Authors Notes: This is the third work in a series of mine so it's strongly recommended that you read Demarcations and Realignment before going any further. Kudos to TheCableGuy for beta reading.
Fareeha's eyes slowly drifted open and the white ceiling above her slowly came into focus. She turned her head to her left towards a nightstand with an alarm clock on top of it. The red digits were displaying the numbers ten and eleven. Fareeha blinked once, then her lips slowly curled up into a smile and she turned her head the other way.
Locks of pale golden hair were lying on the pillow next to her. Their owner was a woman with faintly tanned white skin mostly covered by a pair of light gray pajamas. Fareeha's smile grew a little wider as she looked at the other woman, unable to believe her luck.
The woman she was looking was not only breathtakingly beautiful, she was a doctor and a surgeon at that. Those two facts alone would have made her a fine catch, but even among the ranks of surgeons Angela Ziegler stood out. Her work with nano-biotics had been hailed as one of the great achievements in medicine and had earned her the Lasker Award and the Wolf Prize in Medicine, both considered predictors of the Nobel Prize. All before the age of thirty.
She could be anywhere in the world, doing anything she felt like but she was here in this bed. Fareeha pushed herself up on one elbow and leaned over, intending to wake the doctor with a kiss on the lips just like in one of those old princess movies.
Angela's eyes opened when their lips were mere centimeters and Fareeha came to a halt, suddenly unsure of herself. The doctor gave a gentle smile and she reached up with one hand to pull Fareeha's mouth down against hers.
It wasn't an accident that the two of them had slept in the same bed. Their activities before falling asleep had been decidedly arduous in nature. Bare skin firmly pressing against bare skin, fingers desperately grasping and caressing, and that was just in the hot tub before they had even made it to the bed. Once they had made it there, Fareeha had spread her legs and let Angela enter her with a strap-on. It was an act she hadn't allowed anyone, let alone one of her clients to do, but Angela wasn't just a client. At least not anymore. In the last two weeks the two of them had become something beyond that. Lovers. Girlfriends.
As Angela's lips brushed against hers Fareeha could feel her butterflies beginning to flutter in her stomach. Her career as a professional dominatrix practiced in giving pain and pleasure was what had brought her here, but this was different. She had done countless sessions in the past but every single one of them was less sensual than this. It was just a simple kiss but the fact that she was receiving as well as giving warmed Fareeha in a way none of those sessions had.
To Fareeha's surprise, and disappointment, Angela was the one who ended the kiss as she pulled her head away. "Well, that was a nice way to say good morning." Angela said with an appreciative smile. "Did you know I was awake?"
Fareeha bit at her lip before slowly shaking her head as she slumped back down onto the mattress. "No, I didn't... I thought waking you with a kiss would be romantic, but I didn't think to talk to you about it beforehand. I'm sorry and it won't happen again."
Angela blankly stared at Fareeha for several seconds before her shoulders began to shake as she started giggling. "You're adorable, you know that right? I get why you're so focused on consent, but it's okay to take a little risk from time to time. It's not like you were tying me up while I was asleep or anything." The doctor sat up and picked one of Fareeha's hands up and interlacing their fingers together. "It was just a kiss. And now that we are talking about it, I don't mind you waking me up with a kiss in the slightest. If you were interested I wouldn't object if you woke me up by eating me out."
As soon as Angela had finished speaking Fareeha's eyes flicked down towards Angela's hips and the dominatrix's cheeks reddened. Angela giggled again and Fareeha quickly looked away, suddenly unable to look the doctor in the eyes. "I'll think about it, Angela. How about some rosti for breakfast?"
"Mmmm... in a bit. I want to talk about last night first." Angela's voice was gentle, but there was a serious note in it that hadn't been there a second ago.
"What about it? I thought we both had a really good time..." Fareeha ventured hesitantly.
"We did, but I've been thinking about it since I woke up. I enjoyed sleeping with you and I want to do it again... but the way you went about it bothers me. You don't need to trick me with a wager. If you want to have sex then all you have to do is ask me."
Fareeha pushed herself up off the bed and she gently extracted her hand from Angela's grasp before wrapping her arms around her knees. "I know. It's just... I haven't been in a relationship in a long time so I don't really know what I'm doing. I wanted to have sex with you but I felt like I needed to be in control even though it wasn't a session. I guess I have some things to work on."
Angela put her hand on Fareeha's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Everyone has stuff they need to work on. If you need help with anything then I'm here for you. After all you're my partner and I love you."
There had still been spots of red on Fareeha's cheeks, but they rapidly vanished as Fareeha blanched. "Um.. umm.. ummmm... I like you too!" Fareeha stammered before scrambling off the bed and hurrying out into the hallway as if something was nipping at her heels. The carpet mostly muffled Fareeha's progress but Angela could still hear Fareeha's feet hammering their way down the stairs nonetheless.
Angela stared at the door for a moment in disbelief before getting out of bed herself. The speed with which Fareeha could turn bashful was unreal, even more so when you took her being a professional dominatrix into account. She yawned and stretched her arms upwards, the muscles in her back tightening for a few brief seconds before she let go. Even so, maybe she should have waited longer before dropping the 'L' word into a conversation Angela mused to herself. For now the best thing to do was to give Fareeha some space. She pulled the top half of her pajamas off while heading towards the bathroom. A shower would be a good way to do that Angela decided.
Twenty minutes later Fareeha had finished grating some potatoes into a wooden bowl. She grabbed a grinder full of salt and turned the handle on top several times. Then Fareeha set the grinder aside and grabbed one full of pepper so she could do the same thing.
"Diese frichen idioten! Wie kurzsichtig, engstirnig und korrupt muss man sein, um diese Entscheidung zu treffen? Meine arbeit nicht gefährlich! Es ist das genaue gegenteil von gefährlich! Nano-biotiks rettet leben! Ich haben krebskranke menschen geheilt, als es sonst keiner konnte!"
Fareeha jumped several centimeters into the air and the pepper shaker fell out of her hands as the doctor began shouting. Angela was still upstairs but her voice carried clearly throughout the house as she ranted. The German language, at the best of times, had always sounded guttural to Fareeha even when spoken in a conversational tone. But now that Angela was clearly livid, it was as if a malevolent presence bent on scaring Fareeha was screaming at the top of its lungs.
Thankfully the screaming didn't last any longer than that, but Angela's footsteps were like hammers pounding on the ceiling and stairs while stomping her way downstairs.
As Angela entered the kitchen Fareeha picked the grinder up off the floor and set it back on the counter. She had changed out of her pajamas and was wearing a pair of jeans and a green tee-shirt.
"Are you all right, Angela?" Fareeha hesitantly asked, hoping that Angela's bout of screaming in German had passed.
Angela just shook her head and held her phone out to Fareeha. Fareeha took it and began to read the article displayed on it.
'In what comes as a massive shock health regulators at the Food and Drug Administration declined to approve nano-biotics for use in the United States. The FDA released a statement last night in which they state their concerns about the long-term health risks of nano-biotics were not adequately addressed.
The Ziegler Foundation has made no public comments other than promising to look into the matter. The United States is the only country to not approve nano-biotics for use thus far. Nano-biotics have already been approved for use in the European Union, Russia, India, and multiple countries in the Middle East.
Currently the Foundation has applications pending to countries in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, as well as the U.S's neighbors Mexico and Canada. There has been no official statements on those applications yet but the general consensus until now was that these applications were a formality.
The question on everyone's mind now is how Angela Ziegler and her foundation will respond to this setback.
Any new information will be added to this article as they become available.'
Fareeha's gaze slowly rose from the phone to see a decidedly glum looking Angela standing there. The implications ran through her head in an instant and she already knew the answer before asking the question. "You have to leave to go take care of this, don't you?"
Angela's shoulders rose and fell as she took several deep breaths to try and calm herself. She still looked angry and her voice was strained even so. "I'm afraid so. I don't want to leave but my company will be expecting me to be involved in fixing this." She pulled a phone out of her pocket that Fareeha hadn't seen her using before and swiped her thumb across it. Immediately the device began to noisily vibrate and Angela sighed. "They've already left four voicemails."
Fareeha stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Angela's shoulder. "If you have to leave you have to leave. I know you'd like to stay here with me, but I also know that this is important. I wouldn't be much of a girlfriend if I got upset about this." She planted a kiss on Angela's cheek and stepped away. "Go start packing your things while I finish making breakfast." Fareeha said in a chipper tone.
"I... all right." Angela stashed the work phone back into her pocket and she moved towards the kitchen door. She paused by the archway for a moment and looked back at Fareeha for a few seconds before heading towards the stairs.
As soon as the doctor was gone Fareeha reached up to her cheek and wiped away the tears that she had been holding back. When Angela had asked Fareeha to come out here, there had been a time limit on the length of their time together. One month. She had known going in that both of them would pack their things up and leave. That hadn't been an issue for her when she had signed the contract but something unexpected had happened. Fareeha had fallen for her client and her client had fallen for her. Now they were two weeks in and she didn't want to go. She took a deep shuddering breath and grabbed the pepper grinder.
Angela looked around her bedroom for a moment before heading towards her closet. Fareeha had told her to start packing but truth be told there wasn't much to pack really. Just a few tote boxes that she had used to carry her clothes. Everything else would stay here. They would have to clean out the fridge however so the food wouldn't go bad. Her work phone buzzed again as yet another call came in. Angela shook her head and let it continue to buzz as she opened her closet door. She grabbed some shirts and began pulling the hangers out of them. Work could wait a few minutes longer.
When Angela came back downstairs Fareeha wasn't in the kitchen. Her handiwork remained in the form of two plates covered in rosti next to a pair of cups and silverware. As Angela sat down at the table Fareeha walked back in. "So I've got all my clothes packed up. I just need to go get my gear downstairs before I can start taking things to my car." She gave Angela a smile that was a little too wide and began digging into her rosti with a fork. "What will you do about this?" Fareeha asked in-between bites.
"I'm not sure." Angela admitted as she dragged her fork through her rosti instead of eating it. "It really depends on why the Americans rejected my application. I have to read the statement their FDA released and then I have to figure out what the actual reason is. Somehow I doubt it's as simple as what they claimed."
Fareeha waited several seconds for Angela to elaborate but the doctor remained quiet, instead opting to unenthusiastically scoop rosti into her mouth. She took a bite of her own before setting her fork down and leaning back in her chair. "I know we need to leave, but would you want to do a session before we go? I'd hate to end our time here on a sour note."
Angela shook her head and took a drink of water. "That's a good idea but I'm really not in the mood for that right now. Do you want me to help you with your toys?"
"I'd appreciate that." Fareeha said.
The rest of their breakfast passed in silence, as did the packing of Fareeha's bondage equipment. Once they finished carrying boxes up to the garage Angela pulled her phone out and tapped away at it for a moment. She handed it over to Fareeha. "Okay, so I just need you to put in your bank account number so I can transfer the funds."
Fareeha frowned at Angela for a second before it dawned on her what Angela was doing and her mouth made an 'o' shape. "Oh right, hang on." She pulled her own phone out before navigating to her bank app. Once the number was on the screen she started to punch it into Angela's phone. "Okay, let's empty the fridge then get these boxes loaded."
After all of their boxes had been carried into the garage and loaded into their respective owners cars Angela buried her face against the side of Fareeha's neck as she tightly embraced her. "I'll call you when I've got a handle on this. We'll go out to eat then you can come back to my place and we'll do a session."
Fareeha gave a laugh that sounded a little like a snivel as she fiercely returned the embrace. "I'm looking forward to it."
Angela lingered in the embrace for a moment longer before forcing herself to let go and head for her. Once she had sat down behind the wheel she pressed the switch to start her car. Nothing happened. Angela hit it a second time and nothing happened a second time. "Oh, come on." She muttered while mashing the button over and over. The car refused to start each time and her forehead bumped against the steering wheel before she peered more closely at the dash. One of the icons had lit up, the battery indicator was red. She got out of the car with an exasperated sigh.
"What's wrong?" Fareeha asked, one hand on her car's door, in the middle of getting into her own vehicle.
"My car won't start. I think the battery might have died." Angela muttered with a baleful glare at the luxury sports car. She continued to glare for a few more seconds before her gaze returned to Fareeha. "If you help me jump start the car we can park it outside and I'll have a mechanic tow it to a repair shop."
"Sure." Fareeha said right away as she began moving towards her trunk. "I think I have room for another box or two in the trunk if you want me to give you a ride."
"Oh, yes please." Angela said, her shoulders sagging in relief. "That would be really amazing."
Fareeha pulled a pair of jumper cables from her trunk and ran them between her car and Angela's. She connected the clamps to the terminals on her car's battery while Angela did the same. A minute later and the doctor had gotten her car out into the driveway before shutting it down.
Once they had loaded Angela's clothes into Fareeha's vehicle there was nothing left to do but program their destination into the dashboard. As the car began to move, Angela's house quickly disappeared from view. Soon the highway appeared and the car began to pass through green fields covered in patches of snow that had yet to melt.
Fareeha leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She had woken up barely over an hour ago and yet somehow she felt exhausted already. Angela was still with her, but only until they got back to Geneva.