Page 15 of Tell Me What You Want

Dumbstruck, I see the sealed envelope has my name on it. I nod at Óscar, and he leaves. I just stare at the envelope for a while, and without knowing why, I toss it in a drawer.

The telephone rings. I pick it up, and after the usual office greeting, I hear a voice on the other end. “Have you opened what I sent you?”

Zimmerman! I don’t respond.

“I can hear you breathing. Answer me.”

A thousand things cross my mind. The first is “You’re so bossy!” The second is worse.

“Mr.Zimmerman, it just got here. And I’ve decided to leave the matter for Monday,” I finally say.

“It’s a gift for you.”

“I don’t want any gifts from you,” I whisper in a thin voice, surprised at his words.

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Oh, Ms.Flores, come on. Open it, please.”

“No,” I insist.

I hear him sigh ... I’m making him mad.

“Please, open it.”

“Why do I have to open it?”

“Jude, it’s something I got for you.”

Well now ... I’m back to Jude?

But since I’m a softie, a fool, and—most important—an innately curious person, I open the drawer, pluck out the envelope, and rip it open.

“What is this?”

I hear him laugh.

“Well, you said you were willing to do anything.”

“Oh, well ... I ...”

“You’ll like it, sweetness, I promise,” he says, interrupting me. “One is for home, and the other is so you can carry it in your bag and use it anywhere at any time.”

Hearing the tone of his voice when he says “any time” makes me catch my breath. God, here we go again!

“I’ll be at your apartment at six,” he says before I can respond. “I’ll show you how they work.”

“No, I won’t be there. I’ll be at the gym.”

“See you at six.”

He hangs up.

As I listen to the buzzing on the other end of the phone, all I want to do is scream out hundreds of improprieties. Furious, I hang up.

I look inside the envelope again and read the words: “Fairy Vibrator Japanese Star.” I let out a long breath. I finally put it in my bag, place my elbows on my desk, and drop my head in my hands.

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