“Give him my name and tell him I’m here. He’ll want to see me.”
She told the receptionist and prayed it was true. The lady called him and they were quickly ushered into the waiting area. It was a nice one with comfortable couches, chairs, drinks and snacks set up on the tables, and there was a space with internet hookup for the business person who couldn’t go long without being in touch with their business. Gio came running into the room grabbing her hugging her so hard she couldn’t breathe. He was a handsome man and she looked over to Doc seeing she was once again misunderstanding the relationship.
Gio
loosened his hold, shook his gorgeous honey blond, curly hair out of his eyes, and noticed Doc for the first time. A look of male appreciation came to his face and he said, “Who is your friend, Cher?”
He dropped his arms and stepped
toward Doc, taking her hand and with a flourish, pressing it to his lips. He let their hands drop, but he didn’t let go as he stared into her eyes. Doc giggled like a schoolgirl and didn’t extricate her hand instead letting him continue to hold it. Didn’t every girl like a little romance? Gio knew just how to make a woman feel appreciated and beautiful. It seemed even Doc, who was no nonsense with Hades, could get in touch with her romantic side. It was a good thing Hades wasn’t here to see it.
“We need a quick makeover,
Gio but we only have about an hour before we have to go.”
“Quick makeovers are my specialty. You’ve had a recent salon visit somewhere.” He said looking at her accusingly.
“It was an emergency and I was nowhere near here.”
“I’ll forgive you
this time, but come here next time. I’m going to take care of you two. It will be fabulous.” Gio started motioning to people who just appeared as if called even though he hadn’t said a word. Each of them had three people working on different things, a manicurist, a make up specialist, and a stylist. It was enough to make a girl dizzy trying to figure out who to listen to. A little over an hour later, two very different looking women left the salon headed to the clothing boutique. The driver knew exactly how to get there and fifteen minutes later they were headed inside.
A lovely older lady somewhere beyond the age of thirty, met them at the door and escorted them inside. Cher asked for her friend Glam who was called right away. She met them in a private room where clothing choices would be brought to them for selection. Glam joined them moments later squealing with joy as she saw Cher hugging her and jumping up and down. “
Easy Glam, you’re shaking my brain loose!”
“
Sorry, Cher. I’m just so happy to see you since it’s been almost four years. So, what brings you back and how can I help?”
“I’ve got to meet Jack today. I need a dress that’s attractive but says I know what I’m doing. I need confidence and I need my assistant dressed the same way. This is Gem, by the way. Gem this is Glam, that’s her nickname her real name is Jane.
”
“
Glad to meet you Gem. I guess it’s not a nickname?”
“No, it’s short for Gemma. Glad to meet you too.”
“Well, I’ll have to leave for a few, tell me your sizes and I’ll pull a rack for each of you.”
Glam got their sizes and hurried off. “She’s the best though she tends to like styles that show a little more than some of us like.” Cher explained to Doc.
“I don’t mind showing a little skin, it’s the parts inside I try to protect.”
Cher assumed she meant her heart, but was afraid to ask. Glam came back with a rack in tow and an assistant pulling the other one. The clothing, mostly dresses looked like a kaleidoscope of colors but there was a bit of black in it. Cher loved little black dresses but Glam always tried to get her to wear more colorful items.
She zeroed in on a LBD that was sexy and beautiful, there was also a half jacket that made it more businesslike, not an easy task since it was short, tight, and showed a good amount of cleavage. Doc found a pretty red dress that looked great on her. Cher would never have guessed Doc would go for red, it was so attention getting. To appease Glam’s need to push color on her, she also took a royal purple dress, and a deep blue leather skirt and jacket that Glam had paired with a shirt.
Both she and Doc went with black three inch heels and a matching purse. Doc’s were plain, but Cher had some diamonds on her shoes and purse since
, after all, they are a girl’s best friend.
It was time to go and even though she dreaded it, Cher believed in facing things head on once you could no longer avoid it.
She and Doc left Glam after their goodbyes and headed out to the car. The driver seemed to know where everything was and he pulled up in front of Olympus Security Specialists Inc. within the half hour. Cher’s heart banged in her chest as if it wanted out as she looked up at the high rise building that housed her father’s biggest company. She hadn’t been here since a year or more before he died. She wondered if anyone she knew still worked here or if they were all new. Jack had started changing things the moment her dad had died and she’d noticed, but except for a few major changes, she’d been to preoccupied to fight with him over it.
“Wow, you work here? No wonder you wanted to dress up for the meeting.” Doc said looking at the huge modern building just outside of the D.C. area. There were too many restrictions to building in D.C. so a place close by, but in an area outside of those restrictions
, had been found. It was the perfect compromise and it had paid off in a big way. The people going in and out were all dressed in sharp suits or sexy expensive dresses, there was nothing casual around here.
They entered the building going straight to the desk in the lobby. She handed over a badge which was scanned and she was immediately given an escort to Jack’s office. His secretary wanted her to wait but she was ready now. She simply went to the door throwing it open while Doc followed her in. Jack was sitting at his desk looking up, startled for just a moment before he recovered.
“Hello, Beautiful, tell me you work for me.” He told her. She tossed something on his desk that he examined before looking back up at her. “So, you work for the heirs, the girl in particular I would guess. Why don’t you work for me instead?”
Cherish said nothing simply arching her brow at him. “She’s just an entitled child, your job couldn’t be
fulfilling. I can give you something to really dig into, before, during, and after work.” He smiled at her using that charm she had seen so much of when she was younger, had fallen for as a teenager with a terrible crush on this man. Now, things were different because she had more to compare him to and she understood a little bit more about what men were like.
“Oh, I think I can find plenty to dig in to. I’m here to take control, fix some things, and find out exactly what you’re up to.”
He leaned back in his chair smiling at her. “That’s great. It means I’ll see more of you so why don’t we start with lunch?”
“I’m already having a working lunch with my assistant in the CEO office.”
“I’ll order us something and meet you there. After all, I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
She couldn’t argue with him, she did have a lot of questions. She and Doc went to her dad’s old office. It would be dusty if it wasn’t being cleaned weekly as she had requested. She looked at the huge desk and the heavy office chair with its worn leather that her dad had used for as long as she could remember while tears came to her eyes at the thought that he’d never sit in it again. She motioned for Doc to hand her the computer she had her carry in so she could hook it into the company’s network. She would see if any of her old friends remained, find them, and summon them up here to see if they knew what was going on.
An hour later she had found that out of the dozens of people she had known here, only three remained. Only one was in a position where they would have any knowledge of what was happening. She was forced to stop work because food arrived followed quickly by Jack who hadn’t even asked her name yet
but seemed determined to put another notch on his bedpost. She made the mistake of being glad that Doc was there because right after she thought it, a man came in to keep her busy. He, Pete, was one of Jack’s assistant managers and looked as smooth and charming as Jack himself.
“Listen, Jack, you aren’t getting anywhere with me. Cease and desist with all the flirting and attempts to charm me. I know you want to side track me and that is simply not happening.”
“I can’t deny I want to side track you, but I would want you if you were the maid. I always get what I want so why not just give in now?”
“I think you need a lesson in humility, but I really am not interested in you.”
“If that’s true, why do I make you so nervous?
“Because I know all about you. You can flirt and carry on while all the time you make plans an
d take advantage of people and I don’t intend to be taken advantage of.” Jack stalked closer to her sliding his hands over her shoulders. “Does sexual harassment mean nothing to you?” She asked but he didn’t slow down.
He moved his lips right up to her ear so she could feel the heat of his breath. This was so much worse than she had expected. She glanced Doc’s way to see she was fighting a battle of her own. Did this usually work on women? The answer must be yes and both men were gorgeous. A lonely woman might feel she made a good deal to have a night with such an attractive and experienced man.
Jack’s hand began to progress southward so she smacked it hard. “I am here to work, not get busy playing around.”
Jack smiled. “You know all work and no play…”
The man was funny, charming, and it was flattering to be chased even if she knew it was nothing personal, just her position he wanted to influence. After so many years without romance and Hermes apparent disinterest, it was normal to feel tempted, but she was stronger than that. She wouldn’t be used that way by a Romeo no matter that she had once crushed on him something terrible. He hadn’t even noticed her then and she didn’t want his attention now. Everything he did caused him to brush against her or for his hot breath to hit the back of her neck.
He shouldn’t even be in here but he didn’t show any signs of leaving even long after lunch was gone. Doc was fighting off the other one and the day had been largely unproductive.
If Cher knew anything, it was when to call for a strategic retreat. She told Doc to pack up so they could make that important appointment they had. She called the car service and told Jack they were leaving in a few and she looked meaningfully at the door. It was no surprise that the man didn’t know how to take a hint. “Jack, you need to go now so I can lock up, we’re leaving.”
“I’m surprised she gave you the key to this door, it’s been locked since he died
except for the cleaning lady she hired. She was close to her father, his death hit her hard. I feel bad for the kid since all the responsibility fell to her. Her older brother was just no good but she’s been taking care of him and the youngest the best she can. I wouldn’t wish that job on my own worst enemy.”
“Is that how you view her, as your enemy?”
“No, she’s just a confused kid, but I don’t want her to ruin the business because she has a degree and thinks she knows more than I do. She was a cute kid, wide eyed and innocent, had a bit of a crush on me I think. I didn’t encourage it, sweet girl like that needed a sweet boy.”
She thought about what he said, yes, she had been a sweet innocent kid then. At least he hadn’t wanted to take advantage of her innocence, it was a point in his favor. She and Doc got them out so she could lock up. They were headed back to their suite and Cher figured she could do some work on her computer before bed. “So what was this important meeting you mentioned?” Doc asked.
“A ruse to get away from Jack before he started licking on me.”
“That’s what I thought. He seems to want you in a bad way.”
“He just wants me distracted in a bad way.”
“I don’t agree, that man wants you and intends to have you.”
“I don’t want to be had.” Doc raised her brows.
“Care to reword that a bit?”
“I’m not going to be had, want to or not.” The rest of the trip was quiet. They arrived just before Hades and Hermes, so they ordered Chinese take out. It arrived and then Hermes and Hades did, looking extremely unhappy.
“We ordered some takeout thinking you two might be hungry.” Doc said. Hermes got close to Cher and sniffed the air.
“You’ve been close to an unknown male. You’ve let him touch you.” He said in an accusing manner.
Hades sniffed Doc. “You have been as well. Where have you been and who is he? I will rip his head off so he will know to leave you alone.”
“There is no reason to do that. You have no rights where I am concerned and you can smell well enough to know neither of us had sex with anyone.”
“Were you asked to have sex? Did you consider having sex?
” Hermes said looking at her like she had kicked a puppy.
“No
, of course not.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t believe you, either.” Hades said adding his two bits.
“I doesn’t matter what you believe, neither of you have the right to question us. You,” She said pointing to Hades, “smell like a cheap whore rubbed you up and down. You also should wipe that lipstick off your face.” His hand reached up automatically to remove the evidence
not realizing it didn’t exist. “Just like I thought, you’ve been out tom cattin’ but you’re worried about what I’m doing.” Doc went to her room and slammed the door.