Emma was still stunned as she climbed out of her cab in front of her apartment building and walked through the front doors. She climbed the stairs, silently contemplating what the man had said. He seemed to be fighting, same as her, but it made no sense, since he seemed to be someone who had had his foot in the door of the big businesses and his hand in the wallets of the big men behind said businesses for some time. Hell, she thought, it seemed he had been born into that world. What could he know of her struggle to become part of it and make her mark on it?
She fumbled with her key at her door, and stumbled her way inside. Again, her reflection in the hall mirror caught her eye and she cursed the reflection, making a mental note that the mirror really had to go as it always seemed to catch her at her worst moment, reflecting back the broken, beaten, neglected girl she had tried so hard to peel off and leave behind.
She thought for a moment about going into the bedroom and actually making her real bed to sleep in, but decided against it and just pulled out the couch bed, collapsing on it, fatigue washing over her. Her body demanded rest, but her mind still raced. This man was a mystery, plus, he had seemed vaguely familiar, but Emma knew she could not have met him before as he seemed so much above her. Even if he was part of the magazine, he must be nothing more or less than one of many rich boys who had nothing better to do than to dump Daddy's money into a failing publication.
She mulled over it and turned it over in her mind's eye, even as her real eyes began to grow heavy. She somehow managed to shimmy out of the dress and flicked off her heels, before unsnapping her bra and tossing everything haphazardly into the middle of the floor. She was going to trip on it when she woke up, she thought groggily, but she didn't care as she succumbed to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------
Loud, boisterous laughter erupted from behind the sturdy oak door and a deep rumbling voice followed it. "You obsess too easily, Michael," the voice said. Michael sat behind a matching oak desk, hands clasped and pressed to his pursed lips. His best friend, Alex Mauer, leaned against the desk. Michael had just finished his tragic tale of the mysterious woman. Now Alex had the nerve to turn up his nose and laugh. Granted, Michael knew his plight sounded a little too much like a cheesy fairytale, but it was painful all the same. Alex had no right to laugh at him.
Waiting patiently for the mockery to cut off, Michael again started thinking about the girl. He knew nothing about her save she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on and that she worked in his building. Besides that he had-
"That's it," he exclaimed, jumping out of his seat, causing Alex to fall from his perch on the corner of the desk. Michael took a minute to snicker at his friend sprawled out on the floor before finishing his thought. "She works in my building, or at least has some business there. I should be able to track her from there."
Alex picked himself up and brushed himself off taking on a new approach as the cool, calm, and collected advisor. "Don't you think that is a bit stalker-ish? What are you going to do? You can't collect all of this information on some stranger and then show up on her front doorstep with a bouquet of roses, confess your love, and expect her to just let you in. That's the kind of thing people get locked up for and you can't afford to go into the little white room right now."
Michael scowled at the fool. "Why on Earth would I do something so foolish as going to her home, much less confessing any form of emotion?" Alex looked at him, some hint of awe in his expression. Michael started pacing around to the front of his desk and then back and forth in front of it. "I simply must meet her on a less," he thought of a good word, "professional level. So far the places we've had encounters have been too public. I need to get her in a more discreet setting and see what she is like. I need to know her in a way that no one else knows her."
Alex murmured to himself in a worried tone, "Yup, he's lost it; paging the kind young men in their nice white coats." Again, Michael glowered at him. Alex held up his hands, smiling with mock innocence. "I'm just trying to tell you, you're thinking too much about this. If you like this girl so much, just do the human thing and ask her out."
Michael's look got even darker and Alex caught himself quoting the old saying in his head, if looks could kill... "You didn't come here to discuss my love life, though," Michael said and Alex felt a little guilty at the sigh of relief that escaped him.
Michael pressed a button on his desk and the giant door opened, allowing two gorgeous girls to dance in. Both were of petite stature and moved with the grace of the exotic dancers they were meant to be. Tiny waists, swaying hips, pale skin; all perfectly bred features for seducing and satisfying the male desire, danced and teased before the two men. Michael watched with a mild detachment, allowing Alex the pleasure of his two best girls.
Mariah and Brianna; his best hire so far; especially Mariah. That girl was willing to do anything, so long as her little pet, Bri, was taken care of. The girls' relationship played in his favor, though. He got whatever he wanted out of Mariah, and if a client so desired, the girls were more than willing to put on a show, which is what they found themselves doing at that moment.
The erotic dancing had taken a turn for the darker. The girls were pressed close together, their bodies still moving rhythmically, but with more animal desire now twining them limb to limb. Mariah lifted a hand up to cup Bri's breast, and the tiny blonde threw her head back, a barely audible moan escaping her lips. Michael wrinkled his nose at the display, knowing the girls did this more for their own enjoyment than his.
After a while, he couldn't take anymore and flicked a silver key at Alex. "You know where all the supplies are," he said. "Just don't do anything to hurt my jewels and have Mrs. Fairview lock the front door when you leave."
