The name of Daniel's secretary, or you could call her a personal assistant, was Helen, very punctual, strict and responsible woman in her middle thirties. She handled Daniel's schedule and would not allow any deviations from it unless it was Daniel himself who requested it.
Mary approached and greeted her, inquiring about her wellbeing. Helen answered that she was fine but the tone of her voice was somewhat strained. Mary came up and said that Ms. Helen looked a bit tired. Word after word Ms. Helen opened up to her and said that she could not have an annual leave because there was no one to replace her, that is why she was suffering from chronic fatigue.
"No way! Ms. Helen you should care about yourself more!" Mary exclaimed bending down to her and a very interesting idea struck her. Lowering her voice she continued, "I think you can ask Mr. Melrose for a leave once again when you think timing is good and tell him that Ms. Mary Springer agreed to replace you in case if he felt he could trust her with his schedule. But no coffee job for her though..." While she was saying it, her gaze fell on Helen's computer screen where today's schedule was opened; Mary saw only one meeting left and it was about to start in 15 minutes.
Having heard Mary's promise Helen fell in deep thought, they had not met before, but Mr. Melrose seemed to have rather close acquaintance with this Mary Springer. Maybe, he would really agree to let her have a vacation at last…
Leaving Helen to her thoughts, Mary knocked on Daniel's door and entered as soon as he invited her in. Helen brought them two cups of coffee and they chatted casually while drinking it.
"So, why are you really here?" he asked.
"Hm… I was bored!" Mary said. "You are always busy and it feels lonely at home, so I decided to have a little fun…"
"Fun? Since when does going to an office count as fun?!" he said laughing.
"Well, I have other ideas of fun too… But for them I would need a company. Maybe I should invite someone who would be ready to spare some time for me today. Let me think… Who might that be?" Mary looked at Daniel and went on, "Mr. Melrose, would you mind keeping me company?"
He almost chocked on his coffee.
"I… I have… some meetings to attend."
"Only one," Mary corrected him.
"An important one."
"So important?! Alas, then I should find someone else to come with me. And Marcus doesn't count," Mary said and looked at Daniel slyly.
He hesitated, took a sip from his cup, then put it down on the table, stood up and beckoned Mary to follow him to the door. She smiled widely in return.
When they were heading to the elevator, Helen looked at him questioningly.
"Sir, should I postpone the meeting?" she asked.
"Cancel it, please. That old fox can solve his problems even without my help."
"Will you return today?" she made her final inquiry before changing his schedule.
He threw a glance at Mary, smiled and said, "I don't think so."
When the elevator doors opened Mary turned around and saw how Mr. Edwards looked completely lost at Helen's desk begging her to reschedule the cancelled meeting. His gaze fell on Mary and Daniel who were about to enter the elevator. Mary smiled at him and waved her hand as a good-bye gesture. Mr. Edwards's reaction, unfortunately, was to remain a secret for her because the elevator doors closed a bit too soon on this wonderful scene.
"Where do you want to go?" Daniel asked her when they were already in the car.
"Frankly speaking, I don't know. I didn't expect you to agree…"
Mary really was a bit lost, she had the aim of seducing him into leaving early from work, but the actual fun-plan was missing.
"Just fantasize. What would you want?" he asked.
"What I would want… I would want something completely mind-blowing!" Mary said dreamily.
Daniel moved closer to Marcus and whispered something in his ear. Marcus silently nodded (it seemed to be his characteristic gesture) and started the car. They were on the way for almost an hour when Mary saw that they approached the southern airport of the city.
"I don't have my international passport with me!" Mary exclaimed.
"You won't need one," Daniel said.
They did not take the ordinary route which one takes in the airport, but they headed to the civil aviation section and soon enough were invited into a car which took them to the area where helicopters were stationed. As a rich man Daniel had to have a helicopter of his own, so he just rented a place in the airport to keep the helicopter in and hired one of their pilots whenever he need to go somewhere.
"Whoa!" Mary exclaimed. "I see why I don't need an international passport... But where are we going?"
"You'll see..."
When they were inside the helicopter he asked her to put on the headphones, the main aim of those was too keep out the noise. She did as he asked and the helicopter rose into the air.
From above she could see the suburbs, the roads and the forests, everything was so small. The feeling which she had was very much different from flying in an airplane. Now she felt like she was flying herself, like a bird. She was free and happy and she could not stop smiling.
After about twenty minutes they started to descend and landed on a roof of a huge mansion. Daniel asked the pilot to return for them in four hours, and took Mary inside through a door on the roof - it lead to a cozy waiting room for those who expected the helicopter to arrive.
"Where are we?" Mary asked.
"It's our family house; technically my parents use it most of the time. But today they're out, so we can enjoy it a little."
"They live here?"
"From time to time... Yes."
He took her hand and led her further into the house. In the corner of her eye she saw how one of the maids hurried away not to disturb them. Daniel called out to her.
"Welcome, sir. Do you want any refreshments?" she inquired.
"Not yet, but I need a favor. Don't tell my parents I was here today or who I was with. And ask other maids to keep their mouths shut too. Understand?"
"Of course, sir," she answered. She was already starting to move away when he called her again.
"Maybe we would need some refreshments after all. Bring champagne and fruits to the summer house."
"Yes, sir. In a minute."
He took Mary through the mansion and out into the garden where roses were in full bloom and filled the air with flower scent. The garden was big and beautiful, all was planned very carefully and there definitely was a gardener to look after it. Mary was impressed; it was a very grand mansion. Though she knew Daniel was rich, she did not understand how rich he was until she saw this house, and now she thought that maybe it was not the only one he owned.
He led her to the summer house, it resembled the one she saw at the barbecue at David's place, but this one was bigger.
When they sat down on a sofa, David put his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead, they were so close that she could smell his expensive perfume and could feel the heat from his body.
The maid brought champagne and fruits and went away leaving left them alone again. David passed one glass of champagne to Mary and raised his own.
"To you, Mary! Thank you for luring me into this adventure today."
"And to your helicopter!" Mary cheered.
She took a sip from her glass and felt how cold and fragrant wine was descending into her stomach, ready to take action and rush directly into her bloodstream causing vertigo and freeing her from unnecessary chains of morale.
They were sitting like this and chatting about everything and about nothing at the same time. It felt warm, felt like home to her.
An hour flew by quickly, and Daniel stood up at last, swooped up Mary and carried her to the house. They went in through the back door and stealthily made their way upstairs.
Daniel's bedroom was on the second floor; its design was very modest in comparison with other rooms in the house. The bed was not too grand as well, but not too small though.
"No huge bed?!" Mary asked.
"I didn't bring any girls here. Why would I need a huge bed? This one's alright."
He pulled her to the very bed she had just criticized and pushed her down on it.
"Shouldn't we take a shower first?" she asked.
"I don't know... Should we?" He laughed, and started to take off her clothes, and did not stop until he was completely satisfied by her nakedness. "Let's take a shower together."
They were kissing and the hot water was flowing down and caressing their bodies. Mary felt dizzy; her body was hot, almost melting under Daniel's touch. She wished he would not let go of her, not now, not ever.
He turned off the water and covered Mary with a towel leading her back to the bedroom. Her hair was wet, her cheeks were pinkish from the blood that was frantically pulsing in her veins, she looked timid and yet there was lust in her eyes. The setting sun was coloring the room with gold and red. He also wanted this moment to never end, he wished to lock her in this house and shield her from all others who could catch even a glimpse of her natural and feminine beauty.
He pulled her closer trying to chase away those dark thoughts like he chased away this unneeded towel. He was gentle with her, as if afraid of her fragility, and yet he made her lose the track of time or any understanding where she was.
When the time to fly back approached the sun was already down and the stars started to light up the dark sky.