Page 61 of Corporate Escapades

Mya shook her head. “I, I don’t know,” she replied innocently. “I don’t understand. Why would you do this to your own family?”

Cristo shook his head again. “It’s of no importance,” he replied and then paused for a moment as if he was in deep thought. “There might be a way for you to help them,” he replied. A smile crossed his lips. “Just give yourself to me, and I’ll make this file disappear.”

“What? No!” she yelled. “Absolutely not!”

“Well then, my dear, you’ll go down with them. I know about that male prostitute you slept with last March. You’ve been such a naughty girl,” he commented slyly.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she replied, but in reality, she knew exactly what game he was playing. She watched as he turned away from her momentarily to address something on his desk. She rolled her eyes. This wasn’t exactly how she’d envisioned the evening going.

“I have pictures,” he said, “would you like to see?

“You’ve had me followed? You asshole!”

“So simple,” he yawned. “I had to make sure you were staying out of trouble, but low and behold, you weren’t. You really ought to be punished.”

“What do you want, Cristo?”

“You. I only want you. Be with me, and all of this disappears. Show up with me to events. Look pretty and adore me. If you can do that, it all goes away. If not, I send it all to the media, and they do what they want with it. Most likely, it all comes out as a scandal within ADG, and the company takes a hit.”

“You’re a complete scoundrel. I can’t believe I ever thought there was a good guy in there somewhere. What will your brother say? How could you hurt your own family?”

“Dom would probably be impressed. Anyway, I own you, baby, get used to it,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Now, take the nightto think about it, but I trust you’ll make the right decision.” Turning, he opened the door and held his hand out, motioning her to leave. He slapped her on the butt as she passed by him, and she jumped a little at the impact. “This will be fun. You’ll see.”

“I’m counting on it,” she replied as she walked away. She couldn’t help but grin. Definitely not the encounter she’d thought of in her head, but anything to avoid the inevitable a little longer. He was right. Something had to change.

Across town, Paris and Tom had arrived at the Zen Omni Lotus, a Japanese fusion restaurant located in downtown Flores. Tom had opened her door upon entry and exit of the vehicle, as well as to the restaurant. He ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir, poured her a thoughtful amount, then toasted to a beautiful new start regarding her return to Sense of Adventure. Overall, it seemed he was trying to be a gentleman.

Paris felt overwhelmed, and his gestures were easily seducing her. If it was intentional, she couldn’t say. She took a sip of wine and listened to him talk about climbing Mount Everest when he was in his twenties. She found the story interesting but unimpressive. To her, climbing Mount Everest was simply putting one’s self in unwarranted danger. She believed anyone who did so had either a death wish or an inflated ego. As Vic had hinted, Tom had the latter, but she still found him unbelievably attractive. She hoped that if given a chance to know him better, she’d find he had more depth.

“Have you ever thought about climbing Everest?” he asked hopefully.

“Only every night when I dream,” she lied and followed it with an invested laugh.

Changing the subject, Tom leaned forward and gently grabbed her hand. “You’re gorgeous. Do you know that?” he asked.

“Tom, stop,” blushed Paris. “You’re making my face turn red, which is not attractive.”

“No, you stop. You’re amazing. From the moment I first saw you, I thought to myself, Tom, that girl is the most beautiful woman at Sense of Adventure. You would be crazy not to have her by your side.”

Clearly, they were on a date, realized Paris. “So, why didn’t you ask me out sooner?”

“Work got in the way. I didn’t want you to think I was trying to gain ground within the company by asking you out. As time went by, I worried it would be a risky situation if things didn’t work out.”

“Why change your mind now?” she prodded.

“Life’s too short. I figure we’re at the top of the food chain, and we’re two of the most beautiful people at work, so why not give it a shot?” He chortled.

“Sure, why not?” Paris couldn’t believe he was showing genuine interest in her. She’d dreamt of this day for a very long time.

The evening continued on with Tom telling her all about his impressive travels and Paris volunteering information about herself and her education whenever she could get a word in. He loved to talk, but she didn’t mind. It was nice to be out of her condo, having an adult conversation with someone other than Vic.

At the end of the night, when Tom opened the door to let her out of his car, he grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. Pressing their bodies firmly together, he kissed her gently on the lips. The kissing continued slowly and rhythmically for a minute until Paris pulled back for air. She saw stars and her knees feltuncharacteristically weak. He’d taken her breath away, and she had no memory of ever feeling such strong lust before.

“Goodnight, Paris. We should do this again soon,” he said and nodded his head to her as he disappeared back into the car.

Turning away, she floated all the way up to her condo. She was in such a warm place in her mind that she didn’t even notice Vic sitting on the sofa or that he called out her name as she passed by on her way to her room.

Vic shook his head. He was done. If she was going to ignore him, he was done. He wouldn’t show her the soft side of himself any longer. He felt like an idiot. Only an idiot would be so easily forgotten.

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