Second Kiss

Antonia: Part 2

After a warm, lingering kiss, she rested her head upon my shoulder, arms tightly around me. I held her close. I could feel myself becoming aroused, and that was against the will of my logical mind, but apparently precisely the will of the rest of me.

She was forbidden fruit, the wife of a well-known and somewhat disreputable businessman. She had sought me out for a specific chore which would forever change her relationship to her husband. She had sought me out to expose some business interest of her husband's. He would not be happy had he known what she was doing.

Our first correspondences were entirely in the electronic form. Professional at first, but the tone of our email changed over time. There was a great deal of information to exchange in the course of the work at hand and it required nearly daily communication. The technicalities would bore you, so I won't bother with them. Besides, the job is no longer the story. She is the story.

Our exchanges became both business and flirtatious. Then they became less business and more personal, more probing, more flirtatious, more compelling. It's hard for me to know when we crossed the line, but at some point we most assuredly crossed it. We carried on our business, but the passion between us would not be quenched.

I brushed her hair out of her face and leaned down one more time to kiss her. She received my invitation and our lips met, soft and warm and moist. I felt her breath on my cheeck, I felt the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. She was alive, she was real. At last I had experienced this woman who had so fired my imagination.

We had met once before. I had seen her before in-real-life. But her husband had been there and we pretended not to know each other. Stolen glances and veiled smiles were all that was exchanged. When she left with her entourage, she stole one last glance in my direction. The look of her face was frozen in my mind more indelibly then any photograph could have recorded the moment.

She buried her face in my chest and softly spoke, "Teddy, oh Teddy."

But her words were troubled. Desire and fear mingled together, causing a cavalcade of emotions to flow through her mind. Her words were soft and delicate as she continued to speak my name. I lifted her chin and studied her eyes. They were full and wet.

"It's not over, you know."

"In many ways it may have just begun," I replied.

The double entendre was not lost on her. She held me more tightly, her shape pressing against me, arousing me.

The envelope I gave her was not money. It was more precious than that. It was evidence. Documentation of a crime about to occur. I'm not a law enforcement officer. In many ways I was indifferent to the contents. But I could not be indifferent to her.

I raised my hands slowly to the top button on her sweater and unbuttoned it, revealing another two inches of neckline.

I don't know what she might do with the envelope. She's the client. I had performed my duties and was finished.

I moved slowly down her sweater to the next button and freed it as well.

I suspected the job would have a second phase, but I wasn't sure I wanted to be involved. The potential for the total depravity and ugliness of the human condition to be released was vastly greater. Yet, I was powerless to say no to this woman.

I moved my hands to the next button.

"Teddy, no, we mustn't," she rebuttoned her sweater. "This isn't the time or the place. We've stolen two kisses from eternity, and she may want them back. I'm so sorry Teddy, I wish I could."

Her words fell heavily on my ears. Our eyes searched and probed each other. A tear ran slowly down one cheek.

"Our time will come, it's okay," I reassured her.

I left the envelope on a chair and backed toward the door. She stood in the middle of the room and watched as I left. She was crying.


Faithfully submitted,
Teddy Packer