The Spice of Life (The Transformation #1) (5 page)

By 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 and see if 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.
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.

{ 2 }

When Nina called, Kelli was thrilled to hear from her old friend. She had no idea that she 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 the first week of their freshman year in high school and had been nearly inseparable. After graduation, Kelli and Paul had been struggling, especially with Kelli’s pregnancy, and needed all the help they could get to pay the bills on their tiny apartment in Clinton, NJ. Kelli, Paul and Nina decided to share the apartment while Nina pursued her career in marketing and sales, and Kelli continued to work her way through graduate school.

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, and usually being the more sober of the two, she often rescued 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 had 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 fantasized about the nameless, masked man who had teased her so mercilessly, and then disappeared. She had 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 the 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 at 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 bleu 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. As Kelli admired her surroundings, she completely tuned out; unaware that Nina was describing her latest relationship in great detail.

“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 field. Kelli gauged that he was about 5’10”. Her eye was generally drawn to taller men, but there was something about this guy. He looked vaguely familiar, something about his eyes, but she couldn’t figure out why. Maybe she had encountered him at a work function somewhere.
That must be it.

She took in his physique, dressed in a tailored suit jacket, over a simple black t-shirt and dark jeans, with nice leather boots. His features were unusually striking. He was clean-cut, with salt and pepper hair, olive skin and a well-muscled frame. 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.

Nina finally caught on, and leaned forward to whisper. “Kelli, I think that guy over there is super into you! He keeps staring.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. What do you think? I think he’s really attractive. Do you think it’s weird that he keeps looking at me like that?”

“Hell, no! He just wants to eat you up, that’s all! Want me to call him over for you?”

“No, no. Don’t do that. Maybe I’ll just take this opportunity to get some drink refills.”

“Sounds good, girl. Do it! In the meantime, there is a smoking hot guy at that corner table who has caught my eye…I might have to go say hello, while you check out Mr. Intense over there.”

Kelli decided to go to the ladies room first, to prepare herself before making her approach to the bar. She felt oddly nervous, with butterflies in her stomach. It had been so long since she did anything like this. Did she even remember how to flirt, really flirt, and mean it? She reapplied her eyeliner and carefully smudged it along her upper eyelids, patted some powder lightly over her nose and cheeks from her purse compact, and topped things off with some more red lipstick. ‘
Too much?’
she wondered, but the mirror told her otherwise; she looked smoldering and intense, just as intense as the mystery man at the bar. She was ready.

Kelli walked out to the bar with confidence, and slid onto a bar stool a few seats down from the handsome stranger. She felt his eyes on her, like a brand burning into her neck. It was not an unpleasant sensation, just the opposite. She ordered another hot and dirty martini, smiling coyly at the cute, young, male bartender and then toyed with a cocktail napkin.

She felt him move next to her before she even saw him. There was indescribable warmth and the air tingled. She could smell the scent of his cologne: light, warm, masculine. She glanced up and there he was, just inches away, softly smiling, almost grinning at her.

“Nice necklace. What’s your name?”

Kelli unconsciously fingered her square, white gold sapphire pendant. “Uh, thank you!” She was too flustered by his closeness to register his question about her name.

He looked at her intently and spoke again. His voice was rich and low. “I must say…you are an exceptionally beautiful, sexy woman.”

Kelli was instantly mesmerized. His words, and his closeness, had a very strong effect on her. She suddenly felt like she’d had four or five drinks, rather than two.

“That’s very kind of you to say. Thank you.”

“Ah, and you can take a compliment well. I like a confident, secure woman. It’s a good sign.”

“Sign of what?” Kelli asked, coyly.

He chuckled. “Assertiveness. Sexuality. I’m sure you’re quite confident and uninhibited in bed. I can tell from a mile off.”

With that, he leaned over the bar and signaled to the bartender. “I’d like a Henny on the rocks, please.”

Kelli smiled, and toyed with the straw in her drink. She felt mildly tongue-tied. She found herself checking out the ring finger of his left hand. Nothing. Not even a tan line. She glanced up at him and noticed that he was looking closely at her left hand, which was still holding her drink. She suddenly felt self-conscious about the fact that she was still wearing her own wedding ring.
Why hadn’t she taken it off?
She shifted her martini to her right hand and moved her left hand out of sight.

It was almost as if the stranger noticed or read her mind. He spoke, “Funny, isn’t it? All of us here in this bar, looking for something that we don’t have. Are you here looking for something, you with your long legs and beautiful hair?”