Hidden Desires

by Laurie Ames

  Juanita and Allison were overjoyed! They hugged and cried and kissed one another repeatedly. They hugged Officer Holt and thanked her for her great work. Finally, the two women could be together and put the past safely behind them.

  ~ One Month Later ~

  Late one evening, and despite Allison still healing from her injuries, they were able to make deep passionate love. Afterwards, they laid in bed, making idle conversation when suddenly there was an awkward quietness. They seemed to be having a silent conversation as they stared into each other’s eyes. When Allison finally looked away, a slow desolate tear ran from her eye and dripped onto her breast. Juanita sensed desperation as her hand encircled hers. Her soft hand was warm and reassuring.

  “Hey, Ali… Are you okay?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Replied Alison, not really meaning it.

  "Allison, I feel you are holding back," Juanita whispered, her expression utterly serious. "I know we’ve been through hell and back, but you clearly want to talk about something. So, whatever it is, just come out and say it."

  "It's nothing, it's just that our relationship is getting very serious," She paused, silently staring into her forest green eyes.

  “Is that a problem for us?” Replied Juanita.

  "No, its just that I want so much more..."

  "You really mean that?" Her lips turned up into a tiny smile.

  "Yes, I do." Allison whispered, as she grabbed her by the waist. She pulled her close against her chest and captured her lips in a kiss, then abruptly pulled away. “Just think about something for a moment. Were we ever strangers? That first day I saw you, there was something even then, although I didn't know exactly what. Falling in love with you was not planned, but our stars aligned, and a great force pulled us together. The night of your accident, I will never forget the way your head rested on my hands. Holding your face gave me a sense of belonging to you. I’m still falling in love and the feeling keeps getting deeper, more complete, more bewitching. There isn't a thing I wouldn't do to keep you safe. The more love I give you, the more I have bursting inside of me... crazy, huh? It seems like the more love we share, the more it multiplies. What I’m trying to say is, I want to marry you! What do you say to that?

  “Yes,” Juanita replied, cupping Allison’s cheek so she could stare into her beautiful eyes. “I would love to marry you!”

  ***

  Allison eventually recovered from her injuries and went back to work, doing the work she loved as a professional nurse at the hospital. Juanita was able to keep her store and with her strong sales and business skills, started doing financially better than ever before.

  Eventually Allison and Juanita married in a small intimate ceremony and continued enjoying a harmonious life together. Whenever they hit a rough spot in their marriage, Juanita would quote these same brilliant words of wisdom to Allison:

  ‘Every rock in the sunshine is warm, and with a partner like you, life is always summer.’

  ~The End~

  Return to Table of Contents

  The CEO’s Assistant

  A Taboo Lesbian Romance

  By: Laurie Ames

  Prelude

  Sylvia was about to graduate with a degree in fashion. She had gotten good grades and had impeccable skills when it came to textiles and fashion design. But graduation means finding a job and moving into the adult world - a world without any clear instruction of the kind you are given in the school system. She began applying for jobs and trying to seek out the best fit for her skills and predilections. She had been working part time as a personal assistant, and eagerly put this experience on her resume. She was worried about having so little content on her resume, but she was very confident in her abilities.

  As she searched through job listing after job listing, she finally found one that looked perfect, but it was for an assistant position to the owner of a company that would include a lot of managerial tasks and responsibilities. She was worried that her lack of experience and youth might put her out of the running for a position like this, but she submitted her application and sure enough, two weeks later she got a call back.

  Content Warning: Scorching hot sex, explicit love scenes and naughty language 18+ only.

  Chapter 1

  __________

  “So, I see you don’t have any real work experience in this field other than your college degree, is that correct?” Natasha asked as she watched Sylvia vaguely fidgeting from side to side in her chair. She looked slightly edgy as people often are during job interviews, but Natasha was impressed because her facial expression was hiding it well. If Natasha hadn’t already done this with about thirty other applicants, she would not have noticed Sylvia’s nervousness.

  The applicant was thin, sat up straight, and had a surprisingly tall frame. With mousy brown hair and little freckles across her nose, she looked slightly sweet, and that drew Natasha to her. She wanted someone who would be sympathetic and caring since the position would involve managing employees.

  “Yes, that is correct, but while I was in college, we did a lot of hands-on work and were required to do a small unpaid internship, so I did some work with the professors. Also, while I was in school, I had a job for a while working as a personal assistant for a woman that owned a small-town boutique. It was a very cute little boutique, but I feel I learned a lot about time management, multi-tasking, and working well as a team player. I think that job combined with my experience in school would make me a great fit for this job since I have both the personal assistant skills and the fashion training.”

  She felt like she was rambling, and of course she was, but isn’t that what you’re supposed to do in job interviews? Interviews always made her uncomfortable and this was her third this week. The other two had been alright, but she was not excited about those jobs or the people she was interviewed by, they just didn’t feel right. But when she found the ad for this job, she dropped everything so that she could immediately concentrate on her application. It felt like this job would be perfect, and with so much at stake, she was a good deal more nervous about this interview than the others. She now thought of the other interviews as practice for this job, which felt more like the Holy Grail of all jobs to her.

  It didn’t help her nerves that Natasha was extremely cool and somewhat bewitching, which happened to make her heart skip a little. She felt both captivated and intimidated by her potential new boss. Natasha was dressed impeccably, sleek and stylish, and was extremely attractive. She held herself with an air of self-respect and confidence.

  She was the owner and CEO of the successful fashion design company that was hiring for the assistant manager’s position. The business had been growing rapidly and she felt it was necessary to hire someone to manage employees and help with the promotion and launch of an upcoming summer clothing line. She wanted someone who would work well with others and who had a style that went well with that of her company. It felt like there was something good about this one.

  Natasha picked up Sylvia’s portfolio and began fingering through it as they sat across the desk from each other. The girl had talent. There was something that she liked about Sylvia’s individual style. She had yet to put her finger on it, but she knew it would work well with what she had in mind for the new summer clothing line, that being one of the main reasons why she was hiring an assistant. It was important to have someone whose style went with the overall feel of the line that she had created.

  “You know,” Natasha said, after a moment of silence that was long enough to make Sylvia begin to sweat, cross and uncross her legs.

  “I like your work. I like your style… a lot! I think that it would work well with what I have in mind.”

  She went on to talk in more detail about the job description and what Sylvia would be doing on a day to day basis, if hired. Natasha ended - after much nodding and agreement from Sylvia - by asking what Sylvia thought of all this, if she thought it would be a good fit.

  “Yes, that’s pretty much what I
expected, but it was good to hear you go through that list,” Sylvia said, “I definitely feel that this position would be a good fit for me and I am prepared for everything that you talked about. I am willing to devote a lot of time and energy to this job. It feels really important to me.”

  Sylvia took a deep breath, waiting to hear Natasha’s answer. She liked that this was a senior position since she was planning on making a name for herself in the industry.

  “That’s good!” Natasha exclaimed, smiling as she glanced back down at Sylvia’s portfolio and resume, “I have your email and phone number here. How about I give you a call later this week? Honestly, out of all the people I’ve interviewed, I have to say you are my favorite so far. I think for now that you are my top candidate. However, I still have a few more interviews lined up for this week, so I’m going to meet those people and get back to you. But I can tell you; I can see us working very well together.”

  “Thank you. That sounds great! Feel free to call me any time! I would really love to work with you, as well. It just seems like such a great fit,” Sylvia said excitedly. She wanted to hit herself in the head for rambling like she was but was so excited that she couldn’t help it.

  “Alright, thank you for your time,” Natasha said, calmly smiling at Sylvia’s clear enthusiasm. She admired the quirky yet composed manner in which Sylvia held herself and the way that she smiled. After all, she had really seen some disastrous candidates. She seemed so fresh, so young, and her energy inspired Natasha. It wasn’t that Natasha was vastly older. She had been in the business over five years now, but it had felt much longer because the work was so exhausting. It would be refreshing to have a young face involved with her business, especially in such a vital position. She felt that it would help with the attitude and style of the company.

  “Thank you so much!” Sylvia said as she clumsily left the office. As she closed the door behind her, she proceeded to shadowbox the air in victory. She felt like she had a decent chance of getting this job, and it felt perfect in every way.

  Natasha smiled to herself as the door closed. She liked Sylvia, and she felt that Sylvia represented a genuinely good fit. She had a quality about her that felt unique and inspiring. She was fresh to the industry with lots of good training from a school that was well known for giving their students valuable work experience.

  Sylvia was clearly her favorite so far, but Natasha was obligated to finish up the rest of the interviews before deciding to hire someone.

  Chapter 2

  __________

  It had been nearly a week since the interview and Sylvia was becoming anxious about getting a call back. She wanted this job quite badly and had felt a strong personal connection to Natasha. She thought that Natasha was sexually attractive; anyone would. This made her feel a little extra nervous in the interview, but she figured the crush would likely settle down, especially if Natasha was to become her boss.

  But finally, after a few worried days, Sylvia received a call.

  “Sylvia, this is Natasha calling. I want to let you know we have finalized the job hiring process. We had a lot of qualified candidates and I am finished with the evaluations. I wanted to let you know that things didn’t go quite as we discussed. We will not be hiring you for the assistant position”.

  “Oh?” replied Sylvia. It felt like a punch in the gut.

  “Well actually, I would like to make you a better offer. If you are willing to accept a new higher position as my Executive Assistant, I would like to hire you starting next Monday!” exclaimed Natasha.

  “Wow, Natasha, that’s incredible! I just don’t know what to say.”

  “Just say yes to the job and it’s yours. There will be more responsibility than we originally discussed, but you will be pleased to hear you’re being bumped up to the executive pay scale. I have a good eye for hiring and more importantly, I know we will get along very well. Do you accept?”

  “Yes Natasha, I most definitely accept. I will not let you down.”

  ***

  The weekend prior to starting her new job, Sylvia could only think about how overjoyed she was with getting the executive position. More importantly, she would be working in the fashion industry right out of school, in a management position, and best of all, with her sexy new boss Natasha.

  The first day, Sylvia excitedly got dressed in her finest tailored and most conservative business attire. Arriving early for her first day of work, she took a moment to stand outside the building’s front door. She paused to take a long deep breath before trotting through the front door to begin her day. She went to speak with Natasha and was floored when she saw how attractive she looked. She was dressed immaculately smart, chic and feminine and was wearing expensive perfume. She gave her a very hearty welcome and a big intimate hug. To be hugged by Natasha felt like this was going to be the start of a really great job.

  The business day began with a quick rundown by showing her the particulars of the office, some general training, and introductions to the other employees. Sylvia noticed that most of the other employees—employees that would be her subordinates—were older than herself. Some of them were marginally older and many were very senior in age. It made her feel strange to be so young in a higher managerial position. She thought it might have been her imagination, but she thought she noticed some of them sneering a little bit, presumably at her youth. She figured she could worry about that later.

  For now, Natasha was beginning to show off some of the pieces for the summer line. Natasha laid out the large design sketches on the small desk before them, as the two of them gathered around. Both were nervously aware at how close they were and the way their hands almost touched as they pointed at the designs. They were instantly fascinated with each other. There seemed to be some fuzzy magnetic electricity pushing them closer yet keeping them apart.

  Sylvia was starting to have difficulty concentrating while working with Natasha. The light delicious smell of her perfume as intoxicating. Sexual fantasies were starting to surface every time Natashia was near. The next moment, they were on the sofa, slowly undressing one another…she was looking deeply into her eyes…

  ‘Stop, enough already!’ Sylvia thought as she reined herself in. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to get involved with Natasha, but such knowledge didn’t do much to abate the sexual attraction. Despite feeling Natasha’s strong attraction, she knew that it was incredibly important to keep a professional distance. She knew that if something went wrong, she would either lose her position or her reputation, neither of which she was willing to gamble on.

  At the same time, she only wanted to prove herself as a great employee, and she would not come across as such if people discovered she was sleeping with the boss. Especially because of her youth, she really wanted to prove herself; she needed to make something of herself in this industry. She could not very well go about that if there were rumors circulating that she got her position by getting down and dirty with the owner.

  Although they were resisting their attraction to each other, after a couple of weeks, rumors inevitably began to circulate that they were somehow involved. It started off, as rumors often do with two employees complaining about Sylvia and how young she was. One of them laughed, saying she was Natasha’s hot little tramp!

  Unfortunately for Sylvia, the shitshow snowballed from there. Most of the people in the company were ladies who built their whole world around nasty gossip. One thing turned into another and soon it became simply taken for granted that Sylvia had slept with Natasha in order to get the position, even though this was patently true.

  It took a little while for the rumors to make their way to Sylvia and when they did, she was dismayed and deeply alarmed to hear it. She was discussing some details with one of her elder subordinates, Sarah-Lynn, who felt annoyed that Sylvia was bossing her around. Sarah-Lynn thought that Sylvia was much too young and inexperienced to have gotten her position honestly.

  “Well… I’ve been working here for two years and I th
ink I know pretty well what I’m doing!” Sarah-Lynn said sternly to Sylvia’s suggestion that the design needed more work.

  “Yes, I understand that, but I really think you should do it this way and I think Natasha would agree,” Sylvia replied softly. It made her nervous to assert herself, especially as someone’s superior considering the fact that she was younger, less experienced, and “still wet behind the ears.”

  “Of course, you’d know what Natasha would want. I know you two are…” she paused, narrowed her beady eyes behind horn rimmed librarian glasses and eyed Sylvia up and down, crumpling her nose almost imperceptibly and finished her pronouncement … “very close.”

  The blood drained, very visibly from Sylvia’s visage. Her eyebrows shot upward, and her red ringed mouth fell quite unappealingly agape. Though Sarah-Lynn had said what might be liberally called tactful, the simple implication was enough to floor Sylvia. She stammered and shook her head, then attempted to assure Sarah-Lynn, virtually out of nowhere, that she could simply talk to Natasha herself if she had any issues with the project.

  She then sped to the bathroom. She sat in the bathroom stall for three agonizing minutes, processing what had just occurred. Her shoulders were slumped, and her eyes gazed down at the floor. A single tear ran down her face and stained her blouse as she tried not to ruin her mascara. With her head in her hands and her heart beating out of her chest, she tried to breathe regularly but had difficulty doing so. She didn’t recognize her own voice that kept repeating, "I can't take it anymore."