Her Name...

Domination - Part 7

Danielle followed behind me silently as we made our way to my office. People bowed as I walked by, their soft voices murmuring their greeting. I didn't return them. On my floor, I was the boss, I was in control, and I wouldn't let anyone forget it.

I had a meeting with a client scheduled for the morning. Danielle showed him in, then bowed to me as she closed the door behind her. He was boring, this Mr Castille, but he was rich; and connected. The kind of person you could use to your advantage. I feigned interest in his talk, experience having allowed me to learn enough of the subjects people like him loved to drone on about. By the time we were done, he was in a very jovial mood. He stood up, and laying one hand on my shoulder, he wrung my hand enthusiastically with the other.

"Pleasure doing business with you, son. I look forward to working with you," he said.

"The pleasure is all mine, sir." I replied, courteous to the end.

I stepped around my desk, and walked him to the door, when he stopped me.

"You know, you remind me of me when I was younger."

His statement caught me off guard, and I laughed nervously. "Do I, sir?"

"Yes. I have a good feeling about you, you'll go far, my boy."

I smiled, and dipped my head, a perfect display of humility and admiration. "You're too kind, sir."

He studied my face for a bit, but my expression was unwavering. The only thing he'd be able to read was respect.

He smiled, and shook my hand once more. "I'll be back later in the week, to sign the required documents. Good luck, son."

And with that, he left. I sighed and walked to the window. Watching the people scurry around on the streets below, always made me think back to the beginning, when I was one of those scurrying around, back when the most important part of my day was that cup of coffee with Aleyna, or coming back home to find Becca smiling, ready to watch a marathon of some show she had discovered. I felt a pang of regret when I thought about Becca. How long had it been since I had talked to her last? I usually tried to talk to her at least once a month, but somewhere along the way even that had stopped. What was she doing? Would she still want to talk to me?

My thoughts were interrupted by Danielle. She came in silently, I almost didn't hear the door open behind me.

"Sir?" She said, "Mr. Jericho would like to talk to you."

I turned to her. "Hmm...what's this about?"

"I don't know, sir." She walked up to me, and fixed my collar. "I just got the message that he'd like you to go up." She pulled my sleeves tight and adjusted my cufflinks.

"Alright, let's go." I slid my hand down to the small of her back and guided her out the door. Danielle was popular among the employees. She was beautiful, after all. I took pleasure in asserting my dominance over her in front of them. I could see anger on some their faces as they saw us walking towards the elevator, but all it took was a glance in their direction for them to avert their gaze or to bow.

This was only the second time I was meeting Mr. Jericho, and his presence was just as I remembered it; Powerful and undiminished. But I wasn't the same as I was then. Appearance. That's what he had told me last time, and I wasn't going to let him down.

I walked towards him confidently, Danielle following me close by. Her heels clicking along the floor was rhythmic, and I felt it calm me down.

"Sit." He said simply, pointing his cigar at one of the chairs in front of his desk. Was he ever not smoking one of those?