Angel's Revenge

Goldilocks smiled and kissed her softly.

“Besides, me and Dutch aren’t meant to be like that. I would never tell him my true feelings anyway.”

“Why not?”

“Because I, too, am an aristocrat. Besides, his heart belongs to someone else already.”

“Who?”

Close your eyes…

She did.

Imagine yourself in the place you most want to be and when you get there, imagine you see me.

She could feel the warmth of the pristine white sand beneath her bare feet, smell the fresh blue water, feel the mist hitting her face, and touch the warm frothy water running between her legs.

Now… open your mouth… just… a little… a little more.

She parted her succulent lips ever so slightly, just enough to let her tongue out or his in. He traced her lips gently with his thumb, causing her to quiver with anticipation.

I thought you… you were gone.

Did you really think I’d leave you?

The feathery touch of his fingertips across her cheek, down the nape of her neck, between her breasts, and to her belly button made her squirm. His kisses sent fire to every nerve ending in her body, from head to toe, releasing all of her pent-up emotions.

Pleasure.

Pain.

Joy.

Pain.

Ecstasy.

Pain.

Pain…

Where did you go?

She rode the rhythm of his tongue like a wave that engulfed her, threatening to carry her away. Then just like that…

He was gone.

“No!” she gasped and sat straight up in her bed, sweating and breathing hard. “But I lov…” Nina caught herself before she cried out.

Dwight rolled over.

“You okay, baby?” he asked groggily, still half sleep as he reached for her shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she answered as he rolled over, too tired and sleepy to realize the distress she was in or what she had murmured before she woke him up.

In a cold sweat, thighs and panties soaked, she hugged herself and tried to shake off the feeling as she climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom. It was the third night in a row she had dreamed about Dutch, and she had had enough. Nina had to know the truth. Was he really dead? Was he somewhere out there, waiting for her, wanting her, dreaming of her, like she was of him?

She ran her fingers under the cold water and through her hair. Her life, after being so peaceful and tranquil for three years, had suddenly become one big question mark. It had all started with the flowers.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Nina’s assistant had said, sticking her head through the cracked doorway.

It was ten in the morning and Nina was already swamped.

“If it’s a call, take a message. If it’s a meeting, reschedule it. And if it’s a question, the answer is no,” Nina rattled, feeling grouchy.

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll say no to this. In here, gentlemen,” her assistant ordered.

Nina’s jaw dropped. Three deliverymen carried in dozens of beautiful bouquets of flowers, from roses to gardenias, lilies to orchids. Money had obviously not been a factor when the order had been placed with the florist.

“What is this? Am I opening up a floral boutique?” she asked in amazement. When all was done, over thirty floral arrangements in different crystal vases filled her office. The aroma of the freshly cut loveliness scented her office like an exotic potpourri. Her secretary wondered how she would be able to come and go with the flowers occupying every inch of space.

“Someone really loves you,” she said wistfully, wishing she had someone special to send her flowers.

One of the deliverymen returned with the last multicolored bouquet of what she thought were roses. When he handed them to her, Nina noticed they weren’t roses at all, but silk panties in various soft colors, balled up and cupped like roses and placed on artificial stems.

She took the bouquet of panties and thanked the deliverymen with a twenty-dollar tip. Then she picked up the attached card, opened it, and read: Who else?

That was what she wanted to know! Who would send so many flowers? The question galloped through her mind like a stampede of horses. Dwight? He couldn’t afford all of them. He didn’t make that much money in a month!

Dwight loved to surprise her, but he did so in simple, thoughtful ways. And always in person. He was hooked on how she thanked him. In fact, he surprised her all the time just for his “thank you.”

Nina had dated casually before Dwight, and some of the men had been extremely wealthy. But none of them would ever do this. None had been that serious about her. Besides, they were months in her past.

No. Whoever sent the flowers was a man sure of his place in her heart. Therefore, there would be no need for a signature.

There was only one man in her life who fit that description.

Who else?

It had been over a month since the CD incident, and Nina had all but forgotten it. She had explained it away even though it didn’t make sense. She refused to acknowledge what her heart yearned to accept. Now, standing in her own Garden of Eden, the thoughts she had suppressed sprang from her subconscious and filled her mind with endless possibilities.

We’ve just found the body of Bernard James. She silently recalled the moment when his death was announced. She had been on her way to the courthouse when she heard the news. Her body went limp as she heard the words. Bernard James, Jr., has been pronounced dead. His body has been recovered.

Nina thought of him and of what they shared and of what they would never share. It all died with him that day.

So who else?

“No,” she told herself, refusing to let her emotions take her back to that dismal place in time. Nina had learned to live without hope. She had learned to fulfill her own expectations. She was a woman who wanted to believe, but life had proven that believing was too painful. She had accepted her fate and no amount of flowers would ever change it.

I have to get rid of these. What if Dwight comes in here and sees them and they aren’t from him? But what if they are? she thought.

Instinct took over. She resolved to get rid of the evidence. Hope, in the form of bouquets, was like a dead body lying cold in the middle of her office. She had once killed it. Now she had to dump the body.

She called her secretary and told her that every desk, every teller station and every office was to have a bouquet. She kept only three for herself. Her office was back to its normal drab in less than an hour and hope’s body was safely buried around the bank. The bouquet of silk panties she stuffed in a drawer, mainly because she couldn’t find an appropriate place to put them.

Nina had always been honest with Dwight, because he deserved it. And she had never had anything to hide. Now she wasn’t so sure. Why did I give all my flowers away? Who else, yeah, who else would send me a thousand flowers? She couldn’t help but ponder.

Dwight loved her. He loved her body, every inch of her. He loved having sex with her. It was so much better