by Vivien Vale
"You're right," I say. "I need to not get invested in this. In fact, I'm doing a pretty good job of that. I'm trying to keep my emotions out of it. But that doesn't mean I feel any better about being two-faced."
"I promise you this one simple act doesn't define your character. You did it for the sake of the company," she says and it makes me feel a little bit better. "But now let's get to the good stuff, what did you find?"
I smile up at her despite my glum mood.
"Well, to tell you the truth, what I found was his entire concept. And let me tell you, I didn't even need to spy. Our stuff is so much better than his. It looks like he has a team working on it. I'm not even sure how many of the ideas are coming directly from him."
"You don't think he's working on this himself?" she says incredulously.
"No. He didn't even do his own presentation at the first meeting. But that's beside the point. His team, or whoever he has working on this, has nothing on us. Our campaign is so much better."
"That's great," she says delightedly.
"I know. I hate to say it, but having seen his ideas makes me feel more confident in myself. I know I can do this. I know I can win."
My excitement bubbles up despite my guilt. I know that I can do this. I can save my company. I push this thought in the front of my thoughts. I will focus on this. I’ll put my job first.
"If that's the case," she says. "Then I'm glad you did it. I've been trying to tell you forever that you're great, but you wouldn't believe me. It took you comparing yourself to another person, to him, to believe in yourself. It shouldn't have taken that to give you self-validation. You're good Claire. Correction, you're great."
"Alright, alright," I stop her. "You're right. I should have listened to you and then I wouldn't have had to spy.”
For once I feel like maybe she's right. Maybe she's not just trying to pump me up. Maybe I really should believe in myself and my talent.
It's sad that it took my exploiting Liam to understand this but in truth, the guilt is starting to fade as it becomes more and more evident that I'm really good at what I do.
This is the kind of confidence I need to fly forward. I always believed in myself to some degree, but it took comparing my ideas to that of one of the biggest agencies in town to fully realize my worth. This is something I'll never forget. It's kind of a gift.
Charlotte wants all the dirty details of my night. Liam is the hottest guy in town and I don't mind telling her how he is in bed. In fact, talking about it makes me remember how hard he made me come, and the guilt fades away completely.
We spend at least an hour in my office going over the details. I cover everything from his 12-inch cock, to his rock-hard abs, to the way he kisses me so tenderly that I feel like I'm the only one.
I know it's not true. Liam probably has other women on the side, but for now, I don't have to think about that. He certainly is charismatic, and he has a way with women. I've fallen under his spell despite my strength, but I will never fully trust him.
Charlotte gives me the reminder I need.
"Keep your heart guarded. You have to remember his nature. He's never gonna change Claire, not even for you."
It takes a best friend like that to tell you the truth. I know Charlotte is only trying to protect me. If Liam was any other guy, we might be planning the wedding by now. But as it is, he's not like that and I can't expect anything different.
Liam
It's early morning and a fog has set over the city.
I can see it from above in my penthouse.
It's a rare thing to rise above even the thickest fog.
The image is a metaphor really. I'm at the top...the top of my game and the top of the business world.
I feel this way because of Claire. I can't stop thinking about her. I barely slept a wink last night because I was wondering what she was doing and where she's been these last couple days.
A part of me wants to keep tabs on her no matter what. I wonder if she's been out with other men? Not possible. Having what I can offer, I’m confident I can stand against any competition, and win over any girl.
I take the fact that I'm up so early, having gotten no sleep, to my advantage and I hit the gym. I need to keep my mind focused somehow. I like thinking about Claire, but I can’t be clingy on her.
The gym in my place is outfitted with every kind of equipment you can imagine. I have the best of the best. That's how I like everything in my life. And to me, Claire is the best.
Evan's scathing words about her are just untrue. Whether Claire has a fortune or not doesn't matter, she's fucking perfect. A woman with a talent like her can shine and climb higher in her career ladder when given the appropriate opportunities.
She's literally the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and she's smart. She's so intelligent and witty, and she has a certain kind of strength that I admire.
I keep thinking that I need to keep Claire in my life somehow, someway. I'm not sure how to do this considering I haven't had a girlfriend in ages. I never needed one since women satisfy me without having to go through the hassle of relationships.
For the moment, I take my aggression out on the gym. I work out hard and fast. I make every second count. There's no better way to vent than in the gym.
I take a hot shower and let the water fall over me. I think of her and how I wish she was here so I could bend her over the marble bench and fuck her brains out. My cock rises at the idea.
The gym did nothing to squelch my desire for her. I know I'm gonna have to at least talk to her today. I need to hear her voice. Though nothing beats actually being with her.
Electricity courses through my body and I feel connected to her. I'm dying to know where she is and what she's doing. If she were mine, I'd make her check in every minute. My possessiveness is taking over and it's hard to tame.
I dress and intentionally think about my outfit in case I see Claire. I put on one of my finest suits and exit the building.
In the limousine on the way to work, I make a call to Claire.
"Hi, it's me. I can't stop thinking about you. Will you meet me for coffee?" I asked.
"It's nice to hear from you. Sure, I'd love to meet you somewhere," she says.
"Great, I'm having my limo pick you up right now," I say.
My cock is hard at the thought of seeing her. I think about having an early-morning fuck right here in the limo, but I rein it in.
We pull up to her place and she's waiting outside. Damn, she looks beautiful.
She's wearing a little denim dress with an oversized sweater hanging off her shoulders. Her hair falls in waves down her back and those piercing blue eyes stare right at me, through me even, as I get out to open the door for her.
I kiss on the cheek.
"Hello, baby."
She gets in and I immediately roam my hands all over her body.
I kiss her hard and deep and move my hands up her dress. She's wearing practically nothing. A little thong and that's it.
"Liam, God," she says breathlessly. "I missed you too."
I finger her lightly over her panties, enough to make them nice and wet.
We kiss, and I tangled my fingers in her hair and pull her head back slightly to expose her neck. I trickle kisses down it, across her collarbone, and to her beautiful tits that are so full and round.
I feel like fucking her here so bad or dragging her back to my penthouse. Just seeing her is making my cock wild with desire.
Instead, the driver pulls up to the coffee shop and my desires will have to wait.
We get out and Claire straightens her skirt. Her little dress shows off so much of her beautifully toned legs and I long to have my head between them.
"Come on," I take her hand and lead her inside.
We order a couple espressos and sit down. This is the first time I've seen Claire since she abandoned me at breakfast the other day. I want to get to the bottom of what happened but I don't ask.
Instead, I tease h
er.
"So how's your campaign going for Velvet Luxe.”
She beams up at me and there's a sparkle in her eye. She seems to have forgotten all about whatever was bugging her the other day. She seems back to her usual self and that makes me happy.
"Well, I have to say that it's coming along great. I'm the main person working on it, so there's a lot to do, but it's fun," she says.
"I don't know how you do it, Claire. I have my team working on the campaign. Why don't you delegate more?" I ask her.
She looks at me like the answer is obvious.
"Because, I like to do the work and knowing personally what is going on each project. I like to get my hands dirty."
I don't understand her way of working but I choose not to press the point. I think that since Claire has a whole team of designers working for her that she should have them picking up the slack. She doesn't need to do everything herself.
"I'm going to win," she continues. "After all, as a woman I know way more about lingerie than you do."
She's flirting with me now and it makes me want her even more.
"I beg to differ, Claire. As a man, my position on lingerie is way more interesting."
"Oh yeah?" she says. "Prove it."
A challenge? How tempting. She must not know about my competitive nature.
I get up, flash her a devious smile, and drag her back to the powder room.
"Wait, Liam, where are we going?" she's trying to protest.
I make sure the room at the back of the café is abandoned before locking the door and pinning her up against it.
"You told me to prove it. And I intend on doing just that," I say, getting down to my knees.
I pull up her dress and I can see exactly what kind of lingerie she's wearing. I pull off her tiny thong with my teeth. I spread her legs wide apart with my strong arms, making sure she can't move, and she can't resist.
Then I trail my tongue up along her inner thigh and I feel her quiver beneath my touch. She always trembles a little bit and I love that about her. It means I make her nervous. And that's the way it should be.
I gently slide two fingers inside of her and then circle her clit with my tongue. I breathe hot gusts of air around her, helping her to open up even more.
She's moaning and trying to escape but I've got her back pressed against the wall with my one hand against her torso. She can't move. She's in my grasp for as long as I deem necessary.
"Oh Liam, not here. We can't," she says.
I say nothing but just keep plunging my tongue in and out. I finger her G-spot and suck away the juices that are gushing now. She's so wet for me.
I stop for a moment.
"Claire, you're so wet. I know you want this. Stop fighting it."
Strong as she is, she ignores my words and still tries to get away. What is she running from? I'm here to bring her a sense of ecstasy. She should just fall into it.
I finger her harder for her defiance and I flick my tongue against her clit in a way that I know will bring a sense of painful pleasure.
The move has the desired effect and soon she's coming in my mouth.
She cries out and clutches my hair with both hands.
"Liam, fuck, no. I'm coming so hard," she cries gently so as not to alert the other patrons as to what's happening in here.
I stand up and lean down to kiss her so she can taste herself on my lips. This seems to turn her on more. She's still riding waves of pleasure. As she does so, I feel her hand gripping my cock from the top of my pants.
She fumbles with the button and the zipper, but I stop her.
"No Claire, I say when. And I want you to wait for it. I want you to ache for it."
She looks disappointed and I'm glad. I want her thinking how very close she came to having my cock inside of her. I want to be on her mind all day.
This will teach her that if she tries to run away from me, to challenge me, I will have her begging for it.
Claire
Oh my God, Liam has just totally left me hanging.
He's just gone down on me in the powder room at the café and yet I am not fulfilled. I was trying to resist his invitation earlier, but it seems I can’t. Now, I’m craving for more.
Sure, I came, a lot. But what I really want is the feel of Liam's cock inside of me. I'm aching, dying to ride him, to have him fuck me so hard that I pass out.
He knows exactly what he's doing. I feel like this is his way of getting back at me for abandoning him at breakfast the other day. Little does he know why I did it.
We exit the powder room and a couple patrons look at us like they know what we've been up to. Why would both of us be in there at once?
We leave the café and I see Liam on his phone about to call the limousine to pick us up.
I hold his arm back.
"No, not today. Let me show you how I roll instead."
He looks at me intrigued as ever and cancels the limousine.
I'm on my phone booking an Uber and I think this is gonna be a hilarious experience. Something tells me Liam has never been in an Uber before. Probably never been in a public transport in his billionaire life.
"Are you ready for something new?" I ask him.
"If it's with you, then yes."
This excites me in a way I can’t describe. The ride shows up and I turn to Liam.
"Ready to go?"
"You mean in that car? Isn't that a stranger? Or is that a friend of yours?"
I pull him towards the car.
"Liam, you’re so out of it. Everybody uses Uber these days."
"Oh, so this is an Uber? he says. "I guess I'm always up for something new."
We get in the car and make small talk with the driver. I can tell this is a novel experience for Liam who’s used to a life of luxury. I wonder if he feels as out of his element here as I do in his world? His world of opulence is as foreign to me as this car ride is to him.
The driver eventually pulls up to my building. Liam has never been here and I think it'll be a nice surprise to show him where I work.
"Where are we?" he says.
"This is Epica. I want you to see my company and where I work," I say as we exit the car.
Liam takes in the ancient brick façade of my building and his eyes seemed to light up. I take him inside and virtually everyone stops to stare at us. Big names never swing by, and even if he wasn’t, Liam’s looks is enough to get anyone’s attention here.
Charlotte is the first to greet us.
"Oh hi, Liam, nice to see you again."
"I thought it was time that Liam saw the way the other half work," I say.
I show him around the building and he seems impressed.
"We definitely have a different way of operating around here. I believe in nurturing the creative spirit in people."
"I can see that," he says, avoiding a skateboard that someone left on the ground.
"I'm an artist above anything else. I believe that people who are artistic should have a certain sense of freedom in an environment that fosters their ingenuity."
I take him around to the various offices and introduce him to some of the people that work for me. No one seems to recognize him, and I think that's good for his ego, to not be known for once. He’s always used to people being so thrilled to finally be introduced to him, he takes meeting people for granted.
People are working hard and some of them barely have a moment to look up and say hi to Liam. I subtly watch him as he takes note of this. I think he’s genuinely interested to see what Epica is like and my heart swells for him.
I continue to show him my well-decorated space.
"We don't really have rules around here. I trust my people and I give them all manner of flexibility they need. We make up our own hours here and as you can see there's different things to ignite an expressive and innovative mood."
People have standing desks and stability balls. There's a video game lounge and even a room that could be considered a spa. I have a masse
use come in once a week.
Expensive art adorns the walls and yet it doesn't quite cover the exposed brick that's at least a century old.
I try to give him more details about our company practices.
"In here we have a combination of old and new, trendy and classic, black and white, etc. I feel that a blend of opposites is essential to help those creative sparks fly. Don't you think?"
He holds me by the waist.
"This is a world away from my corporate environment. If you saw my office now you'd likely be disappointed. It's nothing like this."
I'm happy about his reaction. Most people have this sense of interest when they see how I've situated the office. I just know how it needs to be because I'm an artist. I know where I would want to work and so I've created that exact environment.
A part of me wants to lament the fact that I may have to close my company. I wish I could confide in Liam about such matters, but I hold my tongue.
Instead, I take him into my office and he walks around the room and examines all my little treasures.
There are mirrors and rugs, art and artifacts. I have little pieces of memorabilia from every country I've ever visited. I certainly haven't traveled the world as much is Liam, but I've made it a point to get around.
"What's this?" he asks holding up an artistic mask.
"That is from Zimbabwe. I went on a safari there not too long ago."
"And this?" he examines my little Buddha statue.
"Blessed by monks. I got that in Tibet. It was a magical trip."
"I've never been."
He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me in close. I can smell his cologne and the strength of his body makes me feel safe.
"You need to go to Tibet. You would love it." I place my hands on his chest.
He looks into my eyes and kisses me. I feel like we've formed a new kind of connection now that I've let him into my life a little bit more. I've exposed him to my work environment and because it defines me it means a lot to have him here.