TASTES LIKE LOVE

The Contract

"Violence? Assault!? What is the meaning of this?" Rudolf Pierce shouted, throwing the documents in his hands onto the table in front of him, after having barged into his daughter's  office a couple minutes earlier. "This is not something I expected to see related to my daughter. I made you Head Director-"                                                                                                                                  "You didn't MAKE  me head director, father. I climbed up here step by step, all by myself. Besides, who was a better fit? Me, or that bumbling idiot you call a son?" she asked, already annoyed that they were even having this conversation in the first place.                                                                                  "Look at that, your brother was right. This is why women can't be in positions of power, it's gotten to your head so  now you're talking back to me?"  Oh for fuck's sake Father, not this again.                                                                                                                                                                  "Well it's your fault for not making him smarter. I'm not going to minimize myself just to make him feel worthy." she said, standing up. In her 6 inch red bottom heels, she was almost as tall as him. " This hotel is mine. I will do what it takes to protect it, and Dominic should be glad I haven't set my sights on his little business."                                                                                                             "I don't know how you can be so relaxed, there's going to be a meeting with the board of directors at 3, and they plan to make you accountable for damaging the hotel's and group's image with all your recent shenanigans. Come prepared. Your inauguration ceremony is just around the corner, I would get this sorted out quickly if I were you, lest it gets cancelled before it even begins." he said and without waiting for a reply, walked out of the office.

Lauren sat back down, the cogs in her mind already turning. This is definitely not what she needed right now, but she would have to deal with it anyway. She'd come too far to let an imbecile like Caleb drag her back down. 

Thinking about Caleb brought back memories of the other night. She had been surprised to see the chef there, and wanted to ignore the desire to seek him out after their eyes met across the room. Something like an invisible magnet was drawing her to him, dangerously so, and she was glad when someone pulled her aside for the usual boring small talk. It had taken all of her willpower to resist the urge to look for him, and one thing led to another until she got pulled into the garden by Caleb.

He was fuming and ranting about humiliating him and she must've struck a nerve because he pushed her back, causing her to stumble onto a nearby plant vase. She had left her purse with Turner and the only weapon she had was her pointed heels, so she hurriedly took them off staying far enough from him so she could escape if needed.

He must've read her mind because he pushed the heels with his foot, out of her reach. "You cunning bitch, that's why you always wear these stupidly sharp things huh? You won't catch me a second time." he said, grabbing her by the back of her neck.

She screamed at the pain of his grip, and did the first thing that came to her mind. She pushed her knee as far up his groin as she could, and was rewarded with a loud grunt, a stagger back and the hand holding her was released. He was proper angry now, and before she could move he had raised a hand to hit her and she threw her  hands in defense, waiting for a blow that never came.

A familiar, warm hand was holding hers, and that sensual scent engulfed her. He's here, she remembered thinking, and an alien feeling overcame her. She didn't quite register what they said to each other, as she was still in shock over the sense of calm she felt. She felt ..safe?  Even later, when she was finally in the comfort of her own car, she found herself thinking about his gentle yet firm touch on her feet, and wondered why it didn't feel as foreign as she'd thought.