guy with a great big dick. Brad appeared, and in exchange for Rolf he became Heidi's fantasy. Heidi's a lot more sexually adventurous than my soon-to-be ex. Brad saw to it she had the best time she's had in years. By tomorrow when she wakes up she's going to be rethinking her options. I'd put money on it,' Nora gloated.
'Who's going to massage you now, Red?' Kyle asked, smiling.
'You are,' she said. 'Get the oil out. I want you to spoil me, darling. I am feeling very happy tonight.'
'No more other men?' he asked.
'For now. I won't make you any promises, however,' she told him.
'You love me,' he replied.
'Maybe,' Nora responded. 'I still don't trust your gender, darling Mr. Gorgeous.'
'Then I'll have to spend eternity convincing you,' he said softly.
'Eternity is a long time,' Nora noted.
'Yes,' he agreed, 'it is.' He took her hand, and led her into the bathroom. 'I'm going to give you the best massage of your life, darling,' he promised her.
Nora smiled. Variety was nice, but having Kyle so totally devoted to her was even better. And here in The Channel they would always remain the same. And he would always be exactly what she wanted him to be. It was a perfect world. And then the phone rang. 'Get it,' she ordered him.
Kyle picked up the handset. 'Yes?' He listened, and then he said, 'She'll be there, Margaret. Give me half an hour. Okay.' He set the phone down. 'Mr. Nicholas wants to see you, Nora. And I'm to come with you. We'll have to put the massage off until later, Red. I'm sorry.'
'Pick something out for me to wear,' Nora told him, and he nodded.
When they were both dressed Nora found herself in a pair of butterscotch-colored silk slacks, beneath which she wore a cream-colored silk thong, which emphasized her butt beneath the trousers. Her cream silk shirt had a deep V neck and long sleeves. She had slipped a pair of leather sandals on her feet. Kyle was wearing beige linen pants and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He had oxblood leather penny loafers on his big feet. He styled her hair in a tailored chignon. His dark hair was wet and brushed back. They entered the elevator, and pushed the red button as the doors closed.
When they opened again the pair stepped out into the elegant office. It was quiet but for the two women at their workstations. Margaret was there to greet them. 'Come along, you two,' she said, moving briskly down the room to the double doors. 'They're here, Mr. Nicholas,' she said, ushering them into the elegant office.
He came forward, a smile on his face. 'Come in! Come in!'
Nora saw there was a bottle of champagne in a bucket on the butler's tray, as well as three slender flutes. She looked at Kyle, but he shrugged and shook his head.
'My dear Nora,' Mr. Nicholas said, taking up both her hands in his and kissing them. 'I am astounded! And very impressed, my dear. It was a brilliant plan. Flawlessly executed, and I never had the slightest hint of what you were doing. Of what you were capable.' He poured the champagne into the flutes, gave Nora one and Kyle one, and took the third for himself. 'I salute you, my dear Nora!'
'Mr. Nicholas, I have no idea of what you are talking about,' Nora said, confused. 'What have I done?' She set the crystal flute of champagne down on the butler's tray.
'My dear girl, please don't be modest. There is no place for modesty in a devious mind such as yours,' Mr. Nicholas said, smiling. 'Or perhaps there is.'
Nora sighed. 'I honestly don't know to what you refer,' she repeated.
For a moment he looked surprised. Then he set his champagne down. 'Did you not arrange to lure Heidi Millar into The Channel, my dear?' he said.
'Well, yes,' Nora answered slowly. 'I thought if she saw she could have her fantasies without my husband, she would decide she didn't need him. Oh, I want the divorce, but if Jeff didn't have to buy her a co-op, he wouldn't want my house. I even had Carla tell her about Caleb Snow's attributes. Most women are curious to try a penis that size at least once. I thought Heidi is young, and the young women today are so much more liberated sexually, at least in public, than my generation was.'
'But it was you who created Brad, my dear, and had him go to her, wasn't it?' Mr. Nicholas said.
Nora nodded. 'I thought she would want a fantasy man of her own and then I considered the kind of man Heidi might want based on what I know of her,' Nora explained.
Mr. Nicholas smiled, obviously pleased. 'And she found her fantasy, thanks to you, my dear. Heidi is a young woman who enjoys erotic-asphyxiation sexual activity.'
Nora looked confused.
'Explain it to her, Kyle,' the administrator said, and Kyle did.
'Oh!' Nora exclaimed. 'That certainly wouldn't be my idea of fun.'
Mr. Nicholas laughed in spite of himself. Then he grew a bit more sober. 'Do you understand what you have set in motion, Nora? Perhaps you don't, but I see much promise in you, my dear. Let me tell you what has happened in your reality. Heidi returned from a most satisfactory visit to The Channel. She went upstairs to bed, where your husband was now awake, and demanding sex of his paramour. She acquiesced, for if the truth be known, Brad deliberately left her hungry for more of what he had given her earlier. But your husband was swift, and selfish in his needs. He gave no thought to Heidi, and she suddenly rebelled, berating him. There was a physical confrontation. She fled screaming into the cul-de-sac that is Ansley Court, awakening your neighbors, who took her in and advised her to call the police.'
Nora's gray green eyes widened.
A small smile touched Mr. Nicholas's lips. 'Your friends are encouraging her to press charges, and she will. Now, my dear Nora, you have a most unique opportunity set before you, and how you react will decide your fate.'
'I don't understand,' she said.
'Let us sit down,' Mr. Nicholas replied, and picking up his champagne, he sipped at it thoughtfully. 'Assault and battery are not particularly serious charges in general, but you know your husband, Nora. His public persona is most important to him, and even more important to the advertising firm in which he is a partner. There will be some rather negative publicity with regard to the violence done to Heidi Millar by Jeff Buckley. Messrs. Wickham and Coutts will be more than displeased. You, the long-faithful wife, and Heidi, the naive young woman he romanced and took advantage of, will be the victims of an ambitious, greedy, and sexually rapacious man. Your husband's reputation will be ruined. He is scarcely at an age where he can start all over again, is he?' Mr. Nicholas concluded softly.
Nora nodded slowly.
'You and your children are the sole beneficiaries of your husband's will, my dear.' Mr. Nicholas continued. 'If he dies, the house is yours. However, he could sell the house to mount the rather expensive defense he might have to mount in an effort to stay out of jail. His resources are stretched right now. 'Mr. Nicholas murmured. 'Of course the shock of Heidi's betrayal, coupled with the shock of learning that Sleeping Beauty has awakened from her slumber, could kill him, couldn't it?' The administrator smiled at her. 'Jeff has always been prone to hypertension.'
His dark eyes were cold and fathomless, Nora noted. 'I can't take advantage of Jeff,' she said.
'Yes, you can,' Mr. Nicholas told her. 'This is the man who was casting you aside after twenty-six years of faithful devotion, my dear. This is the man who was attempting to put you out of your house, who wanted to impoverish you, and your children, just so he could marry a younger woman. Someone not much older than the daughter you bore him. Doesn't he deserve to die?'
Nora was silent. She had wanted revenge, and now she had her chance. Wouldn't her life, the children's lives be better without Jeff? J. J. could go to college without having to worry. Jill could have her three years at Duke Law paid for, and not have to take time from her studies by working. And I would have my house, Nora thought.
'Listen to him, Red,' Kyle said softly. 'You don't have to sacrifice yourself any more, baby. We can be together. He doesn't deserve to live.'
'If I agreed,' Nora said slowly, 'how would it happen? He's a bastard, I know, but I don't want him to suffer.'
'And we don't want him to run up too large a legal bill,' Mr. Nicholas said with a sly smile. 'I think on his second night in jail your husband will suffer an acute coronary. He'll die in his sleep, my dear, dreaming of you as you and Kyle make passionate love.'
'He'll know it's me?' Nora asked. She liked that idea very much.
