Joan Belle's heart was racing. Again and again, she pursed her lips while sometimes taking deep breaths.
"This is it, Joan. No turning back," she muttered to herself, seeing the buildings past her line of sight.
Following Lina's advice, Joan rushed to the Hale Industries office, wanting to finally let out all her feelings to Christopher.
Lina was right. She repeatedly reminded herself.
She had loved Christopher for so long, but she never really told him. Even if she was being obvious, she could at least confess to him and get an answer.
Yes or No! That was all she had to find out.
It was Lina's driver who brought her to Hale Industries and the second she arrived; she asked to speak to their new CEO.
Being a family friend of the Hales has its advantages. Joan was immediately directed to the CEO's office.
Christopher's assistant was not there, but one other secretary recognized Joan and allowed her to wait inside the CEO office.
The secretary said, "Miss Belle, Mr. Hale is just in a meeting right now with his assistant and some clients. Please wait inside his office. Surely, you have been inside the former president's office. You can find yourself comfortable there."
"Yes, I have. Thank you. I'll wait for him inside then," said Joan.
Her family had previously visited Gabriel Hale many times in the past. She was familiar with the company's CEO office already.
The president's private office was a good two-hundred square foot office. It had a comfortable sitting area before finding the huge desk where the new CEO was meant to take his throne.
Walking closer to his desk, Joan smiled at the plaque, seeing the name of Christopher Hale. She knew this had always been his dream.
She suddenly felt the need to use the restroom and recalling how there was one in the CEO office, she found herself inside in no time.
After taking a leak, she reapplied her make-up. She smiled brightly at the mirror and said, "Joan Belle, you are a confident, beautiful woman. Many men desire you, but you only deserve Christopher Hale."
Letting out a sigh, she said, "Good luck to me, attempt number 213."
Joan Belle was ready to tell him everything. She was prepared, now more than ever. She braced herself as she held on to the door nob, but as she opened the door, she heard a woman's voice.
"I'm so glad I came just in time after your meeting," said the woman. "Doors locked."
Joan focused on the voice, and she realized it was Shantal Lin. She softly cursed, "Shit. Just my luck."
It did not take long for her to hear kisses and moaning. It easily resonated throughout the office space, and that small opening by the bathroom door was enough for her to grasp what they were doing.
"Shantal, I have work to do," Joan heard Christopher said.
"Could you really say no to me?" The singer's reply.
Joan could not make out the rest of their conversation. It would seem to her that they were whispering to each other.
Her heart was throbbing even more, nervous, at the same time, incredibly in pain.
She gulped, thinking of cutting off the two, but she absolutely did not want to see Shantal's face!
The next thing she heard was a moan. "Aaahhh! Yeah, I love it, Chris! Eat my breasts!"
"Fuck, your breasts are so soft."
"Make love to me, Chris. I want to feel you inside me in your office - Aaahhh!"
The next thing Joan heard was the unzipping of someone's pants, followed by more moans and gasping. It was evident to her what they were doing and by the erotic cries that escaped their lips, it was obvious that they were enjoying themselves.
"Ah, yeah! Fuck me hard!"
"Mmmmm... I love your cock! It feels so good!"
"Scchhhh... Aaaahhhhh... Damn, Baby, you feel so good!" She heard Christopher call the singer "Baby." That practically crushed her heart altogether.
While she hoped it would end soon, apparently, her nightmare had only begun as her one true love was still at it, pounding on the singer for the second time.
She heard everything there was to be heard; from the petting moans, licking, slurping sounds to the orgasmic cry of pleasure upon reaching conclusion.
Sure, she had seen porn before. All thanks to Lina, but she did not think, she would heart it firsthand.
Sliding down from the back of the restroom door, Joan Belle merely cried softly.
'Do men always think of sex?' She asked herself.
Her best friend, Lina, told her it was the case, even for her boyfriend of two years.
For most boys, attraction and desire came first. Love only follows. These were the words that Lina told her before, but she earnestly hoped that it would not be the same for Christopher.
This was why she tried so hard for him to acknowledge her as an achieved woman. She wanted Christopher to be proud of her and that one day he would realize she was the best woman for him.
But all that thought, that idealism was broken down hearing Christopher give in to the desires of his flesh.
Minutes passed, and the lovemaking sounds seemed to have died down.
She heard Shantal say, "Baby, that was so good. Do you want to see me again tonight?"
"Yes, sure."
"Oh, shoot! My manager is calling!" Shantal said. "Baby, I have to go! I think my manager landed me another contract! I need to be there in half an hour!"
"Let me help you fix yourself."
It was clear to Joan that the two were in a panic, getting dressed.
Joan then heard Shantal walking towards the restroom. She cursed softly, "Fuck, I'm done for."
There was no other way around it. She couldn't possibly jump off the restroom window. When Shantal opened the door, she screamed, "Oh, my God!"
With her head down, Joan exited the restroom and said, "I'm sorry. I did not know how to cut off your activity. I just - never mind. I'm sorry for intruding. One of the secretaries let me in earlier and I used your comfort room."
The entire time, Joan had her head down. She could not dare to look at Christopher. She did not see how she would react.
As soon as she made her way into the middle of the office, she practically scrammed. With tears in her eyes, she hastily left the CEO's office and found herself in the elevators.
"Joan! Joan!" She heard Christopher ran after her, but she could not let him see her tears. She did not want to!
The first elevator that opened for her, she got inside and quickly closed the lift. She did not look back, nor did she see if Christopher made it just before the doors closed.
"Where should I go? Where should I go?" She kept asking herself. "To Lina? No. Clearly, that was where she would go first."
She scrolled on her phone and the next name she saw on her contacts was Cole Adams.
"Coming to you live at Park Central Los Angeles, this is ANN Afternoon with Carie, and today, we have a special guest!" Announced the show's host, Carie Umber.The forty-year-old host pushed her hair back, giving a sly smile in front of the crowd. "Guess who it is?"Screams could be heard from the audience. They came for the special episode of the famous afternoon talk show."Ahhh! I love you, Cole!""Cole Adams!""Cole Adams!""Cole is the best!""Cole is so fucking sexy!""Calm down, girls! Calm down! Geez!" The host called the ladies' attention while grinning widely at the crowd. "I'll have him first before you do!""Ahhhh!""No! No, Carie! He is mine!"Clearly, the screams from the surrounding ladies outroared the teasing of Carie Umber. She could not help but chuckle at their reactions.It was challenging to tame the surrounding excitement, but with the help of the production c
"Come on, answer me! Cole! Where the heck are you?!" Joan was wailing from inside the taxi while holding up her phone. They had been going around in circles, without any specific direction.She had been texting and calling Cole for the past ten minutes, but to no avail."Miss? Where are we headed?" The driver asked, looking at her from the rearview mirror."Please, can you go around the block again? I'm still waiting for my friend to reply," she told with her eyes watering and her lips trembling."Are you okay, miss?" The driver asked, worried for her state.Joan had been weeping the second she got in the car. Her earlier plan to confess to Christopher was a total fail. Worst, she heard him doing it with Shantal Lin!"I'm fine. Thank you. Please, just - just go around the block a few more times. I'll pay for every minute that I use up, anyway," she pleaded.A minute later, she finally received a rep
"What did you just do?" Monica Wells, Cole's manager, asked. "You practically hinted that you have a woman on the side, carrying her like a princess! Couldn't you just have waited until the crowd had dispersed?"Cole massaged the bridge of his nose before shaking his head. He said, "I couldn't. She looked so sad and in despair - ""I get that, but you might ruin your career because of this and all for what?" Monica let out a heavy sigh and said, "Anyway, we'll stick to the story of your friend being in need of help. You just need to be consistent with the interviews, okay?"Cole nodded before running his hand against his hair."I'll have your car brought around the back of the tent for your convenience. Take her home and deal with whatever is her issue," said Monica before taking a leave.The two were in a serious conversation behind the show's temporary set. A tent was set up, meant as a changing area, and it was there where Cole hid J
"So what is this appointment you are going to?" Joan asked after hopping on to Cole's car."Meeting with the California Yacht Club president. They are planning to re-market the club and Monica wants me to be the next model for their upcoming ads," said Cole while turning on the ignition of his Jaguar."It's going to be a party that we will attend to so, get ready to flaunt your assets," he said with his usual killer grin.It was no wonder he had a stylist work on her attire. Joan was wearing new shoes, on top of her new dress, and had put on light makeup for his appointment. He was also dressed up for the part.Seeing the reluctancy on her face, Cole asked, "What? No backing out now. I just spent thousands of dollars on you today."She rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I don't want to go home, anyway."For a second, she took a peek inside her purse and saw that her phone's battery had died. She sighed, thinking it was
"Joan, dear. What are you thinking?" Her mother, Jessica Belle, asked as they were having lunch at the Cafe Teragram.After attending a morning service nearby, they went straight for lunch."Nothing, mom," Joan said and decided to start with her salad.She was still in deep thought about what Cole suggested. He told her that getting the contract with the Yacht Club would be a way for her to catch Christopher's attention, but right now, she wasn't sure what she wanted.Joan hasn't gotten back to Cole for two days.Just as she was in deep thought, another prominent family arrived at the Cafe and Alexander Belle, Joan's father, easily invited them to their table.They had used up an entire ten-seater long table, just the way her mother always liked it.When she looked up to find out who it was, she paled. It was the Hales. Worst, the singer starlet was with them!"Oh, Jessica, it's good to
Cole wrapped Joan in a towel after his security handed it to him.She was sitting on one bench, utterly soaked."What in the world were you thinking, Joan?" Cole Asked as he kneeled down to level with Joan, drying her hair.Joan was taken aback. He was treating her like a wet puppy. 'Or a girlfriend,' she thought.For seconds, Joan found herself distracted by his athletic frame. She could not help but appreciate how well molded his abdomen was. She had never seen a man who had such a slender waist!"Joan?" He asked again, quickly shifting her gaze to his small and manly face.Yes, Cole had a slender face, but they were well-shaped, perfectly athletic looking, and it went well with his military haircut."Are you... gawking at me?" He asked. At that point, she awoke from her stupefied moment."What?! Gawking?! No! I'm - I'm just hurt." She slightly shook before telling, "I met up with the Hales e
Dance music could be heard from across the huge area of the LX Nightclub, an exclusive venue for famous people to party and have a good time without being followed around by paparazzi.The DJ was manning his Console, playing back a record, and mixing it with another famous song."Y'all, let's hear some back to back Justin Bieber and dance to it!" Announced the DJ, swaying his hands in the air.In one corner, Joan was hiding her face with her long blonde hair, utterly ashamed for having arrived with Cole at the club later that night.From the Los Angeles Athletic Club, they had a late lunch and spent some time discussing the benefits of accepting the Yacht Club contract. They had dinner and after which; she was practically dragged to the LX Nightclub.They had been resting for half an hour and had two drinks all in all. Yup, like always, she was bad with alcohol and she was feeling herself getting warm.While run
"Wow! I'm so full. I never thought I could finish an entire bowl of Ramen!" Remarked Joan after practically drinking the soup from the bowl.Cole had shown her earlier the ways and means to drink from a large ramen bowl as if it were a glass. It was technically the most unladylike she had ever done, but Cole's encouragement allowed her to do it."What did I tell you? The best ramen in the city!" Exclaimed Cole."Touché!" Said Joan with a smile.Uncle Ben then came to their table, offering green tea. He said, "Here, to help with the feeling of being so full.""Thank you, um..." Joan was thinking about how to call the old man."Uncle Ben is fine, Joan. Any good friend of Cole is like my own child," said the old man. "Drink up."With a sweet smile, Joan nodded and said, "Thank you, Uncle Ben."An hour passed, and Joan found herself staring from inside Cole's car. They were parked right outside