Playing With Power - Book 2: New Adult Office Romance (2 page)

“Oh, now that I can do!”

Thirty minutes and too much makeup later, the two girls walked out the front doors of the hotel. Like any true New Yorker, Ali immediately walked to the street to hail a cab.

“No no, wait,” Lauren called her back, pulling out her phone.

“Nuh uh, I am not walking up these hills. We’re getting a cab.” Her arm shot back up.

“Llama, put your arm away. I’m getting us a cab right now.”

“With your phone? They never come when you call them.”

“Parker told me about this company that’s out here. You just press a button and ping, the cab locates you and picks you up. Look, there’s actually one around the corner. He just texted me.” She flashed Ali her screen, a green dot indicating the car was rounding the corner. Moments later, a black town car rolled up to the curb. The driver was an older man in a suit who helped them into the backseat. “I could certainly get used to this.”

“Where we headed, ladies?” the driver asked looking into the rear-view mirror.

“A restaurant called Bix, do you know it? Shit, I don’t think I have the address pulled up,” said Lauren.

“No need, I know exactly where it is. There are a couple bottles of water back there if you ladies get thirsty.” With a nod, the driver pulled away.

Lauren sunk into the black leather seat as the driver weaved between traffic at a semi-alarming speed. Driving over the hills in San Francisco made her feel like she was on a roller coaster without tracks. Two days into their trip and she’d already seen three traffic accidents, one of which was a car driving straight into a parked cable car. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. Too many stress-filled days and a month of no real intimacy, aside from the battery-operated kind, had her wound up tight.

A few minutes later the driver pulled up outside a dimly lit alley. “Just head down that way. You can’t see the sign from here cause of those trees, but it’s there.”

“Are you sure?” Ali asked suspiciously.

The driver helped them out of the car, wished them a good night, and drove away. A few nervous steps down the dark alley, Ali spun around and shouted, “Shit! You forgot to pay him!”

Lauren clutched her chest, her heart pounding. “Damnit Ali, don’t do that! Nearly wet myself there. You pay him through the app, it comes out automatically,” Lauren said, patting her purse.

“Damn. Silicon Valley, eh? They’ve got everything here!” Ali looped her arm through Laurens and continued on. “Now, let’s go find some nerdy hotties.”

A glowing neon sign appeared to the left as they walked down the alley. The squiggly letters, ‘BIX here’ reminded her of logos straight from the 80’s. Once inside, the interior blew her away. Dozens of wall sconces dimly lit the large room. The bar at the end seemed to glow, looking more like an altar than a watering hole. The wall of bottles gleamed and glittered, throwing embers of light across the mosaic behind. Everything was touched with gold, rich mahogany, and decedent fabrics. Large pillars supported the soaring, vaulted ceilings above. A man in a tux accompanied a woman in a sequined gown, both softly crooning in the corner. As the girls sat at their round central table taking in the atmosphere, they noticed all the guests dining in the balcony seats above them.

“I feel like I just fell into the 1940’s,” Ali said. “And, surprisingly, I suddenly have an uncontrollable urge to sleep with you.”

“Makes sense. Parker suggested this place. Probably brings all his bimbos here,” Lauren whispered. “Don’t worry, unlike him I don’t expect anything in return.” She ran her toe up Ali’s leg under the table and winked.

Ali scanned the dining room and frowned. “I’m not seeing too many available bachelors around but at least I came with good company.”

Lauren looked over Ali’s shoulder toward the bar and spotted a group of men about their age. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that—” She trailed off as a young Asian woman caught her eye. She sat with her back to the bar, laughing with and surrounded by the young men. Well dressed, her short skirt showing off her thin legs, Lauren immediately felt a sense of unplaced recognition. Her long black hair tumbled down her shoulders and her lilting laugh echoed through the restaurant. She seemed to be the center of their attention and her body language made it obvious she wasn’t there with any one in particular. Lauren was distracted, trying to place her.

“Okay, what? What is going on behind me? I can tell you aren’t paying attention to me.”

“There’s a girl at the bar. I can’t figure out where I know her from. Maybe she’s a model or an actress?” Ali turned quickly in her chair and Lauren hissed to stop her. “Wait! Casual. Turn like you’re watching the singer. God, woman.”

“Alright,” Ali said rolling her eyes. “Where am I looking?” She slowly shifted in her seat, resting her chin on her hand as if mesmerized by the music.

“The girl in the black skirt, twelve o’clock.”

“The gorgeous Asian girl?”

“That’s her. Do you recognize her?”

“Not even a little,” Ali said turning forward. “Maybe you’ve seen her in a stock photo or something. Happens to me all the time back home. I’ll see a guy on the street and think, ‘Did I hook up with you?’ and then realize that I just see his face on the side of a bus every day or something.”

Lauren quickly looked away when the mystery woman stood and excused herself from her friends. Like a slap upside the head she recognized her, a face coming back from the past. As the woman walked by, Lauren ducked away, pretending to dig through her purse and watching from the corner of her eye. She waited until she’d safely passed.

“Holy shit, I know who she is now. I went to school with her. That was Sahra Gilson,” she whispered harshly.

“And judging by that reaction, I take it we weren’t besties with Sahra?”

“We were, at first. We kind of stuck together freshman year because we had all the same classes. She studied all the time but by sophomore year she was struggling pretty bad. I tried to help her but she just sort of lost interest...right around the same time she realized all the guys had gained interest in her.” Lauren pursed her lips for a moment before taking a sip of her martini. “Sahra thought it was easier to just flirt with some guy and get them to do everything for her. Really pissed me off.”

“So what happened? You just stopped talking?”

“Kind of. She transfered to another school our junior year and I never heard from her again.” Lauren paused. “Actually, that’s not true. She sent me a friend request and I ignored it.”

“Well I bet she’ll be surprised to see you. You were a lot different in college, weren’t you? For instance, you probably didn’t wear this much makeup...”

“Oh shit,” Lauren exclaimed. She grabbed a linen napkin and started dabbing at her face. “Damnit, I’d forgotten I’d let you do that,” she cursed her, wiping her mouth clean of shiny lip gloss and rubbing her eyelids. “Better?”

“Eh, that’s a subjective question,” Ali replied with a shrug.

It wasn’t long before Lauren spotted her returning to the bar and settling back in her seat. It was incredible how good she looked. The Sahra she’d known was pretty but nerdy and came from an all-girl’s school in Connecticut. That Sahra had been obsessed with fan-fiction and Halloween makeup. This Sahra was captivating and beautiful, clearly a social butterfly. It was plain why the men were enamored with her. Lauren slid her chair to the right so Ali blocked her view, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to stop staring.

Soon enough, the server arrived with their delicious food. Lauren savored her swordfish and fresh vegetables. She was so sick of eating stale sandwiches while standing on aching feet and attempting small talk with businessmen. She was about to comment to Ali that their meal was the first uninterrupted one she’d had in California when her phone rang. She reached down and silenced it in her purse, waiting to see if the unknown number left a voice message.

“Nick?” Ali said as she shoved a forkful of lobster spaghetti in her mouth.

“I highly doubt it. Besides, it’s like what, midnight there?” She listened to the voice mail when it popped up. Parker. “Damnit, of course
he’s
still up. I better call him back before he explodes,” she said as she slipped on her jacket. “Get a dessert menu, yeah? Company tab, we’re doing three courses.”

Lauren stepped out into the alley and away from the small line of people queuing to get in.
Damn, it’s almost worse than Manhattan.
The low clouds raced across the orange sky, fog rolling in from the bay. Parker picked up on the second ring.

“Sorry to have inconvenienced you,” he spat. “Is this a bad time?”

“I was in the middle of dinner. I’m at Bix, thanks for the suggestion, by the way.” Choosing not to rise to his bait had recently proved a good tactic. By allowing his vitriol to flow over her, she found he had less control over her moods.

Parker’s voice softened, “Right. I should’ve looked at the time. I was just checking in. How’d it go today?”

Lauren paced slowly along the alley, her black heels clicking against the pavement. “As well as can be expected, I’d say. Andrew is one tough nut, isn’t he? Does he even have more than one expression?”

“I’ve heard he only smiles when he makes money. Don’t worry about it. Even if you bombed today, which you probably did, it doesn’t matter. All these people talk. They’re worse than teenage girls. The fact we got a meeting with Andrew Cole should secure enough confidence we’ll get others.”

Lauren nodded.
Makes sense. I hate that I don’t know all this and I really hate that I have to learn it all from him.

“Besides,” Parker continued, “from what I hear, Andy boy isn’t really doling out much money lately. I think a few of his ventures have fallen through. Reputation means everything.”

“Right,” Lauren muttered.

“I haven’t told anyone this yet, but after we get funding, I want to make us bi-coastal so don’t go pissing anyone off out there. Silicon Valley is a small, incestuous place. It’s like Appalachia for millionaires.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that feeling,” Lauren said, remembering the blast from her past still sitting inside at the bar.

“You’re all set for tomorrow? These things are pretty intense. Gotta be on the entire time, you hear me? No, scratch that. You get there early. You’re the face of StyleSpur at this event and you better not fuck this up.”

“Just stop. No one knows the ins and outs of this company like me, not even you,” said Lauren. Her temper flared whenever her abilities were brought into question. “As much as you’d like to think otherwise, I’m the very one who should be representing the company.”

“Watch yourself.” His words sent a shiver down her spine. It was reminiscent of the tone he’d used when they’d been alone in the meeting room. With two words, Parker had managed to make her feel helpless, disgusted, and guilty in an instant.

Lauren softened her voice despite the fury inside.“I’ll be fine. I’ll give you a call tomorrow when I get back from the meetup. I’ll give you a full rundown so you don’t feel out of the loop, okay?”

Her blood boiled as she marched back into the restaurant.
Who the fuck does he think he is? I can’t stand the way he treats me! One minute I’m some sort of sexual plaything the next I’m apparently a stupid, helpless child. He only ever acknowledges my intelligence when he knows I’m on the verge of quitting, the bastard.
A waiter burdened with a tray of drinks narrowly avoided her as she whipped around the corner. Full of pent up anger and resentment, Lauren flung herself onto her seat and inadvertently hooked her heel into the corner of the long tablecloth. She had no time to react. The speed with which she whipped her leg under the table brought all their dirty plates and glasses toppling to the floor, causing such a commotion the entire restaurant looked to see what’d happened. What the patrons saw was a shocked Ali holding up an unspoiled cocktail in the air and Lauren covered with scraps of food, surrounded by shards of glass and ceramic.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she said to no one in particular. No staff member immediately approached the table, leaving Lauren dripping and at a loss for what to do. After what seemed to be an eternity, the patrons returned to their meals and within moments the music resumed. Thankfully, the world continued spinning. A team of busboys and waiters rushed to her side, making sure she hadn’t been harmed by any of the debris.

“No no, I’m okay, really.” Her cheeks were burning hot and she broke out into a sweat.

Ali casually sipped her cocktail as if nothing had happened. “Could we please just get the bill please? Oh, and two slices of lemon tart to go.”

Once the mess was as cleared as it could be, Lauren buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

Ali laughed. “Oh who cares? People have already forgotten it happened. It’s not like you know anyone here—” She trailed off as she realized that indeed, someone in the room did know Lauren. Lauren gave her a wide-eyed look as if to say, y
ou aren’t making this any better.

As she wiped a glob of crème fraîche from her dress, a soft voice tentatively called out her name? “Lauren? Is that you?” Instantly cringing, knowing full well what face she’d see as she looked up, she prepared an expression of surprise. As if on cue, Sahra Gilson approached from the bar.