Looking back at her marriage, Pandora could see that Derrik was always baiting her into arguing with him. He was searching for reasons to walk out on Pandora but had never gotten around to leaving her. Why? He saw her as his income provider, cleaning lady, and chef. Moreover, he got to bang her as a perk. There was no love there.

It wasn't finding out that Derrik had cheated that made her realize how poorly he had treated her since they got married. It was a month after. Derrik came to her work with a bunch of flowers, wishing her a happy twenty-eighth birthday in a loud voice before slapping the signed divorce papers on her desk. He had then promptly turned and left with his head held high.

It had been a year since then and the only thing remaining to be finalized was his last name which she was still using.

“Let's get you lingerie for your Vegas tour,” Kiera sang as she pulled Pandora into a luxury underwear store.

Pandora scoffed and reminded her friend, “I will be in and out of business meetings while I am there. What use do I have for fancy lingerie?”

“Pandora, it's Vegas. Vegas! If you don't open your box, how is everything going to come out?” Kiera stated, wriggling her brow.

Pandora rolled her eyes at her friend. “Such a witty comment.”

“Listen to me. No one will know you in Vegas, so you can have as much fun as you want. Get laid with some hot guy on your birthday to make up for the shitty birthdays in the last decade. It's the beginning of a new era… you have to celebrate it by getting railed politely!”

“That sounds like an awful idea.”

Keira slapped her arm and picked up a baby doll. “If you had listened to me and not married Derrik, you could have said my idea was awful. And you will look hot in this.” She put the baby doll in front of Pandora's body and gave her a little wink.

“Well, I am thinking of changing my surname back to Leonard. Remove every trace of Derrik from my life,” she said. Keira went silent for a few minutes.

“About time. Nice to have you back, Leonard!” She hugged Pandora tightly.

“I won't be Leonard until after I come back home. Everything is booked under Preston for the trip.”

“You best believe I will have it set up for you as a coming-home gift.” Then Kiera dragged her to the nearest salon and gave her a complete makeover.

When she got home, she checked her mail. She only found a letter which must have been hand-delivered. She knew it was from Derrik the moment she saw the handwriting. Dealing with her ex-husband always made her groan.

Derrik was unhappy with the division of property. Pandora had been awarded the house, its contents in the entirety, and their newest luxury car. All Derrik got was his meager belongings, the second older car they had brought right out of high school, and the bed that Pandora refused to touch even with a ten-foot pole.

Derrik thought he deserved more and tried to blame Pandora for his mistress Mackenna's miscarriage. He even told the judges that he cheated because Pandora couldn't have a baby. She had to explain to the judge that she had been diagnosed with scar tissues in her ovary. The doctor had told her she had a chance to be pregnant, but that it would be a long try.

But no matter how much they tried, she never became pregnant. It caused her a lot of pain, but she would never wish something to lose their child because of what they did to her.

Pandora dropped the letter in the trash without even opening it. There could be nothing important in it that affected her life any longer. Maybe to Derrik and his mistress, it meant something, but to Pandora… it was trash.

- - - - -

Pandora tiptoed, trying to get her bag into the overhead compartment, She was a slip of a girl, and the only thing her giant ex was good for was lugging around luggage.

“Let me,” a male with an English accent said. Pandora let go and his hands took over. She turned to the man and only saw his chest. When she looked up at his handsome face, she smiled and nodded.

“Thank you.”

“It's alright, love,” he said.

Pandora slid into her seat and buckled in. The man slid in next to her and turned.

“I should introduce myself if we are going to sit next to each other. I'm Milton.” He held his hand out and Pandora glanced at the other one and noticed the wedding ring.

“Pandora,” she replied and Milton grinned at her.

“Going to Vegas for business or pleasure?” he asked.

Pandora cleared her throat and eyed the strangely friendly man. “Business,” she said promptly.

He pressed his lips together and nodded. “I am going to meet my wife and her family in Vegas,” he told her happily.

Pandora bit back a groan as she realized this man would eat her ear out throughout the flight. At least he spoke about his wife… he wasn't trying to hit on her.

“This is my wife,” he carried on, showing her a picture of a tall woman. “Her name is Alexis and she is the love of my life.” The conversation carried on and Pandora slowly eased into it. Milton revealed that he was a police officer and he could tell she was divorced by the little white line on her ring finger and that she had a messy divorce.

At the end of the flight, Pandora laughed when she found out they would stay in the same hotel. “I am telling you, Pandora. You should come by and I will introduce you to my family,” he said and handed her a card. “Remember to have fun.”

He winked at her and bolted off towards the exit, where his wife would be waiting to pick him up.

“Sure, if I can get out of bed after working all day,” she told herself.

In the end, Pandora was so frustrated after a grueling day of business, that she showered off the grime and picked one of the outfits Keira had stuffed into her suitcase. She headed down to the bar and slid into a lone seat.

“What can I get you, sugar?” the bartender asked.

“A gin and tonic please,” she said coolly as she looked around the many couples and groups around her. The bartender placed her order down and charged the bill to her room. She walked into the casino and sat down at the poker table. Surprisingly, she met Milton once again there.

They got into a conversation with Pandora spilling her guts about how upset she was her ex-husband wasn't as sweet as him. At that moment, the two of them decided Pandora should meet a stranger and finish her dry spell. Still, Pandora had yet to meet Milton's wife and family. Something about coming to Vegas being a yearly family holiday.

The next few days were a constant struggle of trying to prove to chauvinistic men that she knew more about her specialty than then. She also knew how to pick her battles because she allowed a few jokes to slide. She couldn't die on every hill she felt uncomfortable on.

“What are you doing today?” Kiera asked on the third night.

“Having dinner in my room,” she sighed.

“I sense some sadness in that sigh of yours. What's wrong?” Kiera asked.

“Just that the guys I have met so far haven't made me want to spend time with them.”

“As happy as I am that you want to pick up a man, I need to remind you that you are not picking a guy to date, Pandora! You just have to bang them once!”

Pandora chuckled.

“Stop sulking. I am not telling you to fall into bed with just anyone. Dang, you don't need to sleep with anyone. But have fun. Get some guy to buy you drinks and make you feel like the goddess that you are.”

“Kiera, how will I find a guy who makes me feel like a goddess when you already do it for me?” Pandora joked.

“Stay back, woman. As happy as my boyfriend would be to watch us together, I don't swing that way. And it's been a year. I think it is overdue for you to get out there.”

Pandora didn't respond.

The bitterness in her heart hadn't lessened in the slightest. Everything that had happened up until today filled her with pain.

She wanted to let go, to get rid of all this messed-up nonsense.

“I will talk to you tomorrow. Now go out and have fun.” The words made Pandora smile. After hanging up, she looked at her watch. It was after six. The perfect time to walk into the night.

“Let's do this!” she told herself and headed off to the bathroom to get ready. When she was done, she took a selfie and sent it to Kiera.

[Damn it. You're making me reconsider my previous words. Make me proud, girl!]

Pandora shook her head in amusement and checked herself one last time before walking out. All the way down the lobby, men turned their heads and ogled her.

It didn't take her long to find the club Milton had recommended to her. She entered the club and looked around, hoping she would see him. When she didn't see him, she headed to the bar and ordered again.

After a few minutes, a guy approached her and smiled. “Would you like to dance?” he said.

“Sorry, I'm not up for that.” The guy left, leaving her to her alcohol. Still, she was not drunk enough to bust out moves. “I need a shot,” she told the bartender.

“Out for a good time?” the bartender asked.

“I think so…”

The bartender cocked his head and recommended a drink. “Ask for Royce if you want a drink. I'll take care of you.”

“Thank you, Royce. Keep the drinks coming,” she said, tapping the bar.

As Royce placed down Pandora's drink, she felt someone come up behind her.

“Royce, can I have some Jack?” the guy said and Pandora found herself chuckling, she didn't know why.

“Something funny?” the husky voice said into her ear. She could smell a hint of whiskey on his breath.

“I'll have a Jack too,” she told the bartender and pushed her shot away.

“Thought you were doing shots? You're cheating if you go down to Jack.”

Pandora shrugged. “My friend here reminded me that I can change my mind.” She said, placing her hand on the man's arm.

“Oh, am I your friend now?” the guy said. “I am not sure I like that. We don't even know each other's name.”

“Dora,” Pandora said, not giving her full name.

The guy cocked her head. “Fake names, is it? Call me Nemo then, because I sure as hell am glad to be found by you.”

The joke did so well with Pandora that she threw her head back in laughter. She calmed down and looked at the guy. Her breath caught in her throat and she hissed under her breath. “Fuck me,” she blurted out as she got lost in his piercing grey eyes.

“Do I hear an offer?” he asked, his eyes dancing over her body.

“Maybe?” She couldn't see how nicely he was built because of how covered he was.

“On what?” he asked deviously as he leaned in.

“On what you look like under that leather jacket,” she answered.

He frowned and looked down. “I suppose I won't be sad to see it go.” He slid it off, revealing an arm full of ink. It was so hot that she eyed the paintings hungrily.

‘Fuck me,' she thought.

“I am planning on it,” he replied to her thoughts. Pandora had always had a thing for ink but Derrik never got anything and forbade her from the same. “What do you say? Like what you see under the jacket?”

“I just wanted to know if you are in good shape, but now I am fascinated.”

The mystery man turned to the bar and yelled, “Royce! A bottle of Jack!” Finally, his eyes found hers. “Join me?” he asked and Pandora nodded numbly.

“See you, Royce,” she said without looking at the bartender. She took the man's hand and followed him without another word.

Pandora had already looked at his left hand to make sure there was no white line or a ring on there.

As they spoke, she realized that they were from two opposite parts of the country. She felt her heart drop a little, knowing that this man was really a stranger and she would never see him again.

He seemed to sense it. “Don't be sad, Dora. We have tonight.”

Pandora chuckled before nodding.

His handsome face was utterly captivating, especially with the way his strong chest rose and fell beneath his shirt as he spoke, exuding masculine charm.

His deep gray eyes, like gemstones, sparkled with intensity.

“I know just the thing to cheer you up.” In an hour's time, Pandora was straddling his lap and kissing him. The man kissed her back right away, pushing his tongue inside her mouth.

“Dance with me,” he urged as he removed his lips from her. Without waiting for an answer, he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to the dance floor.

As their bodies moved together, she felt his other hand move to her side and his lips moved to her neck. He kissed her jaw, making her weak in the knee.

“Please…” she said, her stomach burning with need.

“Yes, ma'am,” he complied. He pushed her out of the dance floor and pressed her up against a wall, kissing her the whole time. She felt both his hands on her and at that moment, she suddenly remembered the bottle of Jack they should have had. She soon forgot all about it when he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his body.

She gasped when she felt him push his underwear to the side and stroke her inner thigh.

“Please take me,” she said yet again. Pandora had never felt this way before. This man could use his fingers. She had to say, they were doing God's work at this point.

“Do you want me to?” he asked, pulling away a little from her.

“Do what?”

“Do you truly want me to take you?”

She looked at him deeply and nodded. He went back to kissing her, slowly going to her neck and chest. He was surrounding her completely. She heard the sound of his zipper and her eyes popped open. She finally realized that they were still in the bar, but away from everyone.

Her eyes landed on Milton who was with his wife, looking around.

“Eyes on me, baby,” he said, entering her. Pandora gasped and clung to him.

“Oh god,” she sighed and tugged at his hair.

“Hold on tightly. This will be quick. But once we are done, we will go back to my room so that I can taste every bit of you.”

Pandora nodded dumbly. “I want to taste you, too,” she told him, spurring him up.

He swallowed her cries until it was time for him to grunt in release. “Come on, baby…” he said, rubbing her leg as he set her down. “We have time and I want you all to myself.”

He wrapped his hand around her shoulder and guided her out of the back door. “I want your real name and I want you to say my name when you come all over me,” he said firmly.

Pandora nodded, making him grin and kiss her. And then both of them stopped by for another drink.

- - - - -

Pandora's mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert. She was sure a migraine was a better option because of how badly her head hurt. She stopped the alarm and then fell asleep once again.

Soon after, she heard her phone ringing and picked it up grumbling. “What?” she tried to respond normally, but it came out as a pained cry.

“Are you still sleeping?” Keira asked, clearly perplexed.

“I would be if you didn't wake me up so surely,” she grumbled. She wanted to hang up and go back to sleep.

“Woman! You have to check out. Do you want to pay extra or be locked in?”

Pandora bolted out of bed at the words. She looked at the clock and remembered that she also had to catch a plane. She could have missed the plane if she didn't have another important meeting to attend at the office the moment she touched down.

“Damn it!” she yelled and stumbled out of bed. She hung up the call and started to walk.

“Why am I so sore?” she groaned when her legs almost gave away. Her head was filled with a night of drinking, dancing, and a man kissing her. “Oh, shit…”

Again, she got some flashes and unlike with Derrik, they made her tingle with desire. “I had sex,” she whispered and plopped back on the bed. She rubbed her face, trying to remember the guy's face, but all she could think of were grey eyes and tattoos. She also remembered the name ‘Nemo,' but that was just a joke. She forgot to ask him his name!

“No time for this!” she reminded herself and moved to the bathroom. She scared herself at the horrible condition of her face. Her makeup was running. She had to scrub herself to get the filth of the night before out of her pores. With it, the feel of the mystery man's warmth also washed away. Almost.

She picked up a plastic ring placed right beside her phone and she shook her head. She threw it into her purse and frowned at the thought that she didn't know why she would have something like that with her.

But she didn't have time to think too much about it.

As she got into the cab, she saw Milton walking out of the hotel. His wife was talking to a man on the side. She shook her head, knowing she would miss her flight if she spoke to Milton. So, she slid into the cab and asked the driver to rush to the airport.

It was almost nine at night when she arrived home and Pandora felt like she would die from exhaustion. She let herself into the house and dumped the bags near the door. She kicked off her shoes and dropped them down to the floor beside her luggage.

She was just about to crawl to the stairs when she heard a knock on the front door. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” she muttered to herself and went towards the staircase.

“Pandora!” She frowned when she heard Derrik yelling from outside the door. He began to pound on it, making her groan.

“Nothing important, it seems. Just a lunatic knocking at an odd hour,” she said to herself and moved to the door, knowing Derrik wouldn’t leave without seeing her face.

She only managed to pry the door open when Derrik pushed it open and barged in. Pandora stumbled, shocked by the force he had used.

“Finally came home, I see!” he yelled and crossed his arms over his chest. “You look like a slut with that hair color. What? Are you trying to look good now? You’re already divorced and nothing can help with that face of yours.” He snickered sarcastically.

“What I have been doing or how I look is no longer your business. Cut the crap and tell me what you want.”

Derrik glared at her before rolling his eyes. “Did you get the eviction notice I sent you? You need to move out immediately; I need the place.”

Pandora pressed her fingers to her forehead, hoping the headache would lessen. She didn’t have the energy to fight with him. “Not going to happen. This is my house… the court gave it to me. Go cry to someone else because I ain’t complying with your void eviction notice,” she said firmly. She opened the door, needing him to get the hell out of her house. If possible out of her life, too.

“Still as stupid as ever,” Derrik spat out so harshly that Pandora was sure he had hated her for all the years they were married. “Don’t you flaunt your money all the time? Use some of it to buy a place of your own. This is a family home where a couple who will have kids should live.”

Pandora scratched her forehead, trying not to respond to him as she wished. But mincing words was not good for her health. She had wasted enough time on this man.

“The doctor told me I could get pregnant if I tried. It seems part of the problem is also with you… and what mistress of yours? Take care…” She stopped with a grim look. “This is my house. Now leave.”

Derrik laughed incredulously. “You’re right. This shitty house and you go together. I deserve a much better place where I can raise my children. How about we sell the house and go our separate ways.” He waved between the two of them. “We will never see each other ever again.”

“Even if I sell the house, you won’t get a dime from it. This is my house. That I bought with my money. The money I spent a lot of effort making… of course, you wouldn’t know what that feels like, would you?”

Derrik snorted. “Ah, if only you had put in as much effort into our marriage as you did your work and house… Maybe we could have actually lasted.”

Pandora rolled her eyes. “If you actually loved me and not the money you are drooling after right now, we could have been happy,” she corrected quickly.

“Wow. How did you expect me to like you when even your parents abandoned you? I’m not a saint, Pandora.”

“Out,” she hissed through her gritted teeth. “Get out this second!” she yelled louder this time.

“You’ll do well handing the house over before I drag you back to court. Mackenna and I are trying for a baby and we need a house to raise our family,” Derrik responded angrily, knowing he was getting on her nerves.

‘Please leave. Why isn’t he leaving?’ she screamed internally. She was already drained from the trip, she couldn’t handle a fight right then.

“Then get a job like a normal man and pay for a house,” she sneered.

“Well, I can’t because I have to look after Mackenna. We need all the help so that the baby is safe.” He stopped talking and looked at her menacingly. “Oh, I understand now, you don’t want me to have children because your broken body can’t have any.”

She shook her head, having enough of his nonsense. She pushed him against the chest and toward the door.

“You are pathetic, you know that? You can go around telling your sob story to everyone, but at the end of the day, I will be getting this house. I promise you,” he said before storming away.

Pandora slammed the door shut and locked it. She sank to the floor and tears started to drip down her face without her permission. It was strange how a year of her life could completely change how she felt about the man she thought was her soulmate.

The love she had felt for Derrik had slowly morphed into hatred. A hatred so deep that the tears were short-lived and it gave her the energy to get off the floor, head upstairs and change for bed.

“This house is mine. I gave him ten years of my life and I won’t let him take away another moment of happiness from me.”

With that mantra in place, she closed her eyes and dreamed. Her dreams were plagued with taunts from Derrik and Mackenna. She tried to push them away, but she tumbled instead. She waited for the fall to hurt but two strong arms wrapped around her protectively.

“Hey, I’ve been looking for you,” the voice said. “Why did you leave me without saying goodbye?”

Pandora turned to look at her face, but she couldn’t see him. She recognized those piercing grey eyes of his. She looked down and saw a swirl of tattoos on his arms.

“Wh—who are you?” she whispered.

“Did you forget me? It’s me, Dora… Nemo.” Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell he was smiling. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you,” he promised before disappearing.

Pandora awoke feeling rested and happier than she had when she went to bed.