I stood at the bar with my date, sipping my third drink of the night. She was talking to me about a magazine article she recently read. Although it wasn’t as vapid as the things most of my dates talked at me about, it certainly wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention. Although maybe it was an entirely different reason I wasn’t listening to her. She must have caught on because she stopped talking and leaned in close enough until we were touching.

 

“Something on your mind?”

 

I turned to look at her. The sound of her voice had a sexual tone to it. “I always have a lot on my mind,” I told her.

 

She smirked and played with the sleeve of my tuxedo jacket, “Sounds like you could use some stress relief.”

 

“Guess so,” I responded casually, “Any suggestions?”

 

Honey took a step closer to me and I felt her breasts brush against my arm. I didn’t glance down or make a face. I didn’t want her to think I was interested, because the truth was I wasn’t. Still, it was in my nature to carry on this sort of conversation. It came out smoothly without a second thought. “Oh, I can think of one thing that would really give you that release you need,” she said with a sexy smirk.

 

I arched my brow and took a sip of my drink. She was staring at me and while and I knew she was waiting for an invitation back to my place. I shifted my weight to my other foot, moving away from her in the process without being tactless. I reached over with my free hand and took her empty glass. “Time for a refill?”

 

Honey nodded and turned to the bar to order another drink. She started talking about a horrible massage she had recently and it wasn’t long before the heavy hints of what “good massages” were started dropping. Even in her conversation she was coming onto me strong and I could tell she wouldn’t give it a rest any time soon. I didn’t care. I turned my head just enough to be able to look into the formal dining room, where Evelyn was still standing behind the table. She was talking to a young man and looked quite happy and cheerful.

 

My stomach lurched. I took a large gulp of my drink and stared at them through narrowed eyes. I wondered what they were talking about what had Evelyn’s rapt attention and why it was that nobody else wanted to try any of the hors d'oeuvres.

 

 “So, Remi, when was your last massage? You seem so tense,” I heard Honey’s voice in my ear. Truthfully, she’d only caught my attention now because her hand was rubbing the back of my shoulder.

 

“Uh, not sure,” I responded. I would have found it a completely insane question to ask were I not so preoccupied with watching Evelyn. She was still talking to the same young man, but they were interrupted when two middle-aged women entered. The young man walked away and I saw Evelyn turn her attention to the ladies. I clenched my teeth, noticing she didn’t look quite as animated as she had a minute ago.

 

“I’m thinking you’re due for one, wouldn’t you say?”

 

“Sure,” I responded dismissively.

 

Honey had no intention of letting me off the hook so easily. She leaned in and wrapped both hands around me, pressing her breasts into my arm. She truly was insistent and I almost felt bad for her for working so hard at what should have clearly been a dead end. She started stroking my arm suggestively and I turned to meet her gaze; her eyes were filled with nothing but desire.

 

“How about you give me a tour of your place in exchange for a massage and stress relief?”

 

 “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass. Actually, I might call it an early night soon anyway.”

 

Honey was very clearly disappointed by my response. “Fine then,” she said, “You call it a night when you will. I’m gonna go mingle.” She took her drink off the bar and walked away to the banquet area.

 

I didn’t even care to watch her as she walked away; I had no interest in checking out that great ass of hers. I was much more interested in looking over at Evelyn. Nobody was in the room with her and I debated walking over there, but then someone walked in to talk to her, someone who appeared to be part of the staff. Evelyn smiled and nodded politely before the woman exited the room. I saw her pile some hors d'oeuvres on a plate and then turned around to walk into the kitchen.

 

I took three long strides before pausing. I didn’t know what I was doing. What was my plan, exactly? Was I going to ambush her in the kitchen? That certainly didn’t seem like a good idea. I ran my hand over my face and started to pace back and forth at the mouth of the entrance hall. I wanted to talk to her alone. The entire night I had been preoccupied with making her jealous, watching her, and wondering what she was thinking. All I could think about now was how beautiful and different she was from all the other women I’d been with.

 

She had depth to her. She was interesting. To speak in chef terms, she had a ‘complex taste’ rather than the ‘bland taste’ of the women I was used to being with. She was the only woman I wanted.

 

I peeked into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the bar eating, wearing a white apron. I walked back to wait at the bar and, sure enough, a few minutes later I saw her round the corner and rush down the hallway with her hand covering what appeared to be a stain on the apron. Without a second thought I quickly followed.