The warm rays of the sun helped to fend off the occasional chill the blow of the wind carried. A little surprised at the appearance of the sun, she welcomed and enjoyed the mix of warmth and chill on her bare arms. Then it was obstructed, a shadow fell onto her and blocked the warmth. She looked up at the towering figure blocking her sun.
"Hi Gina, it's been some time since I saw you last, hm? That doesn't bode well for business," Roy said, winking his eye as he came toward her and shook her hand.
Gina was glad she could get Doxxan's VP of Finance to the table on short notice. And not only that, he was also a sight—an athletic, rather vain, good-looking man in his mid-thirties. At 6'1, he was four inches taller than Gina.
He came with an entourage; with him were his accounting manager and the user representative of the project that Gina's company worked on. Except for Roy, these were the same people she had met with earlier in the day. Roy didn't specifically acknowledge Dungi's presence—other than a nod toward him. Roy had never met Dungi but the other two men knew Dungi well from the project.
After some pleasantries, Gina asked a server to move them to a bigger table. Once all were seated, Gina began by telling them how sorry she was for not being better prepared earlier and having to ask for another meeting so soon after. The work was indeed completed, she said while signaling Dungi to produce the proof of completion. The user representative examined the piece of paper Dungi laid on the table. It looked proper, he concluded approvingly.
"So, why didn’t we accept her invoice?" Roy asked his Accounting manager, with a raised tone.
Yes, why? The Accounting manager had not known that his boss would join the meeting. He wasn't prepared to answer his question, especially when the real reason for it was superfluous: He had just wanted to see more of Gina. He knew if he created some kind of artificial difficulty, and held out long enough it would eventually reach Gina. It was a foolish and immature thing to do but a meeting with Gina was well worth it. As a result of his tomfoolery, Gina had asked to meet him twice within a week. And for that, he was now in trouble. He could either own the improper conduct or admit incompetence.
"I must have overlooked the acceptance certificate. My bad. Please resubmit your invoice and I will process it right away. I'm sorry Gina," he said—straight admission, no buts, no ifs.
Gina nodded sympathetically, assuring him it was no big matter. He was relieved. And Roy? Roy had pulled his weight, it worked and he felt good. He looked at Gina watching for a sign of gratitude, but Gina was already thinking of how pleased the Boss would be upon hearing this.
All was fine and dandy. Everyone relaxed, everyone but one. Dungi still didn't understand how Gina could get away with it so easily—at least that was how it appeared to him. Dungi couldn't believe that Gina had met with the client without the slightest preparation. If she had brought the document to her meeting earlier, I wouldn't have to come all the way here. Who does she think she is? Does the Boss know this? Dungi thought grudgingly.
But people like Dungi would never understand office politics. It was beyond his paygrade. He would never understand how little could be big and big could turn little. One thing Dungi knew, however, was how to be safe. He should not venture out of his designated zone; he dared not show any attitude. Moreover, Gina could get feisty and was two levels his senior. The Boss loved her while he was a nobody to the Boss. There was no enticement for Dungi to do anything but sit and obey.
In those five minutes, Gina resolved the issue, and she felt redeemed. She spoke no more business throughout lunch, and talked mostly with Roy—leaving the three underlings scrambling to find words to say to each other while waiting for their sumptuous lunch to be served.
She was relieved she did not immediately disclose to the Boss she had committed the foolish mistake of not being well-prepared for the meeting. She suspected telling him the whole truth would be seen as shying away from consequences, and he would not have appreciated it. He would not see it as an attempt at honesty, he would see it as complacency followed by weakness.
"Thanks, Dungi. Sorry for the trouble," she said to Dungi with a smile after the clients left. She is truly beautiful, Dungi thought.
Gina took an elevator down to the basement parking lot. Her car was parked conveniently in front of the elevator vestibule. The scent inside her car was of her perfume. The interior was neat and organized. Her mind, however, was filled with one thing. As she was driving her car out of the basement parking lot, she spoke to her phone. "Siri, call my boss please." Three rings and his deep voice greeted her.
"Hi, Gina. How did it go?" The Boss asked.
"Good. Very good. Where are you?"
"Home."
Gina placed herself in his spacious, high-floor penthouse right-smack downtown, almost equidistant to all their clients' work premises. She could picture her boss' erect posture, overlooking the bustling streets from his glass wall and talking with her while holding a glass of scotch and a cigar between his fingers. She could hear Buddy Guy’s guitar wailing in the background as she stood behind him, looking at the same streets he was looking at.
She had been to his building many times but had never been in his apartment.
"Do you feel like having a drink nearby your place?"
There was a slight pause, then,
"Not really. Did it truly go well?"
"Yes," she said.
He sensed her disheartened voice. He reconsidered, then decided he shouldn't.
Driving out of the parking lot, she almost hit a pedestrian. A little stunned, she stopped by the side of the road while continuing her conversation with the Boss.
He offered an alternative. Breakfast at 8:30 at Eggs & Flowers, a posh restaurant on the top floor of his apartment building.
"I can do 8 am if that's ok with you. I have a weekly meeting with the team at 9:30 am."
"On a Saturday?"
"Well, it was supposed to be on Thursday, but then we were all tied up with meetings. So we moved it to the only day that we are all available for this week."
She just wanted to be at the breakfast sooner, to have more time with him. The Saturday meeting she mentioned was not completely untrue, but it was not of any real importance. Besides people would find sound reasons to avoid working on weekends, which was a healthy behavior, so she half expected them to cancel anyway.
The Boss was looking forward to seeing her at breakfast the next morning.
"See you tomorrow," Gina said.
Just as she was about to hang up, he called her name.
"Yes?"
Good job, he said. Gina pictured his satisfied smile.
"Thank you." She felt light and smiled to herself.
Still smiling, she put her phone down and continued driving onto the main road. She took her sunglasses from the visor. The glare from the asphalt disappeared and turned into the pretty hues of the rainbow. Her phone rang. It was Roy. He asked her, prudently, if he could meet her after office hours for a drink. His manner was so sweet. She said yes.
The face of her boss flashed in her mind. Don't blame me, she thought, for no apparent reason. And she put her stilettoed foot on the gas.
Still four hours until her meeting with Roy that evening. She called her assistant and asked if there was anything for her while she was out. Nothing, the assistant said. And what about the rest of my afternoon, she asked again. Still nothing. She was free for the rest of day except for her meeting with Roy later. It was Friday already. Time flies, she thought. She called Rhonda. It rang until the line went dead. Well, gym it is then. There was a gym near Roy’s building that she was a member of. She turned back and parked at the same building in the same spot next to the elevators. From the gym, she could walk to where she was meeting Roy. Only a few people were trying to keep healthy today. The gym was vast and empty. It was a nice walk toward the cardio section. Her long legs helped her climb onto the bike with little effort. She set it up for twenty minutes. As she pedaled the stationary bike, she recalled the promotion she go
Prodallos’ crowd was overflowing to the street. The upbeat music could be heard as she walked toward it. She spotted his tall and muscular physique turned in her direction, watching her as she neared. He was leaning against the bar with a drink in his hand. She could even see his smile. While it was clear she had seen him and was walking toward him, he nevertheless motioned her to come to him—he wanted to ascertain everybody knew the exquisite woman coming toward them was his companion. The place, Prodallos, was a hangout bar frequented by business people. Located at a street corner a block away from the building where Roy worked, the place was buzzing with life and full almost every night except on the weekends. There were only a few tables for diners, and those were indoors. Most people hung out around the bar, standing or seated on barstools in the open air. He had come early to secure them a nice spot by the bar. Roy was sufficiently polit
It was a Saturday morning, ten minutes to eight o'clock. She was dressed in a lovely swishy silk skirt, ankle-length black boots, and a floral print Gypsy top which showed off her bare, creamy shoulders. Her iridescent auburn hair cascaded over those shoulders. Nobody was more beautiful than her that morning. As she entered the building, her 5'9 figure swayed temptingly but also gracefully. Smiles greeted her all around. The warm-hearted girl that she was, she returned the greetings with a smile that drew people to her luscious lips. It was still morning, and she had everyone all worked up already. "Let me walk you over to his table, miss Blume," the concierge said as she entered the breakfast room. This was her umpteenth time meeting The Boss at Eggs and Flowers. As she made her way to the table, she was warmly greeted by the staff. She nodded and smiled in reply to the Good morning, miss Blume or to the Hi Gina, how are you doing? from a number of patrons
She let him kiss her passionately. She pushed her back against his hands, inviting them to travel down further until they landed on her supple buttocks. Every time he seemed to be out of breath, she darted her tongue further and thrusted faster, stronger. He stayed in her mouth longer and breathed what little air there was from within her mouth. Her calves were strained, her heels arched out from her high heels to support her upward posture, meeting the mouth of her taller counterpart. Her short skirt was pulled high enough to give glimpses of her naked flesh when he squeezed her tattooed buttocks by a handful. She flung one arm around his neck to provide pull support, with another lost between the two entwined bodies. From the side of her stretched arm, a dewy firm mound peeked out from her little black dress, which left her back bare. Under the private club's rotating lights, the reflection of the white
"It's going to be fun. C'mon. What's the big deal? Why are you so timid all of a sudden?" Rhonda coaxed Gina; she declined to meet new people that night. Rhonda had turned up at Gina's doorstep unannounced at 9 pm, bringing with her a conviction in her old friend Gina agreeing to an impromptu Saturday night out plan. "We haven't been out for two straight Saturdays. This will be the third if we don't go." "Are you keeping count? We just went out last Monday and Tuesday, then Thursday, each night a different crowd. Those don't count?" Gina chuckled; her friend's zest for partying amused her. "I’m too tired tonight. Why don't you just crash here? I have two bottles of excellent reds and a good rum from The Philippines. I feel like talking with you, anyway."
Gina got up from her bean bag, took and refilled their glasses. The thick carpet engulfed her feet as she walked on it. Still thinking of The Boss' appreciation of her feet, she took pleasure in the way the carpet felt under them. She perceived it as caressing. She quivered in delight. As she walked back from the integrated kitchen to the living room and past the dining area, she looked at her friend, who stole the time to text people. Rhonda was sitting on the plush, sectional sofa facing a wall adorned with a large, red abstract painting of a naked Gina, illuminated by accent lighting. In front of the sofa, was a low rectangular table. Printed papers with markings and annotations were scattered atop the table. Proposals and invoices; the new and completed projects that Gina was working on when Rhonda knocked on the door of her cute little townhouse.&
Last night's party was wild. She had been heavily intoxicated when somebody brought her home and tucked her in bed. The last she checked the time was 2 a.m. Then she remembered nothing. The daily alarm awakened her at 6 o'clock. Her head was heavy; this was a serious hangover. She sat herself up and noticed that Rhonda was lying next to her, fast asleep. Both were still in their party dresses. Instinctively, she reached inside her dress and found she still had her panties on. There had to be a lot of touching and groping last night, but now she was sure that nothing went beyond that—nothing had penetrated her. Rhonda? She thought the same must have happened with Rhonda, otherwise, she wouldn't be here passing out in her apartment.
It was Sunday, over breakfast and the two gentlemen were quite friendly, so Gina got in the mood and ventured into asking a question that could have been disadvantageous to her if the response had been negative. "What do you think of tattoos? Especially on women?" The gentlemen grinned and looked at each other. Abram thought The Boss should respond. "I think tattoos, proper ones, are a work of art. They add to the beauty," he said. "Why, you have one you want to show us?" he teased. "Yes, I do, and you have seen it already. Would you like me to add more?" Gina said, h