Page 98 of Fling

‘Dear God, I think I’m in love,’ Rory said. ‘OK, we have a deal.’

‘Now tell me what’s going on!’ Emily demanded.

‘Colin is spying on Tara because she’s having an affair and he wanted to catch her in the act. He saw a notification on her tablet this morning that said she had a dick appointment today at noon so we followed her to catch her cheating,’ Rory explained.

Emily realized that she was partly responsible for the mix-up. She was the one who had entered the words ‘Dick Appointment’ into Tara’s calendar.

‘Oh God, I know what happened. I manage Tara’s calendar. She doesn’t have a dick appointment! She has an appointment with Dick!’

‘You’re speaking in riddles!’ Rory said.

‘Dick is Richard Mulligan! The CEO of Fling!’

‘The guy who was on the radio?’

‘Yes, and Tara’s just about to make the most important pitch of her career to him,’ Emily said frantically.

‘And Colin just went to confront her about having an affair!’ Rory said, realizing the gravity of the situation.

‘WELL, CALL HIM AND STOP HIM!’

Rory took out his phone and immediately called Colin.

‘It’s ringing,’ he said.

‘Thank God!’ Emily said, relieved.

Colin’s phone began to ring on top of the car’s dashboard.

‘Oh God, Colin forgot to take his phone,’ Rory said, panicking. ‘Come on, we have to try and stop him, before it’s too late!’

As Tara was walking Dick through her slides, she found his gaze fixated on her chest rather than her presentation.

‘So the theme of a flower blooming brings the entire campaign together. So many women feel trapped in their own lives and Fling can offer them a fantasy, a way to reconnect with their erotic selves,’ Tara said, trying to keep Dick’s attention.

‘Mmhmm,’ he said, clearly not listening.

‘The campaign is all about showing women that having desires is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s about showing them they deserve their desires,’ Tara said, swiping to the next slide.

‘Tara, I’m sure the rest of the pitch is wonderful,’ Dick said, taking the tablet and resting it down on the table. ‘But I want to know about your desires.’

‘Me? Well, I think I’m no different to any woman really,’ Tara said nervously.

‘Oh, you are very different to other women,’ Dick said, putting his hand on her knee.

Tara laughed awkwardly, not knowing what to do. ‘I’m not sure what you mean,’ she said.

‘Well, you’re just oozing sex appeal, I knew that much the moment I laid eyes on you,’ Dick said, moving his hand from her knee to her thigh. Tara felt frozen with fear. It was as if she had sleep paralysis, yet she was wide awake and what she was experiencing wasn’t a lucid dream but a waking nightmare. ‘And this dress you have on is driving me wild.’

‘Ehh . . . Richard, I—’

‘Please, call me Dick,’ he said, putting his hand up her dress.

‘GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY WIFE!’ Colin shouted, barging across the terrace and towards the table.

Tara was in complete and utter shock. Colin’s sudden appearance had jolted her out of her paralysis but she couldn’t understand where he had come from.

‘Colin, what are you doing here?’ she said, getting up of her chair.

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