TEST DRIVE: A Night of Forbidden Desire

“Oh my God! I never thought you’d join the shoe pre-order.”

Vonda smiled proudly and pretended to flip her hair. Although it was quite obvious that her hair was neatly pulled back that day. Vonda winked at Sarah.

“Well, of course I joined the shoe pre-order. Because if I joined the lingerie pre-order, I wouldn’t know who to wear it for. So, I’d rather do a shoe pre-order instead. At least I don’t waste money. Wasting money is the devil’s friend, you know. Do you want to be friends with the devil by being friends with me?”

“Oh, come on.” Sarah chuckled at Vonda’s banter. “It’s just a shoe style with straps. It’s not like you’re into complicated straps of any kind.”

“Oh ho, I see. Did you forget I have those strappy lingerie things? Like fishnet ones?”

“Hahaha.” Sarah playfully tapped Vonda’s forehead with her phone, then handed it back after looking at the shoe pictures Vonda was interested in. “So, what about the fate of the lingerie?”

Vonda grabbed the phone with a confused look at Sarah. “What do you mean?”

“Well, a while ago it seemed like you left your lingerie with some guy, right?”

Vonda’s happy expression from successfully securing a spot for the high-heeled strappy shoes vanished momentarily. It was replaced by a somber and annoyed look.

“Are you really that heartless to ruin someone’s mood?”

“Hahaha. No, seriously, Von, I asked. Besides, you have to have some nerve to wear that lingerie, remember?” Sarah said as she pushed aside her now empty lunch plate. “You practically wrestled that girl with the green highlighter hair for it.”

Vonda frowned for a moment, thinking, before her eyes widened in realization.

“Oh. Right. Exactly. But I don’t think she was a girl. She looked more like a young teenager with unstable emotions. It was probably the first time she bought this kind of lingerie, too.”

Sarah chuckled. “It’s not like it was your first time either. But I can’t help but think about you wearing that lingerie to the CEO’s wedding reception. Hahaha! It’s like you were preparing to tease some unfortunate guy that night.”

Vonda’s lower lip poked out briefly. “I was just being silly that night. I had no intention of teasing any guy.”

“Well, but…” Sarah’s eyes scanned her playfully. “You did tease a guy, didn’t you? Especially since that guy was…”

Vonda’s eyes widened considerably. That made Sarah stopped her speech and change it to a teasing chuckle.

“I’m serious, I want to ask,” Sarah continued. “After that incident, and then the two of you working in the same office… did you not feel awkward or embarrassed?”

“Um… um… um…”

“What I mean is… oh my God! That must have been so embarrassing, right? You tried to get away from him and, well… you ended up meeting him again. And in the same office. And he became your temporary boss to boot. Could there be a more embarrassing scenario than this?”

Vonda rolled her eyes several times, clearly annoyed.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

If you only knew what’s going on between him and me right now, Sarah. I’m absolutely sure. Awkward would be a very generous way to describe our relationship at this point.

“So,” Sarah continued, “you two don’t feel uncomfortable or anything? Having to see each other eight hours a day, five days a week?”

Vonda’s hand swirled her melon juice with the straw, playing with the foam on top. Occasionally she scooped up the foam with the tip of the straw and took a sip.

“Um.” Vonda hummed as she savored the sensation of the melon juice foam, experiencing the strange taste on her tongue. “How can I put this? Maybe because we’re both mature adults? I mean… we both know it happened because I was a little crazy. Everyone also knows that the law doesn’t apply to crazy people. So, we kind of mutually decided to let it go. Um… more or less.”

Sarah blinked quickly, her mouth agape, looking stunned.

“No wonder people often pretend to be crazy.”

Sarah’s astonishment grew. She could not fathom the casualness of Vonda’s words.

“Wow! Unbelievable.”

Vonda let out a long sigh. “Besides… we agreed to put the past behind us. The incident wasn’t good, but you can’t really say it was one party’s fault. Both he and I were at fault, by the way. So neither of us feels wronged.”

Sarah scratched her head. “Seems like the definition of ‘mature’ has shifted around here.”

“The bottom line is… our relationship is fine.” Taking another deep breath, Vonda seemed to suddenly realize something. “It’s even better than I expected.”

*

Max had just come out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around his waist. He also had a small towel to dry his hair, which was now slung over his shoulder. Opening the closet, Max pulled out a loose white t-shirt and cotton shorts that came up to his knees. Of course, he was also wearing underwear.

“As if I’d wear shorts without underwear. Everything would fly everywhere. Hahaha!”

Five minutes later, Max was fully dressed. After combing his hair, he grabbed his cell phone and rushed out.

On his way to the kitchen, Max opened the refrigerator, took out a box of frozen pizza, and heated it briefly. He put four slices on a plate, poured some sauce on them, and went into the living room.

With a slice of pizza in his right hand and the TV remote in his left, Max was ready to enjoy dinner. But just as he took a bite of the pizza, his phone started ringing.

Max put the pizza and the remote back on the table. Wiping his hands with a couple of tissues, he picked up his phone and answered the call after swallowing the piece of pizza in his mouth.

“Vonda?”

Max called out Vonda’s name uncertainly, wondering why she was calling him all of a sudden that night.

“Max, oh my goodness. I’m so glad you answered.”

Max furrowed his brow and decided to turn off the television. “Why?”

“Can you help me?”

“Help you?” Max asked, glancing at the wall clock, which already showed 10 pm. “With what?”

In his mind, Max ran through several possible scenarios for the kind of help Vonda might need at that moment. Had her car broken down on the way and she needed help? Was she in pain and needed to go to the hospital? But Vonda’s answer did not match his assumptions.

“My sink is clogged. I already told Rika, and she said the maintenance guys have all gone home. I should wait until tomorrow morning.”

Thunk!

Max’s face fell immediately. He spontaneously blurted out, “Do you think I’m a plumber?”

“Oh!”

Vonda’s voice sounded surprised on the other end.

“You can’t fix a clogged sink?” Vonda continued. “Um… well, I’m sorry if that’s the case. It’s just that you were the only one I thought of.”

Huh?

“I thought you could do it.”

“Um!” Max cleared his throat. “Well… I didn’t mean to say I couldn’t fix a clogged sink. It’s not like only chefs can cook. And even though I’m not a plumber, well… I can fix a clogged sink, if that’s what it is.”

Vonda’s sigh of relief was audible. “Thank God for that. So, can you come over now?”

“I can. I’ll be on my way soon.”

“Oh! Okay-okay. I’ll wait.”

“Um, Von.”

“What?”

Max squinted as he replied, “Helping out doesn’t mean my help is free, you know?”

Vonda burst out laughing on the other end. “Got it, Commander!”

After Vonda’s call ended, Max quickly put the pizza back in the fridge. He immediately rushed to get ready, thinking it was already late. Max just changed his shorts into a pair of long pants and grabbed a jacket.

About twenty minutes later, Max was standing in front of Vonda’s apartment door. He waited for the door to open after ringing the doorbell twice. Shortly after, the door opened to reveal Vonda’s smiling face.

“Hey, the plumber’s here.”

Max smiled as he entered. Vonda closed the door and followed Max, who had entered first.

“Which sink is clogged?” Max asked. “The kitchen one?”

Next to Max, Vonda shook her head. “Not the kitchen sink, the sink in my bathroom.”

“Oh… the back bathroom?”

Vonda shook her head again. “The bathroom in my room.”

Of course, this answer left Max momentarily stunned.

She wants me to go to her private bathroom?

While this question echoed in his mind, Max found Vonda, looking completely nonchalant, pulling his hand. She led him to her room. It was then that Max’s mind began to wander.

Oh God. This scene seems promising. A girl inviting a guy to her room. But where does it end?

Vonda pointed to the bathroom door.

“Over there.”

So, the ending is in the bathroom. Oh, my goodness.

*