Secret Liaisons Read online

“I don’t have a problem with that, unless you do,” Mona eased back in her chair and said and batted her beautiful long black eyelashes.

  “There’s no problem at all,” Terrance said, as he shifted in his seat when Mona licked her bottom lip.

  She’s your employee, Terrance told himself over and over as he tried to get the visual of Mona licking her lip out of his head.

  Chapter Three

  Mona lived in a small, quaint apartment located above an elderly couple’s house. She carried her small bag of groceries up the stairs. Although she lived in a nice neighborhood, it was nowhere near luxurious like her two friends Kem and Charlotte.

  Despite the cozy quarters, Mona was grateful she happened to come across the rental while searching online one day. It was an upgrade from where she’d stayed before, but not by much. She normally chose to either visit Kem and Charlotte at their place because sometimes she was embarrassed by her small living quarters.

  Being a teacher didn’t pay much and her moonlighting as production assistants soon paid off when she landed the job as Terrance’s full-time assistant. She quit teaching English at Los Angeles Middle Prep School and took the job. It didn’t pay but five thousand dollars more but it was closer to getting her to her dream of being a professional screenwriter.

  This wasn’t how she’d originally planned her life. By now, she was supposed to be married to Garrett Maywood, her college sweetheart. People used to call them M & M because during their college years they were inseparable. That is, until the day Mona learned from Garrett’s mom that he’d moved on without her. He didn’t have the heart to tell her he wanted to break it off with her, so he sent his mother to do the deed.

  His mom never liked her anyway, because Mona came from humble beginnings. She grew up in the Dallas, Texas area and although she never wanted for anything, her parents weren’t rich. Mona’s grades were good throughout high school. If it weren’t for her full paid scholarship, she wouldn’t have been able to attend the University of California.

  Mona thought back to the job with Terrance. Kem was correct when she said Mona was attracted to Terrance, but Mona knew not to cross the line with Terrance. Terrance was the love them and leave them type. Sure Mona could probably entice Terrance into bed, but she wouldn’t act on her emotions and jeopardize her job, especially now.

  With her new responsibilities, Mona hoped Terrance also gave her a raise. She could picture herself moving out of the small apartment into something much bigger and nicer.

  She’d bought most of her furniture from an estate sell so although it looked expensive, she barely paid anything for any of the items. The only furniture she did splurge on was her mattress. She bought them brand new.

  She placed her huge handbag on the sofa then placed the groceries she’d just purchased into the refrigerator.

  After taking a long, hot bath and cooking a quick meal, Mona crossed her legs on the couch and opened her handbag. She placed several of the scripts she’d wanted to read next to her. She looked at the first one and read the first ten pages and then the last ten pages. She put it in the “maybe” pile. She did the same thing with the next script and placed it in the “reject” pile. It took her reading five scripts before she found one that she felt would be a good series. Several hours later, she’d narrowed it down to two, but Terrance wanted three.

  She held on to the last script and it was terrible. It was definitely going in the “reject” pile. She looked at the “maybe” pile and picked one up. She placed it back down. She retrieved her iPad from her purse. She scrolled through her files until she came to one of her scripts. The script logline and synopsis was an idea for a sitcom. It was about three single sisters who were forced to live with each other after the death of their mother in order to gain their inheritance. It was a sexy drama that was better than any of the scripts in the “maybe” pile. She printed out the one-hour pilot episode, but before doing that, she changed the writer’s name to a pen name, Sparkle.

  Satisfied that she’d now chosen three scripts for Terrance, she finally went to bed.

  Terrance tossed and turned in his king-sized bed the majority of the night. Unable to sleep, he turned on the television. He flipped stations until he came across a commercial with an attractive couple talking about how they met on an online dating site called 2-Of-A-Kind. Terrance listened to the commercial and became curious. He made a mental note of the website. He just might check it out. He wouldn’t tell anyone because of course no one would think he would need to be on a dating site.

  The more Terrance thought about the dating site, the more he liked it. With the dating site, he could remain anonymous. He could actually see if the women he met on the website wanted to meet him because of the man he was on the inside, not because of his financial statue or what they thought he could do for their career.

  He found himself getting sleepy but made a mental note to create a membership soon. 2-Of-A-Kind could solve two of his problems. It could help get his mom off his back and it could help him push thoughts of Mona in sexual positions from his head.

  Terrance drifted off to sleep. He felt lips on top of his. He opened his eyes and Mona straddled him wearing nothing but sheer lingerie.

  “Mona, what are you doing?” he asked.

  She silenced him by kissing him again. “Do you want me to stop?” she asked.

  “No,” Terrance responded, barely above a whisper.

  Mona eased out of her panties and before Terrance could blink she was riding him. Terrance watched with delight as Mona moaned out his name over and over.

  He took one of her nipples in his mouth and felt her bounce on him. They held each other tight as she climaxed.

  Terrance eased Mona off him and she lay on her back. The moisture between Mona’s legs excited him as he thrust inside of her. He could no longer control himself and released himself inside of her, bringing them both to a climax.

  The alarm clock buzzed at the exact same moment he climaxed and woke Terrance out of his wet dream.

  Chapter Four

  Terrance walked in to his office wearing shades. Not because he was trying to be cool but to hide the bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. After waking from his wet dream, he hit the showers and stayed there until the water ran cold.

  He wished he could avoid seeing Mona today. He felt embarrassed for thinking of her in the way that he had. It was just a dream, he told himself as he neared Mona.

  “Hi, boss,” Mona said, in the soft sweet voice she always used. “I put the three scripts on your desk.”

  Terrance didn’t trust his voice. He nodded instead to acknowledge he heard her and went straight to his office. He needed to get a grip on himself. His was not his normal, cool self. He told himself again, It was just a dream.

  He removed his shades and sat behind his desk. He needed to concentrate on work. He sent an email to Mona and asked her to hold all of his calls. For the next few hours, he read the scripts and Mona’s notes on each one. He narrowed his choices down to two. One would be a thirty-minute sitcom and the other one could easily be a one-hour drama. He called Mona into his office.

  Mona, wearing a fitted, navy-blue dress suit, waltzed into his office and stood in front of him.

  “Have a seat. I’ve narrowed my choices down to two.”

  “Which ones?” Mona sat down. She crossed her legs revealing her shapely thighs.

  Terrance cleared his throat. “The family comedy and the family drama.”

  Mona smiled. “Great. Instead of choosing which one, why don’t you present both?”

  Terrance thought about it. Mona was right. It was best to be prepared to pitch both shows than to pitch one and they mention they are no longer looking for that genre.

  “What I need for you to do is to get in contact with the writers so I can offer them an option,” Terrance stated.

  Terrance handed Mona th
e two scripts. The office phone rang.

  Mona hit the speaker button and answered, “TNB Productions, this is Mona, how may I help you?”

  “Put my son on the phone,” Terrance’s mom said in a rude voice.

  “Ms. Sara, he’s actually right here.”

  “Good. I bet you didn’t even tell him I called earlier.”

  Mona whispered, “I’m sorry. I forgot.”

  “No biggie,” Terrance responded to her. “Mom. I’m right here. What’s so urgent that you couldn’t wait for me to return your call?”

  Mona sighed with relief.

  “A mom can’t call to check on her boy.”

  “No, mom there’s nothing wrong with that.” Terrance picked up the handset of the phone.

  Mona stood. With the scripts in her hand, she waved at Terrance and left to give him some privacy.

  “Mom, I hope you know you were on speaker. I heard how rude you were to Mona. You can’t be talking to her like that,” Terrance said.

  “If you hired someone more competent, then we wouldn’t be having this problem,” Sara said.

  “Mona’s great. She takes real good care of me,” Terrance stated.

  “I’m sure she does. I’m sure that’s the only reason why you keep her around.”

  “There’s nothing going on between Mona and me. She’s a great assistant and I’m thinking about giving her a promotion.”

  “I’m sure you are. I guess if I was a woman trying to work my way into Hollywood, I would use my ass, I mean assets to get ahead too.”

  “Mom, seriously, you got the wrong idea. It’s strictly business between us and that’s not going to change.”

  “Make sure it doesn’t.”

  “Was there anything else you needed to talk about because I have a luncheon I almost forgot about,” Terrance said.

  “No, dear. I just wanted to hear my favorite son’s voice,” Sara whined.

  Terrance laughed out loud. “I’m your only son.”

  “You’re still my favorite. Go. I’ll talk with you later.”

  Just like that, Sara dismissed Terrance. He hoped he’d cleared things up with his mom about Mona.

  Mona’s smile remained on her face as she sat behind her desk. She was thrilled Terrance liked her script. She found herself in a dilemma because he didn’t really know it was her script. She got her phone out to call Charlotte for advice but before she could finish dialing the number, she stopped. Charlotte was Terrance’s manager so she didn’t want to put Charlotte in the middle of her situation. She dialed Kem’s number instead.

  “You caught me right before I was getting ready for our table read. What’s up?” Kem asked.

  “Terrance has a pitch meeting with one of the networks and he’s chosen my script to pitch,” Mona said.

  “That’s great news. I’m happy for you.”

  “The only thing, he doesn’t know it’s my script. I used a pen name so he wouldn’t.”

  “That’s fine. But you know he’s going to need to know it’s you. He can’t pitch the idea without optioning the script. Your real name has to be on the legal papers in order for him to do that.”

  “I know. I just wish I could prolong him finding out it was me...well at least until after he knows whether they will go with the idea or not.”

  “Which network will he be pitching to?” Kem asked.

  “Not sure. He hadn’t revealed that to me yet.”

  “Find out. If it’s with my network, you know I’ll put in a good word. I’m excited for you. This could be your big break,” Kem said.

  Mona could feel Kem’s genuine excitement over the phone. “I’m going to get off the phone and go confess that it’s me. If he changes his mind about pitching my show, then so be it.”

  “He won’t. Oh before I go. Have you signed up for 2-Of-A-Kind yet? One of my crew members just announced their engagement. And it was with a man she met off the site.”

  “I got busy with work, but I will,” Mona said.

  “People are coming in now. Chat with you later.”

  Kem ended the call. Mona sighed out loud. Terrance walked to her desk just as she ended her call with Kem.

  “Terrance, I’m glad you’re here. I have a confession to make.”

  “Please don’t tell me you’re quitting on me,” Terrance said.

  “Oh no. I wouldn’t do that,” Mona said. “It’s about the scripts.”

  “Whew. I couldn’t bear to lose two of you in one week.”

  “It’s about the writers for the scripts,” Mona said.

  “Were you able to reach them?” Terrance asked.

  “I’m waiting to hear from the one who wrote the comedy.”

  “What about this Sparkle? Is she willing to sign the option agreement?” Terrance asked.

  “After she has her attorney look at it, she will. But Sparkle is the reason why I wanted to talk to you. I sort of know this Sparkle.”

  “That’s a good thing. If her script gets picked by the network, it’s a great writing opportunity for her and we can all make money. Let her know I’m not trying to cheat her out of anything,” Terrance said.

  “Oh, she knows that because Sparkle is me.”

  “And let her know...” Terrance stopped in mid-sentence. “Wait a minute. Did you just say you were Sparkle?”

  “Yes,” Mona said. She looked away.

  “I loved the script. Why didn’t you tell me that? Had me thinking it was someone else.”

  “I didn’t think you would read it, if you knew I wrote it. Besides, you said pick three scripts and I sort of felt guilty including mine along with the other two.”

  “Do you mean you’ve been working with me for this past year and haven’t shared any of your work before? What else do you have? Besides pitching the series, I’m looking to see what I want my next feature film to be.”

  Mona was amazed. She didn’t get the negative response she thought she would get from Terrance. He seemed excited to learn she was the screenwriter. Kem was right. Even if the network passed on her series, this could be the opportunity she’d dreamed of.

  “I do have other scripts. Tell me what kind of story you’re looking for and I can let you know if I have something written that might work for you.” Mona found herself rambling.

  “I have a luncheon to attend. But later, let’s talk.” Terrance smiled at Mona.

  “Yes, let’s talk.”

  Mona watched Terrance leave. She got out of her seat and did her happy dance. She sat back behind her computer but couldn’t stop smiling.

  Chapter Five

  Mona felt like celebrating. She sent messages to Charlotte and Kem, but they both had previous engagements so they weren’t available to celebrate with her tonight.

  Terrance called and shared with her that he was working from home the remainder of the day. Mona, a little disappointed about not having anyone to share her good news with, opened the web browser on her laptop.

  “I’m tired of being by myself,” Mona said out loud as she typed in the words, “www.2ofakind.com.”

  The website pulled up. Mona created a profile. She contemplated on a user name. She typed in the word, “Raven.” Raven captured her vibrant personality and it kept her real name anonymous until she felt comfortable revealing her real name to any prospective dates.

  Filling out the profile wasn’t as quick and simple as Mona thought it would be. Some of the questions delved into her psyche. She felt like she was back in school writing a thesis as she answered the questions. One question asked, “How do you feel about commitment?”

  She typed, “I am looking for total commitment from a man. He should be loyal and trustworthy. If he’s not ready to make a full commitment, then I am not the woman for him. I am not looking for a booty call. I want a man who is willing to take the time to get
to know me. A man who I can build a future with.”

  Some of the questions only required her to hit the agree or disagree button. She laughed out loud when she read the statement, “Couples do not need to have a passionate sex life to be happy.” Right next to the statement there were two boxes: Agree or Disagree. She wished there were several disagreement buttons for it. Passion was a necessity.

  She had to choose six words to describe her personality. She chose the words, vibrant, easy-going, kind, honest, hard-working, and a good sense of humor.

  It took her two hours to finish her profile. The dating site didn’t require her to upload any photos. It wanted to match couples based on the data they entered. Mona hit the save button. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly four in the afternoon. Hopefully, by the time she made it home, the site would have sent her a few matches to check out.

  Terrance decided not to return to the office after the luncheon. Lately, being around Mona had his hormones jumping all over the place. He’d been disciplined in that area for so long so this new feeling caught him by surprise.

  With Mona’s new revelation that she was the writer of the script that he wanted to pitch to the networks, he definitely needed to get his mind refocused. As soon as he got to his two-story home in Baldwin Hills, he headed to his den and turned on the computer.

  He was on a mission to find a woman. He created a profile on the 2-Of-A-Kind dating site. Some of the questions seemed a little too personal but if he wanted to find his right matches; he answered them as truthfully as he could.

  One of the questions asked him how he felt about keeping secrets. He responded, “There should be no secrets between me and the person I’m with. Trust and loyalty are two important qualities that I must have with any woman I plan to commit to.”

  Terrance thought back to his college sweetheart, Nikki Reed. To his mother’s dismay, he broke it off with Nikki when he found out she’d been secretly dating his best friend. He also found out that Nikki was only with him because he came from an affluent family and she liked the perks of being Terrance’s girl friend.