"Craig, I'm so sorry..."
"Don't worry Marlena." He crouches down to help her pick up the scattered papers and can't help but notice the way the fire-engine red skirt is hiked up her thigh.

"I don't know where my head is at the moment," she sighs as he takes her arm and helps her up. He is noticing more than just her skirt now. She is wearing a close fitting red suit and Craig finds his gaze is drawn to her as she brushes the mane of golden-blonde hair from her face. He has certainly noticed her before, he'd have to blind not to but he hasn't seen her looking like *this*. She seems to be projecting an aura of sensuality that he doesn't associate with Marlena. Marlena is usually a little more conservative than this. Actually a lot more conservative he realizes as his eyes drift down to her cleavage. She's an absolute knockout.

Marlena smiles at him and he sees a flash of something in her eyes that makes him do a double-take. Then her smile falters and he thinks he must have been imagining it.

"Marlena, is everything okay?" The question is quiet. Marlena tries to smile again for a moment but she fails miserably. Biting her bottom lip, she shakes her head.

Without a word, Craig takes her arm and guides her into his office which is just across the hallway. "Do you want to talk about it?" He doesn't particularly want to play counselor, but he is Chief Of Staff and Marlena is one of his staff members. He has a responsibility to make sure that she is up to doing her job. And besides that, he can't keep his eyes off her.

"Not really." She shrugs as she perches on the edge of his desk, her slender legs crossed in front of her. "It's personal."
"Is it serious?" Craig senses that there's more to this than meets the eye. Especially as she looks up at him again. There is more than a hint of an invitation in her expression, he is sure of it. But then maybe he's just misreading her... "Do you want to take a few days off to sort it out? I'm sure we can rearrange your schedule."

"No." She shakes her head definitely. "Believe me, home is the last place I want to be right now." She turns from him to stare out the window, Craig suspects in order to hide her tears.

"Marlena," he moves to where she is sitting and leans against the desk next to her. He waits as she surreptitiously wipes her tears. "Maybe it would help to talk about it, whatever it is."
"Help what?" She turns back to him, her hazel eyes afire with anger. "My husband's cheating on me and now he's moved out of our home. How exactly is talking about it going to help?"

"John's left you?" Craig's face expresses his astonishment.

Marlena nods before she stands and crosses her arms tightly in front of her. Craig can't help but note, thanks to the low cut neckline of her suit, that only serves to enhance her cleavage.

He shakes his head guiltily after a moment. He can't use Marlena's distress as an opportunity to think about seducing her. He can't.... that's wrong... even if her husband has up and left her.

"Evidently I'm no longer good enough for him," she says bitterly. "I guess he got bored once the chase was over."
"Marlena, somehow I doubt boredom is the reason..." Craig is finding it hard to believe *anyone* could walk out on this stunning woman.
"What other reason could there be?" she asks coldly. "If he still finds me attractive, if he still loves me, then why is he out screwing some other woman?"

"There are many reasons..." Craig's voice fades as he sees her turn away again. She's right, she doesn't even have to say it. That's totally lame. "Marlena, he's an idiot. If he's left you, I can't even begin to comprehend what an idiot he is."

"What did I do wrong?" she lifts her shoulder's in a shrug as she turns back to face him again. "I mean, I really thought we had it all. And now I find myself wondering what is so awful about me that I drive him away after a year of marriage."

"Marlena," Craig can't believe that she would think there was *anything* wrong with her. "It's not you, it's him. He's obviously crazy."
"Do you know," she moves closer to him, "I waited for him for *three* years? After my ex-husband left me, I was single... celibate... for three years." She shakes her head, rolling her eyes at the lunacy of it. Then she lowers her eyes to contemplate the floor. "Maybe I just got out of practice."

Craig can say nothing for a moment, he is too stunned by the mere possibility that a woman like Marlena can stay celibate for more than a few weeks. She could have had her *pick* of the men in Salem and yet she had remained faithful to *John Black*? Who had now fucked around on her barely a year into their marriage?

Marlena moves closer to him and lifts her eyes to his, her lashes luxurious above the golden irises. "Do you think one can *get* out of practice?" she asks provocatively.

There is no way he can mistake her intentions this time. It seems she is out for a little revenge. Or a lot of revenge.

He swallows, his tongue suddenly sticking to the roof of his mouth as his blood-pressure skyrockets. She reaches out and adjusts his tie in a seemingly innocent gesture.

She is anything but innocent.

Craig knows he shouldn't do this, but knowing and actually following through on intentions are two different things. "No," his voice is strained as he shakes his head, "I don't think you can get out of practice."

He reaches out and slides his hand over the curve of her hip. "Don't they say it's rather like riding a bike?"

"Do they?" Her pink tongue slides out of her mouth and wets her lower lip in a totally erotic gesture.
"Ummm," Craig is thrown completely off-balance now. His chest is rising and falling as his breaths become more shallow. He wants this woman so badly, he wants her so much he can almost taste her.

His hand slips down over her behind and he pulls her toward him. She doesn't resist, instead one hand skims the collar of his business shirt and her fingers thread through the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Yeah," Craig nods. "That's what they say."
"Maybe I've just been riding the wrong kind of bicycle then," she murmurs as she bends her head to his.

A knock at the door sends them both reeling and Craig is sure to straighten his tie before his wife enters. Nancy sees Marlena hugging a chart between her folded arms as she stares out of the window. She seems rather... distracted, almost as if she didn't hear anyone even enter the room.

Nancy looks at Craig. "Is everything okay honey?"
"Sure," Craig nods easily. "Marlena and I were just talking about a patient. Weren't we Marlena?"
"Mmmm," Marlena turns to them with a simple smile. "A patient that I had better go and give the bad news to." She looks directly at Craig. "Thanks. You don't know how much help you've been."

"Any time." Craig means that sincerely. He's feeling completely frustrated now, especially as he sees her hips sway as she walks to the door.
She turns around, her fingers resting lightly on the handle and she gives him a look that says that she isn't going to let this go. Much to Craig's relief. "I might just take you up on that."

She leaves the room, closing the door behind her and Nancy turns to her husband. "Wow, what's gotten into her?"

~

Grace kicks off her pumps as soon as she enters the penthouse. She unbuttons her jacket to reveal the silk teddy she is wearing underneath. She smiles as she mixes herself a martini and she switches on the stereo.

"Mom?" she sighs as she hears Belle's voice from upstairs. "Mom, is that you?" She hears the light patter of footsteps on the stairs and knows she is sprung.
"Hi honey," she gives Belle a hug. "I didn't know you were home."
"Yeah," Belle grins, "I wanted to spend some time with my Mom."
"Oh well that's so sweet," Grace grimaces inwardly. The last thing she wants to do is waste time babysitting Marlena's children. "But honey, I have so much to do..."

"No," Belle shakes her head and takes her mother's hand. It's a moment before she realizes Marlena has a drink in her other hand. Her brows pucker as she looks at her mother. "Mom, what's with the drink?"

"Oh, this?" Grace looks at the martini and chuckles easily. "Hard day at the office sweetheart. It's nothing to worry about."
"But Mom, you've always taught us that alcohol is a bad solution for our problems," Belle insists precociously.
"Well I did, didn't I," Grace looks at her martini and then at Belle. "But there's no problems, so there's really no relevance is there?"

"No problems?" Belle is starting to get a little annoyed. Both her parents are obviously having problems and no-one will tell her anything. They treat her like a child and she's sick of it. "Mom, you were out until after midnight last night. Dad hasn't been home for two days and I know he took an overnight bag with him when he left. What's going on? And please don't tell me it's nothing." Her blonde hair scatters about her shoulders as she shakes her head to prove her point. "I'm not a baby, I want to know."

"Belle," Grace considers what to tell the child. She could lie, but there is no point. The truth can serve her better right now. "Honey, your father and I are having a few problems right now. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you're right, you deserve to know the truth."

"What kind of problems?" Belle asks softly. It must be bad if Dad isn't even staying at the penthouse.
"I..." Grace pauses for dramatic effect. "I found out something that your Daddy did..." The tears well in her eyes right on cue. "I'm having kind of a hard time with it."
"What?" Belle asks in suspended disbelief. "What did Dad do that was so bad that he moved out?"
"Oh honey," Grace takes Belle's hands in hers with feigned sympathy. "I found out your Daddy betrayed our marriage vows. He slept with another woman, and he's been lying to me about it for months..."

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