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“Julia could be here any minute. Try not to backslide like that again.”

“I know, I just…” Jane trailed off with a bright smile. Carmine studied her reaction and laughed.

“Has somebody fallen in love?”

“Oh, not exactly, I just had a grand night recently.”

“Wonderful! None of my business then,” Carmine remarked as he made a few steps toward the office.

“Carmine, have you ever had a New York encounter? Those times when the spirits of the Big Apple bring two people together whose paths wouldn’t normally cross. The thrill of the city gets into their lungs and they’ll do anything to have each other right then and there. I used to think that was a myth, just something you saw in movies and TV shows. Well, now I know… it can happen to anyone. Maybe it’ll even happen to you.”

Carmine chuckled to himself. “Mind the counter, Jane.”

In fact, it was that kind of encounter that Carmine craved from his impending night with Julia. Granted, they had known each other for a long time, but only as business colleagues. Jane’s romanticized description still qualified as long as he got to meet the real Julia. How likely was this to happen? Passionate storm clouds were brewing above his mind’s eye but was their any lightning getting ready to strike? Carmine found himself obsessing over her invitation every five minutes since he received it. A spreadsheet stared at him from his desktop, waiting and pleading to be pumped and filled with the shifts for the upcoming work week.

Focusing wasn’t an option, so he opened up his drawer to find an emergency bottle of Black Label. As he reached in for the alcoholic phallus, Carmine heard a knock on the door. His heart skipped a beat. The bottle thudded back into the drawer. Carmine was suspended in a pose of horror until he knew for sure that it wasn’t broken. After sliding the contraption shut, he invited the knocker in.

Julia shuffled into Carmine’s office. She kept the door shut by hiding her hands behind her back and thinly holding down the fort.

“Julia! What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here today?”

She smiled suspiciously. “Did Spinoza botch the shipment again?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that! Just a bit of a hectic afternoon as you can probably see.”

“Jane seems to be in a pleasant mood. She has this glaze and spring in her step. My driver has it, too. Love must be in the air,” Julia laughed.

“Must be. I’m just working on the schedules.”

“Okay then, Carmine, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to give you the details about the party. As I said, it’s pretty casual. Jarvis should be at your place with the Limo by 7:00. He’ll probably get you and then bring you to me so we can go together — but maybe I’ll just go along, I don’t know, haven’t… decided. Anyway, that’s mainly it. Sound good?”

“I thought your assistant was going to fill me in.”

“Did I say that? Well, I thought I’d fill you in myself, give my assistant a break.” Julia pushed back even harder now. She didn’t know whom exactly she was keeping out but she didn’t want to take the risk all the same. “So… yes. Do you have any questions?”

“None whatsoever. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Great, great…well, I won’t keep you.”

“You’re welcome here anytime.”

“Well, I am the boss.” Julia chortled through the uncomfortable silence. Then it was a flash of a smile and out the door. Carmine grinned. Since this invitation was sprung upon him, Julia was much less hands-on. There were several issues about which she could’ve nitpicked but her mind seemed to be on other things. Carmine relaxed as it was beginning to come clearer: This couldn’t simply be a work-related invite. If she wasn’t definitely attracted to him, she was at least considering the possibility that an attraction could gestate at any time.

In fact, Carmine liked seeing his superior so flustered in his presence. The domineering force of nature was displaying her weakness, and he appeared to be that very weakness. As he dwelled on this thought, an erection sprouted up slowly in his pants. He had enough class to place this in his backup energy storage unit within his mind, but that didn’t stop him from indulging in a cheeky stroke of the tip of his rod.

Meanwhile, Julia sat back in the limousine, her legs crossed and her arms folded.

“Is something troubling you?” Jarvis inquired.

“I have a lot of doubts,” Julia replied. “This could be incredible, or it could be a disaster. This could jeopardize the shop or it could be nothing at all. I wonder if I’m analyzing it too much. I probably am, aren’t I?”

“Best to let the spirit of the evening sweep you along.”

“And you’d know about that?” She raised her eyebrows.

“I’ve had my moments,” he grinned.

“Thank you, Jarvis.”

The window rose up and clipped itself to the top. Julia was now invisible to her driver. It suddenly dawned on her that her favorite element of limousine access was the tinted windows. It had been a stressful trip to the coffee shop. What Julia needed more than anything was a stroke of the snatch. She pictured Carmine inside the limo, his thick piece tunneling in and out of her while he bent her over. She held onto the image and rubbed herself vigorously. She was soaked and sore by the time Jarvis returned her to her chambers. As usual, he pretended that he hadn’t heard a solitary peep through the transparent, curtain-like window.

***

CLAIRE wandered into the Museum of Modern Art on a mere whim. She couldn’t help but feel overdressed in her black strapless dress but the stares from admiring, anonymous men made up for the possible faux pas. It had been some time since Claire had taken in a trip to a museum. She flirted with art history in her college days and all men who existed within any kind of artistic field drove her just a little wild.

She didn’t know what to expect as she hadn’t bothered to check the exhibits in advance. When she wandered in front of a mammoth Jackson Pollock, she almost collapsed with the weight and soul of the work. Claire attempted to take in every inch of the canvas. As she contemplated Pollock agonizing over every splatter, she felt her tears water.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

Claire turned to the gentleman sitting next to her. He must have been fresh out of college, his deep green eyes piercing through his plastic rims. A sports jacket over an obscure punk t-shirt suggested he was from Brooklyn, as did his finely-groomed beard.

“I’m sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting. I’m Paul.”

“Oh no, not at all. Claire, it’s a pleasure.” They shook hands. Claire felt Paul’s callous fingertips and observed the sketchbook sitting on top of his jeans.

“You’re not trying to sketch that, are you?”

“God, no!” Paul laughed. “No, I just bring this around for inspiration.” He grabbed her hand once again. “Oh good, I thought I got your hands a little dirty for a second. You have beautiful hands — I hope that wasn’t too forward of me, I apologize.”

Claire blushed. “How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Twenty-four.”

“You’re quite the charmer for a young man.”

“No, seriously, you’d make a excellent hand model. I’ll have to sketch them some time. But yeah, look at that painting. You can practically see Pollock pouring himself into it. If I can ever create something half as powerful as this, I can die happy.”

Claire listened to Paul carefully. She thought about her day and how dull the tourist-eye view of New York was becoming. She slid over to Paul by half an inch.

“Busy day?” She licked her lips.

***

PAUL dragged Claire into the cramped apartment right in the center of Williamsburg. The bedroom was straight through. The two had been fondling and nuzzling each other for the entirety of the cab ride. They made sure to tip the poor driver heavily over the inconvenience. Their tongues were still passionately dancing when he threw her down onto the unmade bed. Paul’s mind raced several laps. He had brought a woman so beautiful that she looked as though she stepped out of the ads in the latest edition of Vogue magazine.