Her raunchy appearance struck my conscience when I opened the door.

“Mrs. Payne, you are a wife, the wife of my boss. It is not right that you invited me here.”

She simpered, her eyes fixed on me.

Apart from her bra that held her plumb knockers, and her underpants that covered her crotch, she wore nothing. She looked charming and beautiful. The glossiness of the expensive hotel room could not steal my attention from her.

She rose up from the couch and drew closer to me and whispered: “You don’t understand. There’s a reason for everything that happens under the sun. I need you. There’s a deep void in my heart that I have chosen you to fill. And I’m hoping you won’t disappoint me, would you?”

An ordinary personal assistant to her husband, the CEO of her company, chosen to fill a void in her heart sounded like a dream instead of reality. My relationship with Mrs. Payne was good but nothing more than employer-employee relationship. She always made sure I was well paid, and my needs as an employee were always well catered for. And as such, when she invited me to meet her at a hotel, I thought it was just one of the usual discussions about issues of work. What I didn’t consider seriously however was the venue.

“And what is that void, Mrs. Payne?”

She remained standing and silent for a considerable amount of time, looking at me in the eyes.

In her eyes, I could see a deep longing that was begging for satisfaction. I could however not be able to tell what it was exactly. I could almost hear the rhythm of her heartbeat as her heart throbbed beyond what was normal. She took a deep breath before she spoke.

“Could you please call me Joan instead of Mrs Payne whenever I’m with you in private?”

I nodded, agreeing to her request.

“And before I tell you what it is,” she continued, “I want you to know that ten million dollars is already in your account. There’s a six bedroom house at Villa Estate that I have registered in your name. And I’m ready to sponsor your doctoral course.”

My heart leaped.

‘My reward for being a hard working Personal Assistant to the CEO of the prestigious Crown Mining Company? But the CEO is her husband, and she’s the Chairperson of the Company; and as such, wouldn’t it have been right for such rewards to have come through her husband?’ My thoughts and realities crisscrossed.

“But why, Mrs. Payne?”

She chose not to answer me. Instead, she drew closer to me, her body almost touching mine; I could feel her breath. The scent of the expensive perfume on her was nothing but romantic. I tensed up. She grabbed my right hand and pulled me to the bed. Then, she forced her left hand into my underpants. Her fumbling fingers grabbed what she was trying to find. I could not resist her. Kisses. Touches. Amorous feelings. Coition.

Gilt filled my mind when the bout of the lovemaking ended. ‘I have slept with the wife of my boss without least resistance?’

I looked at her, and she looked back at me. Our moods were in absolute contradiction. While my mind was brewing the potpourri of gilt and the consequences of what I had done, she appeared very happy – she was smiling, looking very satisfied.

Her unremorseful attitude quite astounded me. Everyone, especially the staff of Crown Mining, knew the marriage of Joan and Mr. Payne to be a happy one. Though five years of their marriage had not given them a child, they appeared very happy, and they were a perfect example of good and loving couple.

The multi-billion Crown Mining Company which was bequeathed to her by her father was well managed by Mr. Payne, and there was no time they were publicly seen disagreeing. Though she was the owner and the chairperson of the company, she never used her position and wealth to disrespect Payne. And it was public knowledge that Payne loved her so much.

‘Why then would she trap me and cheat on her husband with me? What actually could that void she spoke about be? Intimacy? Sexual satisfaction? What actually? And why did she choose me to fill that void?’ My musings were endless.

Part of the gilt that pierced me was about my inability to stand firm and remain faithful to Rose, my fiancée. Apart from the stunning beauty of Rose that always took me to a dreamland, and the great financial support she gave me before I got employed, I loved Rose as much as she loved me.

A month ago, I broke Rose's virginity, an act she called everlasting cementation of our relationship. It was only six months to our wedding, and though we had settled on no sex before marriage, her promotion to a branch manageress, and the happiness that accompanied it made us to celebrate with that special carnal pleasure.

We didn’t find it problematic that we broke our agreement to stay chaste until marriage; we had no regrets, because we trusted ourselves and we were sure that no obstacle would be able to prevent us from getting married.

But, my cheating on her with no other woman than a married woman, the wife of my boss, the billionaire heiress and chairperson of the prestigious Crown Mining company appeared to be not only an obstacle to our planned marriage, but also an act that would perpetually break the heart of Rose.

‘What would pacify Rose? What would make her trust me again? Confess to her about what had happened? Would she forgive me? Forgive myself, confess to Rose and allow her to decide? None of the decisions I thought about appeared to be good enough. I was just caught in a trap that appeared hard to free myself from.

Five days before the unfortunate incident with Joan in the hotel room, my bank notified me of a huge sum of money that had been transferred to my bank account. I made the bank aware that I was not expecting such an amount of money from anywhere, and that, the money must be returned to the source. The bank got back to me the following day and made me know that the source of the transfer confirmed that the transaction was not a wrong one. The identity of the person behind it was however concealed. I never suspected that it was Joan who was behind it. If I had known, I would, perhaps, not have fallen into her trap.

It was obvious Joan had planned for a long time to get me to fall into her trap. But I had become too easy a prey for her. The fact that I couldn’t put up the least resistance made me feel weak. But, I had always been someone who was never promiscuous. It was clear Joan knew when and how to execute her schemes. When Rose and I met and started dating, I allowed her to make the rules regarding our sex life; and when she proposed no sex before marriage, I obeyed and guarded my feelings to aid me to honour the rules.

Why then did I become an easy prey for Joan? I had never had a longing for her. She was the wife of my boss and the Chairperson of the company from which I earned a living – it was thus impossible to have any romantic feelings for her. And, I didn’t believe it was the material wealth that she used as the bait that got me hooked. It was probably her beauty, her almost full-frontal nudity, and my own suppressed thirst for lovemaking that made me fall so easily.

“You trapped me,” I said, looking at her.

“Yes,” she confessed.

“And why did you do that? Mr. Payne is a good man, he doesn’t deserve this behind his back.”

She cleared her throat before she spoke. Her reply was long but every word she spoke obviously came from deep within her heart. Deep inside her heart, her happiness was not complete. The outward show of happiness with her husband was carefully staged. How she was able to perfectly conceal such piercing worries from everyone else including her husband was mind boggling.

“Ralph,” she spoke softly, looking at me. “I feel relieved to share this secret with you today because I have shared a bed with you. I have never shared this secret with anyone before. And I want you to keep it a secret because, I deeply respect Payne.

“Payne is impotent and infertile. For the past five years, he has not been able to make love with me. We try almost every week to have ourselves in bed, but not for once have we succeeded. And you know how that feels. I’m a woman in my bloom, and this is the time that I have to enjoy womanhood.

“I did not know about his condition before we got married because, we did not once try to make love until after our wedding. It was on our honeymoon that I got to know that Payne’s manhood was not strong enough to make a woman happy. And since then, we have tried all we can to make it work but to no avail.

“Put yourself in my shoes, Ralph; five years of marriage without that special kind of bond that binds a man a woman together. My smiles that everyone considers signs of a happy life are all fake. Deep within me is a dying soul that’s filled with a secret.

“I have not considered divorcing him because I know he’s a good man, and in addition to that, his impact as a CEO of the company has been enormous.”

The secret struck me hard. I felt her pain. I felt the weight of her problem. But, I still found it hard to justify her actions, and forgive both her and myself.

“But Joan . . .” I said, and paused; framing my thoughts.

Her hand stretched to my chest. “You need not tell me I’m wrong for trapping you to do what we have done – I know. I know I’m wrong, but I had to do it. The satisfaction you have given me today is a healing I have long been seeking for. And you are the only person my heart chose to play this role. You are handsome, and . . . and I know you are capable of keeping our affair a secret.

“Be the man who will always be there for me. Be the man that will be the father of the two children I plan to have. Be the man I . . .”

Her next words did not become audible. Her phone rang. It was Mr. Payne who was on the phone.

The conversation between her and Payne was a long one. And, as I laid on the bed looking at Joan, and listening to their conversation, I became not just overly worried but also ashamed. I had just had an affair with the wife of an innocent man who was so good to me, and hearing his voice loud on the phone made me judge myself. Of course, it was never my intention to sleep with Joan, but I felt the pain that Payne would feel when he found out about what had happened between me and his wife.

For the first time, I heard Joan raise her voice a bit on Payne. The bond between her and Payne had probably started breaking. Her affair with me and the satisfaction she got out of it had probably ignited some sort of disrespect for Payne.

“You needed not to raise your voice on my boss. He has done nothing wrong.” I confronted her when she was done talking with Payne.

A sort of guilt pinched her. She smiled to cover up her almost gloom demeanour towards Payne that lingered on after the call.

“I didn’t notice that,” she sounded calm but authoritative. She continued speaking as she stood up from the bed. “But don’t forget I’m the boss of your boss; you need not confront me on issues the way you like. The love life I have I started with you should never become part of our corporate language.”

I looked at her as she headed to the wardrobe and took her dresses out of it and starting putting them on.

“I need to leave now. There’s something very important I need to discuss with your boss.

“You can stay behind and enjoy yourself the next twenty-two hours. I have paid for everything. And when it’s time for you to leave, just give me a call. I will let one of the company drivers pick you up.”

When she was done dressing, she looked totally disguised. And as I watched her walk out of the door of the hotel room, thoughts about the consequences of our infidelity filled my mind.