Inhibited, Exhilarated

Chapter 1

"Mr. Harel will see you shortly," is something Ellana Lavellan says daily, followed by "Mr. Harel will call you back." He's a busy guy. Managing Thedas' biggest lyrium energy company doesn't leave much time left for paying attention to details. That's why every morning at 7:30 am, she gets him his favorite double espresso from the café at the corner, along with her mandatory cappuccino with extra sugar and milk to help her wake up. A few steps down the street she enters the lobby of the skyscraper where she's been working for the past five years. The click of her stilettos and the gentle ruffling of her pencil skirt announce her arrival as she struggles to balance her handbag hanging from her left shoulder, the paper tray holding both cups in one hand, and her mobile in the other. Mr. Harel is already in the office and he's asking where she is. Ellana curses the traffic for delaying her, despite having left her home on time. Downtown Denerim during peak commute time is a nightmare. As she does every day, she ignores the drooling stare of the hall porter and greets him with a polite "good morning" as she rushes to take the elevator.

As every morning, her belly turns in expectation as the elevator rises higher counting up the levels to reach the number fifty. Despite the ever growing delicious lash of adrenaline and excitement her stomach indulges in, Ellana takes advantage of the few minutes it takes to ride to the top to check today's agenda on her mobile. At this time, the markets on the other side of the globe are finishing their workday and those stock values are already available. She forwards the information to her boss and takes a look at his agenda of meetings for the day. It seems today she'll also see him stay last in the office. Like every evening she'll insist on staying late to assist him and he'll order her to go home. She opens the documents app and rereads for the hundredth time the report she finished the day before. She knows she's been as thorough as possible, yet the thought of having her texts judged by the demanding eye of Mr. Harel always makes her stomach turn even more fiercely. In any case, the file has already been sent, and knowing him, he must have already read it three times by now. She decides to lock her mobile and steel herself with a deep breath.

As the doors of the elevator open, she's regained some sense of control, if anything the necessary amount to walk into the headquarters of Wellsprings Co. with her head held up high and trying to project a semblance of calm through her face. Immediately the buzzing of an army of executives typing in their keyboards, the clicking of mouse buttons, and the many voices answering phone calls greet her. Ellana crosses the trenches of endless cubicles towards the stairs as she quickly shoots a glance at the huge flat screen crowning the diaphanous space. The values of all the world's markets are constantly updating, every executive dividing their attention between the information displayed, their own personal computer screens, and the call ongoing in their headsets. Despite the bustle of activity already at that early hour of the day, some colleagues take the time to greet her briefly as she walks by. The whispering comments remarking how tight her ass looks squeezed inside her pencil skirt and how lucky the boss is to have her undivided attention also don't escape her.

The thick carpeted steps of the stairs towards the CEO's office muffle her stilettos as she decides not to distract herself by lingering on those remarks. What would she gain speaking back? They all believe her to be Mr. Harel's sugar baby. Would they even trust her words if she tried to deny those rumors? They've already decided she's a golddigger and a slut, no matter how hard she works every single day to earn his trust and respect, as well as her rightful place in this company. If only they were true! Alas, Mr. Harel doesn't seem to have time nor attention for anything else other than leading Wellsprings Co.

Since his arrival at the company four years ago, he's managed to increase the stock value of lyrium trade by three hundred percent, establishing Wellsprings as Thedas' first and most important energy company. Orzammar declares them their first and most reliable trading partner, leaving Orlais, the Free Marches, Tevinter, and every big nation in Southern Thedas no choice but to deal through Wellsprings for their supply of lyrium. In less than five years, Mr. Harel managed to secure official support and subsidy from the state of Ferelden to open a lyrium research lab at the Storm Coast. The man has an innate knowledge of the mineral that Ellana can't seem to place.