Upside Down by Liz Gavin Page A

powerful engine to life. I just laughed, turned the car around in one swift movement, waving goodbye, and sped up the one-mile-long driveway leading to the property gate.
    I wanted to g et home quickly where I could lick my wounds and find a way to solve all my problems in order to get my life back on track. Everything was getting out of control and I’d never liked that feeling. I had to be on top of things. I felt powerless otherwise.
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CHAPTER 4
     
    I had been back in New York for over a week. I had somehow licked some of my wounds but all my problems had remained the same. Mark was still acting out of character. Cindy - I wasn’t able to think of her as Ms. O’Rourke after all those dreams – was still an enigma to me. The weird dreams still haunted my nights – the difference being Mark made guest appearances in them. The economy was still circling the drain. I was still hurting over the last knife my mother had stabbed in my back. And, there was some big secret in my parents past that I had no real interest in unlocking.
    Mark bec ame a person I didn’t recognize anymore. I wasn’t sure I liked the change, either. Each day, when I arrived at the office, for example, I found a different surprise he had prepared for me. They would be things like: breakfast delivered by my favorite coffee shop; a gift certificate from a fancy spa in town; tickets for the ballet; a rare edition of one of my all-time favorite books - ‘ A Christmas Carol’ ; a single, exquisite red rose waiting for me on my desk.
    Regardless of how badly I had treated him the night before, the little surprises would come. Even if I had spanked him until my wrists were sore or if I had teased him until his shaft was about to explode, then, left him literally hanging. The more a mistreated him, the nicer the surprise would be. But, one day, he really pissed me off with yet another red rose, this time accompanied by a gorgeous gold and sapphire ring. I marched out of my room and, forgetting where I was, threw the rose and the ring on his desk.
    “This has got to stop ! Enough is enough, Mark! Stop giving me these things!”
    While I was having my tantrum, t he ring bounced off the top of the table, rolled through the polished wooden floor and landed at Cindy’s foot, who had just arrived at the reception counter. She gracefully caught it, walked up to me, put it inside my hand, closing it around the shining object with her own. She kept her hold of my hand but turned to Mark to speak.
    “This one is a keeper, Mark. Don’ t ever let her go.”
    We were the only people in the office but I didn’t want to make a bigger fool of myself by telling Cindy where exactly she should stick the ring, her hand and her nose. I just yanked my hand free, set the ring on Mark’s table and went back to my office. However, I did slam my door once I got in. Somebody, or something, had to pay for my frustration.
    After that day, Cindy became bolder in her interactions with me. I had thought her flirtatious behavior was a figment of my vivid imagination. I had even felt embarrassed about that. But, that was all before that morning. Whenever we met, after the scene with the ring, she would compliment my outfit. She would touch my hand or arm every time she handed me something. I had the sensation each time she touched me she lingered a little longer.
    As Cindy became less subtle, I got more disoriented. I couldn’t understand my reactions to the woman. I was happy in my relationship with Mark. Granted, I was uncomfortable with the changes we were facing in said relationship, but sexually speaking, things couldn’t have been better. So, why the hell, would I be so curious that I caught myself wondering what it would be like to be with a woman? Why would I allow these visions of Cindy’s blonde beauty invade my thoughts at the most inappropriate moments? Why would I find myself squirming in my chair when I thought of her mouth on my fevered body and not