I consider myself a very fortunate man. I'm popular, I live in a home that I own and I'm a - some would say
very
but I say
moderately
- successful author. I'm close to my parents and to my siblings.
My parents taught me good values from an early age. I learned that success usually doesn't come easily, you have to work for it. They also taught me not to judge a book by its cover, somewhat ironic given my occupation.
That has paid off for me in various ways. Some of my fans might be described as geeks. Everyone has his or her inner geek, something we go ga-ga over that no one else might understand. With me, it is usually cartoons and anime, which includes hentai. If my fans are slavishly devoted, I consider that I am lucky to have them.
In case you haven't guessed by now, my occupation is that of writer. I found that profession quite by accident. I entered a newspaper contest some years ago and won. The editor of the paper said that I had a real creative flair. One thing led to another and soon, I was working for the paper. After a while, I began writing fiction and found that I quite enjoyed writing sexy crime thrillers. I've now written sixteen of them in the last ten years with varying success.
I am meticulous in my research and although I could now easily afford an assistant, I like doing that part of the process on my own. I am not without an ulterior motive in that the library where I do most of my research has more than its share of sexy librarians, including Arleigh and Martina. I've dated both women (no jealousy) although nothing long-term came out of it.
I did meet someone interesting at the library and this is how the story I am relating all ties together. This story involves a young woman named Emily. She's someone that many people would not give a second glance and that is there loss, I assure you.
I was researching my last novel a few years back and, as usual, face-deep in the various books I needed to find out the data I required. The novel was set in two time periods, Chicago in the Prohibition era and today. As you might imagine, there were a
lot
of books on the subject. My poor friends, I am surprised that Arleigh and Martina didn't strain their backs from all the lifting I made them do.
Arleigh and Martina were smart enough though, to give the work to a new intern. I had no problem whatsoever with that, because it was important that the research get done, no matter who was helping me with it. I didn't know just quite what I was in for.
The young woman assigned to the not-inconsiderable task of assisting me was a college student named Emily Page. At first glance, she was quite unremarkable. She appeared to be almost plain, in drab clothes, hair pulled back into a bun and almost no makeup. Most people wouldn't have given her a second glance.
Those people would have been making the same mistake that I almost made. Underestimating someone based solely on his or her physical appearance isn't something any of us should do. Luckily, I was taught better than that.
If you were to take a closer look at Emily, you would see the diamond underneath the layer of coal. Working alongside her, I got to see that diamond shine brightly.
From the very first day, Emily approached her work with unbridled enthusiasm. No task was too menial for her, she did everything I needed and more. I insisted on buying her coffee, so I got to know her. I found out that she was extremely articulate and well-versed on a number of subjects. She also proved to be a lively conversationalist once her initial shyness wore off. It seemed that my new assistant was quite a fan of "Adam Eve" and had, in fact, read all of my works. Even the obscure ones, some that I myself had forgotten about.
Emily would have readily confessed to being a bit of a nerd, although that was evident in much of our conversations. Every so often, she would drift off topic to something about a new game she had discovered or a TV show she liked or some new comic book series that had caught her fancy. I found it all amusing, as part of a package that made up a whole.
As I got to know her better, I began to see things that a less-observant person might not have. My young assistant was not quite what she appeared to be. There was a lot more to Emily than met the eye.
For example, there were her eyes. While she wore round, unattractive glasses, if you looked at her eyes, they were azure and quite remarkable. They also had a slight slant and I found, over several conversations, that she had some Mongolian in her blood. I didn't ask her why she didn't accentuate such a stellar feature. I was sure that she had her reasons.
It may also be worthy of noting that despite her bland manner of dress, Emily always - I mean
always
- wore high heels. Not just any heels, but Jimmy Choo heels. Whoever Emily Page was, the girl either had, or came from, money. Despite my lack of interest, or so I thought, it was also evident that she walked quite nicely in them which led me to another observation.
While it was true that Emily dressed in a manner that downplayed her looks, she actually had a rather spectacular figure. Her ugly skirts and blouses and thick sweaters could not quite disguise the fact that she was built, shall we say, rather nicely? I began ruminating on the fact that perhaps no one had ever taught her how to apply makeup and dress in a manner that would make the most out of what she had to work with.
She also possessed a rather sexy, throaty voice when she forgot
not
to use it. Most of the time, she used a voice that also seemed by design to be off-putting. When relaxed with me over a beverage, the nasal, slightly-twangy vocal disappeared and a voice which was charming and equally alluring emerged. It soon became apparent that Emily liked me and was comfortable being herself around me. What was equally apparent was the fact that I was equally intrigued by her and wanted to know more about this strange creature who now inhabited the fringes of my world.
Before I made any sort of move, I cleared it with Martina and Arleigh first, to make sure that there would be no ill will of any sort. I'd slept with both women, although everyone was on the same page that it was just a casual fling for all of us.
I think Arleigh was stunned. "I don't get it," She said to me. "You're actually interested in