This time Sarah was totally speechless because her mouth was fastened firmly to Kenneth’s...

      Story II

      It was a cold day in January, when Barbara Ward, a medium sized curvy figured natural beauty lay on her leather sofa near the fireplace, remote in hand and laptop beside her, enjoying her home made brand new collection of St. Valentine's cupcakes while watching television commercials.

      "Dang these are delicious!" She announced to herself while splurging even more of her own brand's cupcakes that she enjoyed testing herself before releasing them to the public and into her cake catering business that she was running with her best friend Callie.

      Their catering enterprise has been quite a challenge, but for today she rather preferred splurging away and not thinking about the troubled past.

      "St Valentine's Day commercials already!" She exclaimed, yet she should not have been surprised. Companies always advertise in advance, knowing full well that women such as Barbara embrace the romanticism of St Valentine.

      This particular advertisement was selling shoes, designed by Malaysian-born fashion icon Jimmy Choo. Barbara reached over her keyboard and delicately typed a status update, ensuring her nails remained in pristine condition.

      Her status update read: Jimmy Choo shoes and a handsome Valentine, sigh...what I would do to have my cake and eat it too!

      A moment later she glanced back down at her laptop screen and noticed that someone had 'liked' her status. A gentleman by the name of Edward Bell, a name which sounded vaguely familiar but she could not put her finger on who he was. Barbara had over 500 friends on Facebook, many of whom were friends back in high school.

      Being an inquisitive person, Barbara decided to check out Edward's Facebook page. She smiled as she realised that he must have been an old high school buddy, as his About Me stated that he went to the same College in North Hempstead, New York. He was also the same age.

      Clicking on Edward's photos, she was pleased with what she saw. A handsome man, well groomed with a goatee, blowout burgundy hair and champagne eyes that seemed to sparkle. He also appeared to have a strong affection towards dogs, seven of them in fact, all Wire Fox terriers.

      "How cute!" she said out loud, her reference to the dogs but in the back of her mind, she was also thinking about the man standing proudly beside his beloved animals.

      Barbara also loved dogs, owning two of them, both Beagles. She would walk them together but often wished she had a companion there to assist her, especially when her female Beagle Daisy would make a mess on a neighbour's lawn and she didn't have the spare hands, nor the resources, to clean up the mess.

      It was a strange thought, wanting someone who could be there to walk the dogs, but it was more than that, much more. She wanted someone to take her out to dinner, to the cinema, someone to talk to when she cooked meals in her kitchen. She also yearned for someone to compliment her on her fashionable dress sense that wasn't her boss!

      Later that cold afternoon in January, Barbara left for work, dressed to kill. She wore a lacy ruche body constructed mini tank dress with adjustable spaghetti straps and a stretchy zigzag lattice on the back. She wasn't dressed for the weather, but rather to be sexy. She wanted to be noticed and knew that no man in the office could avoid her when she was dressed so provocatively.

      The boss certainly didn't. He looked across at her from his office, noticing her leafy green eyes full of confidence and her walk more like a big and beautiful model strutting her stuff on a catwalk. He had entertained the idea of inviting her out on a date, but he knew that business and pleasure should not mix. He kept his affections for her hidden, locked away in his mind.

      Just as Barbara sat down at her desk, a beautifully wrapped pink parcel was delivered to her from reception. How strange, she thought to herself. It wasn't her birthday and by the look of the wrapping, this contained something expensive. She unwrapped the parcel, to find a box with the writing Jimmy Choo on it. A grin crept onto her face as she realised somebody had bought her an $800 pair of lavender Jimmy Choo high heels!

      A note accompanied the box. She read it carefully: Put these on and meet me for lunch at Antonino's Restaurant on Northern Boulevard at 1pm sharp. A rush of blood swept through Barbara's body as she realised that whoever had sent her this gift was doing so in response to her Facebook status. She glanced around the room to ensure nobody was monitoring her computer and logged onto Facebook to see how many people had clicked 'like' on her status.

      There were four likes, the first from Edward Bell, her old school friend who she barely remembered, two from her girlfriends Tina and Rosie and a fourth from a work colleague named Joe, a man old enough to be her father. Surely not, she thought to herself, glancing over to see Joe waving at her as her eyes met with his across the open office.

      Barbara kicked off her heels, replacing them with her new Jimmy Choo shoes. They fit perfectly and she wondered how this secret admirer knew her feet size. She could barely concentrate on work that morning as her mind continued to race. She constantly glanced at the clock positioned on the adjacent wall from her office space. Barbara felt like a school girl again, all excited about the mysterious date she was having that afternoon. As the hours passed by, she became increasingly nervous, yet thrilled at the same time.

      She knew it would take approximately 15 minutes to arrive at the restaurant. At a quarter to one, she called out to her work colleagues to let them know she was leaving the office for lunch. Joe waved again, but did not attempt to move from his chair. That counted him out of the equation. Barbara took the elevator to the ground floor, smiled as she walked past security and headed for the exit. This was going to be fun!

      Barbara arrived on Northern Boulevard and found a nearby parking spot to the restaurant. Her heart began to race as she locked the car and walked towards Antonino's. As she peered into the window she noticed a man wearing a Versace Leather Biker jacket and tight jeans. His hair was blowout burgundy and he had a neat goatee. It was Edward, a man who somehow made a cross between a SNAG and a bad boy look extremely appealing!

      He smiled as she slowly walked towards his table. Barbara attempted to smile back but her nerves were almost out of control. She took a seat across from him and thanked him for the shoes. Edward leant across the table and whispered softly, "You are welcome." At this point, Barbara's legs were like jelly, wobbling underneath the table. She was totally falling for him, before they even had an opportunity to talk.

      Talking just made him more appetizing. He spoke articulately and told her about his career and future ambitions. Edward worked as a photographer for magazines such as Vogue and Sports Illustrated. He also owned a boutique fashion shop near Broadway in New York City. As they dined, Barbara found herself fantasizing about posing with her voluptious and naked round body for Edward on a secluded beach. Just the thought of it sent chills down her spine.

      The date had been almost perfect, however an incident occurring an hour after she had met Edward left her confused and very scared. Two men, dressed