by Jenny Frame
Perri took out a handkerchief from her bag, and wiped away Roza’s tears of frustration that had started to fall. “If you want to be treated differently, then don’t give people the excuse to accept what is written about you in the media. I know there’s more to you than those headlines, because any child of Maria will have such goodness and kindness inside them.”
“I didn’t give the best impression this morning.”
“Then show this Lennox just how useful you can be. Show her the house of Ximeno-Bogdana-de Albert is not afraid of hard work.”
“Maybe.”
Chapter Six
The next morning, Lex fought her way past the paparazzi in front of the Timmy’s and finally got in the building. She immediately called security. “This is Lex. Get in touch with the police. We can’t have our staff and clients having to go through that media scrum at the front door. We need barriers and proper police support. Thanks, and call me and let me know the outcome.”
All this for a bloody princess who doesn’t even want to be here.
When she arrived at her office floor, she was surprised to see Roza’s security already in their positions. Conrad came rushing over to meet her.
“Lex, Princess Rozala arrived about ten minutes ago.”
“Really?” The Queen must have backed her after all. Excellent. She approached the office door and nodded to Major Ravn. “Morning, Major, I’ve asked security to contact the police about the press outside. I’d appreciate your cooperation if they contact you.”
“Of course. I’ll speak to them. It would make sense to move the press pack across to the other side of the street, to leave access clear for those entering the building.”
Ravn opened the door for her and she walked in to find Roza sitting at her new desk. As she did yesterday, she gave Roza a bow. “Good morning, Your Royal Highness.”
“Good morning, Lennox. Is this early enough for you?” Roza asked sarcastically.
Lex just knew this woman was going to bring a whole heap of trouble to her life. “It’s good enough, and it’s Lex. Call me Lex.”
Roza got up and strolled slowly over to Lex’s desk and sat on the edge, her skirt riding up her thigh. She was wearing a more appropriate dress today, but it was still tight around her obvious curves and assets. Lex wanted to look, but knew that would be a mistake, so she never showed an ounce of interest. She sat back in her office chair and met Roza’s eyes with indifference. Lex could see she was a temptress, but she was well practised in keeping control of her needs and wants.
“So what can I do for you first, Lex?” Roza’s eyes dropped down to Lex’s crotch and she licked her lips.
She was a beautiful girl but Lex knew when she was being played with, and she wouldn’t allow it. Clearly, Roza was playing a game of control and Lex would not let her get the upper hand.
“Well, you’re here to learn everything from the ground up, so how about Conrad teaches you how I like my coffee?” Lex laughed internally at the anger that instantaneously flared in Roza’s eyes, before she took a moment and calmed down. Lex knew she had been a bit condescending, but she was simply showing Roza she could play just as well as her.
Roza stood and smoothed down her dress. “I am yours to command, apparently.”
*
Conrad and Roza were in the staff kitchen area. As ever, Ravn wasn’t far away, and stood at the doorway of the kitchen. Conrad’s hands were shaking as he made coffee for all three of them.
“Conrad?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness?”
She touched his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin. “Hey, relax. Listen, I’m not some stiff, scary royal. I’m just a normal woman—call me Roza.”
Conrad looked nervously towards Ravn, who stood staring ahead. “Are you sure she’ll let me?”
Roza turned to Ravn and said, “Ravn, stop looking so mean and moody. You’re terrifying Conrad here. She’s a pussycat really. How about we start again? I’m Roza—I like clubbing, dancing, and having fun.”
Conrad finally cracked a smile and replied, “I’m Conrad, and I think your dress is just divine.”
Roza burst out laughing. “See? We’re going to get along famously. So dish the dirt on Lex. If I’m going to be number one tea girl, then I need to know her likes and dislikes.”
Conrad leaned back against the kitchen counter, visibly more relaxed. “That’s the thing about Lex. She doesn’t really have any dirt to dish.”
Roza joined him leaning against the counter and sipped the coffee he’d made them. She couldn’t believe someone as good-looking as Lex didn’t have any dirt, and she had noticed Lex’s good looks straight away. Even though she was annoying, infuriating, and disrespectful to her sometimes, she was an extremely good looking butch. “I don’t believe that. Tell me.”
“No, honestly. She lives a really clean life. Decaf coffee, fruit tea, protein shakes, and she gets lunch sent from a little local deli. Brown rice, chicken, veggies—super healthy.”
Roza had noticed a fridge in the office filled with fresh fruit juices and bottles of protein shakes. She has a great body—she must work out. Roza was sure she could get her attention and tempt her.
“Okay, let’s get this coffee back to her before she thinks I’m slacking.”
Roza took in the coffee and placed it on Lex’s desk. “Black coffee, decaf. I think I just about managed my first task.”
“So it would seem, thank you. I’ve mailed you the link to the virtual mailroom. I want you to go through each item, and enter the details on a spreadsheet, and note which department they have to be referred on to. It’s backed up from last week so there’s a lot to do.”
“Excuse me? You want me to go through mail? There’s nothing better you can think for me to do than sort through mail?” Roza said angrily.
Lex didn’t even look up from her own work and replied, “You’re learning from the bottom up, remember? First coffee, then mail.”
Roza didn’t know what was more infuriating, being given such a menial task or the fact she didn’t even look up at her. “You are the most disrespectful person I’ve ever met, you know that?”
“I’m not disrespectful. I’m just treating you as a normal employee, as I was requested to do. You can have more important work to do when you prove you can handle the basics. I won’t put serious work in the hands of an amateur when it could affect this charity. Your first week is mail, and then we’ll see how we go.”
Roza clenched her fingers so tightly they went white, and her heart battered in her chest. She wanted to walk out, but if she did, Lex would have won. Roza remembered what Perri had said to her yesterday. Then show this Lennox just how useful you can be. Show her the House of Ximeno-Bogdana-de Albert is not afraid of hard work.
She gave Lex a hard stare. She would be the best PA Lex ever had, and she’d have Lex eating out of her hand.
*
A few days later Roza was starting to get into the swing of things, and actually enjoying her new nine-to-five timetable. Not going out every night till all hours was giving her energy she never knew she had. So much so that after a shower and change after work, Roza had Major Ravn take her to her mother’s drawing spot in the Edwardian garden. Armed with some new pencils and a sketch pad, she was trying to recapture her love of art that she had lost many years ago.
The mid-March evening was bright and beautiful, and although a little chilly, she was quite comfortable drawing in the pergola of the garden, overlooking the pond and ducks.
As she drew, her thoughts turned to her day and the person who filled them, Lex.
Lex was fascinating to Roza. She was not only an exceptionally good-looking butch, but she was someone who embraced that part of herself wholeheartedly, much like Major Ravn, and could teach some of the men she had met about looking sharp and well turned out in their suits and ties.
Roza looked up from her sketch pad to Major Ravn, who was surveying the scene for potential threats as always.
; “Ravn?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“What do you think of Lennox King?”
Ravn took a few moments and said, “I think she is very easy to work with, straightforward, controlled, and a woman of her word, so far, to me.”
Controlled, that was a perfect way to describe Lex. Her day and way of life seemed to be regimented. Decaf coffee and a protein shake in the morning, a fruit and vegetable smoothie at eleven, and then she disappeared from the office at lunchtime for an hour and a half every day, and returned to the healthiest lunch Roza had ever seen.
Conrad, with whom she had had an instant rapport, insisted Lex was everything she appeared. No dark secrets and no talk of any women in her life, which she found hard to understand.
Lex had a calm authority that was very sexy, but there must be a way to shake her and get under that controlled persona, and if there was, she was the girl to do it.
Roza looked down at her drawing of the pond and was pleased with what was developing. She was extremely rusty and it would take time to relearn some of the techniques she had learned in art class as a child, but the process was fun and brought calm to her day. It brought her comfort to know her mother had been in this exact spot doing the same as she was today.
She closed her eyes and listened to the birds chirping away and tried truly to connect with the spirit of this place and her mother, but every time she tried to clear her thoughts, Lennox King floated across her mind.
Roza had to admit, it was a change to meet someone who either didn’t treat her with reverence or like a ticket to a glamorous night out, like some of her acquaintances. No, Lex didn’t give her attention easily, but for some reason Roza wanted it so very much.
She packed up her things and said to Ravn, “I think that’s enough for today. Time for dinner, I think.”
I wonder what Lex is doing?
*
Since Roza had arrived at the beginning of the week, Lex had watched her work with quiet amusement. The look of determination on her face, and the intense fury that came over her when the computer did something she wasn’t expecting or couldn’t work out how to fix was sweet.
Sweet? Did I just describe her as sweet?
She was slowly learning that Roza’s anger, though intense, would dissipate equally as quickly as it rose. Roza was certainly more complex than the short phrases the press used to describe her, like party girl and royal rebel.
They had managed to successfully get through a first week together. She was in no doubt Roza was simply determined to prove her wrong, that she could cope easily with the work given her, but as to whether Roza would lose interest over the next few weeks, who could say. The one thing Lex did know was she would deserve an honour from the Queen if she survived this.
Lex was just about to get her bag together for the gym when Roza came over to her desk with a satisfied smirk on her face.
“Finished,” Roza announced.
“Finished? Finished what?” Lex thought maybe she was leaving or something like that.
Roza bent over the desk, giving Lex a free view of her cleavage. “Finished the work you gave me. All last week’s mail logged and done, up to this morning. I emailed the spreadsheet back to you.”
Lex had to admit she was surprised. The amount of tedious work she had been given should have kept her busy well into next week.
“That’s quick. Are you sure you’ve done it correctly?”
“Positively. Check it yourself,” Roza challenged.
While Lex called up the file, Roza came and sat on the desk, just by the side of the computer. She was so close, Lex could smell her perfume, and it smelled so good.
Lex checked down all the columns on the spreadsheet to make sure everything was right, and it looked perfect. “Did you send these on to the correct departments?”
“I did. You can check on that too,” Roza said smugly.
“It’s all right. I trust you. Well done then, Roza. I thought this would take you till next week, but I was wrong.”
“So what’s next?”
Lex got up and got a protein shake and water from the fridge. “Next is I’m going to the gym. Have an early lunch.”
“You’re very dedicated.”
Lex put her things in her backpack and zipped it up. “Maybe, but I like to keep healthy.”
“Which gym do you go to? Maybe I could use some exercise to wake me up at lunchtime,” Roza hinted.
“No,” Lex said flatly. “The gym is my private time.”
“You’re very rude, you know.”
Lex swung the bag onto her shoulder. “Look, it’s just my time to relax, okay? Away from here, away from everyone. Why don’t you go out to one of the restaurants around here. You’d love them. Take Conrad—I bet he’d love to have lunch with you.”
Lex observed a look of sadness and what she could only describe as loneliness.
“I can’t just go out and have lunch. You’ve seen the press out there. I need to send out one of my security people for lunch, just like every day.”
Lex found herself feeling sorry for Roza. She hadn’t realized Roza stayed in the office every lunchtime while she was out. Lex tried to be upbeat. “You did an excellent job this morning. I’ll get you some more work when I get back, and Monday you can do something a bit less tedious. We’re never short of work to do at Timmy’s.”
Roza’s cheeky smile was back. She got up and leaned over to whisper in Lex’s ear, “I’m ready for whatever you want, Lex. In fact you’ll have to keep up with me.”
She pulled back, winked, and walked seductively out of the office. Roza’s words and breath on her ear hit Lex hard. Her heart pounded, and her sex throbbed. No one had triggered that sort of reaction in a long, long time, and it frightened her. She grabbed her bag, and went out of the office quickly and without looking back.
*
Lex got through the rest of the day without either throttling or kissing Roza, although both had been viable options. She sent her home about four thirty and worked late, as usual. She went home to quickly change and headed back onto the late-night streets of London. Dressed casually in jeans, T-shirt, and jacket, she got lots of interested flirtatious looks as she walked down the street in a predominantly gay area of town. This part of London was filled with pubs, clubs, and restaurants, and happy well-adjusted people enjoying a spring evening together.
Lex would never describe herself as well adjusted, far from it—and that’s why events today had disturbed her.
She stopped off by a corner café with tables and chairs outside and a darker more intimate seating arrangement inside. Lex walked through the door and heard her name being called.
“Lex, over here.”
Lex smiled when she saw her friend, Vic. She made her way over to the table in the corner, and Vic stood and embraced her. “Thanks for coming, I appreciate it.”
“You know I’m only a phone call away. I ordered you a decaf latte. I hope that’s okay?”
Lex took a seat. “Perfect.”
“So how’s life, mate?” Vic asked.
Vic was always straight to the point, and that made her a perfect friend for her. Vic was a few years older than her, and the only person she could count as a friend, in her new life. The only one who could understand.
“Things have been good.” Lex tapped her fingers on the wooden table nervously.
“But? I know something’s wrong. I can tell when you’re worried.”
A waitress came and gave them their coffee, giving Lex more time. “Well, it’s not really wrong. It’s just…I had a reaction to something today that I haven’t had for a long time, and it freaked me out.”
Vic added lots of sugar to her coffee while Lex added nothing as usual.
“We have a new girl, a new woman working for us. I’m teaching her the business and—”
“Princess Rozala?” Vic asked.
Lex looked around them to see if anyone heard, but everyone was talking amongst themselves. “Not
so loud. The press are camped outside the building, desperate for a story. I don’t want my troubles to be splashed across the papers.”
Vic laughed. “Princess Rozala is filling the papers every day. I’ve had a running commentary from June about her and her outfits.”
Vic and her wife June were a devoted couple and an inspiration for Lex. “June can work with her then. The Queen Consort asked me to do her a favour and keep the princess busy while she’s here.”
“Is she a rebel as they say? I know there are a lot of people angry over this arms business, and her ex-girlfriend,” Vic asked.
Lex immediately felt something new. She felt protective of Roza, and didn’t want people to have a bad view of her. “She’s obstinate and fiery, but hard-working, when she puts her mind to it.” And lonely, she thought silently. “I think there’s a lot more to her than what the media think.”
Vic dipped one of the biscotti in her coffee. “If you think she has redeeming qualities, then she must not be that bad.”
Lex stared into her coffee. “She’s not, just misunderstood. Probably.”
“So what’s the problem? When you called, you said you needed to talk.”
“I felt something today when I was talking to her, that I hadn’t felt for a long time. Hunger.”
“She’s a beautiful girl. It’s only natural to feel attracted to her,” Vic said.
Lex shook her head vigorously. “No, you don’t understand. Not attraction, I’ve felt that before. The intense hunger I used to feel before I…”
“Before you went on a binge?”
Lex nodded and touched the tattoo on her wrist. “It frightened me. That feeling when you have no control of yourself, or your wants and needs. I don’t know why it’s back after so long.”