Chapter 3

“Want a cup?” Joanne asked holding up her coffee mug as Angela walked into the kitchen.

“God no; I need water, lots of water.” She said, holding her head with both hands. She grabbed herself a glass from the cupboard and said, “I feel like road kill Joanne.” Groaning, she sat down on a bar stool and took a sip of her water.

“You look like road kill!” Joanne laughed. Her tone sobered then as she said, “So what the hell happened last night with you and that guy?”

Angela smiled. Even that hurt. “Nothing,” she said matter of factly taking another sip of her water.

“I call bullshit chick. I know that look and no woman in their right mind would say no to that walking piece of fuck-able manliness. I mean he was gorgeous right?” Joanne’s eyes probed her friend’s face.

“Ok, you can wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth,” she laughed. “Yes I agree. He is gorgeous.” Grinning she looked down at her glass, “He helped stop the bleeding on my arm.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, not quite. He also called me beautiful while sliding his lips down my neck.” Angela giggled. It was an unfamiliar sound to her. She hadn’t felt truly happy for so long.

“HA! I fucking knew you were holding back.” Joanne laughed out loud. “I want details.”

“That’s it. There aren’t any other details. He’s gorgeous, he called me beautiful and he sexually harassed my neck.” She laughed again.

“Well he can sexually harass my neck any damn time he wants,” Joanne told her. “Next time you see him, you tell him I said that!” She grinned as she got up out of her chair. “I have to go but let’s do supper on Monday after your first day at work. I’ll meet you outside, say around 5:30pm?”

“Ok, that sounds good. Do you know which building?”

“Of course, your roommate works there remember.” Jo smiled and walked out of the loft.

Angela finished her water and then went and jumped in the shower. The smell of alcohol was burnt into her nostrils. As she stood underneath the warm spray, she tried to exorcise the thoughts of her encounter with Steve from her head. It was futile. Every strong feature of his face was etched into her memory. The feelings he stirred in her body last night were exciting, and even thinking of him now aroused her. With her eyes closed, her hand ran down her stomach and landed on the aching spot between her legs. She slowly rubbed and circled her clit as she thought of Steven’s tongue trailing down her neck. Her breaths came in quick gasps and she let out a slight moan as her body reacted to her touch.

It had been so long since she had been touched like that by a man. It had elicited feelings she thought no man other than her husband would ever stir again. Her body tingled with a slowly building pleasure…when a loud knock at the door startled her into almost falling on her ass.

“Yes?” She yelled out trying to regain her step in the slippery shower.

“Do you wanna go out for lunch?” Thomas shouted through the door.

With a sigh she said, “Ok, I’ll be out in a few minutes.” She shook her head with her hands in her hair. What the fuck are you doing? She thought to herself. She turned the water off and stepped out onto the tile. She felt the guilt begin to well up inside of her as she dried herself off.

Angela wiped the steamed mirror with her towel and stared at her own reflection. “No more thoughts of Steve,” she whispered. “Only Blake.” Tears welled in her eyes as she told herself, “I can’t forget about Blake!”

**

“I’ll have a Caesar salad, thank you,” Angela said, as she passed the menu back to the waitress.

“So I heard your conversation with Joanne this morning. Who’s this guy?” Thomas asked, as he squinted his brows together.

“Just some guy that helped me last night. There was a fight and I ended up getting cut by some broken glass.” She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip.

“It sounded like a lot more than just some guy, the way you two were talking about him. Are you interested in him?” He pressed her and seemed to be impatiently waiting for a response.

“Thomas, seriously?” Angela looked at him annoyed. “No, I’m not interested. I don’t even know who he is.”

“Ok, ok. Just saying. You just got here and I really don’t think a relationship is something you should be jumping into right away.” He was being awfully blunt. She wasn’t sure she appreciated it.

“Really?” She asked, looking into his icy green eyes. Thomas was extremely attractive; five-eleven or so with a very lean muscular build and well-kept short, dirty blond hair. He had a small mole on his left cheek that complimented his full set of lips. He had no problems getting women from what she remembered but Angela had always looked at him as a great friend, almost like a brother. She checked her annoyance. She knew he was really just looking out for her. “Thomas, there really is no need to be worried. The guy helped a girl in distress. That’s all… completely innocent.” She smiled as the waitress approached and sat her salad down in front of her. “Let’s eat, I’m starving.” She said, “You can fill me in about what I should expect from my new boss,” she told him before taking her first bite.

“You’ll love her. Kim is a tiny little thing but knows her stuff inside out. You’ll learn a lot from her,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think I have ever met someone so driven before. When she sets her mind to something, she always accomplishes it.” He took a bite of his food and asked her, “Are you nervous?”

“A little, it’s been over a year since I have worked. I’m sure I’ll pick things up like I never left eventually, but a new work environment, new co-workers, you know…”

“Yeah, I get it. You’ll be fine. Kim is a softy, but a hard worker and expects the same. As long as you hit your deadlines you’re good in her book,” he winked.

**

Monday morning arrived quickly, but Angela felt as ready as she would ever be. She dressed in a short sleeve ruffled white dress shirt that complimented her snug grey skirt that ended right below her knee and accentuated her tiny frame. Her nude heels added an extra four inches to her five-foot three height.

That morning as she walked into the building with her arm through Thomas’s he said, “You look pretty hot missy.” Chuckling he asked, “Nervous?”

“No. I’ll be good,” she said with confidence as they stepped onto the elevator and rode it to the tenth floor. Stepping off, Angela watched the busy people doing their thing. There were at least a dozen cubicles where people were on the phones or typing away at their computers. Multiple offices faced the large windows with views of the city’s skyline.

“Holy shit,” she said, grabbing his arm tighter. “Ok, yes, I’m nervous,” she whispered.

“You’ll be fine,” he told her. “I’ll introduce you to Kimberly and she will give you a run-down of exactly what your duties are and your client’s list.” He looked down at her and gave her a warm smile.

“Okay,” she said with a nervous smile. She stuck close to him until they got to the door that said, “Kimberly Townsend - Associate Director of Marketing”. Thomas lightly rapped his knuckles against it.

“Come in,” the voice was soft. Angela knew what Kim looked like already from the interview they had on Skype over a month ago.

Getting up from her seat Kimberly made her way around the desk. “Well hello,” she said, giving Thomas a hug. She turned to Angela and gave her a light squeeze. “You made it,” she said with a smile.

“Yes, I’ve been here for about two weeks settling in,” Angela told her.

“Well that’s great. The city will grow on you and you’ll find yourself loving all the hustle and bustle.” She grinned and went back to her seat.

“Ok, well I will let you two get to work. Don’t be too rough on her Kimberly.” Thomas winked at her and smiled at Angela before closing the door.

“So I have gone over your work history after our skype interview and you are clearly over qualified for the position. However, the one question I would like to know is why you no longer want to work for the agency in Miami?” Kimberly asked her as she leaned back in her leather chair. “They were willing to take you back, correct?”

“Yes, of course. I assumed Thomas told you my history.” Angela looked at her hands nervously.

“No, he kept it pretty minimal actually. He’s not really the type to share personal details,” she laughed.

Angela looked at her new boss with trepidation. “When my husband was diagnosed with Cancer, I left my job. They gave him 6 months to live so I put everything aside to spend what little time I had left with him.” She tried to hold back the pools of water that she could feel starting to swell in her eyes. Shaking it off she said, "I had to leave Miami. There are too many memories there and I felt it would be good to start a new chapter in a new city with a new job.” Angela straightened in her seat feeling a little more confident now that she’d gotten through it without spilling the tears.

“I’m very sorry for your loss. I had no idea.” She looked embarrassed and sorry that she’d asked. Quickly changing the train of the conversation she said, “Well then.” She stood up from her chair and went on, “Just to warn you, we are a lively bunch. When we don’t hit our deadlines, our asses are on the line so I expect everyone to at least try to be on the same level.” She walked over to Angela and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Let me give you a quick tour and then we will go over some of the clients you will start off with. Sound good?” She smiled.

“Yes it does,” Angela said.

Kimberly had a warm and welcoming way about her. Thomas had been right about her being tiny. She was only about five-two. She had dark brown medium length hair that fell smoothly down her back and a beautiful smile.

Kimberly explained the positions of the middle section to Angela as she walked her through the area where people seemed to be huddling in their cubicles. She introduced her to a few of the other key members of staff in the offices along the glass walls. She led her through the private lunch room and the main board room where she told her that most of the presentations are held. Then they made their way towards an elderly lady sitting at a desk. “Angela, this is your personal secretary, Marg.” She told her, putting a light hand on Marg’s shoulder.

“Well hello Angela, it’s very nice to meet you.” Marg said with a bright smile.

“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too.” Angela replied.

Kimberly led her to the door beside Marg’s desk. Angela looked at the door and was surprised when she read: Angela Black - Marketing Manager. A slow smile traced her lips as she touched the engraved name plaque. Kim opened the door and the large pane window caught her eye. In front of it sat a large wooden desk and office chair. Kimberly could probably see she was excited. “Go ahead, try out the chair,” she told her with a smile.

“It’s beautiful Kimberly. The whole office is great.” Angela was beaming with excitement. She almost ran around to the other side of her desk and took a seat in the black leather chair.

“You look good in it.” Kimberly grinned.

“That is pretty much everything in a nutshell,” she told her. Kim held the door open and Angela got up and followed her back to her office. She sat in the leather chair opposite of Kimberly.

Pulling out two files from a large cabinet against the wall, Kimberly said, “These will be your first two clients. This one will be worked on by both of us. Think of it as a little hand holding with the boss while you get adjusted to the routine.” She smiled and flipped open the folder. “This client, McAllister Stock Cars, needs a little more TLC than the rest. They spend a ridiculous amount of money with our agency during this time of the season. “The other is a smaller cosmetic firm called “Candy Cosmetics.” Kimberly slid the files towards her. “I have a memo in each file describing what needs to be done with each client accordingly for this coming week. You can take them back to your office and go through them,” she told her.

Angela picked up the files and got up to head out the door. Just as she was about to leave Kimberly said. “Angela.”

“Yes?” she turned towards her new boss.

“You’re going to be fine. Just breathe and take one step at a time. We are all here to help you adjust.” Kimberly gave her a soft smile.

“Thank you Kimberly, I really appreciate that.” Angela turned around and walked out the door closing it behind her.