by Chanel Ivy
"Well, then you shouldn't do any of that, no matter what your parents want for you. You have to do what you want with your life or what's the point right?" Veronica said as she grabbed my hand and kissed it.
I blushed at the romantic gesture and felt the warm sensation of lust building inside of me again with her touch. I crossed my legs to stifle my bodies response to her as I squeezed her hand, "You are so easy to talk to."
"You are too. You know, I've never told anyone stories about Barbara and what she did to me. Honestly, I was only going to give you a high-level overview of my shitty childhood and not mention Barbara at all, but I found myself just unloading. Only my top personal bodyguards even know I ever had a brother. I changed my name when I turned eighteen to get away from everything in my past, but I've never felt like this with anyone before. It's kind of scary, but exciting at the same time," she said, leaning over to me, grasping my neck in her hands and pulling me in for a passionate kiss.
She pulled up her skirt and straddled me while her kissing deepened, but we were interrupted by the phone ringing. It was like a buzzer that meant our time was up. Veronica jumped up off of my lap, leaving me twisted with lust as she answered the telephone.
"Hello, Steve. What do you have for me? Oh, that's good. Yes, I will definitely use that. Send me everything you have, and I'll be in touch if I need your assistance. Please make sure the IT guys don't let this shit happen again. Make sure they know they'll be fired if it does. Oh, and once they assure you that they've fixed the vulnerability, fire them anyway and get another IT firm in here to manage everything. I have no time for incompetence." She was all business again as she hung up the phone and sat in front of her laptop. "It looks like Fred's father is a Sheriff somewhere in Jersey who has a taste for young prostitutes. Daddy likes to get blow jobs in return for letting the girls off with lesser charges. It appears he even takes a cut of the local drug dealer’s profits since the dealer also runs girls while good old pops looks the other way. All of this while Fred's mom is battling breast cancer. I couldn't have asked for a better skeleton. Don't you worry my darling Tessa, Fred isn't selling any videos. When I'm done with him, he'll be begging me not to air his family’s dirty laundry and will have forgotten all about our intimate rendezvous," Veronica said with a sly smile.
"That is disgusting. People actually do stuff like that in real life? I thought that kind of crap was only for Law and Order episodes."
"Yep, people are absolutely disgraceful. You have no idea. Some of the stories I could tell you about some influential people and their perversions would give you nightmares, but right now I have work to do. Why don't you head home? I'll have my driver take you. I have this whole Fred situation to take care of, and I need to focus without your beautiful body distracting me. You look like you could use some rest anyway. I genuinely enjoyed spending the day with you, Tessa, and not just the sex part. Don't get me wrong, for someone who has never been with a woman before you were wondrous, but it was nice to genuinely connect with someone and feel okay to be open and honest. I don't get to do that. Thank you."
"Well, I feel the same. I never expected in a million years that I would be intimate with a woman, and I certainly would never have expected to enjoy it so much. Your touch awakens something inside me I never knew existed. I'm truly happy to have found you, Miss. Veronica Walker," I said, kissing the top of her head while she sat at her desk.
"Now get out of here before I take you to my bedroom and make you scream my name again," Veronica laughed.
"Speaking of the bedroom, my purse is still in there," I smiled, knowing that she would have to take me to her bedroom, and we might get to enjoy each other one more time before I left.
"Oh, right," she said as she punched a few buttons on her desk, causing the wall panel to her private apartment to open. "You know the way, right?"
I was disappointed, to say the least, but I entered her apartment and retrieved my bag in silence. When I walked back into the office, Veronica already had her back turned to me and was chattering away on the phone. I grabbed the bottle of wine from the conference table, shoved it in my bag and walked out happy that we had been intimate with each other, but unsatisfied that it was over, and she was back to work.
Chapter 6
I thought we had something, but I guess I was wrong. Once I was done helping Veronica with the Jackman files, and she had her meeting with him, I was sent back down to the forty-fifth floor to continue my orientation classes, and then I was assigned to my own accounts.
Veronica confirmed to me the morning of her meeting with Jack Jackman that her tech team was able to hack into Fred's computers and erase the video of her and me. So even if he didn't back off using what she had learned of his father’s disgusting business with underage girls and drug dealers, which he did, he would have had no choice but to stay silent and go away.
It was a relief to know that Fred was no longer an issue, and there wasn't a video of me engaging in extremely explicit sexual acts with another woman just floating out there on the internet. But beyond that, overall, I was unhappy. I thought what Veronica and I shared was unique. She meant something to me, and it felt like I meant something to her. After our few one on one days together, Veronica barely spoke to me. Even when she came down to the forty-fifth floor to boss Greg around, she wouldn't even look at me.
I felt like a cheap used toy, even more so when I got my first paycheck. I received my regular salary, but there was also a $25,000.00 bonus check in the envelope as well. There was a handwritten note inside that said, 'Fantastic work on the Jackman update. Thanks for the extra effort - Veronica Walker, CEO.'
I started looking for another job that very afternoon. I also started going to an art class after work, and I frequented a poet’s cafe where I finally worked up the courage to start reading some of my poems in front of people.
I tried to be happy by doing things that I knew made me happy, but nothing was good enough. I couldn't get Veronica out of my head. I even found a woman at a bar who looked a lot like Veronica and took her home with me. I kissed this woman and felt nothing. I touched her inside and out, she touched me, but it felt empty. We had sex, but it was just that, sex. There was no intimacy in it, and it just made me feel dirty.
Three months had passed, and I was waiting at the bus stop before work like usual when a large tinted out, black SUV pulled up in front of me. The front window slid down slowly, and a very intimidating dark-skinned gentleman in black clothes and black sunglasses motioned me over to the vehicle with his hand. I stepped closer to the curb, but still out of reach just in case someone was going to spring from the back seat and toss a hood over my head to kidnap me. You never can be too careful; this is Philly after all.
The man could tell I was uneasy, as he cleared his throat before speaking, "Miss. Walker would like to see you. It's urgent. Get in please."
My heart fluttered at the mention of her name, but how could I know this guy wasn't going to hurt me? She did warn me that she dealt with some unsavory people that tried to do dreadful things to her regularly. How could I know this wasn't someone trying to get to her by hurting me?
"How do I know you work for Veronica?" I asked instantly terrified of what this guy was going to do now that I questioned his intentions.
He shook his head before taking his sunglasses off, "My name is Steve. I helped Miss. Walker with a video issue you two had a few months back. The idiot who thought it was a good idea to blackmail her, his name was Fred. I have a badge for the building that I can show you."
"No offense, Steve, but anyone who wants to hurt Veronica could have that information, and a badge is easy to fake. What is something no one but the real Steve would know about her? Oh, I got it. What is her sister's full name?"
"Trick question, she didn't have a sister she had a brother named Jeffrey, but he's dead. Now, will you get in, please? She's waiting for you, and Miss. Walker doesn't like to wait," he said, putting his sunglasses back on knowing full and we
ll that he answered my question correctly.
Satisfied he was who he said he was, I jumped in the back of the truck. I was on my way to see Veronica and find out what was so urgent that she would break her silent treatment for.
Chapter 7
To my amazement, we pulled up to the very posh Rittenhouse Square building in the most amazing part of Philadelphia. Steve got out, came around to the back, and let me out onto the sidewalk as he handed the vehicles keys to a younger gentleman in a valet uniform. Steve motioned for me to follow him up to the impressive red block building where the doorman who was waiting opened the door for us and then led us to a secluded elevator before walking back to his post. Steve, keeping his head on a swivel like he was looking for threats everywhere, punched a code into a screen next to the elevator doors and swiped a key card before the light blinked back green. The doors opened, revealing one of the largest elevator spaces I have ever seen. I could fit my entire apartment in this lift.
I looked at Steve who seemed to notice my wonder but thankfully said nothing about how in awe he could tell I was.
"Miss. Walker has asked that either myself or my second in command, Kevin, is with each of you at all times. Please know that we will be around continually if you should need us," Steve said as he hit the button for the penthouse, punched in some numbers on the keypad and swiped his badge again. As Steve put the keycard back in his jacket pocket, I noticed a holster strapped around his broad chest. He was carrying a gun.
"Why would we need security like that? What's going on, Steve?" I asked, starting to worry. Steve did not remove his sunglasses as we rode the elevator, so I had no queues as to his demeanor from his lack of any facial expression through the dark glasses.
Steve crossed his thick arms over his chest as he took in a deep breath, "Miss. Walker has asked to review everything with you personally. I apologize I cannot provide you with any additional information at this time."
Wow, talk about towing the company line. I knew I wasn't getting any more information out of this bear of a man, but I did also notice he had a special forces tattoo on his forearm. It was the top half of a skull wearing a green beret with a dagger through it and the words, 'De Oppresso Liber' surrounded the artwork. So, Steve is retired Special Forces, and he's armed? Now I'm really starting to worry.
"Nice tattoo. What did you do when you were in the special forces?" I asked him, trying to lighten the mood in the elevator.
"I can't answer that, mam."
So much for lightening the mood. Thankfully the elevator doors opened, and I let Steve step out first. The elevator opened to what I would call a foyer area, but it was not the grand entrance I was expecting. There was a huge unfinished space that consisted of untreated cement floors and walls. There were areas spray-painted with directions for the electricians and plumbers instead of wood or glass tables presenting fresh flowers or other ornate decorations like I had come to expect of Veronica.
Steve walked up to the brushed chrome double doors and did his thing on the keypad again for them to open. The brightness of the space was almost blinding. This space was much more Veronica's taste with light purple and cream-colored walls and heavy curtains framing the floor to ceiling windows of the penthouse.
I heard a door open and close in the distance and the soft sound of bare feet hitting the marble floor in quick succession as Veronica came into view. I could tell she had been crying as she wiped her eyes and continued to jog towards me wearing a plain white tank top, grey shorts, and a lavender-colored silk robe. Even while crying, she was breathtaking.
She stopped right in front of me, looked me over quickly, and grabbed me into a tight embrace.
"What the hell is going on here? Steve didn't tell me anything other than it was important that you see me right away, and that he and another security guy would be watching us like hawks. What is this all about Veronica?"
Veronica released her hold on me and wiped away more tears as she grabbed my hand and lead me to the couch, "I'm sorry Steve didn't tell you anything. I didn't want you freaking out until I knew I had you safe here with me."
"Well, that's a relief. Not! What is so important that the all-mighty Veronica Walker would descend from on high to mingle with the common folk she likes to fuck and dump without as much as an apology? You stopped speaking to me, remember?"
"Yes, and I'm truly sorry for the way I treated you. I thought it was in your best interest not be involved with me. I realize we have something special together, but I wasn't willing to risk your reputation or your life just to be with you. That would be selfish of me, and you mean too much to me. I just couldn't do that to you," she said as she began to cry again."
"We 'have' something special. No, we 'had' something special until you destroyed it with a $25,000.00 check and a wham, bam, thank you mam note. Fuck you. We 'have' something special. Ha!" I laughed sarcastically in her face.
Getting to unload all of my frustration and anger on her was cathartic, but it stopped feeling good the second I saw how destroyed she was. I looked over at Steve, who was standing against the front doors, and even he looked heartbroken for her.
"I deserve that."
"Yes, you do. Now tell me what I'm doing here, or I'm leaving," I said, softening my tone slightly.
"This isn't easy to say, but there's a genuine threat against my life," she said, looking down at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with me.
I was stunned, and it took me a few moments before I could get my words out, but I moved closer to her on the couch wrapping my arm around her, "What the actual fuck Veronica? Who... I... I don't even know what to say to that."
She nestled her head into my neck and began breathing a little more comfortably, "I had a deal in the works with a company from China. There were some extra hoops to jump through because of the current political climate, and during the discovery phase of the companies past dealings, we found links to the Chinese Mafia and other various organized crime. I killed the deal immediately, and within minutes I received a call from the company’s CEO telling me that if I didn't reinstate the deal, he would bury my company and then kill my family and everyone close to me. I hung up on him and reached out to Steve immediately. This was yesterday afternoon."
"Oh my God, Veronica. You absolutely did the right thing. You can't get into business with people like that, or you will never stop looking over your shoulder."
"I know I did the right thing, but it cost Jamie her life."
"What? Jamie's dead?"
"Steve told me I couldn't go into the office because of the threat yesterday, so I've been holding up here. I bought this place through another company while I was having it renovated so I knew they wouldn't find me here, but I didn't think to tell Jamie to take a vacation day or anything. She went in like usual and was just sitting down at her desk, turning her computer on when someone dressed as the wait staff came in and shot her point-blank in the head. This guy looked right at the cameras as he walked out. The killer knew where they all were, and he wanted me to know who he was. He took the back stairs to the roof and was picked up by an unmarked helicopter," she said grabbing me tightly hugging me close, and sobbing.
"This is insane, Veronica. Who the hell are these people?" I said, sniffling into her breast.
She started crying so heavily it was hard to understand her, "Tessa... he left a note on Jamie's desk... with your name on it."
Her words made my blood run cold. I instantly looked up to Steve, and he shook his head yes silently. I grabbed her face in my hands and kissed her.
"This is not how I wanted us to come together, but what do we do now?"
"We leave everything up to Steve and Kevin. We do what they say when they say to do it. But for now, we're safe here."
"You said you bought this place through another company, but if these people can just walk through your front door and kill Jamie, they are going to be able to find this place eventually. Why don't we go to the cops? They have to be involved if Jam
ie's dead, don't they?"
"Yes, the police are all over the Walker building currently. They have it locked down while they do their investigation and the detectives want to question me, but I'm not coming out of hiding until we have a plan. I know the Chinese will find this place sooner or later, so Steve and his team are working on something to get us out of this mess." Veronica picked up her head and used her thumb to wipe away my tears, "I 've been thinking about what you and I talked about the day we met."
"What do you mean?"
"About two months ago, I started liquidating all of my assets and looking for buyers for the company."
I was shocked, "Walker International? You're selling the company?"
