Bill and Amber

Amber could tell something was wrong the minute Bill walked through the door. He flopped down in his comfy easy chair and looked at Amber, his wife of nine years.

“Bill, what’s wrong?” she asked.

He had a blank stare in his eyes. “Gary and Judy are getting divorced,” he said.

A combination of shock and guilt washed over Amber. “What? No that’s not possible.”

“I know, it doesn’t seem like it could happen, but Gary caught her in a motel room fucking another guy, I just can’t believe it.”

“No,” yelled Amber, “but how did he……” She stopped realizing she just let the cat out of the bag.

Bill looked at her again, this time with an accusing look on his face. “How did he what? How did he know? Is that what you were going to say? What do you know about this, Amber? You knew didn’t you, you knew she was seeing another guy didn’t you?” His anger now deepening.

Gary and Judy were their best friends. Judy and Amber modeled together years ago and became very tight. Their friendship remained and when they both got married they’re husbands became friends as well.

For the first time in their marriage Amber saw real anger in her husband’s face and it scared her. “Damn!” he yelled. “It isn’t enough you made a mockery out of our marriage but you have to destroy our best friend’s as well!”

This was the first time Bill had given her any real indication that he knew of his own wife’s infidelity. For almost their entire married life she had, had one affair after another.

She was in a state of shock. Hearing about her very best friend getting caught with Pete, (yes, she knew, even encouraged the, one time, fling) now being confronted with her own husband’s knowledge of her affairs, was just too much. Amber sat there, just staring into her Bill’s face. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t hardly breath, she just….. stared.

Bill had decided it was enough. He never loved anyone like he loved Amber. He’d lay down his life for her if necessary, but he will no longer lay down his self respect.

Bill went into the bedroom, pulled a suitcase out from under the bed and started packing.

Amber, in the mean time, was still sitting in the chair completely unaware of the things happening around her. Her mind wandered back to those, so called, good old days……………….

———————————————————————————————-

“You know you don’t have to do that, Amber.”

Amber looked up at her dear friend, Judy Simpson. Judy was a high fashion model on top of her profession with more covers and layouts to her credit than you can count. “Do what?” Amber asked.

“Spread your legs for every photographer you meet,” said Judy. “You’re a beautiful woman, Amber, and you move as well as any us out there. You don’t have to go to bed with every guy in the business to get jobs.”

If anyone else had said that to Amber she would have been extremely insulted, but she knew this was true concern coming from a true friend. “I wish I shared your optimism for my modeling career,” she said. “But I’m not like you, I have to fight for the work I get and this body is my most potent weapon.” She smiled. “I’ll see ya later,” she said as the handsome, young photographer motioned for her.

Judy watched them leave and thought, there goes one more happy photographer. She smiled at her friend’s promiscuous life style. Judy herself wasn’t like that. Oh, she loved having fun of course, but in addition to being voted the most beautiful woman in the world by a French magazine, she was also a good business woman with a good head on her shoulders.

Later the night, Amber sat at the bar with her new love interest, the photographer she had just met earlier that afternoon. Amber kept playing Judy’s words over and over in her head so she was making him work harder to get between her legs than she normally would. They were both a little tipsy by now and he was getting frustrated and belligerent. It was already after midnight. He had expected to have her in bed long before now.

He grabbed her by the arm. “Look bitch,” he said, slurring his words just a little. “Either you go to my place with me now or you can just go fuck yourself for a ride home.”

A few stools down the bar was a tall, lean gentleman sipping a vodka and tonic. He had been listening to this guy talk trash to this gorgeous lady for half an hour now and this was the last straw. He raised himself from the stool and walked over.

“Ma’am, is this jack ass bothering you,” he asked her. Amber just looked up a little glassy eyed, but with smile on her face.

“Hey, who are you calling a jack ass there, buddy?”

“Well, first I’m not your buddy and second, I only see one jack ass here and that’s you, so I must be talking about you.” The inebriated photographer had given up on getting laid anyway, so with a bevy of obscene superlatives, he left the bar.

The dashing, young man looked into Amber’s face and saw the soul of an angel. “Hi, I’m Bill Meyers,” he said.

“Hello Bill Meyers.” she said seductively. “I’m Amber. Thanks for chasing that creep away like that. He was really starting to get on my nerves.”

“Yeah, I could tell, I’d ask if I could buy you another drink, but I think you’ve had too many already. How about if I just call you a cab?”

“Ah, I’m not ready to go home yet,” she said, “just one more. I’d buy you a drink, but I left my purse in that guy’s car.”

“Oh Jee, I’m sorry,“ said Bill apologetically, “Will you be able to get it back, do you think?”

“Oh sure, I’m a model and we’re doing a magazine layout together. We still have some more shots to do on Monday. I’ll get it back then.”

“Yeah but this is only Friday, can you get by that long with out your purse?

This kind gentleman was truly concerned for her well-being. She thought it was sweet. “Yeah, no problem,” she said, “If I need anything I can call my friend, you probably know her, Judy Simpson.” Amber was proud of her friendship with Judy and never let an opportunity slip by to mention it.

“Ah, Yeah, I think so, I know the name. She’s a model too, right?”

Amber smiled, “She is the most famous model there is right now, but enough about her, what do you do Bill Meyers?”

“Well, I’m a sales rep for a software company. In fact that’s why I’m here. I’m celebrating, I just landed the job today. I start on Monday.”

“Well damn, Bill, that certainly calls for a celebration. Come on, sit down here and buy me another drink.”

Against his better judgment, he did just that. After all, when would a guy like him ever get another chance to buy a beautiful woman like this a drink.

Amber did all the talking, Bill was fascinated with her lifestyle. She told him about living in Paris, right over the Moulin Rouge for six months last year. She had been to Greece, Italy, Germany, and the Virgin Islands as well. She had been all over the world in fact, and now, thought Bill, this beautiful creature is sitting on a bar stool next to mine.

About the time Amber came to her New York experiences, the last drink hit her like a ton a bricks and it became very clear she needed to get home. Bill asked the bartender if he knew where she lived. He just shook his head and gave a Bill a wink indicating she was Bill’s for the night.

Amber could smell the faint aroma of bacon frying. It was painful to open her eyes and allow the morning light in, but she had to do it. Her head was pounding which was nothing unusual for a Saturday morning. She could feel someone pressing against her back. Oh God, she thought, who did I sleep with now. She turned over to see, not a man‘s body, but the back of a couch. Where the hell am I, she wondered. It was a little wrinkled, but she realized she was still wearing the short, little dress she had on the night before.

She vaguely remembered the knight in shining armor from the bar. She looked around at the small, but nicely furnished apartment. She figured it had to be his, the guy from last night. Why am I on the couch, she thought, and not in his bed?

She laid there trying to decide if she felt any wetness between her legs. She couldn’t. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching, reached under her dress and felt between her legs. Her panties were still on. She didn’t feel any cum leaking from her pussy. This was strange, she thought. She rolled her tongue around in her mouth to see if she could taste any cum in her mouth….nothing.

It had to be the guy from last night, her night in shining armor. She didn’t remember him bringing her home, but then she didn’t remember much of anything after he chased away her rude date. She didn’t understand, this guy brought her home with him, but instead of taking her to bed and fucking her, like any normal man would, this guy let her sleep it off on his couch…..and didn’t touch her? Who the hell was this guy, Sir Galahad!

She slowly swung her long, shapely legs over the side of the couch and stood up. She looked around and found the door to the bathroom. When she was done on the toilet she looked in the medicine cabinet mirror. Damn, she thought, her make up was in her purse and she remembered her purse was in, what’s his names, car. She wished she could freshen up for Sir Galahad, but she looked pretty good, good enough anyway.

She followed her nose to the kitchen. Sure enough. There he was, tall and lean with black, wavy hair, Sir Galahad!

Bill looked over at her with a smile. She was so beautiful he wanted to remember this moment, the time he had a real model in his apartment for breakfast. This would be a memory he would cherish until he was old and gray. “Hi,” he said with that smile, “You hungry?”

“I have a question,” she said.

“Sure, shoot,” not having any idea what that question could be so soon in the morning.

“Are you gay?” she asked.

“Gay, no! Why would you think I’m gay?”

“Well, I don’t know a single guy in your position who wouldn’t have screwed the hell out me last night.”

Bill smiled. “Maybe you’re running around with the wrong guys,” he said. “Come on, sit down, I have eggs, bacon, and wheat toast with grape jelly. Just like at Denny’s.”

Amber just shook her head as she sat down to enjoy breakfast. Could this guy be for real, she wondered. Are there really guys like this, or is he one in a million?

After breakfast Amber gave Bill directions for her apartment. She always kept a spare key so she would have no problem getting in. As she got out of his car, Amber turned and asked if he would like to come in. When he declined she asked again, “Are you sure you’re not gay? There’s nothing wrong with that if you are, it’s just a little hard on a girl’s ego to be turned down twice in the same day,” she said with a smile.

Bill never had much luck with women. He’d had a couple, short term, relationships, but after having his heart broken as both of them ended, he had lost all confidence in himself when it came to the opposite sex. He figured he was probably destined to be a lonely bachelor the rest of his life. He looked up again at, who he perceived to be the loveliest woman on the face of the earth. “Amber, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, you’re fun, intelligent, and you live the kind of life I’ve only read about. It wouldn’t take me long to fall in love with you, but I’m just an average, ordinary, hard working guy with no hope of ever actually being with someone like you. I’ve had my heart ripped out before. I could only imagine the job you could do on it. I do want to thank you though. I will always have that memory of the beautiful, international fashion model gracing my breakfast table.”

Amber smiled, threw him a kiss through the car window, then turned to go into her apartment. Bill watched her perfect, pear shaped, ass sway gracefully from one side to the other as she walked away, just like he figured a fashion model’s ass would. He stayed long enough to make sure she got into her apartment safely. Then he was on his was back home and to his average, ordinary, mundane life.

The next few months were pretty much normal, at least for a jet-setting fashion model. Amber had worked in New York and L.A. before returning home to Chicago.

Before leaving California, Amber called her friend, Judy to see where she was working. When Judy told her she was also in Chicago they decided Judy would pick her up at the airport. The conversation was lively, as usual, on the way to Amber’s apartment. Amber, always the party girl, talked Judy into a night on the town. They went to a nice restaurant to start. This was the first chance the two girls had to slow down a little and really talk.

“Remember the last time we were both here. We did that layout up town,” said Amber.

“Yeah, I remember,” Judy replied.

“Well, you kind of changed my life that day in the studio.”

“I did?” Judy asked a little shocked.

“Yeah, you remember. You told my I didn’t have to spread my legs for every guy in the business. Well, I haven’t, I mean……I don’t anymore.”

“Honey I’m so glad to hear that. You don’t have to do that to get work. You’re a great model and extremely photogenic. I’ll bet you’re getting just as many jobs now as you did, aren’t you?”

“Actually, Judy, I’ve been working my buns off. I had so much work in L.A. I could hardly find time to sleep…..by myself I mean.” Both girls laughed.

“I am very proud of myself then,” Judy remarked. “If I had known you would take my words so seriously, I would have said something a lot sooner.”

“Well, I have to be honest, it wasn’t only your words,” said Amber, “Remember when I went out that day with the guy who was shooting the layout?”

“Sure,” Judy said.

“Well, he got to be a real drag that night. He was pissed because I had decided I wasn’t going to sleep with him. He was starting to get really mean when this guy came over. He was kind of cute. Anyway, he stood up for me. I’ve never had anyone do that for me before. Then, and you’re not going to believe this, I got drunk so he took me home with him………..”

Judy interrupted her, “Oh I believe it,” she said laughing.

“No wait, he took me home, laid me down on his couch, and let me sleep it off without laying a hand me. Do you believe that? A gentleman, a real gentleman in this day and age, in this city? I couldn’t believe it. Anyway, he kind of showed me there are other kinds of guys out there too.”

“So,” Judy asked, “have you seen this guy since then?”

“Sir Galahad.”

“What?” Judy asked.

“Sir Galahad,” Amber said, “that’s what I call him. No, I haven’t. We finished that shoot that Monday and by Tuesday night I was in New York. I don’t even remember his name…..Bill something. I think I remember where he lives though. I wouldn’t mind seeing him again. I really liked him.”

“Okay, you want to hear something else you’re not going to believe?” Judy asked.

“Sure, what’s up?” Amber looked at her friend with a precious, little grin.

“I met a guy too,” said Judy.

For the first time since Judy had known her, Amber was speechless. She just looked at Judy. She looked into Judy’s eyes and saw something she had never seen before. “You’re serious, aren’t you, your serious about him,” she said.

“Yup! Amber wait till you meet him. He’s wonderful. He’s tall and handsome, personable and funny, he’s the whole package. We’ve been dating now for about six weeks. Amber, I’ve never felt like this about anyone before…I think I’m in love,” she said with a great big smile on her face.

Amber was truly happy for her friend, and maybe a little jealous. “Judy that’s fantastic,” she said. “So, tell me more, who is he? What does he do for a living?”

“His name is Gary Asher and you’re going to laugh when I tell you what he does for a living.”

“Please don’t tell me he’s a salesman for a software company,” Amber said.

Judy looked at her a little strange. “No, he’s a photographer.”

Amber started to laugh, almost hysterically. “You opened your legs for a photographer?” she said, a little too loudly.

“Shhhhhh,” Judy hushed her, then joined her laughing. The two best friends laughed and giggled the rest of the night together. Amber told Judy everything she could remember about Sir Galahad and Judy gave Amber all the details of every date she had been on with her new boyfriend.

By the end of the evening they were both pretty well sloshed. A nice bartender called a cab for the pretty ladies around closing time and both sacked out in Amber’s apartment.

The next morning they continued to talk over some fresh brewed coffee. Judy confessed that, even though she had been offered several jobs in Europe over the last few weeks, she preferred to stay in Chicago so she wouldn’t be away from Gary.

The more Judy talked about Gary, the more Amber thought about Bill, or what ever his name was. The truth be told, she had actually thought about him quite a bit. She thought about him when she was in New York; she thought about him when she was in Los Angeles, and she had been thinking a lot about him now that she was back in Chicago.

Amber had just made a ton of money over the last few months so she decided to take a little time off. She called both of her agencies and told them to leave her off the schedule for the next month. She sat in her apartment and wondered, could this guy really be that square, gad she hoped so. She made up her mind she was going to set out to find Sir Galahad.

It had been four months since Amber had driven her Porsche. She was very surprise when it started right up. She figured her neighbor, who had a terrible crush on her, probably charged the battery for her from time to time. Damn, being beautiful certainly had it advantages.

She headed for the Wrigleyville neighborhood trying to remember the exact street her prince charming lived on, but when she looked around nothing looked familiar. Damn, she thought, she really did believe she’d be able to find his place again, but there was no way, or at least, not this way.
She drove home again frustrated.

She sat sipping a glass of white wine and thinking. How was she going to find this guy again. She thought about hiring a private detective, but that sounded a little too extreme. She thought about putting an ad in Craig’s List, but sounded too desperate. Then she remembered the bar. On a long shot she returned to the bar in Wrigleyville where she first saw Bill. She had no idea who the bartender was that night, but he noticed her as soon as she walked in the door.

“Hi pretty lady,” he said, “what can I get you?”

“Ah, well just a little information for right now,” she said. “Do you remember me at all?”

He smiled a big grin. “How could I forget you?” he said.

“So you were tending bar the night I was in here a few months ago?” she asked.

“Sure, I was here, I‘m Bob by the way” he said while wiping out a shot glass. “You were here drinking half the night away with some creep a couple months back,” he said. The guy started getting rough. I was about to come around the bar and throw the guy out, but Bill beat me to it. You and Bill had another drink and you passed. I remember all of it.”

“Yeah,” said Amber a little embarrassed, “you sure do. This Bill, I never really got a chance to thank him; do you know where he lives or, at least, his last name?”

“No sorry,” said Bob the bartender.

“Well, have you seen him since then?”

“Sure, several times. He lives in the neighborhood somewhere I do know that. He stops in, oh, maybe once or twice a week. Let’s see,” said Bob, “this is Tuesday, most likely he’ll be in tomorrow night. He doesn’t usually stay too long though. He’s normally in here around seven, has one vodka and tonic, two at the most, and then he’s gone again by nine. He’s asked me a couple times if I’d seen you back in here. He looks like a guy in love if you ask me, but then that’s probably true of every guy that meets you isn’t it?” he said trying to make a little time with her himself.

Amber knew a pick up line when she heard one. She just smiled back at the bartender. “Okay,” said Amber, “Thanks.” She threw a twenty on the bar and left.

The next night, sure enough, Bill Meyers walked into Harry’s Bar right on time. “Hi Bob,” he said as he sat down.

“Hi ya, Bill,” Bob returned the greeting. “Your usual?”

“Yup, I’m feeling pretty good tonight,” said Bill, “I just hit high sales for the month. I beat out everyone else in the whole department and they’ve been there a lot longer than I’ve been.”

“Hey that’s great.” Bob put Bill’s drink in front of him then leaned on the bar with both elbows. “You’re not going to believe who was in here yesterday,” he said with a grin on his face.

“Ah, let’s see,” Bill was joking with him, “Elvis?”

“Yeah sure, no”… Bob suddenly stopped talking as his eyes looked over Bill’s shoulder. “Her,” he said.

“Bill glanced over his shoulder to see who Bob was talking about and his jaw, along with every other guy’s in the bar, dropped to the floor.

Amber’s sleek, perfectly proportioned body was moving toward him dressed in a short, sexy, red cocktail dress; the shape of her gorgeous legs emphasized by a pair of four inch, red high heels. She looked as if she had just stepped off the cover of Vogue magazine. Her full lips started to turn up on the ends and she broke into a smile as she saw Bill looking at her. She had no doubt he liked what he saw. She gracefully slid that perfect, pear shaped, ass on the bar stool next to him and ordered a glass of white wine.

“Hi Bill,” she said with a little smile, “how have you been?”

Bill was at a loss for words. He had never seen a woman so beautiful. “Ah, okay I guess,” he managed to stumble through.

Bob, the bartender, set Amber’s white wine on the bar in front of her. Her long fingers gripped the stem of the glass and she took a sip before looking into Bill’s shocked face and speaking again. “I’d like to talk to you, Bill, can we go sit at a table where it’s a little more private?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Bill said, now finding his voice a little. Being the ever present gentleman that he was, Bill waited for her to slip off the stool first then gently led her by the arm to a quiet table in the corner. She looked up at him and smiled as he pulled the chair out for her to sit down.

“Bill, I’m going to lay it the line here,” she said while looking into his eyes. “I like you.” Bill started to say something but Amber held up her hand to stop him. “Please, I’ve never had to say this to a man before so please, let me get through this before you speak. I’ve been pretty all my life. I was a pretty little girl, a pretty young lady, and I’m a pretty woman. What that means is that men have always wanted to do things for me, but never without an ulterior motive. From the time I was thirteen years old boys, of one age or another, have been wanting to get into my pants. Looking back, I’m ashamed to admit it, but an awful lot of them made it, too many of them. What you did for me a few months ago, no man has ever done, you treat me like a person instead of a pretty woman. Bill I have been thinking about you since that day. I like you. Hell, you’re my Sir Galahad. I would really like to get to know you better.”

Bill could not believe what he was hearing. The woman who left him with the memory of having an international fashion model eat breakfast at his kitchen table, was back, and now saying she would actually like to know him better. Could he even dare to hope for such a thing. Hell, he never thought he’d ever see her again, let alone actually have a relationship with her. It’s like something out of romance novel.

Just as Bill was seeing the two of them together reality hit. This was crazy. She was a princess and he was the pauper. Maybe they could be friends, that’s probably what she’s talking about anyway, just being friends. He wasn’t sure though, if he even wanted that. He was already in love with her. As her friend he would most likely see her with other guys and that would rip him apart. He just didn’t want to be hurt again.

“Amber, I am so honored you would consider me as a friend, but”…

Amber cut him off. “Bill, you know you can take this shyness thing just so far. I remember what you said that day you dropped me off, about me breaking your heart. If that’s the kind of woman you’ve been involved with, then maybe you’re running around with the wrong kind of women,“ she said remembering what Bill had told her in the kitchen. Well, maybe that’s not fair, I can’t guaranty anything, but as I said, I like you. I would like to start a relationship with you. I want to see what it would be like to be treated like a real woman for a change. Here’s my number. I know you have some issues so you think about it. If you’re interested, call me, if not, well I gave it a shot.”

Bill’s mind was spinning like a top. The woman of his dreams was getting up from the table and was about to walk out the door. He knew that if he didn’t act right now, he would lose his nerve and never call her. When he broke up with his last girlfriend it was devastating and he vowed never to go through that again, but who could foresee something like this. Bill was not much on impulses but as Amber was walking past him he reached out and took her hand, as she turned toward him, he grabbed her in an embrace and kissed her, tenderly but passionately.

Amber looked into his eyes with a surprised expression on her face. “Well, that’s a start,” she said. With the eyes of every patron in Harry’s Bar glued on them, they walked outside together.

Amber wasn’t taking any chances of him chickening out, she opened the passenger side door of her Porsche and told him to get in. Bill’s heart raced as he sat down on the supple leather seat. What the hell am I doing, he thought to himself? We have nothing in common, I’m heading for total disaster.

Amber pulled into the underground parking garage of her, Lake Shore Drive, apartment. As soon as they walked through the door Amber took him by the hand and led him into her bedroom. She turned toward him and reached up to put her arms around his neck. Bill wrapped his hands around the small of her back and pulled her tighter against his body. She pressed against the hard cock growing in his pants.

While still in their embrace, Bill slowly lowered the zipper of her dress, slipped the spaghetti straps down her soft shoulders, and let it fall to her feet; he then reached down and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. He walked over and gently laid her on the bed. He moved his kiss around her face and down her neck. Amber didn’t even realize he had unhooked the front clasp of her bra until he moved down and found her tender, sensitive nipples. He rolled them around with tongue and squeezed them erotically, using only his lips.

Her body tensed under his light touch as his fingers slid along her tight stomach working their way under the elastic of her panties and found the folds of her very wet pussy. He moved down positioning himself between her thighs. The panties slid down her legs. He kissed and caressed her smooth, silky soft mound and smiled when she gasped and drew in a deep breath as his tongue teased and manipulated her clit.

It was Bill’s heart pounding as the sensuous body of this magical creature reacted to the pleasures he knew he was providing.

Amber’s body suddenly wrenched to the side then arched upward. Her hands hit the mattress to her sides and the sheet ripped under the pressure of her tightening fist. “Oh my God, my God,” she screamed in a fit of ecstasy. Her eyes closed. Her mind went void of all thought, all comprehension, and was replaced with a release of raw, carnal pleasure, pleasure she had never before experienced in quite this way before.

After, what seemed to be an eternity, Amber’s breathing was returning to normal. She laid motionless. She could feel Bill between her legs still planting soft sensual kisses around the area that just gave her such joy. She opened her eyes and looked down with a chuckle. “You silly, wonderful man,” she said, “you still have your clothes on.”

Bill peered over her lithe body and into her eyes with a smile. “I was a little busy,” he said.

Amber stretched out her arms. Bill moved up the bed and they embraced each other. She could taste her own love juices as they kissed. Slowly Amber undressed her Sir Galahad. For the rest of the night they explored each other’s bodies, they were as one, each taking pleasure in the other’s rapture.

Before drifting off to sleep that night, Amber had learned the difference between having sex and making love.

For the next month, Bill’s feet never touched the ground. Much to his surprise, they were good together. They liked the same movies, the same restaurants, pretty much the same everything. Amber even laughed at Bill’s dry sense of humor and all his dumb jokes.

Amber was also enjoying herself. For the first time in her entire adult life, she felt she could rely on someone and she felt safe in his company, safe in his arms.

Amber and Judy arranged a double date, each of them with her special guy. Everyone had a great time, dinner, a show, and some dancing made for a fun evening. They all got along as if they had known each other their whole lives instead of just a few hours. Bill was having fun. He now had three people laughing at his dumb jokes and had everyone in stitches by the end of the night. In just one evening the four of them developed a special bond which just intensified the relationship each woman had with her man.

For both Amber and Bill, life just didn’t get any better than this.

Amber heard her cell phone ring and was afraid to pick it up. The month she asked for from her model agency was coming to an end and she knew before she looked, it would be Julia informing her of a job.

Sure enough, Julia’s picture popped up on her phone‘s display screen. “Hi Julia,” Amber’s voice sounding a little on the sad side.

“Hi Amber, what’s wrong, you sound down. Is everything okay?”

“Every is find, Julia,” she said, “I was hoping for a little more time before you called, that’s all.”

“More time,” Julia said with a surprised inflection in her voice, “I would have thought after a month off you’d be chomping at the bit to get back out there.”

Amber, though she was dreading it, knew this time was coming. She had a contract to accept modeling jobs and she had to fulfill it. The two girls talked then Julia told Amber where she was going…Paris!

Amber asked if there wasn’t some place else she could go instead. She would rather go almost anywhere except Paris, but after much conversation with Julia, Amber, reluctantly, agreed to go.

That night Amber didn’t feel like going out so she had a wonderful dinner all prepared for Bill when he came over. She just wanted some quiet, alone time with him.

After dinner they sat and watched a little TV but mostly just snuggled on the couch. Amber was waiting for the right time to tell him she had to leave. It came just before bed time. Amber looked deeply into his eyes. “Honey, you know what I do for a living,” she said, “I took a month off to be with you, but I have to get back to work, honey.”

“I know,” said Bill, “when do you have to leave?”

“The day after tomorrow,” she said. “I have to catch a nine pm. flight out of O’hare Thursday night.”

“How long will you be gone,” he asked.

“Three weeks.” Amber looked into Bill’s face and saw the sadness. “They have two photo shoots and some runway work lined up for me in Paris. I wish I didn’t have to go, honey, I’m going to miss you something terrible, but I have no choice,” she said.

“I know,” said Bill.

“Do you think you’d be able to take me to the airport so you could see me off?” she asked.

“Honey,” he said trying to force a small grin, “if Atilla the Hun was camped on my door step, he could not prevent me from seeing you off.”

She lightly pressed the palm of her hand against his chest and laid her head on his shoulder as he reached around her and pulled her in tighter to his side. They held each other for awhile, before going to bed. They had made love every night since that day they walked out of Harry’s bar, but tonight was different, tonight they just wanted to hold each other. Tomorrow night, their last night together for three weeks, they would make love, but tonight…
tonight…

Bill drifted off to sleep with his arms around Amber, but Amber had trouble sleeping. Something was bothering her. Out of all the places on earth the agency could have sent her, why did it have to be Paris.

When they first met, Amber told Bill about living in Paris for six months. What she neglected to tell him was that the apartment over the Moulin Rouge, was not hers. It belonged to Jon Paul, the person she lived with during those six months.

Jon Paul was a real Frenchman, tall, good looking, and smooth as silk with the ladies. He was a successful make-up artist and worked with most of the same clients that booked from the, New York, model agency that had Amber under contract. Amber and he had a history together and, although Jon Paul would never make a commitment, she found it impossible to resist his charms. There was no way she would be in Paris for three weeks and not run into him.

This would be Amber’s first time away from Bill, her first test at fidelity, something Amber never had to worry about before. Could her love, yes love, for Bill be stronger than the charms of Jon Paul. She honestly didn’t know.

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