By the evening, when Kelli returned home from work, there was still no reply. She knew it was irrational of her to feel irritated, yet she was annoyed, and frustrated. She had worked her way up to this, and now it had stalled.
She considered writing again -- just a line or two, to check in -- but quickly discarded the idea. It seemed far too attentive and needy.
The final straw came when it occurred to her to check whether or not EnjoyLifeNJ had signed into the website. She checked and saw that he had, indeed been online in the past 24 hours. Why hasn't he replied?
Kelli felt increasingly upset, and annoyed. Her annoyance was the top layer of a deep sense of disappointment. None of this was really working out. She knew it would turn out like this. It had just been a foolish idea in the first place, doomed to fail. She was married to Paul, would stay married to Paul, and would suffer through the next two or three decades of joyless, sexless, dissatisfied existence. That was how it was. She wouldn't break the girls’ hearts by leaving their father. She’d just stagnate, like old water in a pond.
*ping* Kelli jerked her head up and stared at the screen. That sound meant she had a new message. Yes, there was something in her mailbox! It must be EnjoyLifeNJ. She felt far too eager as she opened it up. Oh. Her heart sank. It was a message from someone called Sexgod11, and read:
Your a real fox. I’d like to see if you’re sexy tale is bushy and red to match your pretty hair.
Ugh. Who ARE these people? This guy obviously had an IQ of 60. Kelli was done. She quickly went to the “Accounts” tab and selected “Disable/delete account”. Enough was enough.
Chapter 2
When Nina called, Kelli was thrilled to hear from her old friend. She had no idea that Nina was back in town. Nina had been in California for the past year or so, working as a banking recruiter. Kelli had seen her once or twice, but for the most part they were both busy with their lives.
Nina was one of Kelli’s oldest friends. They had met in the first week of their freshman year at college and had been nearly inseparable. After graduation, they’d shared a tiny apartment together in Clinton, NJ, as Nina pursued her career in marketing and sales and Kelli worked her way through graduate school. Kelli, Paul and Nina had shared an apartment together to help pay the bills. Kelli and Paul had been struggling, especially with Kelli’s pregnancy, so they needed all the help they could get.
Nina was wild, and always had been. She possessed a Marilyn Monroe figure with long, luscious, black curls, full features, and latte-colored skin. She had led Kelli through all kinds of crazy escapades. Once, Nina had suggested that they go out in Greenwich Village and bar-hop while posing as obscure European royalty. She’d even come up with the unique accents for each of them. Kelli had been Romanian, and Nina, Croatian. They’d both drawn all kinds of attention to themselves; Nina absolutely soaked it up. Kelli enjoyed Nina’s pranks, but had always been content to enjoy them in tandem. She had often been the more sober of the two, rescuing Nina from all sorts of compromising situations.
On the answering machine, Nina’s message was typically enthusiastic:
“Kelli! My bodaciously beautiful goddess! How ARE you? I’m in New York for a few days. We really must go out. It’s been far, far too long. I have so much to tell you! CALL ME!”
It was perfect timing. It had been a few days since Kelli abandoned her online adventure, and she’d felt morose and slightly depressed since then. Before she’d gone on the site, she was still able to convince herself that there was some kind of hope for her and Paul. But since she’d come clean with herself and realized that the spark was completely dead, her married life had become almost unbearable. She could hardly stand to be in the same room as Paul; even the scent of his body made her feel slightly sick to her stomach and grossed out overall. Not that he’d tried to be near her, or make any sexual advances. Nothing had changed in that department. Kelli was grateful, for once. Instead, she’d turned to self-pleasuring, even more than usual. As she brought herself to orgasm in her bathtub, over and over, she’d fantasized about the nameless,masked man who had teased her so mercilessly, and then disappeared. She’d even given him a face, of sorts, in her mind’s eye. It was a composite of several ex-boyfriends, with a dose of George Clooney blended in. It worked pretty well. But even her sessions with her vibrator were growing stale.
A night out with Nina was just what she needed to relax and let loose a little. A few cocktails…talking about old times…yes, that sounded about right.
She picked up the phone and dialed Nina’s number. Nina answered on the third ring, sounding breathless.
“Kellllllliiiiii! So good to hear from you, babe! I was starting to think I’d have to make my own fun without you. Not that being on my own ever held me back…” she chuckled her throaty laugh.
“Haha…I know, I know”, laughed Kelli. “You’ve never been one to stay in on a Friday night, I know that! But seriously, Neens, I’m thrilled that you’re in town. I am so ready for a good night out. Did you have anything in mind?”
“Me? Honey, you’re the native here now. I was hoping you could suggest a place.”
Kelli paused. There was a place that sprang to mind…
“So….there’s always Thorne, in Kenil, on the New Jersey side. I know you like it there. Or we could go to Casellino, on 52nd. There’s also this new cocktail lounge I’ve been wanting to try out. It’s in Soho. It’s called La Dolce Vita. Maybe we could check it out?”
For a second Kelli imagined that Nina hesitated, and her own heart skipped a beat. But then the reply came down the line.
“Thorne is definitely tempting, but I kinda want to get into Manhattan. Let’s go to that Dolce Vita place. What time? And more importantly…what are you wearing?”
The two friends made plans to meet at 9pm. It was already a few minutes past 7, so Kelli jumped in the shower and then started getting dressed. With Nina’s input, she had decided to wear her red wrap dress, the ruched one with the v-neck. along with her favorite black Manolo Blahnik stiletto sandals. She added some tastefully dark eyeliner, put on some dangly, shimmery silver earrings and let her hair cascade long and loose. At the last minute, she added her white gold square-shaped pendant, with a sapphire. Looking in her full-length mirror she felt a thrill of excitement. She knew that it was silly to imagine that going to La Dolce Vita could possibly cause her to run into EnjoyLifeNJ, but still, the thought was in the back of her mind. And if she did happen to bump into him? Well, she’d show him! With how she looked tonight he’d clearly see what he was missing, and would regret not having replied to her email. Ha! Revenge would be sweet. He probably isn’t even that good looking or charming in person, she thought. Probably just another fat, old douchebag.
Kelli arrived at La Dolce Vita around 9:30. She entered the bar and saw Nina sitting a small table, looking mildly disgruntled.
“I should have told you 8:30, Kells! I forgot your habit of being chronically late.” Nina gave a mock scowl and then embraced Kelli in a huge hug.
“I’m really sorry, Nina…I really am. You know how I just lose track of time. Forgive me?”
Nina’s dark eyes danced and she gave a huge smile. “Of course, hon. Now what ARE we going to drink? Let’s get to it!”
Kelli smiled back. “Well, I’m in the mood for a hot and dirty martini. You know, the one with the blue cheese-stuffed olives?”
Nina giggled. “Good girl! I’ll be right back...”
Minutes later, both women had a drink in hand. Sipping her martini, Kelli took time to take in the bar. It was chic and modern, with clean angles and dark wood accents. The lighting was just low enough to create great ambience, and there were lots of little nooks and alcoves with dark, velvet-lined booths. Nina was describing her latest relationship in great detail, and Kelli tuned out for a moment.
“Kelli? God, Kells, are you listening to a word I say? So, what do you think I should do, anyway?”
“Um, I guess you should do whatever you feel is right.” Kelli had no idea what Nina was referring to. Her comment worked, though, because Nina then launched into another detailed analysis of “he-said, she-said”.
The bar was rapidly filling up with beautiful people. It was mostly an older, professional crowd, but Kelli noticed a few young twenty-somethings in the mix. Their fresh faces made her feel self-conscious for just a moment, but she mentally shook it off. She felt good, sexy. And judging by the glances she was getting from a variety of male patrons, she could hold her own against a nubile 23-year-old anytime.
There was one man in particular who kept glancing her way. He was across the room, leaning against the bar. He was perusing the room with his eyes, much as a 4-star general might peruse a battle scene. Kelli gauged that he was about 5’10”. Her eye was generally drawn to taller men, but there was something about this guy. She took in his physique, dressed in a tailored suit jacket, over a simple black t-shirt and dark jeans, with nice leather boots. He was clean-cut, with salt and pepper hair, olive skin and a well-muscled frame. His features were unusually striking. Their eyes met; she immediately noticed that his were a vivid green, and warmly inviting. Kelli was becoming more and more conscious of him and was finding it even harder to pay attention to what Nina was saying.
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