Cougar Boss

by Kerry Belchambers

I threw him a pillow which landed smack on his face. “Don’t be silly.” I doubted she thought of me at all, which wasn’t surprising. I was her errand girl; a faceless employee.

  “I hope she pays well. If you get this job you could hook me up with her rich friends.”

  “I doubt they’d be interested in you,” I said dryly.

  “Not me, my work.”

  He was a great artist. “Pray I get the job.”

  I would’ve loved to help him out the way he’d unfailingly helped me.

  When he left, I showered and got in bed. I was out like a light the moment my head touched the pillow.

  The following morning, I woke up early to go for my makeover. My dress would be delivered later on, I just needed to get the physical transformation out of the way first.

  Andre was happy to see me. It was obvious he loved his job because of his enthusiasm and positive energy.

  “Don’t overdo it,” I told him before he got started.

  “I got this,” he said and got to work.

  He had a team of people to work with, which was comforting because it meant they would take less time. When they started, there was a lot of tweezing and hair-cutting. It got painful and uncomfortable during waxing, which almost made me leave the boutique half done but I had to remind myself of the good that would come out of this whole thing.

  Andre dyed my hair into a deep chestnut color, cut it a little shorter, and used rollers and a lot of hair product to style it. They did something to my eyelashes after tweezing my eyebrows, then proceeded to a manicure and a pedicure among other things I wasn’t aware I needed. At the end, I was just glad I wasn’t paying the bill because I spent two and a half hours getting primped and ready.

  When I saw the resulting transformation, I was beyond shocked. I recalled the embarrassing moment where I looked in the mirror, unsure of what to find, and waved to realize the stranger staring and waving back was actually, me, Olivia Williams.

  I was different. Beautiful. I’d never used the word on myself, but for once I could because the woman looking back at me was without a doubt so.

  “You like?” Andre asked.

  I was still speechless and a little bit emotional. Andre seemed to understand that because he took my hand in his and released a squeal that deafened me.

  I left shortly after and headed to the mansion. I didn’t stay long because I needed to be at the venue to make sure everything was perfect and communicated with Mrs. Gallagher over the phone to keep her updated. All the guests had confirmed attendance and were ready for the big night.

  Lauren’s expression was priceless when she saw my transformation. I couldn’t wait to step into the gown and fully complete my new look for the party.

  Time passed by pretty swiftly and before I knew it, it was nine and the guests were going to arrive anytime now. I didn’t have enough money to book a room to go change into so I got my dress from the reception where I’d stored it and went to change in the ladies room.

  I reapplied my make up the way Andre had taught me, put on my dress, shoes and jewelry. I’d never owned jewelry before, at least not the fancy type. Now I was wearing some pretty nice ones but it was sad to think I’d probably have to return everything once the party was over.

  After my fascination with the sparkly, I did my hair and did a double take of myself in the mirror. The dress was a glamorous curve hugging gown that positively added to my physical appearance, pleasantly complimented by six-inch heels. If Rex had seen me at that moment, he wouldn’t have recognized me as I barely recognized myself.

  I got back to the event at the same time Amelia Gallagher and her family was arriving. The moment I saw her, I didn’t notice anyone else in the room. She was absolutely breathtaking. She looked incredibly graceful in a V-necked, long black dress that exposed a little cleavage and fully accentuated her slender curves, easily making her the most magnificent creature in the room. Her hair was stylishly held up, with a few curly locks falling down her face.

  Mrs. Gallagher’s arm was tucked in the crook of Mr. Gallagher’s arm. I’d never met him since I started working for the boss lady. In fact, I’d never even met her son or daughter. The only reason I recognized them was because I’d seen their pictures in Mrs. Gallaghers office.

  There was some family resemblance but the kids looked more like their father than they did the mother. She was certainly unique. Even the daughter I’d expected to be a duplicate didn’t look anything like her.

  Mr. Gallagher was a good-looking man in his mid fifties. He seemed to age as gracefully as his wife. I waited for the family to disperse and quickly approached Mrs. Gallagher. She moved with the grace and elegance of a ballerina.

  “Mrs. Gallagher,” I said softly.

  When she faced me, I thought I saw something flicker in her gaze. She was probably surprised by my unusual getup.

  “Olivia, you look lovely.”

  The last thing I expected from her was a compliment on my appearance. The fact that she noticed made me feel confident. It also made me smile. She noticed me. That usually stern voice in my head screamed in joy.

  “Thank you,” I said, almost shyly.

  I wanted to tell her she looked great too, but I didn’t think it’d move her much as her compliment moved me, so I got straight to work.

  Guests started arriving minutes later. In half an hour, the event was a luxurious affair, an intimate extravaganza, and one of the most enigmatic events I’d ever had the pleasure to plan and attend. The charity ball took a life of its own when people arrived and I stayed by Mrs. Gallagher’s side, giving her tidbits of information on guests she needed to charm in order for them to be generous with their donations.

  My photographic memory came in handy. Every face I saw, I remembered with accompanying details of the relevant information Mrs. Gallagher needed to use. People interacted with one another, ate special delicacies and drank expensive bottles of wine while I shadowed Mrs. Gallagher as she moved among the crowd, sometimes accompanied by her husband.

  I kept wondering if he knew how lucky he was to be with such a woman. Every man she spoke to at the party seemed equally as awed by her presence, and mysteriously disarming charm. I noticed several men flirting with her, which slightly irked me, but she was such a lady, she handled them like a professional.

  After meeting almost everybody, she went up on stage and gave a moving speech, which everyone applauded. When she stepped down, I realized Rex was right. I did have a crush on her. Something about the way she carried herself the entire night made her irresistible to me. It made her irresistible to a lot of people.

  “She’s good, isn’t she?” Lauren said.

  There was still a little hostility between us, but she’d been surprisingly nice to me that night, which I figured was because Mrs. Gallagher was there and I was practically by her side almost all evening.

  “Yeah, she is,” I said, almost to myself as my eyes followed the woman who everyone seemed to be enthralled by.

  She had such calm and poise it was almost as though she walked on air. Everything that came out of her mouth was gold. She touched my arm a few times that night, pointing me to people she needed me to identify for her and each of those touches went straight to my heart. I was afraid my crush might have grown into infatuation.

  A lot of donations were made through cheques that night and others were going to be sent throughout the week. I was certain Mrs. Gallagher had made a fortune out of the charity ball event. When people were leaving, hours later, they were each given a goody bag with personalized messages from Mrs. Gallagher herself.

  She told me what to have written in the notes and I sent out word so that everyone could leave with a little piece of her. When the event was over and almost everyone had left, I was certain I’d gotten the job because there had not been any problems. I had told Lauren to make sure every possible negative scenario that could occur would be fixed before any of the guests, or worse, the boss lady, got wind of it.

  A
t the end of the night, we exchanged notes and she told me everything I needed to know because I would have to give a detailed account to Mrs. Gallagher on Monday and that was if I was still hired.

  I was outside on the balcony getting some air because I needed to absorb the overwhelming night when Mrs. Gallagher called out to me.

  “Olivia.”

  I was going to walk over to her, but she was already approaching me when she called me. She had two glasses of wine in her hands and I was surprised when she handed one over to me. I hadn’t had a sip of alcohol all night and I’d barely had anything to eat.

  “You did a great job tonight,” she said.

  My heart started pounding. First at the compliment, then at how close she came to stand beside me. I could smell her mind-numbingly sweet perfume and it stilled my senses. I had to take a sip of wine to relax myself though it did nothing to help.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “To be honest, I was a bit concerned because of your lack of experience in this field, but your hardworking nature and commitment to your work gave me some faith,” she said.

  I wanted to tell her I’d also had some reservations, but I wasn’t going to equip her with my weaknesses. I needed her to stick to that belief if I needed to keep this job.

  “I was surprised at how accurate you were with details of the guests.”

  “I have a photographic memory. It wasn’t hard for me to remember their faces, names and other relevant details,” I said.

  That was the longest conversation we’d ever had and I didn’t know why but it felt good that she’d come see me when the event was over and tell me what she thought. I felt like she was giving me the same attention she’d given her guests while charming the money out of their wallets.

  “Well, it’s no surprise that I’m pleased with your work,” she said, and took a sip of her wine.

  Her words meant a lot to me. I’d never had a boss who actually acknowledged my work and commended me for it. This was a first. It was also the first time I was insanely attracted to an employer.

  I hoped all the good things she was saying meant I’d gotten the job, but again, I really couldn’t read her. Maybe this was her way of turning me down. Why else would she give me so much attention? She’d had no interest in me whatsoever. Not that I was taking it for granted, her showering me with attention made me feel like I had won a lottery.

  Speaking of which, where was her family? Shouldn’t she have left with them? This conversation could’ve taken place the following day. Had her husband left? Were we there alone? She turned to face the sky as the stars and moonlight illuminated down on us, making her face glow.

  With that look, she could have seduced a god. Everything about her was so remarkable. I wanted to feel it, to touch it, just to experience a slight piece of her world. Hers, not the immensely wealthy universe I’d been thrusted into a few hours earlier.

  “You’re so beautiful.” The words flew out of my mouth like a colony of bats out of a cave into the dark night.

  She looked at me and as her blue eyes shone into me, I felt like she could see the very depths of my soul. She extracted layer after layer of my soul until I was fully exposed for her to see.

  “You’re the most startlingly beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” I said.

  I couldn’t believe my courage. How was I saying this? Was I under a trance? Had she hypnotized me into speaking my thoughts? She’d always made me so nervous, but now, as I stood in front of her, I felt braver than I had in years.

  Then something magical happened. That invisible wall that had been between us crumbled and her face softened. It was like I could see her for the very first time and I wasn’t afraid. I looked at her, quenching my sight, filling myself with her until I was full.

  “Olivia,” she whispered.

  I took a brave step forward and put everything I’d worked so hard for on the line. I’d forever hate myself if I didn’t take that chance. I’d live with regret, with what-ifs. Whatever force that was making me feel this way must’ve been inside her too, because why else was she still standing there? Why hadn’t she walked away?

  No more questions, no more thinking. I decided and dove in. I closed the space between us and covered her lips with mine. The warmth of her breath spread through me like a wild fire. The first feel of her lips touching mine was velvet smooth and intricately soft.

  I wanted to absorb every moment, so when we touched, I paused for a second to take it in, then proceeded, unsure she’d kiss me back. The fear of the unknown held me captive, but I fought it and softly brushed my lips against hers.

  She tasted like an exotic mix of wild flowers, champagne and her. When she gently parted her lips on my request and began to respond, I wasn’t prepared for the train wreck of emotions and sensations that would overcome me.

  My breathing became heavy as her lips explored mine and I carefully placed my arm over her waist, wondering if gravity had betrayed her too. A surge of excitement shot through me when she parted my lips, demanding to know me better, more intimately and I gave her access to everything that she needed, while she made true a dream I’d desired from a distance. God, I wanted this woman. I wanted her to consume me. I wanted her all to myself.

  She pulled away before I could get myself together and had this look in her eyes that I couldn’t interpret. I didn’t know if I’d just lost a job I’d come so close to getting, or if I’d just opened the pits of hell upon my own heart.

  She walked away from me with my secrets in the palm of her hand and the place she’d occupied next to me instantly filled with a cold air that accompanied an icy breeze, which snapped me back to reality.

  What had I done? I kept asking myself as I left Eden plaza, heading back to my place. But something, a spark in my heart fought on. A spark that created a light no amount of self-deprecation could extinguish.

  Chapter Two

  When I woke up the following day, I was exhausted but my body had an alarm clock of its own and no matter how hard I tried to force myself to fall back asleep, I couldn’t. It had been such a busy week. I‘d hoped to rest that Sunday before I started looking for another job.

  I planned on staying in bed longer but the persistent knock on my door forced me to get up. I lazily got out of bed and went to open the door.

  “What time did you get home last night?” Rex asked when he walked in.

  He lived about ten minutes away from my place and tended to come over on Sunday mornings with breakfast. That morning, he had coffee and bagels.

  When I was about to get back in bed, I noticed how weirdly he was eyeing me and I wondered if I had drool on my face.

  “You look different,” he said.

  Oh, the makeover and the party. I wasn’t ready to let myself think about that.

  “Actually, you look great. What did they do to you?”

  I laughed as I took the coffee and bag of bagels from him. “Stop it,” I said.

  “How did it go?” he asked.

  “It was a successful night.”

  “So, you got the job?” he asked in excitement.

  “Not exactly. Actually, I have no idea. But I don’t think so.” I doubted after the stunt I’d pulled at the end of the night Mrs. Gallagher would ever want me anywhere near her.

  “What do you mean? If the night was as successful as you say, why do you think you didn’t get the job?” Rex asked.

  “I screwed up and I don’t know if I want to talk about it,” I said.

  “Come on, tell me.”

  I took a sip of coffee and leaned back on the pillow as the events of the previous night unfolded in my head. I told Rex what had happened without going into too much detail.

  “Sounds like it went great. If she doesn’t hire you, it’ll have to be out of something else because it sounds to me like everyone had a good time,” he said.

  I avoided his gaze and took a bite.

  “What did you do?” he asked.

  “You were right,” I s
aid.

  “I was right about what?”

  “I did have a crush on Mrs. Gallagher and after the event, she kind of figured it out.”

  “How? Did you tell her?”

  “I kissed her. And before you say anything, I just need to say this. I couldn’t help myself and if I hadn’t kissed her...” I trailed off.

  “You would’ve gotten the job,” he finished.

  “I was going to say I would’ve ended up regretting it, but yeah, pretty much what you just said.”

  “Oh, Livvy. What the hell?”

  “I know.” I placed the coffee and bagel on the table beside my bed and covered my face with a pillow.

  Rex got in bed beside me and placed his arm around my shoulder. “So how was it?”

  I smiled at him, recalling the magical kiss. “Amazing.”

  “How did she react?”

  “She kissed me back.”

  The feel of her soft silky lips running gently across mine had me reliving the moment all over again.

  “Was it worth it?” he asked.

  “Seeing as I might be living on the streets in a few days, the obvious answer would be no. But I don’t regret it. I got to touch her and kiss her. It was like trying to reach out to an angel and having the angel reach back, embrace me and tell me it was okay to feel the way I was feeling.”

  “Sounds deep.”

  I pushed him away. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Well, seeing as how you blew off a potentially great paying job for a kiss, probably not.”

  “Ugh. I have to start looking for another job.”

  “Wait, she’s going to pay you for the week you worked for her, right?”

  “I think so. We never really discussed the terms of payment but she doesn’t look like the kind of person who’d refuse to pay an employee.”

  “Don’t worry. You can always camp out on my couch until you get back on your feet,” he offered.

  I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Rex. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “You can thank me by buying my artwork when you’re rich. After school.”

  I groaned at the thought of school. I had exams coming up I hadn’t studied enough for. “I don’t know how long I can do this. I’m stretching myself out too thin and I’m barely covering any ground.”