The Tempted and The Temptress

Chapter 13

The paper on my desk no longer made sense, each of the words running together until they become a big blur. Between Tammy and the baby, life was becoming more complicated until my concentration at work was almost none existed.  I could only think about how I could mend this fix between us before the baby comes. 

            “How’s it going?” a soft feminine voice said. It could only be one person and I didn’t really feel like being bothered with her. Emilie was still a sore spot for my Tammy and the recent events didn’t help.  We had dated a for a short time before we decided that we were just much better friends, especially since we worked so closely on the majority of our projects

            “Great!” I replied. I didn’t want to open a discussion with her about my life.  That wouldn’t lead off too well.

            “Then why are you stapling your tie?” Emilie asked.  I looked down to see that in fact, my blue, cream, and brown striped tie attached to the document I was currently working on. 

            “Yea, you got me,” I said.  I’d never been able to hide things from her very well.  We were on projects so often that we came to know each other.  And today, she was searching for something. “What’s up?”

            “Mack wants us to get on this project right away.  There’s a Suave Natural deodorant line that they want to market.  There is both a male and female line.”

            “How is the product?” I said, going into full business mode.  I thoroughly enjoyed my job, so this was truly a welcome change.

            “We get the samples tomorrow,” Emilie replied, sitting on the edge of my desk, her skirt raising up a little. She was a stunning woman, with olive colored skin, and eyes the color of the desert.  She was one of the few people I knew with a Coke bottle figure, bust, waist, and hips, all in direct proportion. I remember Malcolm once telling me that I was a fool to not keep her around. 

            “I’ll try to work on a few concepts tonight, and we can start bouncing ideas tomorrow.”

            “How about dinner?” Emilie said.  She has just flipped her shoulder length, dark brown hair, and was running her finger around her collar.

            “Sorry, I can’t,” I replied.  She definitely knew what she was doing.  Question was why?

            “Something special.”

            “Just dinner with Tammy.”

            “Oh, that’s right, the family.  How far a long is she?”  Emilie was toying with her necklace over the opening of her brown fitted button down shirt.

            “Six months,” I said. Something was up.  The last time Emilie used her body around me was to convince me to put her on the new shoe advertisement for one of favorite football players.  It almost worked then, but I know the signs.

            “What is it, Em?”

            “What ever are you talking about, Max?” Emilie said, feigning innocence.

            “Come on.”

            “Fine,” Emilie said, repositioning herself to sit less provocatively on the desk.  “I need you to come with me to the opening on Friday at Selsiers.”

            “I really can’t,” I said.  Damn, Tammy and keeping our marriage under wraps until we could really get things together was not helping.

            “Why not?” Emilie going for blood and I could see her not letting up. I sighed because there was almost no what to get out of this.

            “Well, Tammy already asked if I could come to support her,” I said. I wasn’t completely a lie.

            “She’ll be working the event, as always.  She won’t be coming as going.  You can escort me and still make it back in time to take her home.  Besides, you told me you would take me to the next big one, and this, by all accounts is big.  Even the people who don’t care about the art will be there.”

            “I just want to be available for her, you know with the pregnancy and all,” I made out less confidently.  Get out the fire, get out the fire.

            “Is the baby yours?”  The words hit me like a stack of bricks. Since Tammy and I are the only ones who talk about the baby, it was hard to hear it come from someone else. I was just silent.  I most definitely wasn’t going to deny it, but what was I to do?

            “Hmmm,” replied Emilie.  “That explains quite a bit.  Why haven’t you married her yet?  You’re too old fashioned to not make sure your child carries your name.”

            “I’m not going to discuss this today, Em.”  This was going to be a disaster.

            “Well you clearly don’t want any one to know, for whatever reason you have. It’s obvious you two are in love with each other.”

            “You think so?”  I asked.  I had my doubts about Tammy, so a woman’s opinion was well appreciated.

            “No wonder you don’t want to talk about it,” Emily said, standing. “Let’s make a deal.”

            “About what?”

            “Simple,” she said.  “Escort me on Friday, and I’ll keep everything to myself.  In fact, I’ll even tell you how to get out of this mess you’re putting yourself into.”

            “And what do I tell Tammy?” This was getting out of control too quickly. 

            “Tell her it was an obligation you had a long time ago.  Besides, since you’re no longer available, you owe it to me to find a new guy.”