The Devil's Bargain Ch. 05

I thought of the warning Tansa had given me, before we confirmed the bargain: that I should beware of choosing models, or actresses, because they weren't going to stop travelling around the world, no matter how much they enjoyed sex with me.

I'd chosen an ambitious career woman. And now Holly was being transferred to Calgary.

- "When?" I asked.

- "Two weeks." She didn't apologize for accepting the position; it was a promotion, with a hefty raise in salary. She'd have been crazy to turn it down. I'd passed up promotions myself, for Connie - and look how that turned out.

- "Congratulations, Holly." I said. "I can't pretend that I won't miss you, but I'm genuinely pleased for you. You've worked hard -I'm glad that you're getting some recognition."

- "Thank you." she said softly. "But part of me wishes that I wasn't leaving. That I could stay here and ..."

- "That's sweet of you say." I told her. "But trust me: if you turn this down, you'll always wonder about it, for the rest of your life. Seize the opportunity. You deserve it."

Holly reached across the table to take my hand - a public display of affection that she would never have made two weeks ago.

The waitress had horrible timing. She showed up just at that moment.

- "So do you know what you want to order?" she chirped.

Holly and I tried to find other topics of conversation after that, but it felt a little forced.

- "I'm sorry." she said. "I've spoiled the evening."

- "No. Not at all. You had to tell me at some point. And I appreciate the way you did it. Honest and straightforward."

- "That's me." she said, with a little smile. "Can I tell you something else? In the interest of being honest and straightforward?"

- "Always."

- "We're going to skip dessert, so that we can go back to my place. I'm taking my couch to Calgary, and I want some memories of you to go with it."

- "What kind of memories?"

Holly actually blushed. "I've got a whole list."

- "Such as?"

Holly didn't talk dirty very often, but now she leaned forward, conspiratorially, and whispered to me. "Well, 69, for starters. Then I want to ride you, and ..." She couldn't help herself; she started to giggle.

- "That sounds fine."

- "You don't understand, Dan. I want to monopolize your time for the next two weeks. There's a whole list of things I want to do with you - and to you."

- "I'll do my best to help you out." I said.

Holly was true to her word. I saw her six nights in a row, including that dinner. She did indeed have a long bucket list, particularly for that couch. Her work at our office was winding down; she had time during the days to prepare for her new role in Calgary - and that left her evenings and the weekend free for me.

She stayed over Friday night, and then spent the whole day with me while Lisa took Freya to her agility class. I couldn't get enough of Holly. It was as if I was trying to imprint her on my memory - the shape of her, the way she smelled, and tasted, and felt.

I had one night away from her, which I spent with Mom. Monica wasn't happy to be shut out, but I promised to explain - and to make it up to her. Then I spent five more nights in a row with Holly.

I also did some serious thinking about Tansa's magic, and the special clauses I'd had inserted into our contract. In the end, though, it was Holly who helped me make up my mind.

Two nights before her departure - our last night together - she was too sad to be in the mood for sex.

- "I didn't think that it would hit me this hard." she said. "I feel as though we're breaking up, even though I know that it was my fault we were never really a couple ... and now I keep thinking that moving away is another mistake." She hugged me, then, holding on tight. "Do we have to break up? I mean, does it have to be final?"

- "I'm not sure what you mean."

- "What if ended up transferred back here? It might not be that long. A few years? I know that you'll probably be with someone else ... or several someones. But ... there might be a chance that we could ..."

- "Pick up where we left off?"

She nodded. "I'm not asking you to wait for me. And I promise that I won't sit there and pine away. But some time down the road ... it's possible, isn't it?"

I'd been planning to use Tansa's magic to break it off gently with Holly - to invoke the 'Broken Heart' clause, and help her get over me painlessly. But when she said that, I began to wonder if she was right. Maybe there was a chance for us, somewhere in the future.

Monica and I had energetic sex, but Holly was the whole package: bright, talented, fun to be with (even when we weren't having sex), but also lovely, with a fantastic body. Sex with Holly was more varied, because she was capable of gentle love-making as well as the more athletic approach that Monica preferred.

So why not wait, and see what might happen?

I drove her to the airport two days later.

***

I made it up to Monica by seeing her for five nights straight. I took her out twice (to dinner, and to a batting cage and mini putt course, which she actually liked better), and had sex with her every time. I will admit that I was pretty worn out after that fifth occasion. Monica stayed over Friday night, and then came to Freya's class with me. She was prepared to come back to my house for more sex, but I needed a couple of days to recover.

At some point, I knew that I would be looking for another woman. Five times a week with Monica would put me in the hospital. Was there someone like Holly out there for me? No one else at work appealed. I just didn't know very many women. Where to look?

Meanwhile, I had to spend more time with Mom. It wasn't just her house, or her yard. Connie had left us both a bit of a mess.

Before she died, Connie should have remade her will. She didn't. When she finally passed, I discovered that she had left half of everything she had to me, and half to her mother. That meant, unfortunately, that Connie's Mom now owned one quarter of our (my) house. I could understand that my wife had wanted to make sure that her mother was well taken care of, but what she really did was make certain that I would be spending far more time with lawyers than I would have wished on my worst enemy.

It took forever for Connie's will to clear probate, which tied up our joint bank accounts. Mom actually had to lend me money until I could set up a new account and have my salary deposited there. Then we had to find a way to clear up the lien on my house that Connie had unintentionally created.

Just as I thought that were finally done with lawyers, Mom decided that she wanted to revise her will. It only made sense, after all: she had no surviving family.

- "I want to leave it to you, Daniel." she said. Well, okay: that made sense, too, since I was the one person who looked after her. And my own will needed to be revised, because I no longer had Connie to leave anything to.

It's a staggering thing, to realize that you don't have anyone to pass your property to. Obviously, I would leave most to Connie's Mom, unless she pre-deceased me. Holly didn't need any money, but it wouldn't hurt to include her. Maybe I could leave her my couch. I could pay Monica's fees at the fitness centre for a few years. And I could leave something for Lisa, the neighbour's daughter. After all she'd done for me, she deserved it.

So there we were, Mom and I, back at the lawyer's office on a Tuesday afternoon. And that's where lightning struck.

There was a new receptionist.

- "Hello." she said, with a magnificent smile. "How can I help you?"

I can't go any further with my story until I describe that smile. It was incredible. Her teeth were white, and bright, and they lit up the room. But the receptionist's face also lit up, as if seeing us come in was the best thing that had happened to her that whole day.

I didn't answer. It wasn't that I was temporarily robbed of the power of speech; I just plain forgot that I was supposed to answer. All I could do was look at her. I saw lustrous raven-black hair, eyes so dark brown that they also looked black, a button nose, and absolutely luscious lips. Her skin was a delicious shade that I can only compare to light caramel.

- "We're here to see Mr. Lewandoski." said Mom.

The receptionist smiled again. "I'll let him know you're here."

Somehow, I remembered where I was - and who I was with. I helped Mom to a chair in the outer office. The fact that we still had a clear view of the receptionist from there was pure coincidence.

She was brisk and efficient, and I tried not to stare as she spoke into the phone. She answered another call on a separate line. When she finished that, she glanced up and treated us to another brilliant smile.

- "She's very pretty." said Mom.

- "Hmm?"

- "The receptionist. She's very pretty, don't you think?"

I probably should have mentioned this before, but Connie's Mom was gradually losing her hearing. She steadfastly refused to wear a hearing aid. 'I'm not deaf' she would say, angrily. She missed a lot. But she also compensated by speaking louder than most people.

The receptionist heard every word.

- "Yes, Mom." I said. "She's very pretty."

At one point, the receptionist stood up and went to one of the large bookshelves. She was of average height, but she was well put together. Nice legs, and ... dear me. She was turned, so that I could see her in profile. Then she reached for a book on one of the upper shelves. In so doing, she inadvertently revealed that she was stacked.

Or was it inadvertent? As she walked back to her desk, she didn't look my way, but I thought that I detected the hint of a smile on her face. Was that stretching and reaching a deliberate display?

Her desk phone beeped twice. She picked it up, listened, and then smiled at us again as she stood up.

- "Right this way." she said. I tried not to stare at her ass as she led us to the lawyer's office.

I honestly remember very little of the beginning of that meeting. The lawyer had to ask me the same question twice. Somehow I managed to get my act together and concentrate on the matters at hand.

On our way out, an hour later, I couldn't help looking at the receptionist.

- "Thank you." I said.

- "You're very welcome." she said, with a another brilliant smile.

I drove Mom home, and then went in with her, because she insisted on feeding me. I tried to be sociable, but my thoughts kept returning to the receptionist.

Was she flirting? Did she flirt like that with everyone? Maybe Tansa's magic was working for me even when I wasn't aware of it. There was one thing I knew for certain. On my side, it was lust at first sight.

I thought about her all night, and woke up thinking about her. By the time I got to work, I had reached a decision: I had to Carpe Diem. Carpe receptionist. I had to find out if she was married, or single. Women that hot don't often stay single for long.

I left at lunch, taking a half day off for 'personal reasons'. I drove straight to the lawyer's office.

Luck was with me. The outer office was as quiet as it had been yesterday. The receptionist was alone. She looked up as I entered, and lit up the room with another brilliant smile.

- "Hello, Mr. Pilgrim." she said.

She remembered my name. Was that a sign?

- "Hi. Ah ... I'm sorry. I don't know your first name."

- "It's Aarti."

By this time, I was standing in front of her desk. It was quite natural, then, to extend my hand, and say: "Pleased to meet you, Aarti. Again. I'm Dan."

She shook my hand - and gave me a shock. It might have been just static electricity, but it surprised both of us.

- "I'm so sorry." she said.

- "Don't be."

- "Did you need to see Mr. Lewandoski?"

- "No. In fact, I came to see you."

- "Me?"

- "I was hoping that I could ask you a couple of questions." I said.

- "What kind of questions?" she asked. She seemed curious, rather than worried.

- "Well, first off, I was wondering if you're married, Aarti."

She did a double-take. "What an unusual question." Then she lifted both hands, showing me five or six rings - but not a wedding ring. "No. Never married."

- "Thank you. And ... are you seeing someone at the moment? Do you have ... a romantic partner?" I was going to ask if she had a boyfriend, but at the last second thought that she might have a girlfriend instead.

- "Mr. Pilgrim! That's ... very personal. But to answer your question: no. I'm single, at the moment." Her eyes were bright; Aarti was treating this as some sort of semi-flirtatious game.

- "That's ... good to know." I said. There was nothing to be gained by delay. It was time to see if Aarti would be my third woman.

"I want you - One."

She didn't gag, or retch. A moment later, she smiled. "Ummm ...?"

- "I want you - Two."

- "What are you saying?" That was good; if there had been some major impediment, she wouldn't have been able to answer at all.

I didn't hesitate. "I want you - Three."

- "Oh." said Aarti.

- "Aarti, I'd like to take you out to dinner on Friday night."

- "I'm sorry, Dan. I can't." she said. "But maybe Saturday evening, if it works for you?"

- "That would be wonderful."

I saw Monica at the club that night. We chatted briefly, and made plans for Friday. I only felt moderately guilty. After all, I'd been sharing time between Holly and Monica for many months. Seven months, in fact, when I added it all up. The only change, for Monica, was that it was going to be Aarti instead of Holly. Or so I thought.

Maybe I did feel a little guilty. I went down on Monica for a long time that Friday, and then let her be on top as she tried to drive my pelvis through the bed.

I was feeling butterflies all day Saturday. Then I went to pick Aarti up. By some weird trick of fate, she actually lived a mere 2.5 kilometers away (that's about a mile and a half).

The moment she opened the door, she took my breath away. There was her brilliant smile, of course, but she was also dressed to kill (semi-casual version). She wore a long red skirt, with high-heeled sandals, and a white blouse with the top buttons undone, revealing a good five inches of creamy cleavage.

I was stunned - a reaction that pleased her. Apparently she could dress 'Professional hot' for work, and then turn it up several notches on the weekend.

- "You look amazing." I finally managed to say.

- "Thank you."

I took her to Giordano's, a fusion restaurant with a wide selection. I knew next to nothing about Aarti, including her food preferences, allergies or intolerances.

But I learned a great deal about her over dinner. She didn't drink alcohol (though she didn't mind at all if I did). Aarti was 33, and never married. Her family was of South Indian extraction; her grandparents had come to Canada, and both her mother and father had been born here. Aarti had two sisters (one of whom she no longer spoke to). She exercised regularly, and practiced yoga daily.

As she answered my questions, I found myself enjoying her vitality, her immediacy. Aarti was one of those people who are hard to miss - not exactly 'the life of the party', but you definitely knew that she was there.

I wanted to take up photography, just to see if I could capture and preserve some of her energy. I also hoped that I would have the opportunity to watch her sleeping, or in unguarded moments. She was beautiful, and smoking hot. How was it possible that she wasn't already married?

She wanted to know about me, as well, and asked her fair share of questions. I didn't dodge, and told a fair number of truths.

- "How would you describe yourself?' she asked.

- "That depends. I was serious and responsible. I made sacrifices, mostly for others. I still do, but I'm beginning to spread my wings, I think."

- "I'm very serious, too." she said. "I travelled a great deal in my early 20s, and I would like to again. I'm also very spiritual, very in touch with my feelings, and my aura."

Okay - slightly kooky. I could live with that, when she looked like this.

We skipped coffee and dessert, because Aarti promised me tea at her place. I couldn't wait. But it turned out that when Aarti offered tea, she really meant ... tea.

If Tansa's magic was working on her, then Aarti was attracted to me. She wanted to have sex. But I was getting a very different vibe from her. This wasn't a seduction. She wasn't inviting me to jump her bones. I decided to be patient - wait and see.

It wasn't quite a Japanese tea ceremony, but Aarti was pretty serious about her tea. She had me sit, cross-legged, on her living room floor, next to a low table. Then she took out a rosewood box, from which she extracted a deck of overlarge cards.

- "Can I do a reading for you?" she asked.

- "Tarot cards?" I guessed.

- "Yes. I've had great success with them in the past."

- "Sure." What harm could it do? I'd always thought that this sort of divination was just a more complicated form of flipping a coin before making a major decision. If it comes up heads, you go ahead and do whatever it was you were going to do. Tails, you rethink it, and then eventually do what you wanted to anyway. If Aarti was serious about this stuff, then I wasn't going to mock her.

She brought a quartz crystal out of the box as well. It was oddly rose-coloured.

- "I have to cleanse the deck." she explained. Aarti put the crystal on top of the cards. Then she went back to the box, and took out a cone of incense. She lit it, and then picked up her Tarot deck, waving it through the incense smoke several times.

Then she placed the deck on the table, and looked at me.

- "Ask a question." she said. "Something you really want the answer to."

I actually thought about it. Obviously, I was thinking about Aarti. The magic was working on her - we were going to have sex. What else did I want to know? Okay - would she be the girlfriend that I hoped Holly would be?

- "Got it." I said.

Aarti proceeded to shuffle the shit out of that deck. She split them into multiple piles, and changed their order. Then she spread them out on the table, and did the big, messy kiddie shuffle. When she had re-assembled the pile, she continued to shuffle the deck. Finally, she asked me to cut the deck twice, creating three new piles.

Aarti then closed her eyes, and cut twice more. There were now five piles. She then selected a card from each stack. She took the top card only once. The rest of the time, she took random cards - that's what it seemed to me, at any rate.

Then she turned over the first card.

- "The Sun." she said. "Major Arcana."

- "Is that good?"

- "Some say that the major arcana are a more emphatic answer to your question. The first card is usually 'what is happening now'. The Sun is a very positive card It signifies joy, happiness. Success at work, or in a relationship."

Are you freaked out, a little? I was.

- "This next one is what you should do." Aarti turned over the second card. I saw a man holding a stick, much like a quarterstaff. There were a bunch of other upright sticks in the foreground. "The seven of rods. Some call them wands." Aarti chose to refer to her book for an interpretation. "Perseverance. Standing up for yourself, or protecting yourself."

That made no sense whatsoever. We should have stopped after the first card. But Aarti was watching my face, so I nodded as if I understood.

The third card, Aarti said, was the lesson. I didn't know how that differed from the first card, but I wasn't about to raise an objection.

The moment she turned it over, I recognized the image. I know next to nothing about the Tarot, but even I had seen the Hanged Man before. Even upside down.

- "The Hanged Man, reversed. Hmm ..." I didn't like the sound of that 'Hmm'; it sounded a bit like a surgeon saying 'Oops!'. Once again, Aarti consulted her book. "It depends on what your question was." she said. "It's not a bad card: look at his face. He's rather serene, wouldn't you say?"