from such strong feelings, Marlena sat down. Telling herself everything would be ok, she closed her eyes and tried to block out those feelings. The harder the she tried to block out the feelings the more aroused she became. She realized the only way to get pass these feelings was to let them come, acknowledge them and put them in the proper perspective. After all, she was a psychiatrist. She knew the dangers of blocking out feelings. If she didn’t deal with them, they would continue to haunt her. Ok Marlena she thought, lets’ begin.

Most people thought she was straight laced. In fact everyone thought she was prim and proper. Not a prude, just not adventurous. The only person who really knew her was John. John knew her like he knew himself. She had had other lovers before John. When she made a commitment to a person, it was a commitment. She didn’t believe in casual s*x. That’s why her betrayal of her marriage vows upset her so much. She broke her commitment to Roman and their marriage. There was no way for her to justify it. It was a betrayal. Acknowledging that fact, she tried to figure out why it happened. It was already done. No matter how bad she felt for betraying Roman, there was nothing she could do to change the past. This was a first for her. She also knew it was much more than just s*x, incredible as it was, it was more than that. Much more than that.

While she was married to Don she remained faithful and their s*x life had been good. There had been no complaints. When she fell in love with Roman, it was a completely different type of relationship than it was with Don. She was older and wiser. Their relationship in the beginning was antagonistic but there were always sparks between them. Once she fell in love Roman and they made love for the first time, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. She felt passion, real passion or so she thought at the time. She believed him to be her better half, the one who made her feel complete. When Roman “died” she didn’t know how she would live. The only purpose in her life was the twins. She lived for them.

And then he came along. From the moment they shook hand and looked at one another there was undeniable electricity between them. Just remembering their first meeting made her just a little more aroused. Her neck felt flush, her n*****s were getting harder, if that was possible, and again the warmth spread through out her. Soon her panties would be soaked through. To look at her no one would know how hard she was trying to maintain herself. No one but John. Not even Roman.

John always knew when she was aroused. She used to tell him he was psychic. He would laugh and say no it was just her body letting his body know that she wanted him. He could walk in a room, look at her and know that she was wet and wanted him. One time she asked how he could tell she was aroused.

He looked at her and simply said, “Your body lets me know.”

“But that’s not an answer,” she said.

John looked at her and said, “The only thing I can tell you is that whenever I walk into a room, my focus is on you. I notice your breathing, the way your chest goes up and down with every breath, the way you get a little flushed on your neck, the way your eyes sort of glaze over and change colors and the closer I get to you I know that your n*****s are getting hard. Last but not least, I know your scent. It leaves your body and comes to me. I know when you’re aroused. Don’t worry. I’m the only one who can tell when you’re aroused. I can’t make it any simpler than that.”

She couldn’t remember all the times he would walk over and whisper in her ear, “When I get you home, I’ll make love to you all night long.” And he meant all night long.

Trying to clear her head, she tried to remember what it was about him that made him so special. She felt drawn to him from the beginning. At first she thought it was because he saved her life. Then when she realized he didn’t know who he was, she figured she was just trying to help him find himself. Even when they went to West Virginia for answers, she still tried to deny how much she wanted him. She was finally ready to open up to him, but then she saw the tattoo. She thought he was Stefano. The man who killed the love of her life and the father of her children. But even that wasn’t enough to stop the physical attraction she had for him. The first time he kissed her, she slapped him. The hurt look he gave her was like a knife going through her soul. Even though she thought he was Stefano, it pained her that she had hurt him. When he said, “Just call me Stefano,” she wanted to hold him and tell him it would be alright.

It was that moment that told her she wanted to be with him. Confused as she was thinking he was Stefano, she still wanted him. The next time he kissed her at the water’s edge, she didn’t pull back, in fact, she gave in to him. She remembered everything so clearly. They walked together to the creek to get cleaned up. John took off his shirt and soaked it in the water. He told Marlena to take her shirt off so he could rinse the dirt out. Being the type of man he was, he turned his back to her to give her privacy. Her wrist was sore and she couldn’t undo the buttons. She asked for his help. John slowly turned around and looked into her eyes. Never taking his eyes from her eyes, he unbuttoned her shirt one button at a time. After it was all unbuttoned, John took both of his hand and brought them to her shoulders. He gently pushed the shirt down her arms and leaned in to remove it from her hands. His fingers caressed her arms all the way to her hands. Just his touch sent a shiver down her spine. Most people would have asked if she was cold, but John wasn’t most people. He knew the shiver wasn’t because she was cold, but in fact because she wanted him as much as he wanted her. John bent down and rinsed her shirt out in the water. After he finished rinsing her shirt he put it on the bush next to his. There was nothing left to do but wait for them to dry.

They both sat down. John leaned in and kissed her again. This time there was no slap. She kissed him back. She could have stayed right there and kissed him forever. She had never been kissed liked that before. It was as if he reached into her very soul. It was so much more than just the physical act of kissing. It was so intimate. It was as if they were making love with their tongues. John leaned in and lightly brushed her lips with mouth. He took her lower lip into his mouth for a gentle kiss. As he released her lip, he took his tongue and traced the outline of her mouth. It was so subtle she wasn’t sure if that’s what he had done. He captured her mouth again, this time his tongue went inside of her mouth. It was slow and easy. He wasn’t in a rush. He was an explorer and he wanted to explore every inch of her mouth. He held her face in his hands the entire time. It was the most sensual kiss she had ever experienced in all of her life.

The door to the conference room opened bringing her back to reality. It was Victor’s secretary. She was setting up the refreshment table. She brought in bottled water, coffee, tea and finger food. The secretary set everything down and asked Marlena if she needed anything special. Marlena thanked her and told her she was fine. The woman turned around and left Marlena staring at the papers in her hand. The same way she was looking at them when she walked in.

Marlena looked at her watch and realized she only had thirty minutes before the meeting started and she was no better off than the moment she walked in the room. In fact she was worse. If anything, she was more aroused than ever. It was a good thing she wore a thick jacket and not a thin blouse. Anyone would have been able to see her arousal. Her n*****s were as hard as they could get. They ached. It was also a good thing they couldn’t see her panties under her skirt. She was soaked through. She brought her legs together in the hope it would stop the throbbing between her legs. No such luck.