Curious Business (18+)

Wonder Woman

It had been a week since our conference room encounter. I thought about it as little as I could, it would send me into thoughts that wouldn't allow me to function. I would start to question why he hadn't tried to find me again, but made myself stop. I learned quickly not to chase anything except my own personal motives. His hands felt good on my hips, my head rested on his chest perfectly. I should have let whatever was going to happen, happen. He picked up on the smallest things, I wasn't even aware I was doing any of these things. Think how intuitive he would be with my body.

I picked up my phone, looking for some sort of distraction. Lorin, what was Lorin doing? It was a Friday night, she had to be doing something entertaining. I could use a drink and maybe even some dancing.

"Lorin, what are you doing?"

"We are at The Lamp Post, please please please come hang out!"

"We?"

"Yeah? It's me, Joseph, some of his coworkers.

"Cool if I tag along?"

"We'll be here all night."

I quickly pulled my hair up into a mess of a bun. It was my look outside of work. Pair the messy hair with a dark lipstick and dangly earrings and I was ready to take on the world. I grabbed the nearest pair of jeans off the ground and slipped a black t shirt on. If they were just going to The Lamp Post, there was no need for a bra. I looked at the mirror, flattening the shirt against my stomach, I felt sexy. I kept myself in shape, but a new confidence had taken over.

There they were, sitting at the same corner table, only this time, a game of Uno was taking place.

"Look who it is! Wonder Woman herself! In Person! Live, for one night only!" Lorin said in her signature energy level

"Hey everyone. You can call me Clara, Wonder Woman is my name by day." I smiled

"You look great Clara! Let me get you a drink." Joseph said, already heading to the bar, he seemed to be ahead of me by a handful of drinks.

I didn't bring any cash, so I was glad he started the night with that offer. Joseph came back with a whiskey, he remembered.

"Guys, Clara and Lorin work at the hotel we had our meeting at. We all really liked getting out of the building. Holt is a great place to work, but a change of scenery never hurt anyone. Mr. Holt was asking how it all went, we made sure to put in a good word for you guys."

"Well, thanks. Do you think you guys will come back? You said it was strange that they had a meeting outside the building?"

"Yeah, it was strange, but I think Elias liked the idea of different environments bringing out different ideas."

"I don't know why you like him so much, Joseph", one of the other men chimed in.

Lorin looked at me with her eyes wide and sipped on her neon blue drink.

"What? He is a great guy, a little quirky, but he has good intentions." Joseph defended.

"His money comes first; the man wouldn't give a shit about you if it meant he could cut costs."

"I mean, if you had that much money, would you really give a shit about you either? You should try to socialize with him a little bit. The man is a genius." Joseph argued, whipping out his phone, "I'll call him, it will be great and then you can see for yourself."

"Joseph, don't.." The other man begged.

I stepped away to go see what was on the queue of music. The Killers, Mija, Arctic Monkeys, Toto. All sounded about right to me, eclectic.

"Clara." A familiar smell caught my attention.

"Felix! Hi, you found your way back to this magical place. Listen, I was going to call, but.." I started

"You don't need to explain, we are still both on the same page. I help you, you help me. No catch to it baby."

I blushed, thinking about the night we shared a few weeks ago. I caught him looking me up and down.

"What? You don't like this much more casual Clara?" I teased

"No, I like it, you look great, but that man by your friends looks familiar."

I turned around to see Joseph with his arm swung around the other man's shoulders. Or was he leaning on this man. Joseph stumbled a bit and the man held him up.

"No fucking way, that's Elias Holt." Felix exclaimed, "I would never imagine seeing a man like him in a place like this."

"He certainly is full of surprises, isn't he?" I said to myself.

Felix and I walked over to the table. Lorin was hysterical, laughing at Joseph's slurred attempt at a business proposal, obviously directed towards Elias

"No, listen, we make the soap into a certain texture, that it acts like a sponge. The sponge never needs replaced! No more sponges in landfills. Boom! Conscious cleaning, a real winner for the hippie moms, don't you think Clara?

Elias turned around slowly, like he was contemplating if it was me. His squinted eyes looked me up and down and he smirked.

"I kind of like the idea." Felix chuckled. "Can I get us all something to drink? A water for Joseph, whiskey sours for everyone else? More Blue for you Clara?"

I nodded.

"I'll have a water too actually." Elias spoke up.

"I'll be right back, Felix was enjoying the night as well."

Everyone fell back into conversation. The other men still listening to Joseph's idea of an entire cleaning line. Lorin, hanging onto every word. I was glaring at him. I knew Joseph had brought him hear with a drunken phone call, but I was frustrated in more ways than one.

"Wipe that look off your face." He said to me, without actually looking at me, he checked his watch.

"I don't have a look on my face."

"But, you do."

"You said we would talk soon. It's been over a week."

"I was giving you time to think Ms. Engel."

"About what?"

"If you have to ask, then you need more time."

"Drinks for all and water for the responsible ones. Cheers to us, work hard, play hard!" Felix said, so cool and casual.

We all raised our glasses, the others wooted and cheered. I didn't break my glare, not once.

"Whiskey straight, huh?" Elias asked me

"Only the good stuff Mr. Holt." I sipped the smoky liquid.

Elias looked at me finally, really looked at me. "I asked you a question last week and you said 'I think so', I need something a little more definite."

My mind flashed back to his hand on top of layers of clothing. His mouth so close to my ear. The jeans that hugged every curve and pressed against me. I closed my eyes and fell into that familiar warmth. It was urging me to focus on it more, explore it more.

"Clara is just reveling in the smoothness of that expensive ass whiskey!" Felix joked. "You let me know if you need any help with that. He winked and motioned to Elias. I was glad that Felix was still on the same page as me, because I felt like I was chapters behind Elias. Elias shot Felix a look, it wasn't territorial, but the same curious look that he gave me when we first met.

"Felix knows how I think. I do a lot of thinking."

"Hmm, well, what are your thoughts on leaving and going somewhere else to talk about some things."

"I don't want to talk." I cleared my throat and sipped the last of my whiskey, looking everywhere, anywhere else but at Elias. He was smiling at me.

"I think we are going to head out. I'm going to make sure Ms. Engel gets home ok." He reassures Lorin and nods at the men, who hadn't said much more while Elias was present. Joseph gave him a hug and said he would see him on Monday. Elias returned this affection with a pat on the back.