The Lavender Menage

Chapter One

Alexis Grant squeezed her way through the crush of people atop The Exalt Hotel. The swell of the fashionable crowd moved together in tightening clusters of conversation as more people filtered into the event. If the rooftop deck wasn't at capacity it would be soon.

The Exalt occupied a historic building that was neatly tucked in Midtown Manhattan. The chic space had gone through an extensive renovation in recent years. Its interior had been made over in a sophisticated Bohemian style designed to impress even the most well traveled guests, but its rooftop deck, where tonight's festivities were kicking into high gear, was quite literally its crowning glory. The open air space was framed by other high-rises that had grown past the historic building over the decades, between which, peeks of the surrounding metropolis were visible making it feel as though you were on top of the world, nestled among sleeping, monolithic, giants. At the moment, an exceptionally orange and pink sunset blazed across the sky while a soft breeze lapped the energetic rooftop guests adding the finishing touches to an already breathtaking setting.

To think I was ever worried about having a strong showing, Lexi thought to herself as she wound her way through the throng of people.

Even after all of the successful events Lexi had been in charge of over the years she still wrestled with every what-could-possibly-go-wrong scenario leading up to them. As much as she tried to dissuade these fears they were also what made her so good at her job. Her diligence had served her well. Over the last five years she'd risen in the ranks at Omneva, the advertising agency where she was now Vice President of Event Marketing, overseeing a team of people and catering to the company's biggest clients. And of their biggest clients, an Italian liquor company named Venire was at the top of the list, making this event – the grand unveiling of their new lavender infused liqueur – one of the most important nights of the year.

So far so good, she thought, as the buzz of conversation and the festive atmosphere heightened in correlation to the freely flowing Venire-themed cocktails. But she knew she wouldn't truly breathe a sigh of relief until the last guest had departed and she herself was at home, able to kick off her shoes and put her feet up. In fact taking off her five-inch stilettos might turn out to be the pinnacle of her night, she thought as her tingling toes caught her attention. It was a tradeoff, she mused, as she continued to weave her way through the crowd towards the Venire VIP room. At the moment, as she pressed her elegantly dressed five foot six inch frame through the sea of people, she appreciated the added height from her Christian Louboutins – and tonight when she'd donned her strapless L.B.D. and slipped them on, an almost euphoric sense of sensuality and powerfulness moved through her.

A more subtle feeling of desire swelled up as well, which she did her best to ignore. After several failed relationship attempts, a few disappointing flings, and the long hours she put in at work she didn't have the time or energy to pursue love or sex. Although as pent-up as she'd felt over the last couple months the latter was something she'd have to address before too long. Recently she felt like she was sitting on a sexual powder keg and it was just a matter of time before it ignited –but tonight was not the night to find a match.

In time with her thoughts the volume of the music seemed to go up a notch thanks to the DJ du jour they'd recruited for the night who played a mix of music that set the tone for the sophisticated party atmosphere, and although Lexi didn't have the full report from check-in yet, she'd already seen a few celebrities sprinkled in the mix. By public relations standards this event was turning into a triumph – or trionfo, as her Italian clients would say.

Taking it in she realized that to an outsider it would seem she had a somewhat glamorous life. How surprised people would be if they really knew her. She'd most likely end up celebrating alone at her Brooklyn condo later. It wasn't because she was too tired to go out, but because she'd learned a hard lesson about mixing business with pleasure early on in her career.