REPRESENTED (16 page)

             
“Don’t kiss me, I must have terrible morning breath” Karin tried to turn away their second morning together.

             
Cassie laughed at her.  There was nothing about her body she didn’t know at this point she felt after two days of unending lovemaking.  They were both starved and not just for the food they forgot to eat.  They enjoyed each other and their bodies that they couldn’t seem to get enough.  They still talked but in such a way that words were unnecessary.  Karin explained some of the things she liked, wanted to try, and Cassie blushingly did the same.  Cassie had been surprised at the amount of passion this woman could expend on her; she must hold it all in the rest of the time which was why people thought her cold.

             
They managed to get out and eat after two days of lovemaking.  It was of necessity only though, to build up their strength.  They both couldn’t stay away long from the bedroom.  It gave housekeeping time to clean Karin’s room, change the sheets, vacuum, and do what they had to do.  They moved Cassie’s things from her hotel room so she had a change of clothing, which she didn’t need or use as they both stayed naked in Karin’s room, but at least she had access to her toothbrush.  They spent their third and last day together, doing some of the same things, in many and varied ways, and still learning more about the other.  The last time they made love together was so bittersweet they both cried knowing that they had to return to reality the next day.  It had been so intense and they both knew it was unique.  They had both been in relationships before and not achieved in so short a time what they had achieved together in their short three days together.

             
Karin drove Cassie to the airport the next day.  A familiar theme they both thought as she hugged and kissed her a chaste kiss on the cheek.  “I’ll call you of course” Karin said sadly as she watched her gather her suitcase.  She had only changed her clothes once in the last three days but then they had both stayed naked most of the time.  Cassie looked at her sadly “I wish I knew when I would see you next.”  Karin just grimaced.  She didn’t want the last thing that Cassie saw as she left was her sadness at her leaving.  She was back to the cold looking woman people knew and respected in her business suit and with her hair tightly up in a bun.  The wild abandoned passionate woman that Cassie knew was gone.

              “Hey!  About time you got here” Chet teased as he saw Cassie walk up to the bus with the strap of her bag over her shoulder.  She handed her bag to their driver.

             
Cassie laughed at the good natured kidding Chet always gave her.  “What, I’m not late!” she teased back knowing she wasn’t needed for hours yet.

             
“Where ya been?” he asked as he walked up to her.

             
“Oh, I took a little trip” she said.

             
He looked her over.  She was like the best sister anyone could have and he was proud that he was part of her back up band.  She could have had anyone with her voice but she kept her friends around her.  He and the other members of the band were thrilled not only to be associated with someone of Cassie Summers’s caliber but that they could call her friend.  They were together so much it was a good thing to be her friend, they were like family.  They knew a lot about each other too although she had kept this one close to the vest.  They all knew she was involved with someone, her happiness and joy were apparent, the endless phone calls and text messages hadn’t gone unnoticed but she hadn’t said anything so they had respected her wishes.

             
He looked at her and he could tell a woman well loved.  He himself was married and knew his friend was not only satisfied but in love.  He knew the signs well.  He knew she had been involved with someone when she came out over a year ago but that had died as the woman didn’t want the exposure of being known as Cassie Summers’s lover and her defection had hurt immensely.  Not only had Cassie had to deal with coming out as a gay singer but in losing a woman she must have thought that would be there for her in the good and the bad.  He hoped whoever she was involved with this time was worth it and could handle the fame that would come along with it.  He hoped for Cassie’s sake that she was a strong woman.  He had never seen this look about her before and he’d known her for years.

             
He grinned at her phrasing, a little trip indeed!  “Hope she was worth it” he grinned harder as he let her get past him to get on the big bus they used for touring.

             
She returned the grin as she breathed “oh yeah” and got on the bus to greet the other members of her band and some of the crew who were lounging inside.

             
Karin made a success of Phoenix as she had flown in one of her many assistants to help and learn.  She felt she knew enough now that she gave her Tucson to accompany the client.  She herself flew back to New York and after more than a month away was glad to be home.  She had missed her apartment, she had missed her pets who had missed her just as much if she could tell by their greetings, and she had missed New York itself.  She found though that despite being ‘home’ she thought about Cassie Summers way too much.  It made her realize that she was falling hard for this woman.

              “You’re back!” a voice from her doorway had Karin looking up and trying to focus through her glasses which she whipped off so she could see.

             
She smiled at the man leaning in her office doorway “hey Elliott” she answered informally.

             
“We haven’t seen you in quite some time” he noted.

             
She shrugged “well, someone here has got to work.”

             
He laughed.  He knew very well how hard she worked.  He had wanted to promote her to a vice-presidency for a long time now.  She deserved it.  Her teams were some of the best trained in the company, hell in the industry.  She instinctively knew what was best for her clients and they all raved about her and her touch.  “Do we have you here for long?”

             
She shrugged her elegant shoulder again “until I’m needed elsewhere” they both knew that she had to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice if a crisis arose but then she had a lot on those elegant shoulders.

             
“How’s it look out there?” he asked.  He himself hadn’t been in the field in years but then with people of Karin Myers caliber, he didn’t need to be.  He also knew with her excellent reports that she stayed on top of her people and he could read it there but with the source right here in front of him he would rather hear it from the horse’s mouth.

             
“We’re good.  I gave Carly Tucson and if she does well there and there is every indication she should do fine I’m giving her Texas for two of our clients.”

             
He raised his eyebrows at that one.  Carly must have done something very good to get praise from Karin much less let her delegate such responsibility.  Karin felt very responsible to all her clients; it was why she was so good at what she did.  She didn’t just promote their work, she held their hands, she made suggestions, she handled publicity, promotions, and contracts, and she was a legend behind the scenes to promote these people to their utmost.  It was why she was one of the highest paid people in her field.  She never gave second best and they knew it.

             
“We might have to send in a box of dynamite to light under Gus Chason’s butt in Wichita though.”

             
“Why?” he asked knowing he didn’t have to wait for details, she would come straight to the point.

             
“If he wasn’t such a drip to talk to we could book him in larger and more money making venues but he comes across as a substitute school teacher that you just want him to stop talking.  It’s a good thing he writes so well or no one would want to meet him or pay for the privilege of reading his books.”  She grinned, not every client was a winner and the firms that hired theirs knew that.

             
“What can be done?  His manager?  His publicist?”

             
“He just needs to get laid” she said flippantly and then laughed at the look on Elliott’s face, she just didn’t talk like that normally.  “We have done his management, we have been his publicist, he just comes across very badly so we are working around that, don’t worry, I will win.”

             
To say Elliott had been shocked at her statement would be an understatement but he was pleased all the same.  Too often ‘the ice queen’ as she was called throughout the industry was too unfeeling.  To hear her utter something fairly base was humanizing.  She was normally classy and elegant, the clients loved it for some reason and her work was always superior.  He knew he would get 110 % out of her and he didn’t worry in the least.  If he could just get his other top executives to work as hard and get half the results she did it would make him a billionaire.  She was truly amazing and the clients loved her.  They saw sides of her that seemed to warm them and make them work hard for their own mutual benefits.  “Did you see Emma Wilson came out with a book?” he asked and watched her face carefully.

             
“Yes, Putnam published it and sent me a copy” she answered carefully averting her eyes.

             
“You could really do a great job...” he started.

             
“I could but she would do better with Michael’s team, they specialize in entertainment promotions.”  Her tone brooked no argument.  The Ice Queen was back in full force.

             
Elliott wanted to sigh.  He couldn’t fault her with her feelings about entertainment promotions after what had happened to her in Chicago during her meteoric rise within the company.  It was just that she was so terrific at what she did and the few ‘minor’ celebrities that she handled had become major’s under her direction but then she always handed them off to someone else in their firm.  They got the accolades; she had done the work though.  He knew she could wipe the floor with Michael and his teams if she would just apply herself.  He didn’t push her though and felt he was lucky when he could get her to take on minor celebrities, singers, and actors.  Books weren’t the big league but she managed to make them so for their clients and he knew that division had exploded because of Karin Myers reputation.  “Glad to have you back” he smiled as he bid her adieu.

             
Karin Myers back in the office caused some tension as many had been on the receiving end of her cold tongue many times.  As she expected perfection of herself and her teams it wasn’t far-fetched to expect the same of her support staff.  Hearing her in a bad mood on the other end of a phone conversation was almost a guarantee to have someone crying once they got off the phone.  She didn’t do it randomly and only when it was well deserved.  Strangely though very few resented her.  She complimented just as much in a way that left no doubt when she felt it was deserved.  Promotions too were possible under her guidance and while many felt it was akin to taking razor blades to their wrists to get one they all rejoiced when someone earned one under her.  Carly at the moment was the ‘it’ girl and they all secretly celebrated and envied her in equal measures.

             
Karin was home that night by six and enjoyed driving herself from the office across town to her apartment.  She loved being in her own SUV and secretly laughed that anyone who didn’t know her was always shocked to find that she didn’t drive a Porsche, Mercedes, or BMW.  She instead drove a Nissan Pathfinder and loved it.  It allowed her to see above the traffic, it gave her a reckless feeling of danger as though she could go off on an adventure at a moment’s notice and it was large enough for her to take her animals with her on those rare occasions when she went out into the country with the both of them.  As she pulled into the parking space under her apartments she closed the sun roof, made sure it was secure before grabbing her ever present briefcase and locking the doors.  She set the alarm as usual before heading for the elevator; she nodded to Stan who had a copy of the key to her SUV in the event of an emergency.  She was ever so pleased to greet D.O.G. as she came through the door.  He was just like having a child and she knew when C.A.T. made an appearance that she would have just as much fun with him.  She headed first for her den to drop off her briefcase and then her bedroom to change into slacks and a blouse.  She was relieved to see that the maid service had made up the bed and changed the sheets as she had been annoyed to return yesterday to find them still there from a month or so ago when she was last home.  There was no excuse for poor service and while she hadn’t been home for over a month it would have been nice to slip into her own bed with clean sheets.  Instead she had slept on the dirty ones and been annoyed that she had to call the maid service that morning with a complaint but it earned her two months of free service which was only fair as compensation.

             
She microwaved a chicken dinner that she found in her freezer having no idea how long it had been there.  She didn’t remember buying it and it could have sat there for months for all she knew.  She started her washing machine with a load of clothes.  She sat out on her patio and ate with D.O.G. and C.A.T. in attendance.  That they both knew she would throw them some of her meal had them very attentive with a casual ‘I don’t care’ attitude as though it made no difference to them if she shared.  That they counted and knew who’s turn it was to get a morsel she noted and it amused her.  After dinner she thought about calling Cassie but knew she was preparing for New Orleans or looking at the clock she thought maybe she was already performing.  She sent her a text instead that read “thinking about you.”  She did think about her.  Way too much she interrupted her train of thought at the oddest times.  She thought about how earlier in the week she had left her at the Phoenix airport and once again Cassie had told her that she loved her.  She had wanted to return the sentiment but then thought it shouldn’t be in response to what Cassie had said.  She didn’t want to be flippant about it.  She wanted to mean it.  She already knew that she did love Cassie, at least physically; she had expressed it very well in Phoenix.  The sexual marathon they had experienced had told her a lot.  She had never done anything like that before.  She had never experienced anything like it and it had surprised and delighted her.  She wanted to tell Cassie but she also wanted it to be on her terms, when she was ready, not a command performance.  She remembered the hurt look in Cassie’s face when she hadn’t said it in return.  She had shown her though in countless ways, she hoped Cassie got that.