Dark Matter: SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE
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There was one thing that Lorraine did that made her stand above any other girl he had slept with, and it kept him happy. Probably the best thing. It was about 3 months into their affair and they had already had sex in his office more than once. Surprisingly, her libido was a match for his and whether in public or private, she was always ready to go. And for once in his life, he had not had his eyes on the newest intern in administration or assistant in the managerial offices. He had not, but Lorraine had.
Lorraine and Penny, the assistant to the CFO, became fast friends. He hadn't blinked when one night Lorraine had canceled their dinner plans because she was going to see a movie with Penny. He likewise hadn't felt anything when she had told him Penny and her were meeting to get their hair done. Calling her and hearing that he had just caught her and Penny in the middle of a girls' night in hadn't ruffled him in the slightest. His interest and suspicion were piqued, however, when she asked him to join them. His head, both his heads, had nearly exploded when he walked into Lorraine's apartment and found her and Penny mid-clinch.
He had been too aroused at the time to be upset. He was too aroused period to be upset. It was fantastic. A dream come true really. How was it that he and his beautiful girlfriend had serial seduction in common? How was it that they both had a weakness for beautiful women? Lorraine had looked over at him with her lips swollen and her eyes lustful. Both women were rosy-cheeked and panting.
"What are you standing there for? Come and play," she gestured. It was like the heavens had opened and the love of the Lord had shone on him with a particular brightness that day. Lorraine was bisexual and liked feminine, sexy girls like he did. Could this be any more perfect?
But, Alex quickly learned that just because she liked to play with other girls didn't mean she let him form a harem. The conditions of their relationship were that he could only be with another woman if Lorraine was present. Alex didn't really care; he could sleep around and not be in trouble for it! He also didn’t mind which other girls Lorraine was sleeping with as long as he could watch. She would jokingly warn him that he would lose her to a butch dyke one day but he would counter that she loved dick too much.
Young, beautiful girls flowed in and out of his company’s doors like flies to honey. Often excitedly filling, the entry-level, or intern positions at his company. Waiting for girls to come through the system was one way to give Lorraine a variety of partners but that often meant a lot of waiting and too much logistical work to get around. How were they going to seduce the new girl in IT when nearly nothing in her job description would bring her to the managerial offices?
That’s when Alex and Lorriane devised a plan for seduction. Seminars were the perfect hunting ground. Long, boring, and tedious Lorraine made them good for something after all. The weekend-long ones that required travel were particular favorites for them. Lorraine would come up with the list of people who had to attend from the company, including any beautiful intern, assistant, or associate from whatever department they wanted. Usually, the excuse that they were young and were being given corporate experience was a good enough excuse to entice them to attend. Others didn't need to be asked twice and were thrilled. Most were even more thrilled when either Lorraine or Lex invited them into Lex's hotel room.
Young beauties from other companies were even more fun. Usually after an event weekend, Lorraine and Lex wouldn't really have to see Frida from IT again for a long time, they could experiment with more outlandish techniques. They likely wouldn't have to see Katie who worked at Monsanto ever again. That was the trick when it came to threesomes. The third person had to be a stranger, the looser their attachment to the couple, the better.
There was a seminar the weekend after next to which Alex and, consequently Lorraine, were to attend. Maybe that was what Lex needed. A little fun to bring him back on track with her. Lorraine thought. She had no doubt that he was committed to her. She also knew, however, that the nature of their relationship meant he was always looking for another woman for him and her to enjoy together. None of the girls she had ever brought him had disappointed yet. She wasn’t about to start slumming.
Try as she might, Katherine could not, for the life of her figure out why she had to attend the financial seminar her CEO and other company heads were going to that weekend. From what she had heard around the office, they were a bit of a motley crew. Both she and Meredith were part of the IT department and there was really no reason for them to attend. But, a direct request from the CEO was all it took to whisk them away for the weekend. It wasn’t like they were terribly out of the way. Though still in the city, Katherine was miffed that she wouldn’t be able to spend the weekend catatonic on her couch.
As they checked into their hotel, Katherine wondered whether she actually had to attend both full day seminars. She didn't want to. Business hotels tended to be more barren than others but that didn't mean she still didn't prefer spending the weekend relaxing at home instead of listening to people talk about forex and bonds. A phone call in her room from Lorraine Jasper, the boss's secretary, told her that she was permitted to stay in her room and enjoy the hotel's amenities during the lectures and she wasn't required to attend. Well why am I going, then? She asked herself. She could have looked at it like a free, impromptu holiday but she prized her free weekends and wasn't pleased. She called Lorraine back in her room to ask that very question.
Lorraine picked up after the first ring. "Why do I have to come if I don't have to attend?" Katherine implored. She heard Lorraine laugh lightly through the line before answering, politely.
"Katherine your presence was expressly requested by the CEO. He wants you there."
"Yeah, I gather as much but he wants me there to do what? I am not part of the managerial or administrative teams. Last I checked this wasn't an IT seminar." Lorraine was silent for a while.
"What is it you are asking for Ms. Hunter?" She said curtly.
"I would like you to inform Mr. Hendrickson that because I feel my use is extremely limited here, I have made the decision to leave the seminar early," Katherine heard Lorraine clear her throat.
"If that is what you feel, Ms. Hunter, you can tell him tonight, after the last lecture of the day. He will be in the restaurant bar at 7:00." She hung up before Katherine could counter.
Meet him at the restaurant bar at 7:00pm. It sounded like a date. Surely there was a more professional way she could go about it. She debated about sending an email. But decided against it, reasoning that Lorraine probably read and replied to his emails and would tell Katherine the same thing she had said on the phone. That woman. They were probably fucking. They would look beautiful as a couple; equal parts infuriating and intoxicating.
That evening Katherine made her way to the bar. He wasn’t hard to spot. She had only seen him a handful of times and spoken to him directly a grand total of 1. But, he was an imposing figure, very tall and wide across the shoulders. He had black hair that was always immaculately styled and blue eyes that were icy and intimidating.
"Mr. Hendrickson?" She approached him, nervously. She didn't know where to put her hands so she balled them at her sides so she wouldn't worry at her clothes. Alex turned to her and smiled. His expression suggested recognition, but his eyes showed something else that was less innocent.
"Katherine. I hope you don't mind, I ordered you a drink," he said, pushing a pink cocktail towards her. He had a tumbler of brown liquor with ice cubes sitting in front of him.
"Mr. Hendrickson, I came to speak to you about my involvement in this seminar." He took a sip of his drink. His behavior and actions were far too languid for Katherine's liking. She wanted to say what she was there to say and split.
"Are you enjoying the hotel?" he asked.
"Sir, I am neither part of the managerial nor administrative departments at the company and feel my participation in this seminar is robbing another, more appropriate, individual of an opportunity."
"You are a promising young employee, Katherine. What kind of comp
any would we be if we didn't expose our younger members of our staff to all parts of the corporate experience?"
"I don't want to be here, Sir. I don't know why I should be."
"You are here because I asked for you, Katherine. Have a drink." Katherine withered slightly under his gaze and carefully sipped the cocktail that he offered her. It was sweet but the alcoholic edge was very apparent. It was a clean, strong taste like tequila.
"I suppose you have met my girlfriend, Lorraine?" Katherine turned and saw the smiling face of Lorraine Jasper behind her. If there was a moment when she should have renounced the entire encounter as dodgy and left; this was that moment. Looking back and forth between the pair of them she tried to think up a smart excuse to leave.
"I don't suppose you have plans tonight, do you, Katherine?" Lorraine drawled.
"I- uh, no. You guys have me fully booked this weekend," she said nervously continuing to sip her drink.
"Wonderful, you could join me tonight. I love Lex but sometimes I prefer the company of a woman," Katherine could feel Lorraine's slender fingers run through her hair as her pulse accelerated.
"Uh-huh, what did you have in mind?" Katherine asked cautiously.
"I'm sure you guys will think something up. I can help if you want," Alexander said. Katherine almost laughed at the absurdity of what was happening to her. She felt the CEO's hand touch the small of her back and jerked away, placing the drink back on the counter.
"Mr. Hendrickson, thank you so much for the opportunity to attend this seminar. I, however, think it would be best if I cut my attendance short. I will be leaving in the morning."
"If it's too much for you I'm more than happy to just watch or he could watch. Whichever you prefer." Katherine felt her eyes grow big and mouth fall open. Speechless, she mumbled her thanks and all but ran away as fast as she could. She knew when she was being flirted with but, that was not what had offended her. The fact that it had to have been their plan from the start was what infuriated her.
"You are here because I asked for you," he had said. Alexander Hendrickson, her boss, and Lorraine apparently had called her out for the seminar in order to be their third. She had gone to college. She had done everything you were supposed and not supposed to do while experimenting at school. She had been the first or second 'F' in more than one MMF or FFM encounter, but only when it was of her own choosing.
She drew the line, however, at her boss. Even if the fact that he was her boss was disregarded; they didn't even know each other. She knew that for many people they wouldn’t turn him down, or Lorraine for that matter. That may have not been that much of a deal-breaker when it came to casual sex but on this particular weekend it was. And besides, it was gross. She felt like a piece of meat that they were both waiting to make a meal of after they had tenderized and seasoned her enough.
Feeling sick, she walked through the hotel. She felt disoriented and dazed like someone had given her instructions that she had forgotten and she was then trying to find her own way.
"Are you okay ma'am?"
The voice sounded like it was coming from very far away. She tried to explain to whomever it was that she wasn't feeling well and needed to get back to her room.
"Are you a resident at the hotel?" he asked. Katherine felt herself nodding before waking up in her hotel room. She scrambled for her phone, checking the time. It was a few minutes to 6 in the morning.
She threw her clothes into her bag with more force than was necessary. The events of the night before were fuzzy but she did know she was spending her weekend at a seminar where she wasn't needed. She didn't have to be in a hotel to do nothing; she was perfectly capable of doing that alone in her house. She needed to go home.
~
Still in shock when she arrived, she dodged her roommate Heather’s probing questions about why she was home so early. Sitting at the dining table silently a few hours later while her roommate buttered a piece of toast she dropped the bomb.
"He tried to sleep with me."
Heather Chen was her one and only Craigslist success story. She was still in college but she worked and could pay rent. She was clean, quiet, and loved to gossip.
"I'm sorry, he did what?"
"He tried to sleep with me."
"Who?"
"My boss... and his girlfriend." Heather's jaw dropped. She abandoned her toast hurrying to the seat across from her at the table.
"You do not start a story like that from the middle. Start from the beginning." Heather loved a good dish but when it came to serious things she was always there to lend an ear. Katherine hadn’t expected a friendship to evolve from their cohabitation but she was glad one had, especially at a time like this. She recounted the events of the seminar, from the call she had gotten at the office from Lorraine informing her that she was attending, to the heavy-handed flirtation that preceded her clumsy exit. Heather sat back in her seat. Incredulous but thrilled.
"I can't believe it," Heather said.
"I know, I thought things like that only happened-"
"No, I can't believe you didn't do it," she finished.
"Heather, you are disgusting."
"Can you imagine the story, though? Oh, come on. You said yourself both parties are extremely hot." Katherine shrugged. It wasn't a lie.
"Promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"Next time, you'll do it." Katherine laughed.
"I'm pretty sure opportunities like that only come around once in a lifetime Heather."
Katherine spent the rest of her weekend relaxing in bliss before heading to work as usual on Monday morning. She wasn't worried she would run into either Lorraine or Alexander. She figured even if she did, their offer wasn't a standing one. She was a professional and would conduct herself as such even if faced with a lengthy, uncomfortable, interaction with either one of them.
The fact that Katherine and Meredith somewhat looked alike was a total coincidence. They both had auburn hair and worked in IT but that really was where the similarities stopped. Meredith was tall and willowy while Katherine was shorter and busty. Katherine's eyes were brown while Meredith's were green. Meredith had jumped at the opportunity to go to bed with Lex and Lorraine while Katherine had run away like she was being chased.
"Shame about Katherine. I liked her," Lex remarked to Lorraine Sunday night after they returned home from the seminar. Lorraine scoffed.
"Of course, you did. She has championship tits." Lex chuckled at how crass Lorraine was. She was completely foul-mouthed when it came to sex.
"She was skittish. It would have been terrible. She would have probably chickened out halfway through." It wasn't often that girls turned down a night with Alexander Hendrickson. Usually, the news that Lorraine would be part of the equation excited them further. Lorraine knew that a lot of girls were really there for Lex but it didn't matter. She always had her fun.
That weekend Katherine had gotten away but Meredith had been a treat. She had been nervous but a little liquid courage had gotten her engine going. All in all, Lorraine considered the weekend a success.
Although at first, the thoughts hadn’t bothered her, they had started to push through her subconscious mind, with an itching of malicious intent. Trying to forget what had happened that weekend, Katherine tried to ignore any talk of the seminar. She had been embarrassed and mortified strongly enough to last her a lifetime that weekend. She wasn’t interested in emails from other participants and brochures from the hotel they she had stayed at. She was especially on edge when she got a phone call from a fellow participant from another company. Aaron Grant was a young finance maverick and CEO of Grant International. On Monday evening after the seminar, it was his number Katherine was reading on her caller ID. After picking up the phone and learning who it was, confusion clouded her mind. Why would he call her himself instead of having his assistant or secretary do it. Coming off the back of a seminar she reasoned that it must be that he wanted to discuss business from the seminar.
Aaron was also apparently a gentleman. He picked her up from her apartment after calling an hour before to confirm the time. Taking in his suit and tie, she was relieved that she wasn't underdressed. She knew he wouldn't take her to MacDonald’s but formal came in degrees and she wanted to make a good impression. His suit was charcoal and his tie a solid black. His hair was black and curly brushing the tops of his ears and just touching his suit collar in the back. The hardness of his jaw and brow stopped anybody from describing his face as ‘pretty’. His eyes were blue and his nose was straight and aquiline.