Read Online After Hours by Dara Girard - Free Book Online Page B

later.
    Amera picked through her mail on the table, not expecting anything interesting. She quickly waded through bills and junk mail then a beautiful envelope caught her eye.
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    Intrigued, Amera turned the envelope over and studied it. It looked like an invitation. She didn't get invitations. Had it come to the wrong address? She checked the label and saw her full name: America Blessings Thurston . Who could it be from? Who knew her full name? She never used her middle name, Blessings. She grabbed a letter opener and swiftly cut open the gold lined envelope. Inside was a handwritten note on expensive parchment paper lined with finely woven lace. She read: You have been personally selected to join The Black Stockings Society, an elite, members-only club that will change your life and help you find the man of your dreams. Guaranteed.
    The Black Stockings Society? She’d never heard of any such organization. Was it some kind of lingerie club? How had they gotten her name? Why were they inviting her, of all people, to join? She scanned the rest of the note.
    Dumped? Bored? Tired of being single? Ready to live dangerously? Then this is the club for you. Guaranteed results! Submit your application today.
    Dumped? Well, she’d been dumped from her job, did that count?
    Tired of being single? Hmmm. Had Susan given her name to some group to cheer her up?
    Ready to live dangerously? She wasn’t sure, maybe. She could use a change. She held up her hand again. She wouldn’t mind shaking up her life a little, especially since she’d be out of work soon. “Sure. Why not?” she said out loud to no one in particular.
    Guaranteed results, huh? She looked at the nominal fee and application. It wouldn’t hurt to try it out. She got a pen and looked at the enclosed questionnaire. Then frowned with disappointment when she looked at the questions. They reminded her of the silly questions one found in those cheap women’s magazines. Asking her how she’d spend her holidays or what she’d eat. She tossed the application down. She was a serious woman. This didn’t make sense to her. She stood and changed for bed. She was about to turn out the lights when the sight of the invitation floated in her mind. Tired of being single? Ready to live dangerously? Those two questions kept going over and over in her mind and every time the answer was yes. She pushed the sheets back and jumped out of bed.
    “I don’t know what's wrong with me,” she mumbled, as she picked up the questionnaire again. But she was eager to see what would happen. She bit her lip then started to answer the questions.
    How would you spend your holidays? She’d love a family holiday. A holiday surrounded by people who cared about her, where she felt she belonged. But she didn’t have a family so she knew it was just wishful thinking.
    Would you prefer candy canes or gingerbread cookies? Definitely, gingerbread cookies.
    What would your ideal man be like? She wished people would stop asking her that. I don’t know. Really. A good person? She didn’t have an ideal. She thought of Curtis standing alone at the hotel window--isolated and distant. She felt sorry for him, although she knew no one else would, and besides, he seemed content with his life. What if he wasn’t like that? What if he were different? She bit her lip then quickly wrote: A more human, warm version of Curtis. She wasn’t even sure what that meant. She crossed it out. Ugh!!! Florence was right. Curtis was the only man in her life. Why would she even think of him as a possibility? She should think of some celebrity or prominent person she admired instead. But Curtis’ name kept coming to her. Annoyed, she hastily wrote: ‘A smiling Curtis’. It still didn’t make sense, but somehow it sounded right. They probably wouldn’t know what she meant since they didn’t know who Curtis was, but it was all she could think of.
    Amera carefully read the ‘sworn’ oath. As a member