Chapter 5

Veronica wakes up in her studio surrounded by her paints and brushes, canvas and colors. Light burns through the fourth floor to ceiling windows facing the park below the small four story building. She lazily pulls herself into a sitting positon on the bed and lets out a long yawn.

The studio serves to give Veronica a place to work on her art as well as a place to crash when she is working late or in her case last night, partying late. Everything after the restroom is pretty much a blur and so is coming here. With a shrug of her shoulders, she reaches over and grabs the alarm clock, spinning it around to face her.

“Shit!” she shouts and springs from the bed. “I’m fucking late!”

She quickly rushes around the studio apartment, changing her clothes and collecting her portfolio for her meeting. Within five minutes she is out the door and hailing a cab. In another fifteen minutes she is arriving at Marx & Sanders Advertising. She steps out of the cab and looks up at the tall building. It is listed as the second tallest in the city with the company in the top ten companies of the country. She was lucky to have landed this project, now she hopes to not lose it.

The security desk sends her off after giving her a badge. She takes the elevator to the forty-sixth floor and steps out into a world of wonder. That’s a world of wonder for an advertising artist as herself. The walls are lined with early concept art of the most popular and successful pieces of advertisement. She recognizes the majority of them even though they are much different from the end product.

After traversing through a long hallway, she steps out into an open area full of plush, high-backed chairs with a single clear plastic desk and a gorgeous brunette sitting behind it. This open area is, like the hallway, littered with beautiful pieces of art work.

“May I help you?” the brunette asks in what sounds like a melody.

“I’m Veronica Martins,” she says crisply. “I have an appointment. I’m ... um, running a bit late.”

The brunette flashes a smile and says kindly, “Don’t worry, Mr. Sanders is running late too.”

Veronica returns the smile. “Thank goodness.”

“Please have a seat and you’ll be seen shortly,” the brunette says, maintaining the smile and gesturing to one of the many chairs in the waiting area.

Veronica is just getting comfortable in one of the plush chairs when Mr. Sanders appears and calls her name. She pops her head up to see the nicely dressed man with very handsome features standing before her.

“It is nice to meet you Mr. Sanders,” she says springing from the chair with her portfolio in one hand and the other hand stretched out toward him.

He takes her hand, shaking it quickly, and says, “Same to you Miss Martins, but you can call me Samuel.”

Veronica smiles as she grips her portfolio hard. “Veronica.”

“A lovely name,” the man says. “Please, my office is this way.”

Veronica follows him through another hallway, though shorter than the first, and into a set of very large and tall doors that open up to a very big office. She is amazed by its sheer size. Two walls are made entirely of glass. It is all white with a few pieces of fancy advertising art. There are several pieces of furniture similar to those in the waiting area as well as tables and a desk that matches the brunette’s.

“Please have a seat and show me what you came up with for the advertisement,” he says as he takes the chair behind the large, clear desk.

Veronica runs through her presentation without a hitch. Samuel likes the art, flow of the ad, everything.

“I think Marx & Sanders can use your idea, Veronica,” the man says with a smile. “I will have my secretary draw up the necessary paperwork and cut you a check.”

“Thank you so much Samuel,” Veronica says, not bothering to hide her elation.

“I wonder if you would care to join me in the sauna this afternoon,” Samuel asks casually as he stands and walks around the desk to stand in front of her.

For a moment Veronica is taken back by the question but quickly recovers. “You are very direct,” she says after a moment.

“Yes, I am,” he answers with a nod. “And I cannot help to be so, especially when I am talking to an exceptionally beautiful woman.”

Veronica shrugs at the comment. “You’re a talker too.”

Samuel smiles but doesn’t get sidetracked. “We have the best facilities with very private rooms.”

“I’d love to Samuel, but I have a previous engagement this afternoon.”

“Then perhaps a raincheck?” he asks.

Samuel doesn’t seem like the type of man to not get his way and Veronica is very interested in meeting with him, but meeting with Mandi trumps that want. “Perhaps,” she says in such a way that adds a little hard to get to her answer.

Samuel smiles wickedly like he already has her. “Until then.” He gestures to the door and walks her out to the elevators. They are silent until reaching them and then the only thing that is said are goodbyes. Despite Samuel obviously wanting to get in her pants, he knows how to keep public and private things separate.

Veronica takes the elevator back down to the ground floor. She is ecstatic to not only be getting paid for her work but to have caught the eye of one of the city’s most powerful men. She is so wrapped up in her success today that she doesn’t notice when the doors open, Mandi walks right in.

“Hello Veronica,” she says smiling.

Veronica is yanked from her thoughts right away. “What are you doing here?” she asks pleasantly. She is happy to see the woman and surprised at the same time.

Mandi steps forward and kisses her fully on her mouth. The kiss takes precedence of the moment and for this moment Veronica forgets where she is at. When the kiss is finished, Mandi pulls back and says, “I work here.”

Veronica’s eyes go a little wide and she says, “Oh.”

“I didn’t recognize you when I met you on the street, but after thinking about you more later that evening, I remembered seeing you here before.”

“What do you do here?”

“Nothing too special,” the silver haired woman answers. “Mostly secretarial work for Mr. Sanders.”

“You’re Samuel’s secretary?”

“Wow, if you’re on a first name basis then he must have taken an interest in you. He does have a weakness for blondes.”

Veronica giggles and then shrugs. “He offered me to visit the sauna with him.”

“Did you?”

“No,” Veronica answers quickly. “I told him I had a previous engagement to get to.”

“Well, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the two of us showing up,” Mandi says as she smiles wickedly. “How about it then?” she asks as she presses the button for the thirty-seventh floor.

Veronica doesn’t answer as the elevator begins to rise. Her thoughts are a jumbled mess of chaos. Just who is this woman and how has she started such a fire in her? She is taken from her thoughts suddenly when the elevator stops and dings but the doors don’t open. Mandi presses the button for the doors to open but it only makes a clicking sound and nothing else happens.

“It looks like we’re going to be stuck in here,” Mandi says with a sigh.

“What?” Veronica asks. “I don’t want to get stuck in here.”

“Not afraid of elevators are you?”

“No,” Veronica quickly says. “But I don’t like being stuck in one.”

Veronica moves to start pressing buttons, any of them that might make the door open for them when Mandi intercepts her and presses her to the wall and then crushes Veronica’s lips to hers. The sensation of Mandi’s soft lips against hers leaves Veronica breathless. She breaths in Mandi and brings her hands to her cheeks, holding the silver haired woman to her as they embrace. Mandi pulls away for a moment and Veronica traces her fingers across the woman’s cheekbones. Mandi sighs and Veronica catches her breath, pressing her lips firmly against Mandi’s.

Mandi runs her hands to the button holding Veronica’s blazer closed. With one smooth movement, it is unbuttoned and falling from her shoulders. The same goes for her pants. Veronica lifts her arms up to assist with the removal of her shirt. Beneath all the layers of clothing, Veronica’s mysterious lingerie has formed into a black lace bustier with garter straps attached to a set of very sexy sheer lace top thigh high stockings and interestingly enough no panties.

Her legs twinkle as the elevator’s lighting strikes her legs. She steps forward to begin unbuttoning Mandi’s blouse. She shucks her blazer and it drops to the floor as button after button reveals more of her creamy breasts to Veronica’s gaze. With it fully unbuttoned, she slides the blouse from Mandi’s shoulders and lets it pool at her feet with the blazer. She then drops her head to Mandi’s bare shoulder and kisses her neck softly. Mandi shivers at her touch and Veronica trails the kisses up along the woman’s neck to her jaw line, over her cheeks to her full lips, savoring the taste of her and the illicit sensations that Mandi triggers inside her.