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"Do whatever you gotta do baby" Her boyfriend Tore said when she told him the news. Roberta knew that he would not dare be confrontational. He never was, but a little part of her was disappointed that he did not protest. Wouldn't he miss her for two weeks? Wasn't he worried about her sudden departure and mysterious excuse? She had been growing more frustrated with Tore's easy-going manner for a few months now, but had been too busy to do anything about it. This last condensation to her will was the straw that broke the camel's back. She was going to have to end things with Tore. He needed to be with somebody that would appreciate his willing-to-please attitude. She needed to be with somebody that would fight back. She decided that she would end it once this whole mysterious secret wedding business was over. She hung up and then dialed Mariana
"I thought that you would be back by now Roberta, you have clients waiting" Mariana was not as pliable as Tore had been. That is why Roberta had hired her, and why she had grown more dependent on her over the years. Mariana had gone from irreplaceable assistant to irreplaceable best friend. Roberta explained the situation to Mariana.
"I don't think it's a good idea Bertie." Mariana said, "it's not like you need the money, you have a six month long waiting list."
"Mariana, it's not about the money, I don't really know why I need to see this job through, but I feel an irresistible pull to this place" An Irresistible pull to that man she had seen in the photograph. That soft hair that she had wanted so badly to stroke. Those beautiful brown eyes. They were beautiful, but unfriendly, and they enchanted her. Roberta shook her head. Those thoughts were unprofessional. He was engaged, and rich, and so head over the hills in love with that skinny white woman that he would throw her a lavish surprise wedding.
"I'll pack your things, and cancel your appointments," Mariana conceded.
"Then go on a nice vacation darling". Roberta was feeling generous, but she also had an inexplicable desire for Mariana to be far away. Mariana was the only one who would ever be able to talk Roberta out of going through with this crazy scheme. Roberta did not want to risk being talked out of it.
"...I do have some frequent flier miles that are serious in danger of expiring. The beach, a tropical drink and gorgeous tan bodies might just be what I need." Mariana was convinced. "Good" Roberta thought. "That girl deserves a vacation.
Henderson had shown Roberta to her room.
"I think that you will find everything you need Miss."
"Call me Roberta honey; I'm not your teacher. Although I could probably teach you a thing or two" she said and then winked saucily at the stiff formal man. Henderson blushed, then turned and left. He had given Roberta a security badge and pass code, as well as her own key to the room. She took the key out and fit it into the lock, then pushed the door open.
Her room was gorgeous, gorgeous. Roberta hired a designer to decorate her apartment. The designer had done a good enough job. The apartment was sophisticated. It was everything that she had asked for, yet she had been a little disappointed. She had expected the designer to deliver something beyond her expectations, something that really wowed, but it had just been fine. Beautiful, but fine. Expensive, but fine. Her apartment looked like it belonged in a high-end home decor magazine, but it feel like home.
But this room left Roberta breathless. The luxurious pink Turkish carpet was intricately patterned with intertwining roses and felt like velvet beneath her feet. The gilded wallpaper shimmered in the light. The canopied bed was covered in a pale pink duvet and aqua dupioni silk pillows. On the wall was a gilded mirror that looked as if it had hung in the Palace of Versailles. Roberta walked over to it and peered into it, half expecting to see Marie Antoinette looking back at her instead of her own beautiful brown face. She took a closer look at herself and ran a finger across her cheekbones. Her nighttime regimen of applying moisturizer had not let her down. Her face was as smooth as silk. Roberta would always be grateful to her mother for insisting that she take special care of her skin. Her mother had also encouraged Roberta to love her body.
"Your curves and hills will encourage men to want to explore every inch of you Roberta." she had said. "Only boring men like the skinny twigs, but a real man will appreciate your soft roundness. A real man will want to put his hands all over you and discover what makes you purr." Roberta had had plenty of lovers, but so far, no man had ever made her purr. She was beginning to think purring had been a slight exaggeration. She certainly felt good in the arms of other men. She had felt her body responding as they stroked her smooth brown-sugar skin, but a purring sound had never come out of her mouth.
