Hello readers! I'm back from a long hiatus from Romantic Friday Writers. This is the first challenge for the New Year and not so coincidentally the theme is New Year's Resolution. As always, the challenge is to write a piece of prose/poem/flash fiction of no more than 400 words.
My snippet today is from a work in progress titled Making Scandal. It's the second in a contemporary romance Essien trilogy series. This is Mark and Faith's story. This story is in its early stages, so bear with me if things don't make sense yet.
Word count: 400 (MPA)
***
The time was here. Finally.
A wave of anxiety buffeted her mind. Faith glanced in the
mirror. On the outside, she didn’t look any different from how she’d appeared
that fateful New Year’s Eve. Well, except for her outfit. That night she’d been
dressed to seduce—resplendent in a strapless teal outfit with a bodice that
enhanced her curves and skirt that flared at the hips reaching her mid-calves
in an asymmetrical cascade. She’d worn diamante-studded silver high-heeled
sandals that matched her purse. Her black hair had been cut into a short sexy
style that flattered her oval face and provocatively displayed her slender neck,
on which she’d worn a silver diamond studded choker.
The memory played back in her mind. She curved her lips in
a bittersweet smile.
She’d arrived at that party the aggressor. For months,
Mark had made his intentions known. He wanted her. She’d rebuffed him each time.
He was the second son to the Essien family Finance dynasty, a well known
playboy. Since his older brother got married, he’d become the next eligible
Essien. Every woman in Nigeria, if not Africa, suddenly wanted to get a piece
of Mark in the quest to become the next Mrs Essien.
But her motives had been different. She didn’t want to
become Mrs Essien. Her ambitions didn’t involve surrendering permanently to an
arrogant man just for the sake of having the status of the ‘Mrs’ prefix. She’d
simply wanted to sate the desire that had blossom within her from the first
moment she’d seen Mark delivering a speech at a Finance conference in
Johannesburg. Her New Year's resolution had been simply to stop fighting the attraction
and succumb to just one night with him.
When his all-seeing blue-black eyes had met hers across the
floor, there had been no mistaking the smouldering need within their depths.
She’d been unable to quell her body’s needful trembling when he’d taken her
hand. Before the clock had struck midnight she’d been in his arms, on his bed,
in his penthouse apartment in Ikoyi.
It had been a night to remember. Being with Mark had been
intoxicating, like a heady addictive drug. Once she got a taste of him, she
didn’t want to stop. But she’d had to. She had to stay in control of her life.
So that morning she’d dressed, leaving his apartment, before he could kick her
out himself.
***
As always, please share your thoughts and comments. Don't forget to stop by and read the other entries to this week's RFW challenge by using the link. Thank you. Have a fantastic week ahead.
