💋 Mills & Swoon Daily #3 The Velvet Listener by Sarnia de la Maré #romance #flashfiction #millsandswoon

From the new book by Sarnia de la Maré comes this glorious short story,

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💋 Mills & Swoon is a Tale Teller Club production. Evergreen stories of love, wit, and human alchemy.

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Mills and Swoon is a romantic fiction series created by Sarnia de la Maré FRSA under Tale Teller Club Press, featuring droll, risqué short stories for modern women.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Velvet Listener, a contemporary Mills and Swoon short by
Sarnia de la Maree. Mara Lane had been the late
night voice of Heartline FM for three years, dispensing warm
advice to strangers while living a private life that was
anything but romantic. The truth was that Mara had become
rather accomplished at helping other people fall in love, precisely

(00:23):
because she had stopped trying it herself. She had stopped
dressing up and going out. She avoided dinner parties with
friends who were forever trying to match make her with
basically any man who happened to be single. The studio
lights were low enough to be flattering in the way
dim lamps flatter tired women. Her producer, Jay waved through
the glass call her on Line four Heartline FM. She purred,

(00:48):
you're live with Mara. She had perfected a sexy, sultry
voice that her fans loved. Little did they know privately,
she had long given up any ideas of falling in
love again. A man's velvet voice slid into her earphones.
Good Evening, Mara, I have a problem only you can solve.
Mara straightened. Most late callers were drunk, lovelorn, or boring.

(01:09):
This one sounded dangerous in the way good chocolate is dangerous.
Smooth and tempting. What seems to be troubling you? A
low chuckle, You, Mara, it's you me? Yes, I listen
to you every night. I know when you're smiling, I
know when you're tired, and to night. A pause, you're
pretending to understand love. Her pulse hopped. No one ever

(01:31):
read her that quickly, not even Jaye, who had been
her producer for years. Well, she said, carefully, I'm flattered
you're so observant, But the show is all about you caller,
not me. Then here's my question. His voice dropped a register.
What does a woman like you do when the advice
she gives everyone else stops working for her? Mara camouflaged

(01:51):
a little gasp. It was ridiculous. He was a voice
on a telephone. How could he be so disarming? But
there was something in the way he spoke, intimate, focused,
as if he was in the room making love to her.
I suppose, she murmured, she keeps talking until she finds
someone who listens properly. I'm listening, he said, softly, more

(02:12):
than you know Jay gave her the wind up signal.
They were due an advert. Besides, who was this weirdo?
She reluctantly guided the call to break, but before she
could cut him off, the man added, I'll call again tomorrow,
same time, and just like that, he was gone, leaving
Mara oddly flushed for a month. He called at exactly

(02:32):
twelve oh seven a m. The production unit had cleared
a separate call line for him. He never gave his name,
He never flirted outright. He simply learned more about her
with his innocent and slightly abstract questions. His insight was
unnerving and intoxicating in equal measure. Was he a stalker?
Should she be worried? Jay began calling the mysterious man

(02:54):
the Velvet Listener as though he were a character in
a novel. Other fans of the show adored the segment,
rating's sword heartline. FM executives sent Mara congratulatory emails and
mentioned a pay rise, but Mara wanted only one thing,
to see the man behind the velvet voice. On the
twenty eighth night, the velvet listener asked quietly, would you

(03:16):
want to meet me? She hesitated, not wanting to sound
keen and aware of possible dangers, but she had been
thinking about him late at night as she showered in
bed when she couldn't sleep. When she touched her wanton body,
that depends, she whispered, are you even real? The Internet
was a wash with comments. Mara's Instagram and ex accounts

(03:38):
were filled with speculations, warnings, guesses as to the Velvet
listener's identity, suggestions of marriage and happy ever afters, conspiracy
theories that were creating spin offs on TikTok. Several fans
had even offered themselves to Velvet Listener should Mara decline
his advances. Jay wrapped up the show and handed Mara

(03:58):
a note. Come to the rooftop after your shift, It said,
if I'm not real, you'll know immediately. At one thirty
eight a m Mara stepped out onto the roof The
city lay below in wet neon streaks. Wind tugged her
coat open, revealing her satin pencil skirt, stockings and high
heels that she had been wearing in the hope that

(04:19):
he would see her. And he was there, tall, dark
and divine, just as she had dreamed. He would be
the same velvet voice. Hello, Mara, she moved toward him
before she realized she was doing it. He came closer
and revealed his face in the light. He commanded, a
formidable and yet unassuming presence, Let's write your story now.

(04:39):
He drew her body towards his and kissed her gently,
then hard, passionate and driven, urgent and focused. Mara's loins
were alive with lust and feelings she had not experienced
in years. And this, all of this from a stranger.
Could it be true? There was no time to worry now.
When he finally broke away, his breath warm against her lips,

(05:01):
he said, you know I hear you. I will always listen, Mara.
That is my oath to you. And Mara, who had
spent years being everybody else's confidant, let herself fall into
the loving arms of the man who had learned her
voice before ever seeing her face. Twenty twenty five Sannia
de la Maree published by Tale Teller Club Press,