“Oh yeah, that’s right, baby, come to daddy!” Charles hissed through tightly clinched teeth, pounding away at the woman bent over his Chippendale desk.
He was collapsed across the woman’s back when the phone rang. Fumbling with the receiver, he picked up and gasped, “Hello, Charles Bowden.”
“Charles, darling, it’s Maureen.”
At the sound of his wife’s voice, Charles stood up straight and backed away from the woman across his desk. He straightened his tie and cleared his voice before replying. “Hello, sweetheart, how are you today?”
“I’m fine, just wanted to remind you we have dinner with John and Elise tonight.”
“I haven’t forgotten. I’ll be home by seven.”
“Ok, see you then, dear.”
___
Across town, Maureen assured her friend Elise that she and Charles would be there. “I’m not sure how long we’ll be staying, however,” she added. “Charles was out of breath just now when I talked with him. I keep telling him he needs to go in for his annual checkup. It’s not normal for a man of his age to get so worked up writing briefs.”
52|250 A Year of Flash 