Scandalous Desires

Chapter 14

Micah stood patiently waiting on line once again for her coffee and breakfast at the Coffee Shop. Getting there an hour earlier than usual didn't make the lines less long. She checked the time, she and

Rick agreed to meet in 30 minutes at the front of Dickson Publishings so that they could head out to the Russell press conference together. She was dreading the two hour ride with him, it seemed every encounter with him unsettled her.

"Morning babe, missed you yesterday. Was at an off-site fashion shoot all day for a big client. Hope you didn't miss yours truly too much," came a text with a winking emoji from, of course, Elliot.

"You were definitely missed. It was a boring day without you." She texted back.

"Have lunch with me today?"

"Heading out to South City in a few, but, I should be back in time for lunch with you!"

"Great, see you then. Good luck today," heart and smile emoji.

"Wow… curing all those diseases - that's amazing!" said someone standing on line. Micah gazed up to where the person was looking. There was a flatscreen television high up on the wall and a news anchor was giving updates on the latest that morning.

"...while his methods are considered extremely unconventional," said the news anchor, "the young, controversial doctor now claims to have a possible cure for cancer."

A cure for cancer? Really? Thought Micah.

The screen faded from the news anchor to a short snippet of an interview with the doctor. He was indeed young. He looked like he could have just finished med school. He was wearing a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. The caption showed his name, "Dr. Kevin Watson of Halo Health Center and Research Labs, Central City," read Micah out loud. Never heard of it, she thought.

"Oh, he's so handsome, he can cure me anytime!" said an elderly lady seated not far from the television. A few chuckles were heard.

"...We're still testing," said Dr. Watson, his voice was deep but calming. "We're set to start clinical trials soon. I'll announce more details at the Central City Humanitarian Awards next month." The video then cut back to the news anchor.

"We are indeed looking forward to hearing more on this potentially ground-breaking medical research," the news anchor said. "More news after this commercial break…."

Interesting, thought Micah, as the line moved forward, typing the doctor's name and info. into her voice notes. That sounds like a story for her newspaper to cover. She'd bring the idea to Kathleen…. After I get through with this Russell story first, she thought to herself with a sigh.

"Miss Doll! Good morning, what will you have today?" said Rita smiling from behind the counter when Micah finally got to the front.

"Good morning, Rita," she smiled back, and gave her order.

"Why you don't call Mr. Nice?" she asked, with a slight frown, "he thinks I don't give you his card."

"Oh," said Micah, a bit caught off guard. Mr.Nice seemed a bit impatient being that she just got his number yesterday. "I will call him. I've been very busy with work," she explained.

Rita passed her the drink and food. Just as Micah was turning to leave she said, "Make time for romance. A pretty lady like you should have a nice boyfriend".

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, with a laugh.

Sipping on her coffee as she stood in front of the huge sky scraper waiting for Rick, she took in the warm spring day. It was Central City rush hour. Traffic was heavy on the Street, crowds of people were rushing by. She began to wonder if they should have left earlier.

She pulled out the card and called the number from Mr. Nice.

"Hello, David Williams speaking," the smooth voice sounded professional and yet sexy at the same time.

"Hi David, or should I call you Mr. Nice?" she said teasingly.

"Well… if it isn't Miss Doll. I've been waiting to hear from you," he said, the professional tone in his voice dropped down a bit, she could tell he was smiling.

"Well… I've been very busy with work, as I'm sure you are. But, I was just here sipping my coffee from the Coffee Shop and I wanted to give the person responsible for my daily caffein fix a quick call," she said with a smile.

"It's my pleasure" he chuckled "I'm one of their biggest customers, Ms. Rita loves me,"

"So I see. She's your number one advocate, she pressed me to hurry up and call you," she laughed.

"I'm not surprised. She keeps asking me, 'when will Mr.Nice get married and bring Mrs Nice and baby nice to the Shop?' She's like a second mother," he chuckled.

"Funny! You have her impersonation down perfectly" she almost spilled her coffee laughing. "What have you told her?" She asked.

"Well I said it depends,"

"Oh really, on What?"

"On whether you'd meet me sometime? Maybe I can treat you for coffee in person?"

"Smooth segue into the dating question" she smiled.

"Sometimes I'm Mr. Smooth and Nice,"

Ping.

Micah got a message on her phone. It was a text from Rick. "Change of Plans. Meet me on the 50th floor in 5 minutes" she read. The 50th floor… Dickson senior's office? Micah wondered what was going on. She made her way to the building entrance.

"David, I'd love to meet up, and....I have to go. Can we talk again after work to discuss further. Around five-ish?"

"Sounds good," he said. "Have a beautiful day, Miss Doll." The intonation in his voice when he said "Miss Doll" made her heart quicken a bit.

"You too, Mr. Nice" she mimicked with a smile before ending the call.

Micah rushed through the doorway and through the lobby. She gave Sylvia a quick wave as she passed by to the elevators. For the first time there was one elevator waiting at the lobby with no one in it. She stepped in and pressed 50. It was a button she was very anxious to press not just because of her claustrophobia, but she didn't expect to meet Mr. Mogul face to face so soon.

"Here we go…" she said, straightening her skirt and jacket as the elevators lifted her up to the very top floor.