by S. J. Smith
“So have I missed anything?” Mistally asked.
“We were discussing how the best bet for Melissa is as the new ambassador. She does not think it will happen. I think the king will want to make that happen,” Lenah said.
“And you would be correct dear Lenah,” said the voice of the king as he walked onto the porch. Melissa froze in shock.
“Unfortunately the Earth Federation Council is not going to do it. It will be thirty days or so before they send another one. They assure me it will happen and our trade people are already in contact with Earth’s. I have another offer for you Melissa. I would imagine you have been worried about your future,” he said with a smile. Everyone got very quiet and it took a moment before she could find her voice.
“Your Majesty?” was all she could come out with.
“I have decided and been advised that I will need another advisor. We are considering several new alliances and embassies and I will need some input from many people. I would like you to be one of them,” he said with a bow. She remembered making a joke to Lancer about being an advisor to the king. She saw him smirk and knew he remembered it.
“An advisor Your Grace?” she asked.
“Indeed. I will need you to also, between now and when your new Earth ambassador arrives, to becoming fully acquainted with Ilona culture to help them have an easier time adjusting. Also, if you would be so inclined, I will need you to go over several files of information on other worlds and customs. It is so you can advise me and mine on good ways to deal with them. I realize it is not the post you are used to,” he gestured around at the villa, “but it is not an uncomfortable place to call home,” he finished. She stood in surprise. Live here in the villa? Advise the king? Stay on Ilona! With the boys! She felt a smile come over her face and her body relax. Cardel chuckled softly and she elbowed him which caused everyone to laugh.
“I would be honored Your Grace. I will do my best to serve your needs,” the king nodded as Lenah handed him a drink.
“That is how Ilona takes care of each other,” he said and raised his glass.
THE END
Bonus Story 21 of 40
After Hours
Diana sat across the table staring at the head of the Hayato Corporation; watching him pour over their proposed deal. To say she was nervous was a complete understatement. After all, this was only her job that was at risk. She was a part of the team that had worked its butt off to draft this deal and her mentor/boss, Meredith, was the one who put her in charge. Meredith sat next to Diana. She looked calm, cool and collected, but Diana knew how important this was to her. A series of bad deals in the past had put their company in hot water. This was one of the reasons Diana was put in charge of drafting this deal.
Diana was the best and brightest student to come out of Harvard Business School two years ago and she had proven herself to be capable of handling anything thrown at her. Of course, it didn’t hurt that she was the daughter of one of their trustees. This, however, was a bit of a test to see if their investment in her was well-founded, and to see if she was gifted or if daddy pulled the strings of her life.
Mr. Tenshin’s face did not betray how he really felt about the document. Sure, his face looked like he had just smelled something dreadful, but Diana had learned that that was just his natural resting bitch face kicking in. She looked over at Meredith who glanced over at her and smiled. Diana could see in her eyes that she was praying to whatever heavenly power could grant her victory.
Mr. Tenshin closed the portfolio and took a sip of his tea. The room was silent, but Diana felt as if her eardrums would explode from it. The old man began to speak in his native tongue, just as he had done all week long, and then looked to his translator.
“Mr. Tenshin asked who wrote the draft?” said the translator. Her team collectively shifted in their seats away from Diana. She had half a mind to swear at them, but kept her composure.
“That would be Diana, here,” said Meredith finally. Mr. Tenshin looked at Meredith, his eyes were like daggers. She could not tell if he was pleased to hear that or if he was disappointed by that fact. Mr. Tenshin nodded and spoke again. His voice was so rough that it made her feel like he was yelling at her about something. The translator, however, was smiling and nodded approvingly.
“He says that she has a great mind for the business world and that it is great misfortune that he did not find her before your company did.” The tension immediately left the room as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Meredith laid her hand on Diana’s and squeezed it. “Of course she does,” she said. “She is my protégé after all!” Diana smiled warmly, but deep down she knew that Meredith would have thrown her under the bus if this deal had gone sideways.
Mr. Tenshin took his pen and signed the bottom of the form before sliding it down to his associates. The two parties exchanged pleasantries as the signatures were finished. Meredith would have been angry if they acted unprofessional while Mr. Tenshin was in the room. Diana, Meredith, and the rest of the team bowed low in respect to Mr. Tenshin and when they lifted their heads, Diana nearly collapsed in shock when she saw that Mr. Tenshin was finally smiling at her.
As soon as the door closed, Diana’s team surrounded her and began to congratulate her for what she had done. Courtney, who was her personal cheerleader through the entire process, gave her a huge hug.
“I swear to god, I thought we lost that one!” she said.
“You and me both!” said Diana. Meredith waited for Courtney to release Diana before she moved in for a hug, the first she ever received from her mentor.
“Diana, I have to say that I did have my doubts,” said Meredith as Diana’s team nudged each other knowingly. “But you have just done something that is going to take care of us for a very, very, very long time! The amount of money we will earn partnering with the Hayato Corporation is astronomical!”
“Thanks Meredith,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Really!” She added that to cover her ass knowing that to everyone outside of the room, Meredith would make sure to tell them that she had spent countless work hours with them drafting the proposal and not out hunting for husband number three.
Meredith smiled sweetly at her. “You are too much, Diana,” she said. “Listen, why don’t you sit tight in here and Courtney can run out and get us a bottle of champagne to celebrate.”
Diana looked at her friend who smiled, but clearly did not appreciate being commanded like some servant.
“Sure, Mere,” said Courtney.
Meredith’s face contorted as if she had sucked on a lemon. “Uhm… Courtney? You know how I feel about people calling me “Mere.” It makes me sound like some stripper from Minnesota.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” said Courtney. It took everything Diana had not to laugh knowing full well that her friend was very much aware of Meredith’s pet peeve. “It won’t happen again, I swear.”
“See that it doesn’t,” said Meredith snipingly. Meredith squeezed Diana’s arm. “I’ll be back when the champagne arrives. I need to tell the higher ups. Great job, again!” As soon as the door closed, Courtney flipped her the bird.
“God! It’s like working for Miranda Tate in The Devil Wears Prada!”
Diana sighed. “Well, you’re not lying,” she said. “Come on, I’ll go with you.”
The two girls promptly went back to the corral of desks they were assigned to and got their coats before making their way out into the chilly New York City air. Despite the noxious smells that filled her nostrils every time she went outside, she was glad to finally be able to see daylight.
“I’m so sick of that bitch treating me like a slave,” Courtney said. “I’m pretty sure she’s a racist.”
Diana smirked. “I’m pretty sure she hates everyone equally,” she said. “Besides, you were the one who had to call her Mere.”
Courtney shrugged. “What’s the big deal?” she asked. “I don’t flip out when people shorten my name to Court.”
/> “Everyone is different,” she told her friend. “Just like I don’t let a whole bunch of people call me Nana.”
Courtney reached up and pinched her cheeks, “But it’s soooo cute though!” Diana laughed as she pushed Courtney off of her. Courtney looped her arm through Diana’s as they walked down the street to fetch the champagne. “So, how excited is James gonna be?”
Diana blushed. “I hope he’ll be excited,” she said. “We kinda had a fight about me spending so much time at work.”
Courtney sucked her teeth in disgust. “Whatever!” she exclaimed. “He needs to realize that he isn’t dating a do-nothing bitch. You are a strong woman who is trying to stand up on her own two feet.” While Diana hated when Courtney called used the term “do-nothing bitch”, she had to admit that it comforted her to know that she was not referring to her.
“Well, thanks,” she said. “But I don’t think he cares all that much. I mean, he’s been pretty stressed at work himself so maybe he was just letting off some steam.”
Courtney shrugged. “Maybe,” she said. “But that does not give him the right to get mad at you. After all, you’re the catch. Not him.” Diana’s cheeks turned beet red. She never saw herself as pretty. When she was in middle school she was the chubby girl and when she grew into her body the boys adored her and girls despised her. It led to many awkward moments and many clothes that refused to show off her best physical attributes. If it wasn’t for Courtney’s tutelage, Diana would probably look like the girl in The Devil wears Prada. Before the makeover.
Courtney was wrong about one thing though. James was indeed a catch. On one of those rare nights when Diana allowed herself to dress up, she ran into James who was out celebrating a case he and his firm had just won. James was like a real life Ken doll; right down to the perfect hair, perfect teeth and perfect ass. He made her feel so inferior and yet she loved the fact that he absolutely adored her.
“Either way, it’ll be different soon,” she said. “I think he might be planning to propose to me.” Courtney stopped moving, much to the displeasure of the people behind them who were not paying attention.
“Shut up!” she exclaimed. “How do you know this?”
Diana grabbed Courtney to keep her moving. “Well, he has been acting strange the past few days,” she said. “I mean, we’ve been arguing a bit more, but he’s so apologetic afterwards. Overly so.”
“Like he’s trying to keep you in a good mood?” she asked.
“Exactly!” cried Diana. “And this morning, while I was doing the laundry? I found a sales receipt from that little jewelry store we went to back in December. I thought it was funny how we went there and he asked me about jewelry, but I never got anything for Christmas. And now?”
Courtney squealed as she cut off circulation to Diana’s arm. “Holy shit!” she cried. “I’m so happy for you, Diana! This is fucking incredible!” Courtney danced on her toes, making the people behind them move around them. “He was probably waiting for this stupid trial to be over with!”
“That’s what I think too,” said Diana. The two arrived at a little corner shop and went back to the cooler.
“Poor guy must be a wreck. No wonder he’s been stressed,” she said. Courtney bumped into Diana with her butt. “You should do something nice for him. It’s a victory for you and it’s the end of the case for him. You two should get some of that…tension out.”
Diana pushed Courtney playfully. “Courtney, please!” she said embarrassed.
“I’m serious!” she replied. “And when you’re in that little post-sex afterglow? Tell him that you want to spend the rest of your life just like that. You’d practically be setting him up for a proposal!” Diana thought about it. James was horrible at timing. Maybe she could help him out a bit.
“Alright,” she said finally. Courtney squealed again and grabbed a bottle of chardonnay as well as the champagne. Diana screwed her face up at her friend. “What are you doing? Meredith said just get champagne.”
“Oh, I know!” she said with a coy smile. “This is for you and James. You know! Because you said it makes you two horny and fuck like rabbits.”
Diana cried out and “playfully” hit her friend in the arm. The two women bought their alcohol returned back to the office to celebrate. As they enjoyed their champagne without Meredith (who had been taken out to a restaurant with a few of the higher ups), Diana’s mind was now thinking about what would happen when she got home. She had not really allowed herself time to sit and ponder about what would happen if/when James proposed. They had been dating for three years while they both worked on their careers and with their respective opportunities, she believed that a change was near. Fate seemed to smile on her as she sealed the deal with Mr. Tenshin and set herself up for a big promotion. Her world was looking up and there was no way she was going to come back down.
*****
Diana could not get home fast enough. Part of her wanted to just go home with the bottle of wine and let nature take its course, but a day like today called for more pomp and circumstance. Nothing would set the mood better than having a few of their favorite dishes brought in from Shinsuke Gourmet, their favorite Chinese take-out. Strange and a bit cheap, Diana knew that James would love to enjoy their night with some cheap Chinese food and good sex. After all, they could go to a fancy restaurant to celebrate their engagement later.
Diana ordered the food before she left the office and had a taxi take her to the restaurant to pick it up. Courtney took the liberty of texting her the entire ride back home, letting her know that she should ask to freshen up a bit before opening the bottle of wine. Diana did not mind her friend’s encouragement. The day was so wonderful and this would be the perfect way to cap it off. When she arrived at their apartment building with her food and wine in hand, she was so excited that she thought her heart may jump straight out of her chest.
She went into the elevator and immediately regretted turning down Courtney’s proposition to touch up her make-up. She told her friend that James would understand if she looked a little battle worn since she had just come from work, but she did not realize just how plain her hair was. She would definitely have to jump in the shower before having sex. Maybe even before dinner.
The elevator ride felt like it was taking forever to reach her apartment on the eighth floor. She knew it was her nerves, but the anticipation of her entire life changing was too much for her to handle. After what felt like an hour, Diana exited the elevator and briskly walked to her apartment down the hall. A small smile was fixed on her face as she hurried to get inside. As she walked, Diana could swear that she heard the sound of people having sex from behind one of the doors. Diana blushed again and bit her bottom lip as she thought to herself that she would soon be making a chorus of moans.
James was an excellent lover. For their one year anniversary, James woke her up every Saturday with his head between her legs. One moment, she would be sound asleep with her body aching from the previous day’s work and the next moment she was being awoken by an orgasm that washed over her; her hands instinctively buried in James’ soft blond hair and bringing him in closer while his lips sucked on her swollen clit. Her pussy tingled at the thought. She was so glad she decided to wear a pair of her sexy lace panties and a skirt to keep her nether regions cool while she turned herself on with the thought of all the things that James would want to do with her.
When she reached her door, Diana couldn’t help, but pause for a moment. As she approached her door, she noticed that the sounds of sex were getting louder. While one would assume that it was probably one of her neighbors, Diana knew that the people next door were more likely to scream and fight before they would have sex. That’s when Diana heard the sounds of a girl moaning loudly behind her door.
Diana’s heart dropped as she hesitated to stick her key into the door, but she steeled herself and pushed through. What she saw made her drop the Chinese food on the ground with a small thud. On the bed she shared with James on the othe
r side of their loft style apartment was another woman on her hands and knees being pounded from behind. She wondered why they had not heard her, but with all the screaming the girl was providing, she was surprised she didn’t hear banging on the walls.
Upon closer observation, Diana’s shock gave way to rage as she realized that the woman in front of her boyfriend was Mariza Reynolds, one of the lawyers on James’ team. Mariza’s clothes were scattered all over her hardwood floor. Her tan skin glistened with sweat as her curls bounced and her big fake tits jiggled with each thrust. Her head was buried in a pillow; Diana’s pillow to be exact.
James’ eyes were closed, but occasionally he would open his eyes to ogle her large ass. He gave her ass a smack as he fucked her.
“Oh god!” he cried. “You’re squeezing my cock so tightly, baby!” Diana could see that Mariza was throwing her big ass back into James.
“Fuck this pussy, James!” she screamed. “Spank me harder!” James raised his hand and smacked her fleshy ass, making it jiggle. Diana was already sick as she watched her boyfriend fuck another woman, but what made matters worse was when she watched him grab a camera (again, Diana’s) and film himself going in and out of her pussy.
“You have the best ass I’ve ever seen Mariza!” he said as he gave her butt another smack. Each spanking that Mariza received caused her to groan in pleasure. Mariza threw her head back as she tightened her pussy lips around James.
“Mmmm, you like that shit?” she asked. James reached up and grabbed her hair, giving it a good tug as he shoved his thick cock deeper into her.
“You know I love this pussy,” he growled. “Why do you think I’ve been fucking you at the office every day?” Mariza smiled.