Crystal's One Night of Love

Henry found himself engulfed in the constant swirl of his demanding job and the social obligations that came with it.

Frustrated, he drank, letting the intoxicating liquid cloud his thoughts more than he should have. The world seemed to sway as he staggered toward his car.

His driver, unfamiliar with his personal life, remarked as he opened the door for Henry, “Mr. Miller, you’ve had one too many. Miss Winters won’t be pleased. Women seldom are when their men are inebriated.”

Leaning into the plush upholstery of the backseat, Henry pulled out a cigarette, letting its familiar scent wrap around him.

He lit the cigarette. As the smoke danced from his lips, he murmured with a hint of irony, “As if she cares.”

Being married to Crystal felt as lonely as being single.

Crystal was indifferent toward him.

It had been a few months since they were intimate with each other.

She refused to let him touch her.

It was only normal for couples to fight every now and then. However, she had resolved to move to another room. It wasn’t just the lack of physical connection. Even a mere conversation with her felt like scaling a mountain.

Not wanting to wade into those deep waters, the driver simply resumed his place behind the wheel.

Just as he was about to depart, a mellifluous voice floated through the air. “Mr. Miller!”

Henry turned, and there, limping unevenly with a cane, was Lara.

She traced his gaze that landed on her injured leg. “The doctor says it’ll heal in a couple of months with no lasting damage.”

She flashed him a woeful smile, expecting, perhaps, even hoping, that he might have visited her during his wife’s cold spell.

Yet, he never did.

However, that was all right. If he wouldn’t come to me, I’ll just find a way to him.

Acknowledging her with a nod, Henry instructed his driver to drive away.

The driver nodded and turned the car around. Lara’s lips twisted into a smirk as the luxurious car pulled away.

She released her grip on the cane, crumbling to the ground in a display of vulnerability.

Henry caught sight of it. He furrowed his brows slightly and ordered to stop the car after a brief moment. of consideration.

The driver was stumped.

In an impassive voice, he ordered, “Help her into the car and send her back home.”

The driver replied hesitatingly, “Miss Winters won’t be pleased if she knows of this.”

Intoxicated, Henry said in a rather exasperated tone, “She won’t know if you keep your mouth shut. Besides, I’m only asking you to send her home.”

The driver bit his tongue and got out of the car to help Lara.

Lara sat beside Henry.

He closed his eyes and did not speak to her, but they were in such close proximity to each other that she could smell the faint scent of pine on him.

She stealthily turned aside to sneak a peek at him, drinking in Henry’s chiseled features.

His side profile was perfect, exuding an air of nobility.

Lara couldn’t help but eye in wonder at the luxurious interior of the car.

She pictured herself being together with Henry. Her cheeks were tinged pink as she leaned in to take in his heavenly scent, imagining herself underneath him…

Will his face contort in ecstasy as he presses down on me?

Lara felt warm tingles all over her body just thinking about it.

An audacious thought flitted across her mind as she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on his pristine white shirt, leaving behind the faintest trace of her coral lipstick.

eyes if one didn’t pay attention

opened his eyes, making Lara fumble to set her back

front of

out of the

car. Lara bowed and said softly, “Mr. Miller, thank you for sending me home. If… if you need me to explain to Mrs. Miller, please do not hesitate to ask

stared at her petite face and smiled faintly, saying nothing.

car started again, Henry did not have

leaned close, he felt it. Here was a young woman, so eerily reminiscent of that other,

just the barest embrace, he

and compliant lover, using her

himself that those few seconds of intimacy were a test he

much he truly

he thought about was Crystal, of her vulnerability when her eyes were closed, lost in her music.

and Henry

He chose Crystal.

the Miller residence, as Henry stepped out of his car, he glanced up at the house. In the deepening. night, most of the lights had been snuffed

moved through the foyer, ascending the stairs

look at Skyler and Remi, he gently turned the

hadn’t locked it. The door yielded

in a soft silk nightgown that shimmered under the lamplight. Her skin pecked through, luminescent and delicate. She

always entranced

him and the prolonged dry spell between

and kissed her tenderly

not

proved to be more docile in her dreams.

moments, his hands began to wander more eagerly.

sleep, and

hint of coral

was a mark

unwavering, even as his passion seemed undiminished, his hands

face was pale, as if drained of all blood.

the soft

of allure, yet

His movements faltered.

“It was a chance meeting. I gave her a lift.”

nightgown, her slender fingers deftly undoing two of his shirt buttons to reveal the

coral shade was

The driver was there.

as well. He removed the tainted shirt, discarding it in the

to face Crystal, he declared, “I haven’t betrayed our

exhausted even to

calmly said. “You did nothing, sure. You just helped her resume her studies, rented her a condominium, paid her tuition, and found

face tensed. “I don’t have such

look at him.

with her has already crossed the line. If the driver hadn’t been there today, you would have tested yourself

when the heat from the ember burned his

said, “Why do you paint it

because I’ve been giving you the cold shoulder. If our relationship was going well, an like Lara

pained Crystal to speak

indeed, could

had drunk a bit too much

point in discussing it further tonight. Rubbing his temple, he

stood still, only speaking up when he was about to

your shirt with you.”

and he couldn’t help but wonder

really

found herself padding back to

the novel, her face betraying little emotion. But deep within, the

interest in Lara’s matters, she knew this day would

Henry and Audrey from years ago was a hard one to

regained his memories, and yet his first crush had regrettably passed, what

what Henry had in mind.

and she wasn’t bound by the love for her children, she might have fought.