by Julie Morgan
Lisa moans and wraps her legs around his waist. He mumbles against her lips, “I want to be inside of you. I want to feel you around me.” He grinds his hardened length against her.
Her back arches, and she bites his lip. “I want you, please. I need you!” Lisa begs him. Her hands move down to his ass, pulling him closer.
Lisa’s alarm goes off, waking her up and pulling her from her dream. Groaning, she turns over and slaps the “off” button, willing herself back to her dream. She reaches out, trying to hold onto Alex, but the dream continues to fade into her subconscious.
Sighing, Lisa sits up and stretches. Feeling grateful for finally having a good dream, and not remembering any of her dreams from the previous nights, she gets out of bed. Looking around her room, she doesn’t remember actually going to bed. A smile forms on her lips when she remembers that Alex carried her to bed last night. Looking down, she sees that she still has on her t-shirt and shorts. “Well, at least he was a gentleman,” she says and starts getting ready for work.
Pulling into the parking garage at work, she notices that Samuel’s car isn’t in his parking spot. She’s curious as to where he may be, but also relieved that she won’t have to see him. She's made out with her boss so she’s not sure she could actually look him in the eyes without blushing. Her mind wanders to Alex for a moment and she smiles. Her head tilts back, wondering how she got into this predicament. “Neither of them is my boyfriend so why am I worried?” She sighs as she pulls down her vanity mirror, checking her make-up. “Because I’m crazy for Alex,” she answers herself. Closing her vanity, she grabs her purse and briefcase, then steps out of her car and makes her way towards the elevator.
Waiting for the elevator, she pulls out her phone and sends a text to Alex. Meet me for lunch today? Around noon? My treat, this time. She presses SEND and drops her phone back into her purse as the doors to the elevator open.
She’s smiling as she walks into her office, feeling relaxed without Samuel around. She receives a few “way to go” and “well done” from people about her red carpet event. She wonders if anyone here actually saw her making out with Samuel. Keeping the smile on her lips, she holds her head high and hopes for the best.
Mariah approaches with a few notes in her hand. Handing them over, she begins filling Lisa in on today’s events. “Your first client is here and waiting in your office. Also, Steven asked if he could take you to lunch today. You have a free spot from 11 until 2 so I let him know you’ll get back to him. Also…”
Lisa begins to tune Mariah out as they walk together towards her office. Looking through her glass door, she sees an aging man with gray hair and a bald spot sitting in her office. He’s looking at a few of the pictures she has hanging on her wall. She recognizes him as one of the R&B and Rap artists’ agents.
Lisa turns to Mariah. “Wait. I have lunch plans today. Please let Steven know I can’t.” Mariah nods and Lisa turns to look into her office again. “Please bring in a pot of coffee. I’m afraid he’ll be taking up most of my morning. He’s the agent for rap artist Massacre.” Mariah’s brows lifted at the name. Lisa nods and sighs, “I know.” She shakes her head and opens the door. Mariah turns to go get the coffee.
“Welcome to Elite PR & Marketing.” Lisa extends her hand. “I’m Lisa Adams and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Shaking her hand, he smiles warmly. “Good morning, Ms. Adams. I’m Michael DuBois. I represent Mr. Shane Finnley, also known as Massacre.” Lisa nods and walks behind her desk, taking a seat and turning on her computer. Scooting her chair closer, she keys in a few letters and her computer screen comes to life.
She looks at him. “Mr. DuBois, let me know what we can do for Massacre.”
He begins his speech on why Massacre has selected Elite PR, where he wants to be in five years, and who he wants to record for. She listens to him as he speaks, but her mind shifts over to Alex, curious as to what he’s doing right now. She thinks of their first kiss on Ellis Island, the pillow fight in her den, and him carrying her to bed.
“Ms. Adams?” Looking up, she realizes that Michael has asked her a question. She heard him say “contract” and “negotiation”. Punching in a few keystrokes, her printer light flashes and a contract is printed out.
She slides it over to him. “Please look this over. As the firm to represent Mr. Shane Finnley, also known as Massacre, here are our conditions, as well as percentages we’ll take from his earnings.” She watches as Michael reviews the contract information.
Standing from his chair, he pulls out his phone, presses a button, then brings the phone to his ear. “I’ll be just a moment. I need to touch base with my client.” He makes his way towards Lisa’s door.
“Not a problem. Take your time.” He nods and begins speaking into the phone. Watching his body language, she can see that Massacre is happy with the proposal. Michael nods a few times and chuckles into the phone.
Lisa reaches down into her purse and pulls out her own phone. She smiles when she sees a text from Alex. See you at noon. I look forward to it.
Lisa grins as her fingers swipe across the screen, returning his message. Meet me at the Italian restaurant down on Fifth. I’ll see you around 11:30. She presses SEND and slips her phone into her purse.
Michael walks back in the door. “Massacre accepts your offer.” He signs the contract.
“That’s great news, Mr. DuBois.” Lisa stands and smiles.
“It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Adams.” Michael extends his hand and they shake.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Pulling up to the restaurant, Lisa’s takes her compact out of her purse and touches up her face, then applies a layer of light pink gloss to her lips. Placing it back in her purse, she steps out of the cab and pays the driver. Making her way towards the entrance, the host opens the door for her. “How many?”
“I see whom I’m meeting.” She smiles at the host.
Alex looks up as she approaches the table. He’s wearing a hunter green polo with denim jeans. Silver shines from his square belt buckle as he stands up. “You look beautiful.” He kisses Lisa on her cheek as his right arm wraps around her waist, laying his hand on the small of her back.
Closing her eyes, she kisses his cheek and then smiles. “Thank-you.” She breathes him in, allowing his scent to fill her senses. “You look handsome.”
She takes a seat and a waitress, who seems taken aback by Alex’s looks, approaches. She’s a short, slender young girl with bright red hair pulled up into a messy bun, a pencil shoved through it; her eye makeup is too thick, giving her the appearance of raccoon eyes; her lipstick is bright pink, which contrasts painfully with her bright red hair; her eyes are dark brown, but look darker because of the raccoon eyes; her white V-neck t-shirt, a size too small, wraps around her thin frame in an attempt to over-emphasize her breasts; her black skinny jeans make her appear shorter than she actually is.
Lisa purses her lips in an effort not to laugh as she notices Alex is oblivious to the waitress’ staring. “I’ll just have some water with lemon, please.” She continues to stare at him.
“I’ll have hot tea.” Looking up at the waitress, it’s as if she’s jolted out of her trance. She scribbles on her pad and glances at Lisa. Her brows rise as if asking what she wants.
“Water? Lemon?” The waitress nods and turns to leave. She turns back to look at Alex again, then walks into the kitchen. Lisa turns to face him and laughs softly.
Alex tilts his head, the expression on his face looks as if he missed the punch line. “What’s funny?”
Lisa grins. “Oh, nothing outside of you having an admirer.”
Alex furrows his brows. “Who?” He looks around, oblivious.
Lisa is humbled by his innocence. “Our waitress. She was gawking at you. It was funny.”
Alex eyes Lisa for a moment, then raises his brow. “Are you jealous?” he asks, teasing.
“Absolutely not, but I can pretend to be if you want a good laugh.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, please don’t. Besides, I wasn’t paying attention anyway. I’m here with you, no one else.”
She smiles and blushes slightly. As she looks down at her menu, Alex reaches over and begins to play with her fingers. His fingers brush lightly against hers, rubs across her palm a few times, then he runs the back of his fingers across hers. Lisa looks down and watches his fingers, then raises her gaze to him. “Thank-you for last night, for carrying me to bed.” She smiles. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
Alex nods and squeezes her hand. “You’re welcome. You’re quite beautiful when you sleep. Well, except when you drool.” He purses his lips to keep from laughing.
“What? Oh, my god, no I didn’t!” Feeling mortified, the blood suddenly rushes to her face and she covers it with her hands.
Alex laughs and shakes his head. “Lisa…” Leaning forward, he pulls her hands from her face. “I’m teasing. You weren’t drooling.” He chuckles again and she glares at him playfully.
“Very funny. I’ll get you for that.” Lisa glances towards their waitress, who was returning. She balances Lisa’s water and Alex’s hot tea on a tray. Lisa notices that she has managed to pull her V-neck down to expose what little cleavage she has available. The overwhelming smell of vanilla fills the air around their table. Lisa brings her fingers to her nose to block the smell, while raising her brows at Alex. He looks over at Lisa, holding in a chuckle.
“I’ll have the eggplant parmesan,” Alex tells her.
“Make that two, please.” Lisa hands her menu back to the waitress. She thanks her, then bends over the table in an attempt to let Alex look at her cleavage as she takes the menu. Standing back up, she tries to give him a seductive look, causing Lisa to snort. The vanilla infused waitress tries to give Alex the best view of her ass as she walks away.
“Well, that was…interesting.” Alex shakes his head, fanning the air in front of him.
“Hang on! I might have some perfume I can spray!” Lisa retorts, then rolls her eyes.
“Oh no, please don’t.”
“I was teasing. It’ll pass soon.”
Their conversation carried on through their lunch. The waitress brought out their food and laid the plates down in front of them. The smell of vanilla lingered in the air a bit as they allowed their food to cool. During the course of the meal, Lisa’s phone rang. Pulling it out, she looked to Alex. “I’m sorry. It’s work. I’ll be just a moment.”
“Take your time. It’s okay. If the vanilla makes a comeback, though, I’ll send a search party for you.” Alex smiles at her, playfully.
Lisa grins. “Hopefully, we won’t resort to that.” She stands up and walks outside. As the outdoor breeze blows gently against her and seeing the name on the screen, she swipes her finger to answer her call. “Hi, Samuel.”
“Lisa, I have some great news! When you get back from lunch, we have some celebrating to do! Hell, where are you? I can come get you and we can get started early!” Lisa can hear the excitement in his voice. She recalls when they were kissing the other night. The excitement that comes from kissing Samuel was just that…exciting. However, she doesn’t want to be put into that situation again. He’s her boss. She doesn’t want to go down that route with him or her career.
“I’m not in a position that I can meet with you right now, Samuel, but as soon as I’m back at the office, we can discuss your news. Will that work?” She bites her lip, turning to look into the restaurant. The waitress is back at the table and the look on Alex’s face just makes her want to giggle.
“Umm, yeah, that’ll be fine.” Lisa turns away and she can hear the disappointment in Samuel’s voice. “I’ll see you then.” He hangs up.
Lisa furrows her brows. “Whatever,” she mumbles to herself. She turns to walk back into the restaurant and puts her phone away. Seeing her approach, the waitress turns to leave the table, leaving a cloud of vanilla in her wake.
“Everything good?” Alex questions. Lisa can see the relief on his face now that she has returned.
She nods. “Yeah, everything’s fine. That was my boss. Apparently, we have something to celebrate when I return.” She raises a brow to Alex with a mischievous grin. “So, do you have a hot date planned later with your vanilla girl?”
Alex shakes his head, grinning. “Hardly but, if you play jealous, we can… no never mind.” He shakes off the thought, then raises his brow. “So, what does he want to celebrate with you?” Lisa picks up on something in Alex’s voice. Looking to him, she’s curious what it is. Worry, maybe?
“He didn’t go into detail on it. I’ll be meeting with him when I get back to the office.” He nods and they continue their meal.
When they’re done, Lisa waves down the waitress, and hands over her MasterCard. “You didn’t have to buy my lunch.”
“I know. I wanted to.”
The waitress returns with Lisa’s card and a pen. She wishes them a great afternoon, and her eyes remain on Alex’s a moment longer than necessary. She smiles at him as she turns to walk away, swaying her ass a little too much. Shaking her head, Lisa signs the slip and leaves a tip. She’s tempted to leave her a handwritten one of “lay off the vanilla”, but decides against it.
As soon as they’re outside, Alex pulls Lisa into his arms, hugging her to him. Lisa’s arms move around him and she breathes him in. “It was great to see you,” he tells her. “Can I see you tonight?”
She smiles, nodding against his shoulder. “I’ll call you when I get home, okay?” She pulls back slightly and smiles up at him. He leans in and kisses her softly. She feels him cringe slightly when he pulls away. She looks up at him, but sees contentment on his face.
“I look forward to it.” Reluctantly letting her go, Alex hails down a cab for her. Pulling to the curb, Alex opens the door for her and she gets inside. Giving the address to the driver, she turns and waves to Alex as she takes off down the road, back towards her office.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The driver pulls to the front entrance of her office. Handing the money over, she steps out onto the sidewalk just as Samuel pulls around in his car. His window rolls down and Lisa bends over to look inside. “Come on, you’re just in time.”
She raises her brows. “Just in time for what?”
“We have somewhere to be. Now get in.” He smiles and unlocks the door for her. “Come on.” She sighs and opens the door, then gets inside. He’s wearing a gray three-piece suit with a blue button down shirt, accented with a gray-and-blue tie. He looks Lisa over as she gets in, almost undressing her with his eyes. “You look nice.” He smiles at her. “I’m taking you to Dance 52.”
Lisa bites her lip and closes her eyes. Turning to face Samuel, she takes a deep breath to calm herself. “Look, Samuel, the other night…” Lisa starts.
Samuel raises his hand, interrupting her. “There’ll be none of that. We both had too much to drink. All water under the bridge and stuff. Okay?” He grins and Lisa’s demeanor softens.
“Okay, that’s fine. I, well, I just didn’t want to ruin things between us. You’re my boss and, well, I…I just don’t want to go down that path.”
He nods and looks out the other direction, acting like he’s checking for cars that might be passing by. “Think nothing of it.” Turning back to Lisa, he smiles. “Now, if we’re done with this subject, let’s go." Lisa nods and he pulls out, driving towards Dance 52. The conversation is quiet between them. Some of it due to the calls Samuel receives during their drive. As he hangs up his phone, he turns to Lisa. “So I hear you landed Massacre. Great account. With a name like that...” Samuel chuckles
She nods. “You’d be surprised. Massacre, as he calls himself, is really a nice kid. He loves music, rap most of all. He calls himself Massacre because he wants to massacre it when he raps. You know, ‘tear it up’,” Lisa said, quoting her newest client. Samuel chuckles. Something in his voice sounded a little off…dark, maybe. She turns her gaze back towards the road as h
e pulls into Dance 52.
It’s early afternoon and people are already lining up to get inside. Walking towards the front door, Mike’s working the line. He’s wearing a t-shirt that looks gray against his dark skin. It’s tight across his chest and arms. He recognizes Lisa, and he smiles at her. “Back for more?” he chuckles and Lisa smiles.
Samuel looks between them. “Friend of yours?”
“Sort of. I’ll explain later.”
Mike removes the red velvet rope so Samuel and Lisa can walk inside. The bass causes vibrations in Lisa’s skin, the dance floor’s already full. The bartenders are busy making drinks as the DJ is working on setting up his next playlist. Samuel places his hand on Lisa’s lower back and leads her toward the bar.
Leaning in so Lisa can hear him, she can feel his breath against her ear. “I didn’t get to properly thank you and congratulate you for your amazing event.” He chuckles. “And congratulate you on landing Massacre.”
Lisa raises her brows to this and shakes her head. Leaning into him, she says, “Samuel, you definitely thanked me the other night.” She blushes. “Many times over.” Pulling away, Samuel smirks as he looks towards the bartender and waves him down.
“Two shots of Grey Goose, please.” Lisa shakes her head and fears what’s coming, but goes with it. The bartender places two shot glasses on the bar and fills them with the clear liquid. Turning to Lisa, he leans in again, his breath tickling her ear. “What would you like?” He pulls away as Lisa looks at him, confused.
She leans in. “Are these both for you?” He nods. “Okay, a lemon drop.” He nods and turns to the bartender, requesting her shot and making it a double. He leads them across the floor to a table. She slides in, Samuel next to her.