Her first reaction was embarrassment. Colour tainted her cheeks, her eyes blinking rapidly as her throat went dry. What in the world was she supposed to say to... That? "Ms. Lynn?" Surely he didn't expect an actual reply to that blatant statement he had uttered, there had to be limits to his obnoxiousness, right? Sitting there with her mouth parted softly at his blatancy wasn't going to answer her question. She cleared her throat and shifted in the seat, willing her voice not to stutter. "I was just preoccupied with...other things." She chose denial which came easily, although she knew he wasn't going to buy it. Irrespective of his insensitivity, Andre was nothing short of smart, a quality she found really sexy. He remained calm as he stared at her, giving no indication that he hadn't bought her bullshit. It was difficult maintaining eye contact with those blazing eyes which had gazed at her intensely, its pupils dilated as he reached his climax buried inside her. But she forced h
If Clara had thought Leon Laurent a handful when she was assigned to him, then she had nothing left to say when it came to Sandra Sean, who had somehow misread the description of her duty as housekeeper. Clearly, she had been introduced as a wardrobe assistant, but the good lady had chosen to rewrite the charts, burdening her with duties which were way far from her job description. Well, unless fetching bottles of wine and cigarettes and booking appointments for medical check ups had become part of the wardrobe. What puzzled Clara the most apart from the fact that no business meeting had been fixed since she came was why Ms. Sean would leave her home and begin full medicals as soon as she arrived Manhattan. It was as though she were on vacation and Clara had somehow been assigned the responsibility of her maid. The deja vu she felt each time she received one of Sandra Sean's messages ran so deep it reminded her of the days of working under Karen Seattle. And worse was that Andre ha
Clara hadn't cried herself to sleep like she thought she would, but had spent a good part of the night in the room she had converted to a study seated behind the desk, her laptop open before her, the screen displaying the document she had finally garnered the courage to type.Because if she needed any other cue to save herself after the humiliation she had been put through, then she might as well return to Dane and beg him to take her back.Since she was in the same path of foolishness anyway.It wasn't as though she was finally taking full control of her life; she didn't have a concrete plan at the moment, but what was pretty clear was the fact that she had to cut both professional and personal or rather, sexual ties with Andre because none of them was working out with him anymore.She had spent the night replaying possible scenarios. For instance, where she would live hereon because she would have to vacate the company house and return the car she had been given. It was funny how ev
The state of her body and heart had deteriorated to its lowest level by the time she staggered into the living room, the board tumbling and falling from her sweaty, slippery hands.Clara was exhausted and pale, a shadow of herself. Lying on the bare floors of her living room with her eyes focused on the ceiling, she discovered how blurry her vision had become, her eyes unable to appreciate the uniqueness of the state of the art interior decor which she had always admired. Her head pounded with the weight of the responsibility she would have to bear for her actions and her heart ached for the loss of something that had never existed.It was more painful than when her four year relationship with Dane had ended, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was without a home and career this time, but that this had been deeper for her. Perhaps it was the illusion she had created in her mind, but without knowing it, she had hoped that Andre would somehow come around. Even against ever
"Ms. Lynn, can you hear me?" "How many fingers am I holding up?" "Ms. Lynn" "Ms. Lynn can you feel..." It was like the lyrics of a faint departing music, sung with harmonies of solos and duets, each lyric fainter than the previous. Her body seemed to be floating on cool waters and her eyes were drowsy, lured into the seductive beckoning of the empty space which her eyes surrendered to, moving away from the fading voices. It was painless and quieter here, or perhaps she sought that voice which could never deliver faint music in the waters she lay on. There was nothing burdening her young heart; she sank deeper into the ocean, letting the waves carry her through, with the trust that the storm wouldn't push her to drown. "Ms. Lynn?" "Clara! Hey! I just saw your fingers move!" "Don't you fucking dare shut your eyes on me again!" A strange face in white, Sophie, Brenda... A small smile curved the side of her lips as she struggled to keep her eyes open, having stayed in that isl
The golden rays of the rising sun cast shades of surprise on Clara in the morning, beginning with Karen Seattle's arrival with the other assistants who had once been her colleagues.It was an awkward visit of course, for both the patient and the callers who had come with a bunch of flowers, crowding her room which had been converted to a hospital in three days. She sat up when she saw them, surprised and confused about what to say. Although they had fallen into an understanding along the line, it had been strictly professional and she had always had to put up a font of perfection before them. But today, she lay barely able to lift her arm, her body weakened as well as her heart.It was Karen who spoke as soon as Guinevere had received the flowers on her behalf. Sophie and Brenda left earlier that morning to catch up with the work they had missed."Word got round that you weren't feeling alright so, we came to see how you are doing." Clara didn't know how to feel at that moment; guil
He was surrounded by the familiar environment which had proven to be his best therapy for years. Here, his identity was concealed in a diamond mask, an outlet for that side of him which he hid from the world to manifest freely. Without judgments. Here, he could engage in any form of debauchery and relieve his stress in the best way; hours of romp which weren't limited to the sheets. He had created this place for that purpose; to enable other highly placed people who had been constrained by high societal expectations let it all out.From the roof top, the expansive strip club appeared smaller to Andre, so tiny from his view he could cover it with his hands. It was for this reason that he had chosen the roof top as his office, irrespective of how bizarre it had seemed to the architect in charge of the project at the time. Based on Andre's instructions, the office was made up of thick glass walls which could afford him privacy while exposing the view of all the other sections they had.
Although he knew her professional name, Andre always preferred referring to her real name since she was one of the few people who were aware of his double identity. Her real identity was of course compromised as well, which was why it had been easy to place her as Clara's housekeeper. The initial intention had been to keep an eye on Clara and ensure that she didn't spill his secret. She had reported to him every Friday before he went on stage, always keeping to the time. Like now. But he hadn't been expecting her to come tonight. She answered his question. "Clara...Ms. Lynn fired me. I'm sorry but... She found out who I was." His face fell reflexively, his throat moving as he linked his fingers together. "She just happened to know that you're a concierge here?" Guinevere shook her head. "She was suspicious and kept asking how I got to call the hospital, she... She seemed to remember that you came to her house..." "She was fucking passed out, Ms. Guinevere. She couldn't have trus