Otto slowly opened the door. It was late, far later than he ever expected. He originally intended to return to his five star, luxury hotel before nine; but instead, he was slinking back in at 2:00 AM in the morning, like a stealthy teenager trying to sneak back in past curfew.

After opening the door as quietly as he could, Otto peered cautiously into the darkness. He looked around the seemingly empty living room, then breathed a small sigh of relief. So far, it looked like the coast was clear. With briefcase in hand and a suit on his back, he then began to creep through the inky abyss that was his suite, into the relative safety of his bedroom; not just to prevent himself from waking a certain someone, but also as a means to avoid the many obstacles that laid silently in the dark.

Before he could get too far however, a table lamp immediately clicked to life. Otto swiftly froze in place, as if the light's glowing radiance had suddenly turned him into an example of granite statuary. He quickly darted his eyes toward the light, so as to gaze upon the source of the paralyzing brilliance.

It was his wife, Bianca, lounging in a nearby chair, with her fingers still wrapped daintily around the lamp's elegant pull chain. She was scantily clad in a piece of fine, silk lingerie; a garment that was not afraid to show off every curve, every bulge, and every inch of her beautifully pregnant form; she looked stunning to say the least.

She also looked angry. Very angry. The sheer sensuality of her wardrobe did little to hide her composed, yet terrible rage.

"Where the hell have you been?" demanded Bianca with a tone of quiet fury, much like the calm before a great tempest.

It was obvious she was using all of her willpower to suppress her murderous urges. Otto swallowed hard before answering his spouse.

"Well uh, sweetie," replied Otto timidly. "I was just, uh...trying to find the hotel cafe. Yeah, that's it! I was trying to find the cafe!"

Bianca just glowered at him.

"You know? So we could eat breakfast there tomorrow morning. I hear they make a very delectable Eggs Benedict. You...like Eggs Benedict, don't you darling?"

Bianca's eyes became all the more hate-filled as Otto laughed nervously. But once again, she was able to reign in her anger. She continued her inquiry.

"Really?" asked Bianca coldly. "It took you eight hours just to find the cafe?"

"Uhhhhhmmmmm...well..." was his response.

"Otto," sighed Bianca irritably. "I know what's going on."

"...what?" responded Otto confusedly.

Bianca nonchalantly rose from her seat and then began to act out a previous conversation.

"Come on, baby," stated Bianca in a sarcastic attempt to mimic her husband. "Let's go to New York together. Just the two of us! It'll be like our own, weekend get-away!"

Then, for a brief moment, her anger subsided and was instead replaced with an appalling sense of regret.

"I should have known better," declared Bianca somberly.

Otto gave his reply.

"Baby, what are you..."

"This was another business trip, wasn't it Otto?" interrupted Bianca with a renewed feeling of annoyance. "You took me to the greatest city in the world, just so you could ditch me and then hobnob with all of your pompous business friends; didn't you?"

Otto immediately felt hurt by her allegation.

"What? No! It's nothing like that!" was his retort.

But in truth, it kinda was. Their romantic get-away to New York City was in fact, just an all-expense paid business trip; a corporate get-together meant to bring in new investors and make new deals within the company.

He never had the heart to tell her that though, so instead, he just told her what she wanted to hear. He made up a story on how he had been planning the trip for months and that he wanted to take her there as a show of his affection; and as he expected, she liked the idea (if not down-right loved it). In fact, she loved the idea so much; she claimed she'd bring a "special gift" with her to christen their first night together in the city. A gift that involved "red lace and cherry lipstick", as she liked to put it.

But now, here at 2:00 AM in the morning, everything was coming back to bite him in the ass. Hard.

"Look sweetie," stated Otto in a brave attempt to salvage the situation. "All that 'hobnobbing', it was just for today. I already closed the deal! Tomorrow we can do anything, ANYTHING, that you want to do! Just..."

"No, you know what?" stated Bianca petulantly, her hands raised in an ostentatious gesture of surrender. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

The heavily laden feline then waddled over to the kitchenette sink and retrieved a glass of water; followed by a brisk walk past Otto, she then ambled towards the bedroom. Before she could enter the luxuriously decorated bedchamber however, Otto tried to plead with her one last time.

"Oh come on, sweetie," begged Otto. "Can't we just..."

Bianca responded by looking back and glaring at him vehemently; abruptly ending her husband's desperate petition for her to stay.

"I'm going to bed now, 'sweetie'," stated Bianca curtly as she continued to looked back at him with an unamused stare. "I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch tonight."

The door then promptly slammed shut behind her, thus leaving Otto in the dark, cold void that was the living room.

So much for their romantic get-away and his "special gift".

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artwork and characters copyright SatsumaLord
background image copyright its original owner