Gina took the bread from the toaster, put them onto two plates, spooned the scrambled eggs onto the bread. She brought the plates to the dining table and placed one in front of Rhonda and another opposite her. The smell of the toasted bread and the sight of the creamy eggs were tantalizing to the empty morning stomach. She went back behind the counter and fetched two tall glasses from the cabinet, took out a carton of orange juice from the refrigerator, and poured it into the two glasses. She put the glasses down on the table and sat across from Rhonda.              Breakfast was served.              "I truly thought it wouldn't matter to him. He was always composed; he certainly could see Roy meant nothing. It was purely business, a job. Oh, goodness! It was a job done for him! I needed to entertain Roy, I had delayed my promise to go out

Layla had been waiting for Gina and followed her into her office as she arrived.              "Raymond was looking for you."              Oh, shoot! I forgot I report to Raymond, too, now.              She recalled her question to her boss that night when he wanted Raymond to take her under his wings: "I don't report to you anymore?" There was a sting of sadness that came with that remembrance.              "What does he want?" But then she realized it was a moot question. Raymond never said what he wanted and people didn't dare to ask. "Ok, I will go see him right away."              "Wait, I have the contract back

Rhonda took off her blazer, and hung it over the back of her chair. She smiled at Pete, welcoming his lewd stare on her body, covered by a dark blue bustier, showing off her angular shoulders, bared her arms and most of her upper chest, with a deep cleavage that gave hope of its depth. With her exotic voice, she asked,              "How can you help, Pete?"              Pete knew they were playing a game. He and Gina had established the rules and played the game several times. From him, Gina gained what she needed to conduct business with Trelleco, and in return, he had some personal favor done for him. Gina was so exquisite that being seen with her was a reward on its own, so in some occasions she had let him take her to gathering amongst friends outside of work as one form of favors.        

The following morning was a business-as-usual day. The Boss would not be back until late afternoon, so he would not be available to sign the Grabbel contract until then. Raymond was a partner and she could ask him to sign. After that, she could stow the contract in the drawer, hand the operations over to Project and be done with it until the next commercial event appeared—whatever it would be.                           So that was what she was going to do, and she had better do it fast before the Toms and Dungis of the workplace complicated it.              Raymond was surprised; it had been a long time since anybody sought him out. And who sought him out was none other than Gina. From one extreme to the other, he thought, smiling and nearly dropping his half-smoked cig

On Friday morning, Gina woke up early. She sat down by the edge of the bed. She didn't feel mentally fresh and was slightly emotional. Her boss seemed evasive. She hadn't seen him after his return from D.C.; a gift package replaced his presence instead. Since the night they kissed, nothing had felt as right as before. To make matters worse, Rhonda was getting to be just as evasive—not available to take her call—when she needed her friend and co-planner to talk to the night before they were to execute their plan.              She looked out of her window. Still dark. It was a cold morning, colder than the many mornings before. Winter was a few days away. She could see the wind blowing hard as the trees were swaying and the street was already full of the fallen leaves.              She recalled the insults Colin hurled at her thr