Princess Charming: A Sweet Lesbian Romance

by Mia Archer

  “Fine, I can do interesting,” I said. I stood, but he held out a hand that stopped me in my tracks and I sat back down. It was like he was using the Force to move me around with his hand waves. “Something else?”

  “You might be going down there as Erica Smith, but you need to remember that you’re Erica Zeidner,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes and suppressed a sigh. I was starting to hope we might go the entire meeting without launching into this, but apparently I’d hoped in vain. His own eyes narrowed at my eye roll but he didn’t say anything. That brief scowl was more than enough to get the message across. Supposedly that scowl was enough to liquify the bowels of unsuspecting junior executives, but I’d seen it often enough that it didn’t bother me.

  Much.

  “You’re representing the Zeidner name out there. That means no wild partying. No carrying on. I don’t want a repeat of some of the things Lilith has been telling me about from your school,” he said.

  “I told you not to have her following me around anymore,” I said.

  “And I told you that I’m not going to have my only daughter who also happens to be a tempting target since she’s the daughter of a billionaire, out there completely unprotected.”

  “The only reason you have her following me is so you can keep tabs on me and make sure I’m not besmirching the family name,” I hissed. Damn. That was more anger than I usually let creep into my voice when I was talking to the old man, but this happened to be an issue I felt very strongly about. I hated that he had that dark-haired harpy following me around everywhere keeping tabs on what I did. It was ridiculously hard to get laid when there was some creepy older lady following you around, though she’d never gone so far as trying to get into my apartment or anything.

  Though there were times when I wondered if she ever slept. The woman was like a vampire with the hours she kept. Had just about the same complexion and personality as a vampire as well, come to think of it.

  It was a pity that we were getting into this now. Things had been going so well. When he opened with the smiles and it seemed we were on the same page with regards to where I’d be posted in the company I almost thought we were sharing something close to a father/daughter moment.

  Of course it would all turn out to be so much bullshit. I stood again, not bothering to listen as he droned on about how he expected me to comport myself as the daughter of the owner of the company and the granddaughter of the founder. I’d heard this lecture so many times before that I could recite it in my sleep.

  “Right, this has been fun, but I have to get ready if I’m going to be starting the job tomorrow.”

  To his credit he at least stopped the lecture and grinned. He knew when he was pontificating, it was one of the things he did best, and he was usually pretty good about stopping when I called him on it.

  “Right. Well just remember who you are, and best of luck to you in the new internship.”

  Best of luck in the new internship. An internship where I was Erica Smith, anonymous college girl looking to make her way in the world and not Erica Zeidner, billionaire heiress who had whatever she wanted. Though at the end of the day I’d be going back to my penthouse apartment and takeout from some of the best restaurants in town rather than back to a hole in the wall apartment and the best ramen that could be bought in this city on the meager amount of money they gave interns.

  Still, it felt like this was going to be fun. I could finally get a chance to be me, truly me, and not the last name. I was surprised at how excited I was at starting this new gig tomorrow.

  And as I made my way back down to the lobby I found myself thinking about that girl again. I’d only seen her for a brief moment on the other side of the elevator doors, but what a compelling brief moment. I wondered where she worked and if maybe I’d see her in the course of my time as an intern. It didn’t seem likely given how big the building and the company were, but a girl could dream.

  3: First Day

  The doors opened on the seventh floor and I smiled, readying myself for another glorious day in paradise. Sarcasm definitely fully intended. Still, I had a job to do. Even if I’d barely gotten home before midnight the day before because I was working so late trying to take care of that job.

  I figured I needed to be happy and chipper for the new recruit, whoever he or she ended up being. I glanced at my watch. It was twenty ‘til. Plenty of time for me to sit at my desk and have a moment to myself before Christine arrived. Besides, I figured it would be a little while before the intern showed up. It’s not like whoever it was had any way of knowing the unofficial attendance policy on the seventh floor.

  I stepped into my cubicle and managed to suppress a shudder at the familiar surroundings. My ancient computer in one corner with the monitor situated so it could easily be seen by someone walking past, a requirement from Christine because she wanted to make sure no one was screwing around. Not that anyone could screw around on the computer if they wanted to considering all games and access to any website that wasn’t strictly work related was strictly restricted.

  There was one major difference to the usual soul-sucking decor in my cubicle. A girl. Sitting in my chair. I raised an eyebrow. What the hell was this? I cleared my throat and the girl whirled around. Immediately anything I was about to say caught in my throat because holy shit, it was her. It was the girl from the elevator yesterday who had me in a funk all day long because my thoughts kept drifting to her.

  Thoughts and daydreams were about the only thing Christine couldn’t strictly control on the seventh floor, and so I spent a lot of time doing that when I wasn’t in a mood to work. That had been another big part of the reason why I didn’t get done until close to midnight.

  The girl seemed just as surprised to see me. I suppose that was a good sign. I wasn’t the only one looking like a complete idiot, at least. Her eyes ran up and down my body and for some reason that look felt more intimate, more sensual, than any lover’s caress I’d ever felt. That was the kind of look that made me feel like I needed a cigarette when she was done. Fuck!

  “You!” we both said at the same time.

  I blinked. Of course I recognized her, but it didn’t seem like she would have any particular reason to remember me. We’d just had that brief moment in front of the elevator, after all, and it’s not like I was anything special to look at. Definitely nothing compared to the runway model meets business attire goddess who was sitting in my chair.

  “I’m sorry, but can I help you? Are you starting on this floor?”

  “You could say that,” the girl said. She held her hand out. “I’m Erica. Your new intern!”

  I took her hand in a daze, and it didn’t help that taking her hand sent an electric fire dancing from my fingers down to the rest of my body, particularly to between my legs where that electric fire turned into a raging atomic maelstrom of arousal. Fuck! If this girl was my new intern and this is how I reacted to seeing her then we were in for a bit of trouble. Briefly I thought about asking Christine to reassign her to someone, anyone, but of course I wasn’t going to do anything of the sort.

  For one I didn’t think that would end well at all. Christine thought she was punishing me by giving me this intern, though I guess the joke was on her since giving me this intern was going to be anything but a punishment. It was sure to be absolute torture every moment I had to be working close with her given how I’d already reacted to her presence, but it wasn’t going to be anything close to punishment.

  Secondly, and more importantly, I had no intention of letting this girl get away from me. No, that reaction yesterday in front of the elevator was telling me something, and I felt like her showing up in my cubicle like this today was the universe trying to tell me something. What it was I wasn’t sure, but I was going to roll with this and see what happened.

  “I’m Nicole, a definite pleasure to meet you Erica,” I said.

  Erica glanced back at my chair. “Sorry for taking your butt rest there. My marching order
s said I was supposed to be working with Christine, but then when I got down here this morning there was a note on her door saying I should come looking for you?”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. That got a raised eyebrow from this Erica girl. I made a quick decision in that moment. I wasn’t going to be dishonest with this girl. Not completely, at least. I figured if she was going to work here then she should probably know enough to tread lightly around Christine.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Christine has a habit of pushing her work off on me. That’s how I inherited you. Though it’s not a problem at all!”

  I hastened to add that last part after an odd look came across her face. The last thing I wanted was for the poor girl to think there were two people in this office who thought she was a burden to be foisted off on someone else. I’d be crushed if I felt like I wasn’t wanted when I went to my first internship, and I was not going to do that to this girl.

  “Well this looks like it’s going to be an interesting experience,” Erica said. Then she shifted gears, or at least she tried shifting gears without realizing she was just moving on to a different version of the same problem. All fucked up roads led back to Christine’s dictatorial management style on floor seven. “So what brings you in this early anyways? I got in early to impress the new boss, but what’s your excuse?”

  I sighed again and glanced at my watch. “I suppose you should know this as well. If you’re not here on time then you’re late, and Christine considers “on time” to be fifteen minutes before you’re supposed to be here. Not sure if that will hold true for you as well, but it’s probably better if you don’t find out.”

  “Damn,” Erica said. “This Christine really sounds like a dragon lady.”

  “You have no idea,” I said. Then my eyes went wide. I heard the elevator door opening followed by the telltale click-clicking of Christine’s high heels making their way across the tile floor. My eyes went wide and it was obvious from the look on Erica’s face that she could tell something was up. I hated that I was looking so worried in front of her like that, but I couldn’t help it. I just hoped Christine was in a good mood this morning, because I really didn’t want this poor girl to have to put up with her bullshit on the first day in.

  “That her?” Erica asked.

  I nodded and turned to face the door to my cubicle. Christine appeared, and my jaw very nearly dropped. I found myself wondering who this woman was and what she’d done with the sour faced bitch who usually ruled floor seven with an iron fist.

  The woman standing before us couldn’t have been any different from the usual Christine. She had the same bun, the same clothes that didn’t fit quite as well as they used to, the same makeup that was way overdone, but there was one huge difference. The scowl that was usually on her eyes was gone and the puckered expression that bore so much resemblance to a cat’s asshole plastered on the front of her face was gone, replaced by a wide smile.

  I wondered if the pod people invasion had finally started and Christine was the first one they got. That made more sense than the idea that she had suddenly decided to grow a heart and act like a genuine human with real emotions.

  “Good morning Nicole! Wonderful to see you!” she said, positively beaming. I was immediately on guard. Her acting nice in front of the intern was an explanation I could almost understand. Maybe she wanted to make a good impression or something. Her being nice to me, though? Particularly after that incident yesterday where I actually dared to show some backbone? Well that was way out there.

  “Um, good morning?” I managed to stammer, and for a moment I saw a flash of something. A flash of the old Christine everyone on this floor knew and hated. It was a flash of irritation that was almost comforting because it was familiar, because it meant that I wasn’t going crazy and I hadn’t inexplicably stepped into a parallel mirror universe where Christine’s evil twin was the nice one.

  Still, it was disheartening at the same time. The old Christine was still there. Lurking under the surface. Waiting.

  She turned to inspect Erica for a moment, though it wasn’t the kind of inspection we’d shared. No, she was staring intently, almost as though she was searching for something. I didn’t know what it was or if she found what she was looking for, but no sooner had her eyes returned to Erica’s face than she was stepping forward with her arms outstretched for a hug! I watched in stunned silence as she wrapped Erica up in a hug.

  “And you must be our new intern Erica!” she positively beamed. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to have the opportunity to work with you!”

  The opportunity to work with her? Wait a minute. Did that mean she was going to pull the new intern away from me? Damn it. Yesterday I would’ve jumped for joy at the possibility, but today, now that I knew who she was, it was the last thing that I wanted. It was a selfish, jealous desire, but I wanted Erica all to myself! I definitely didn’t want to share her with Christine. That would be throwing her to the wolves.

  “Actually I’d already been working through assignments for Erica, and so you don’t have to…”

  Christine’s hand went up in an obvious silencing motion, but I plowed right on. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight even as I thought how ridiculous it was that I’d showed backbone twice in as many days. That was usually the sort of behavior that got someone fired. I was starting to wonder if maybe I did enough work for her that she couldn’t afford to fire me, but I also knew that was a dangerous line of thinking.

  No one was irreplaceable in this department. People who started thinking like that usually learned the hard way that it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

  “And I was planning tours of the floor and the facility, really let her dig in and see how things work around here. I know you didn’t have much…”

  This time Christine actually turned to fix me with a glare. A glare that Erica wouldn’t be able to see from where she was standing, I might add. Clever how Christine managed to pull that off. What the hell was her reasoning for suddenly acting all nice like this? Why did she care what a simple intern cared about her?

  “Since you can’t understand a gesture I’m going to ask you to please shut up,” she said, menace and some of the real Christine bubbling to the surface. Behind her Erica cocked an eyebrow again, but otherwise there was no reaction. Damn. She was a cool customer. If I’d been thrown into a new workplace and the first thing that happened to me was getting thrust in the middle of an office catfight I think I’d have some sort of reaction.

  Christine turned back to Erica. “Now as I was saying. I was hoping we could have a meeting and go over all the fun we’re going to have with your internship.”

  All the fun they were going to have with her internship? The hell?

  “What about that sign on your door that said I needed to come see Nicole here?” Erica asked. “That didn’t seem like you had anything planned for me?”

  I braced myself for the explosion. I had to admit that the girl had balls for standing up to Christine like that on her first day, but there was enough of the old Christine percolating just under the surface that I figured a little talkback from an intern of all things would be enough to set her off. She did tense for a moment, but otherwise there was no reaction. No blowup. She just gritted her teeth and that smile stayed plastered on her face.

  “Yes, well about that…”

  “Oh it’s perfectly okay Christine,” Erica said. “I know you’re probably very busy with all the work you do to keep this department running.”

  I resisted the urge to laugh at that. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Erica was having some fun with Christine, but of course that was impossible. Still, I was in the know enough to think that was pretty damn funny, even if I wasn’t about to show any outward sign of just how funny I thought it was. This Erica girl might have some blessed star watching over her and keeping Christine from getting really mad with her like she would with anyone else, but I didn’t have any such blessing.

  “I’m sure it
would be a much better use of everyone’s time if I stayed here with Nicole and learned the ropes while you focused on running the department.”

  As she said that she looked at me. Fixed me with an intense stare that had me wondering if maybe there wasn’t another reason why she was suddenly so interested in sticking with me. I found myself daydreaming about a forbidden office romance for the briefest of moments, but then I viciously stomped down on that notion. It was ridiculous. Not to mention that it would be terrible for me to get involved with an intern I was supposed to be supervising, assuming I actually got to supervise her. And that wasn’t even taking into account that it was probably just wishful thinking that she’d be interested in me in the first place!

  “Are you sure about that? I think you’d get a much better idea of everything that happens here on floor seven if you were in the big office,” Christine said.

  Erica’s eyes darted to me again and then she turned back to Christine with a smile. “That’s quite all right, but thank you for your dedication. I think I’ll have plenty to learn from Nicole here.”

  A shiver ran up and down my spine at that. Why was a shiver running up and down my spine? I’m sure she meant that in a purely professional capacity. Thinking there was any sort of double meaning to what she said was just so much wishful thinking on my part. Wishful thinking that was going to get me in trouble if I did wind up supervising her. That was still very much up in the air. I expected Christine to lay down the law and make it clear that this new Erica girl was going to do whatever she said. That was just like the old Christine.

  So color me surprised when her shoulders sagged and all the fight seemed to go out of her. The smile was still there on her face, but it didn’t seem as intense as before. Almost as though the work of keeping that smile plastered on her face for so long instead of her usual scowl was too much for her. It was obviously draining her.

  “Well then, I suppose Nicole will have to do. For now.”