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Concealed Affairs
Copyright © 2009 C.R. Moss
ISBN: 978-1-55487-261-9
Cover art by Angela Waters
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Concealed Affairs
By
C.R. Moss
Dedication
To CJM – my love and the one I tell all my
secrets to. To my bud Rexxie – thanks for your
friendship & support. And a big thank you to
my mentor, Terri V., for helping me get this
story done!
Chapter One
I
can’t believe I’m here.
Victoria Padden rested her arms on the
railing of the second floor balcony while in line to
enter the conference room. She watched the crowd
in the hotel’s grand foyer bustle with activity
below her. To her trained but rusty eye, every
socialite within a fifty-mile radius of Princeton
had come for the event. Women, who appeared to
have no thought of anybody but themselves,
engulfed every available inch of space, leaving not
a chair or couch unoccupied. The employees and
hotel patrons caught in the mix battled through
the gossiping sea of bodies. The din of the many
voices echoed in the huge lobby and rang in her
head. She could almost not hear herself think.
She let out a loud sigh and the exhalation
drowned in the loud mixture of voices. One of the
reasons she had left her home in New York was to
avoid afternoons like this. As a teen and young
adult she had been dragged by her affluent
parents to too many social affairs. The last of
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which was a society function celebrating her
parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary. How she
had escaped a ritzy party thrown for her college
graduation still amazed her to this day. Then
again, her parents’ status-seeking quest to show
off had overshadowed her accomplishment. And
that was fine with her.
She didn’t appreciate how her parents’ rich
friends viewed other people as “below their
status.” She didn’t like the tittle-tattle. Most of all,
she didn’t like how the haughty women viewed
her. So what if she didn’t want to follow in their
footsteps? She wanted to carve out a career in the
computer industry instead of marrying rich and
wasting her days away at luncheons and in spas.
The decision was her choice and her life.
But if that were true, if she indeed had a choice,
why was she here now?
Because Sally had lied.
When Sally had pulled her aside at work earlier
in the day and told her they would be going out
for the afternoon, she had been made to believe
the excursion to a fundraiser was for business.
Business or not, she had had no desire to attend a
social activity. But every excuse she spat out, Sally
knocked down. When Sally had tired of her
attempts to weasel out of leaving the office, she
said the logged service calls had been delegated to
other technicians and her attendance to the event
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Concealed Affairs
was now mandatory.
“Business is business, whether you're here or
there,” Sally had added.
At that point, her need-to-please personality
had kicked in and Victoria couldn’t do anything
but agree. It wasn’t until they had arrived that she
learned the fundraiser wasn’t for business at all.
She should have turned tail and ran the
moment the poster boards in the lobby advertising
the bachelor auction came into view. Sally’s grip
on her arm, though, had been much too tight and
had allowed no room for escape.
Rubbing the tender area on her bicep, she cast a
sidelong glance at Sally who stood next to her. The
older woman’s thin lips were pressed into a smug
grin, enhancing the small laugh lines around her
eyes.
Networking with other business people while
at a fundraiser, what a load of bull, she thought,
then added out loud, “I can’t believe you ordered
me to come to this. I thought you were my friend.”
She swept her arm out over the railing, hoping the
gesture would hide the bitterness in her voice. To
her relief, Sally didn’t seem to take notice of how
her words held a bite.
“I am your friend, but as your boss, you left me
no choice. All you want to do is work. Not that I
mind, mind you, but all work and no play…”
Sally flashed a smile and winked. “Anyway, we’re
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here, and I’m glad we arrived early. Look at the
horde of people below. There must be over a
hundred women down there. Could you imagine
if we had come in now? As it is, there’s barely
anyone in front of us, so we should be able to find
some good seats.”
Curious, Victoria turned to count the women in
line before them. Fifty heads. She looked at Sally
again. The woman smiled so brightly, Victoria
thought of her boss as a child who had a secret to
share.
Her animosity dissipated. She was at a bachelor
auction. Big deal. No one here knew her or her
parents. She wouldn’t have to live up to anyone’s
grand expectations. Perhaps she could even sit
back and enjoy an event for once. If all went well,
she would call her parents. They would be pleased
to hear about her escapade with Princeton society,
no matter what the jaunt entailed. They would
probably say it was about time. She imagined their
praise.
Mixing with the upper echelons of society is a great
way to meet influential people. Networking is great for
business. You should be doing things like this more
often. We’re proud of you, honey.
She smiled as the pleasing thoughts buzzed in
her head and imagined her parents’ faces full of
pride. Yet, as quickly as their images appeared, a
scowling one replaced them.
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Concealed Affairs
David. Telling him she went to a bachelor
auction would be another matter entirely.
She closed her eyes and prayed none of his
patients or clinic associates were in attendance,
and if any were, that they wouldn’t recognize her
from the picture he kept on his desk. If word got
back to him, she didn’t know how she’d explain
this little excursion of Sally’s.
“If David knew what I was up to, he’d have a
fit,” she muttered, displeased she wasn’t at the
place she enjoyed most, in her chair at her desk
staring at the computer screen.
“You act as if you’re married,” Sally retorted.
“Give me your hands.” Tori offered her hands
palms up. Sally took them, turned them over and
studied the back of them. “Just as I thought. No
rings. I see there’s no leash tied around your neck
either.”
Victoria straightened her spine and glared at
her friend, appalled Sally would think she was
totally under control and submissive to her
boyfriend.
“Relax, Tori.” Sally’s teal eyed gaze narrowed.
“David doesn’t have to know. You don’t have to
tell him. You’re here to have fun, to break the
monotony of your everyday routine. Add some
spice to your life.”
Geez, what’s going on here? Not tell David? Yeah,
right. Tori’s thoughts swirled. Though fifteen years
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of age separated them, she and Sally were great
friends, sharing their sorrows and joys, being
there for each other, valuing the other’s opinion.
Usually her boss was very understanding. Surely
Sally knew she would have to tell David.
Relationships were based on trust, not secrets. Yet,
kind, caring Sally, who had taken her under her
wing when she had been fresh out of college,
wasn’t acting kind or caring, or even very
understanding.
“You’re a puppet, Tori,” Sally continued. “A
maid. I’d even say a slave who is constantly under
David’s control. You should have stayed put in
your own house, never moved in with that man.”
“Excuse me? I don’t see myself as any of those
things. David’s a good man. I’m happy with him
and doing things for him. We’re comfortable
together.”
With a huff, Sally turned away.
“He has an ABD in Psychiatry and has patients
lining up to see him at the clinic,” Victoria spouted
at Sally’s back. “I have my career. We’re
financially stable. We’re emotionally stable as
well. At the end of the day, I go to his house,
straighten the place up and make him dinner. He
tells me about his day. There’s nothing to
complain about, and we never really fight. I enjoy
my life with him.”
“So you keep reminding me. Life with him
6
