Ten years later.
BRIELLE
“Ayeee, look who's already looking like a vice president!” Silvie cheered as I stepped out of my room in a red power suit with killer black kitten heels. My hair had been styled in an intimidating intricate chignon, and my makeup had been done to perfection.
Basically, every part of me screamed, hell yeah, I've been waiting for this position my whole damn life!
I twirled gracefully as I blew her a kiss, reached for the cup of coffee she already had waiting for me and then plopped down on the couch beside her.
Silvie really was the best.
We had gotten separated for a while due to college; she had gone to the University of Manchester and I had gone to Harvard, but we kept in touch as much as we could and had immediately reconnected after. We got an amazing three-bedroom apartment in New Orleans and immediately moved in together despite my dad and brothers' many protests.
Of course they had it coming.
They didn't really think I was going to stay with them forever, did they? Always being so overprotective and all that nonsense. Well, too bad for them if they did. Plus, I'd always felt this desire to leave home. Alexandria always felt like the wrong place for me, and I needed a change.
As it was now, my main focus was work, and pretty much nothing else. My time at Harvard had completely changed me, at least appearance-wise. Back in high school, I’d dyed my hair a light shade of pink, and I always kept it short, but I'd gone back to my natural chestnut colour and allowed it to grow longer.
You'd think I'd have been noticeable with such bright hair, but I guess the ugly clothes had pretty much cancelled them out.
I had lost a little bit of weight, mostly due to so much learning and stress, but my boobs had clung to me stubbornly; refusing to let go. Silvie always said I should be grateful since I had something people would pay huge amounts for, but you know, it'd be nice to not have the occasional back pain sometimes.
I still had my glasses though; contacts freaked me the hell out, all that putting your fingers in your eye was a no no for me, but thankfully I only had to wear them when I had to read something.
“So how are you feeling Lu?” I heard Silvie ask faintly.
How was I feeling?
“I'm wonderful, Syl.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I am, you know. The position is mine... it has been for months now, and not to toot my own horn, but I do the most over there. Plus, Mr. Thomas has been throwing hints left and right, I'd be stupid not to notice.”
Silvie laughed. “Easy there, Miss Passionate, don't bite my head off.”
I grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“It's alright Veep. Today’s your day.”
I shook my head at her teasing antics as I sipped on my coffee. “What time do you have to be at work today?”
She scrunched her face thoughtfully. “I was supposed to take a morning shift, but Lisa has plans, so we swapped.”
Silvie worked as a bartender at Rousseau’s, and according to her, it was a pretty cool way to make money, especially if you were as undecided as she was with regards to what to do with your life.
“Wait, so why are you up so early if you aren't going to work yet?” I asked in confusion.
“You want me to sleep on and miss your big day? Not a chance sunshine.” She declared dramatically.
“Aww, you're so cute sometimes.” I cooed, laughing when she grimaced at my baby voice. I finished my coffee and stood up. “Alright, Syl... gotta go. Can't afford to give off bad impressions on my first day as Veep.”
“Aye, I hear you. Get your ass outta here.” She shooed me out, trailing after me to the door.
“Lu?” I heard her call out as I stepped out.
“Yeah?”
“Can I borrow your car to work when you get back?”
What?
“Say what now?”
She laughed and repeated in a much slower voice. “I said, can I borrow your car tonight?”
My car.
My baby.
My silver Chevy Camaro Turbo 1LE!
Silvie knew my car was my most prized possession. I got it quite recently cause it fit the new position I was about to have, and she wanted to borrow it?
“Hell no, Syl.”
“I'll just steal the keys when you're asleep then.” She declared with a smirk.
She got me there.
“Okay, fine. But you best return her in the mint condition she's in.” I warned as she laughed, gave me the bird and shut the door.
I smiled as I made my way to the elevator.
Of course, I wasn't going to say no to her.
I just liked to rile her up sometimes.
The elevator doors were about to close when I got near, but Mark; one of our neighbours held it open for me. I gave him a grateful smile as I stepped in beside him. “Thanks, M. You're a lifesaver.”
“I know Lucia.” He answered with a warm smile, running his eyes over my outfit appreciatively. “You look lovely.”
I smiled smugly. “I already know that, but thank you.”
Mark was handsome, and annoying. We had hooked up a couple of times in the past, but he had this notion that we could be a thing if he tried a little harder, despite me making it explicitly clear that it was a one-time thing.
Well, more like a five-time thing now, but who's counting?
“So, you free this weekend?” he asked nervously, right when the elevator doors opened and the car park appeared in sight. I sighed dramatically as I stepped out. “I'm so sorry Mark, but I'm fully booked this weekend.”
He had a cute pout on his handsome face. “Oh, what about-"
I cut him off as I glanced at my watch. “You know what? I'm running late for work, gotta go. Bye.” I dashed off to my car without another glance in his direction.
*****
“Morning.”
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
A nod here and there,
An ‘Ooh, nice shirt’, and several ‘thank yous' later, I finally made my way to my office.
People really loved my outfit!
“God, look at you Brielle. You look amazing.” Sloane, my assistant praised when she stepped into my office after a quick knock. Everyone over at the office knew me by my second name Brielle; a trend that my boss Shawn Thomas had started back when I was just a mere intern, eight long years ago.
Was it really that long? I didn't even know anymore. Time really did fly by very fast.
And look at me now, about to become Vice president!
I smiled. “Thanks love. How are the kids?”
“They're good... stressing me out a lot, but good.”
We laughed.
“Mr Thomas wants to see you. He's in conference room C with the board of directors.” She said after a while, her voice taking on a professional tone.
“Thank you. I'll go see him immediately.”
I absently watched her walk out of my office while wondering what the board of directors were doing here with Mr. Thomas.
They rarely showed up at the office.
Was the appointment of vice president that important?
I guess it was.
I stood up, smoothed my clothes and walked out of the office to the conference room.
Pausing briefly at the door, I took a deep breath and entered the room, calm and cool on the outside, but panicking on the inside.
“Well, hello boys.”
BRIELLEI was the only girl in the room.RetroCorp was an obvious men's club and it pleased me greatly to see how far I'd come.Things were really going to change when I became vice president though... I was all for women empowerment.“Brielle! Come, take a seat, take a seat.” Shawn Thomas directed with his usual vigour, but even as I took my place beside him, I realised his tone lacked its usual excitement. I leaned in and whispered. “Are you alright? Why hasn’t the meeting started already?” He didn’t meet my gaze. “I’m alright, and the meeting will start soon. We’re just waiting for one other person.” I nodded in understanding and sat upright, briefly wondering who this other person was.I heard the door open and close, but I paid it no mind, my attention on my phone since the meeting hadn&r
DYLANI was so screwed.I watched the pretty woman sashay seductively out of the conference room, my eyes stuck on her delectable derrière.What I wouldn't do to have her all to myself for just one night.As it was now, she hated my guts, and for reasons unbeknownst to me. My guess was, she had a personal vendetta against men. Simple.Well, either that or she was simply a bad sport who couldn't handle a little competition, but either way I still felt a little offended. Offended that even with all my wonderful looks, I didn't charm her in the least.Because let's face it, I was a very fine specimen. I remembered how I'd explicitly implied that she was having an affair with my dad and cringed with regret. I really didn't mean to lash out like that but I just hadn't been able to control m
BRIELLEI kicked off my heels right when the elevator made its way to my floor and the doors opened, eternally grateful to the fates for not having anyone in there with me because, judging by my extremely foul mood, I’d have probably killed them.I trudged down the hallway tiredly. The path to the apartment just seemed endless. I was so lost in thought that by the time I saw her, it was too late.Mrs Robinson!The old lady on our floor who had decided that everyone’s business was apparently hers too, and that she could poke her nose in people’s affairs and give advice even when it was totally unsolicited. We all usually tolerated her, -adored her even- because hello? She was an old lady and being rude would be considered being disrespectful, plus she really was a lovely woman but, believe me when I tell you I’ve come quite close to ignoring
DYLAN'S POVIt wasn’t a figment of my imagination,It wasn’t a wet dream either –I would know since they pretty much kept me up all night yesterday.I was kissing Brielle Renaud, and damn… what a kiss it was.The little vixen pressed herself against me some more, angling her neck and kissing me like she had been wanting to all her life. I groaned in satisfaction, just as turned on -maybe even more- as she was. Her arms circled my shoulders, her fingers playing with my hair as mine wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to me.She let out a soft, breathy moan that went straight to my hard throbbing dick.Fuck, this girl was going to be the death of me.I gently bit her bottom lip and took advantage of the surprised gasp she let out to slide my
DYLANA hotel?!Now don’t give me a disappointed look or anything… I had promised to investigate my father’s clandestine meetings, and I was just delivering on that promise.I however didn’t like my findings so far… desperately wanted to be proven wrong in fact, because if what I was seeing was true, then Brielle was the mysterious woman my father was cheating with.A very disappointing development.But then again, they were possibly just having a business meeting in one of the many conference rooms the hotel had to offer, and I was just jumping into conclusions.I mean, it happens to the best of people, right?Either way, I wasn’t leaving until I discovered the truth.I waited for them to exit the car and watched them walk into the impressive building before following after them.
BRIELLEYou’re nothing but a social climbing, self-centered gold digger.Gold digger.Gold digger!!!!The words just kept resonating in my head, over and over and over again, and through it all, my mind still struggled to come up with reasons as to why Dylan would call me such horrid names in the first place.Suffice to say, I always came up blank.It’s been two weeks… two long weeks since the incident, and I’m still back at where I was when this whole thing started;Still confused and angry as hell.If Dylan had a problem with me… with something I’d said -something I’d done, it only felt right to quiz me about it so I could at least speak for myself, or even clarify things, no?But to take the easy route and just jump into conclusions, throwing horrid names at me in the process was a wh
DYLAN“One more round, Dylan.” Madeline purred seductively, reaching for my belt once again even as I tried to dress up.The woman was insatiable!“Wait wait wait,” I reached for her hand to stop her, ignoring the frustrated look on her face. “I’ve got other places to be, plus, I believe I’ve fulfilled my part of the bargain.”She thudded to her chair petulantly, like a child that had been denied her favorite candy. Her ass was on display, her bra on, but barely recognizable, and yet, she seemed absolutely comfortable in her skin.I pushed the contract towards her hastily. “Now sign the damn papers.”She stood there glaring at me for what seemed like ages, before a smile broke out on her lovely face. “Jeez alright, alright. I’ll sign the stupid papers. But only on one condition. You-”“No more conditions, woman
DylanJust one look into her beautiful eyes, and I had forgotten just how disgustingly low the vixen standing before me could go—She was having an affair with my father and pretending with me like it wasn’t going on under my very nose for crying out loud!To think I had failed to recall my vow to stay away from her… to avoid doing anything that will intensify my feelings for her.Just one word from her mouth had me apologising like some love struck fool…And I rarely apologised to anyone to begin with.The small smile I had on my face after we came to a truce gradually faded as I shook my head to clear my senses from its love-struck daze. “I’ll take my leave now that all that’s behind us.” I finished quickly and turned on my heel to exit her office, inwardly damning myself at the fact that I hadn’t been able to get the anger and bitternes