Forget to Remember

accentuated. Since she was bent over, he had a straight shot. She straightened abruptly.
    “I’d like to look over the passport and driver’s license.”
    She picked up the documents from the desk and sat back down in the chair. The passport looked familiar. She had obviously used one before. Of course. If she’d been to England she would have had to have one.
    Paul came around the desk and stood behind her chair. Was he going to look down her cleavage again? He placed his hands on her shoulders and started to massage them. It felt good and she relaxed her guard momentarily. Then his fingers started to slide—down into her cleavage.
    Carol stiffened. She was suddenly terrified. How had she let this happen? What could she do? In the next few seconds his fingers made their way inside her bra and reached her nipples. She was shaking. He was going to rape her right here. She had an urge to grab his hands, but she knew, intuitively, that wouldn’t do any good.
    All at once, completely unexpectedly, she became very calm. From somewhere the thought appeared in her head that she knew exactly what to do. She could even hurt him if she had to. She didn’t think that would be necessary, however.
    As he continued to fondle her breasts, she heard his breathing accelerate behind her. Carol dropped the passport and grabbed the arms of the chair. She gave a strong pull on the wooden arms while at the same time dropping her body down and out of Paul’s grasp. She slid off the seat of the chair and landed on the carpet on her butt.
    She quickly stood up and whirled around, facing Paul across the chair. He had a surprised look on his face. She wanted to keep her advantage. “Wait. Don’t move. We need to talk about this.”
    Paul placed his hands on the chair back, which was obviously not where he wanted them to be right now, and watched her, as if he were expecting her to pull something else. “Do you know what risks I took to get those documents? I had to invent a Social Security number for you to open your bank account. I could be thrown in jail. Who would you use for a sugar daddy then?”
    He was almost pleading. That was better. “Mrs. Horton tells me you’re married.” Carol tucked her breasts back into her bra and discovered her nipples were hard, perhaps because she was gratified to know Paul desired her. She was also curious about her own sexuality.
    “Married, yes, but in name only. We’re separated. I haven’t seen my wife for a month.”
    That squared with what Mrs. Horton had said. At least she wouldn’t have a guilty conscience. “All right, we’ll do it…but not here. This is too…sordid.”
    “We can go to the inn.”
    “No, I’ve been there all week and have gotten to know some of the staff. I don’t want to get a reputation as a slut. Take me to dinner, just as if you really liked me. Give me the full treatment, wine and everything. I’m sure you can find a way to charge it to the Sakai estate. Then we’ll go to your place. I just have to get back to the inn by midnight. I’m Cinderella.” Carol found herself chuckling.
    Paul managed a smile. “I do really like you. You’re beautiful...you’re feisty...”
    “I like the feisty part. All right, let’s go. I’ll follow you in my car.”

    CHAPTER 14
    It was surprising to Carol how much of the earth was uninhabited—at least by human beings. As the plane flew over the multi-colored rock formations and gorges of the Grand Canyon, she wondered why, in spite of all these open spaces, some people were intent on blaming others for all the real and imagined problems of the world, such as global warming.
    The earth had been warming and cooling for billions of years before the first ape-like creature stood on her hind legs and decided this was a more efficient way of walking. If the doom-sayers really believed what they were screeching, they could make a positive contribution to the solution of the problem. They could rid the world of their polluting presence.
    Carol must have laughed out loud because her seat-mate glanced sideways at her from the Sue Grafton mystery she was reading. Where had those thoughts come from? She must have been an interesting person in her other life. Or at least feisty. Paul had called her feisty.
    Ah yes, Paul. Why had she slept with him? In retrospect, she admitted she’d enjoyed it. She definitely hadn’t been a virgin. She knew about birth control and STDs and how to prevent them. She knew how to do a