Darkest Before the Dawn

Written by: Hollywood2Bklyn

Chapter One

BPOV

Damn it! I've been working on this research all weekend. I need to get out of my head and out of my apartment. I'll just go out for a bit to unwind. Maybe dance a bit to release some stress.

I looked over to the clock and saw that it's only 7:30 PM.

Okay so it's still early. I can go out and have some fun tonight.

I backed up all of my files onto my external hard drive and packed up all of my files nice and neat. I knew that if I didn't collect everything and place it in order tonight, I'd just end up tossing it all wily nilly into my briefcase in the morning as I'm usually running out the door so that I'm not late…again.

I then ran down the stairs to my bedroom and went around my bed to reach my closet. I stood in front of it trying to figure out what to wear. I saw the little black dress with the 1" straps that allows me to wear my push-up bra I love so much. The dress is simple in its design but cut to hug all of the curves of my body. It's not too tight, which means I can actually breath in it, but its form fitting enough to see the curves of my hips, the sway of my back, the flatness of my tummy and enough of my cleavage to be considered sexy, not vulgar. The dress is more classy than trashy but shows the little vixen inside.

Oh this will be perfect!

Now what about the shoes?

I looked through my massive shoe collection, trying to figure out the right shoe to match. Well since the dress is short, I have no choice but to wear tall heels. So I grabbed my new heels I bought that are a mixture of black paten leather that has the sexy T strap that connects to the ankle strap. The base of the shoe is peach satin. It will go perfectly with my peach wool coat.

The combination of my 5.5" heels with my short black dress will make me look like I have legs for miles. A big change from the short 5'2" little thing I am.

I walked to my dresser to grab my bottle of Chanel No 5 to complete the transformation. I simply love that fragrance. It makes me feel so elegant, like Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Not to mention it was one of my mom's favorite perfumes she wore when I was a little girl. It was one of the few extravagances my mother ever allowed herself.

I wonder how mom's doing. God, is she even still alive? I haven't seen her since I was eleven...but she's still a major influence on my life.

I pushed back the memory of my mom as I slipped my arms into my peach wool coat and grabbed my black Hermes Birkin bag. The bag is a bit too extravagant for my taste but Alice made me keep it, especially since someone gave it to me as a gift. I normally don't care for such extravagance nor do I normally accept a gift like this, but it was shipped to me as a "thank-you" for a wonderful evening with no return information. Not that I would have taken the money from the cost of the purse. I would have insisted the money be placed back on his credit card, but the truth was...I didn't really remember who gave me the bag.

I ran out of my brownstone located in Brooklyn just two blocks from the East river. I was close enough to the city but far enough from all of the noise. I still need my tranquility at night but love the nightlife from the city.

I flagged down a gypsy cab and told the cabbie to take me to 52nd St and 8th Ave. There was a new nightclub I read about in "Timeout New York" that I wanted to check out. It was supposed to be the hottest place in town with a line going around the block with people trying to get in. Unless you were on the list or famous it wasn't easy getting into the club. I wasn't going to let this fact discourage me.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I get in then great, if not then at least I tried. Who knows what the evening will hold for me?

I stepped out of the car right in front of the club.

Wow, the magazine wasn't kidding when they said the line normally went around the corner. It's too damn cold to stand out here and I don't have all night to be out either. I have an early day tomorrow at the office.

So I decided to try my luck and flirt a bit with the bouncer. I opened up my peach wool coat that stops right below my knees. I placed my hands on my hips, exposing the little back dress and showing my petite figure against a peach backdrop.

"Hi. Excuse me, but how long will the wait be to get into the club?"

The security guard had an angry scowl on his face-- an obvious sign of his frustration from the masses asking the same question. He looked down at his clipboard and without even looking up at me...

"If you're not on the list, you'll have to wait in line. The way it looks, you might never…"

He then looked up to see to who exactly was asking. He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw me. A big smile grew across his face as he not-so-subtlety looked me up and down. He eyed me from my pedicured toes, slowly looking up my long legs, scanning the rest of my body, and lingering a bit on my breasts before finally looking me in the face with a grin.

"You know, I think I might be able to sneak you in. I get off at 2:00 AM so I can meet you inside later. A lovely lady like you shouldn't stand out in this cold. Especially one dressed in such a sexy dress like that one."

I smiled in return, happy that I'd gotten into the club and that this security guard was so obviously attracted to me.

"You're so sweet to let me in. I hope I get to show you my gratification by buying you a drink later. I can't thank you enough for your kindness."

"It's my pleasure. Anything for a sexy lady like you."

The security guard unclasped the red velvet rope that was blocking off the front entrance. He escorted me to the hostess that was just inside the door.

"Gianna, she's a personal guest of mine so use one of my comp passes for her."

"Oh, why thank you again. You are so very kind," I said as I ran the tips of my fingers over the center of his firm chest, showing how thankful I was for all that he'd done for me.

The hostess didn't even acknowledge me. She just held out her hand so that she could stamp the back of mine. I thanked her as I walked over to the coat check window.

I stood in the club's doorway, scanning for all that were in attendance. I recognized some of the people from that annoying show TMZ. I didn't ever watch it, but it always seemed to be playing in the break room since that's where that "Negative Nelly" Jessica Stanly was always hanging out. Did she ever do any work?

I shook my head to remove the annoyance and concentrate on the task at hand-- to have some fun and blow off some steam!

I walked in and scanned the room for someone to talk with. I'd never had a problem speaking to strangers. I guess you could say it was little bonus I picked up from being in sales. You need to be confidant and a talker if you wanted to make it in sales, no matter what it was that you sold.

My eyes fell upon a tall blond with tan slacks and a very tight black tee shirt. The seams of the shirt were under stress from the enormous size of the muscles it held underneath. My eyes locked on him. I walked up to this hot stranger as he talked to a guy who was even larger in size.

When I approached the men, I stood between the two.

"Excuse me, but would you like to dance?" I said as I angled my body toward the blond hunk in front of me. The blond stopped talking to look at the person who interrupted his conversation. His hand reached up to his face and scrubbed his chin while he surveyed me. A smile grew across his lips.

"Uh, I normally don't dance but I'll make an exception for you."

"Mm, thank you for making an exception."

I grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor.

Oh my goodness! This guy's flipping hot! I wonder how much he can bench press? Better yet I wonder how big his dick is. I might have to find out later.

We walked down to the dance floor and started to dance. It's more like dry humping than dancing.

I want to see if I can feel how firm his body is pressed up against mine. Mm, he's firm all over.

We danced for maybe two songs. I started to get hot in more ways than one. I leaned forward to speak into his ear.

"You know it's a bit stuffy in here. Would you be interested in going somewhere… a bit less crowded?"

"Well, we could always go back to my hotel room."

"That sounds perfect. Would you please get my coat as I go freshen up in the ladies room?" I asked while reaching down to pick up my purse off the dance floor. I handed him the coat check ticket.

"It would be my pleasure," and he emphasized the word pleasure. I smiled at him as I turned to walk to the ladies room. I needed to tidy up before I was alone with this guy...whoever this guy was. As I walked to the ladies room, I walked past a large dispenser. It's filled with condoms that are issued by the city. It's part of a big campaign the city has on promoting safe sex. I reached in and grabbed a few. A girl can never have too many of these, especially with what I had in mind for then next couple of hours.

I walked to the front of the club where I saw the large blond muscle man standing, holding my coat open for me. Slipping my arms into the jacket, I looked up into his eyes and thanked him.

"Shall we leave?" I asked as I looked at him with my eyes saying much more than my simple little words.

"Whatever you want. I'm yours for the evening."

With that we walked out of the club. We walked to the curb where he haled a taxicab. He told the cabbie to take us to the W Hotel in Times Square. After he got the words out of his mouth I leaned in to kiss him.

No need for small talk. We both know what was going to happen.

After kissing him I pulled back and smiled through a "Mmm, nice."

"Wow. Hi by the way. My name is Riley. What's yours?"

I giggled as I looked at his lips and kissed him again. "Well it's nice to meet you Riley. May I ask what it is that you do for a living?"

"Well, little lady, I'm the quarterback for the Tennessee Titans."

"Oh, so you're a football player then?"

"Yeah, I am. Don't you know who I am?"

"Excuse me but no. I'm not much into football but I have to say I'm very interested in you right now." With that I leaned in and kissed him senseless. The cab stopped in front of the hotel, but we were both too busy to realize it. The cab driver cleared his throat and informed us that the fare was $10.75. Riley pulled out his wallet and grabbed a fifty-dollar bill, handing it to the cabbie and saying "Keep the change."

"Mm, so generous. Are you that generous in bed?"

"Well you're about to find out."

Riley stepped out of the cab first and held out his hand for me. I placed my hand into his as I reached back to pull my purse from the cab. He tried to help me out, but my purse got hooked onto the seatbelt. I reached in to help release my purse and Riley leaned down to kiss my neck. I got my purse free and he pulled me to him. I was completely distracted by this hunk of beef that was licking my neck. He then escorted me up to his room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The clock turned 6:00 AM on the cable box that was sitting on the TV. A loud pulsating noise wailed and vibrated in the corner of the room, breaking the silence.

Riley's naked body stirred in the bed next to me and he exclaimed "What the fuck is that noise? Turn that shit off. Fuck!"

My small petite self was sleeping next to the big "muscle-on-top-of-muscle" man. I lifted my head to look at the clock next to the bed.

"Oh crap it's already 6:00 AM! Where's my purse? I've gotta go!" I said as I untangled myself from the sheets and Riley's naked arms. I stood up to walk a few steps to reach my purse, which held the source of the offensive noisemaker. I reached in to grab my cell phone and shut off the alarm.

"Hey baby, where do you think you're going? Come back to bed. Or better yet, why don't you take care of this morning wood I have here?"

"Mmm, as much as the thought of taking care of that stunning hard on you have there, I'll have to pass. I've got to get to the office by 8:30. Sorry, sexy. I've gotta go."

"Go? Oh come on and take care of this with me. We had so much fun last night, baby. Let's have more fun."

I started to grab my scattered clothing and get dressed as Riley walked up to me and placed his large hands on my small curvy hips.

"Oh baby you're going to leave me? Will you give me your number? I'd like to see you again the next time I'm in town. Hey baby, what was your name again?"

"Does my name really matter?" I giggled as I wrapped my hand around his thick, swollen member. Pumping my small hand, I tilted my head back and stood on my tiptoes to kiss this glorious specimen of a man.

"Uh, baby it would be nice to know what to call you when I give you a call the next time I'm in town."

"Riley, if the Titans make it to the playoffs against the Jets or the Giants, I'll meet you at the same bar I met you at tonight. I'll give you a celebratory blow job that will guarantee you winning the series."

"Baby you're not going to give me your name or your number?"

A wicked playful smile appeared on my face as I watched Riley get really turned on by me as my hand still pumped his hardening cock. My petite hands were so small wrapped around his thick cock that my fingers barely wrapped around him.

"You got a night of fun and I got what I wanted. Why pretend that you'll ever call me? Even if you gave me your number, I sure as hell wouldn't call you."

Riley grabbed me by the hips and lifted me up to carry me back to the bed.

"Well give me a proper farewell gift before you go."

"Ugh… I can't. I have to get into the office. But I had fun."

I walked over to the slacks that were tossed onto the floor, reaching into the back pocket to pull out Riley's wallet. I opened up the wallet, pulled out $40 in cash, and tossed it to the aroused naked football player lying on the bed, stroking his enlarged penis.

"Thanks for the cab money," I said.

"You are one ballsy fucking hot woman. What I would give to have your sweet lips wrapped around my fucking cock right now. Forget the cab baby. I'll buy you a car. You've got the most fucking awesome lips and give the best fucking blowjobs I have ever had. Come on baby give me your name and number? I'll buy you a fur coat the next time I'm in town. Tell me what I need to do to get you to suck me off again baby."

At this point I was completely dressed except for one shoe. Then I saw the other shoe under the bed. I reached down to pick it up and stood on one foot to slip the high heel on. Looking at Riley naked on the bed masturbating, I licked my lips-- an obvious sign of arousal.

"Riley, you were great last night. But Alice is going to kill me if I'm late to work. Good luck with the rest of the season."

With that I slipped through and closed the door behind me. I grabbed my sunglasses and slipped them on in the hallway as I buttoned my coat closed. Hiding the sexy black cocktail dress from the night before, I tried to hide the notorious "morning after" walk of shame. But there was no shame in it for me. We both got what we wanted.

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The taxicab pulled up in front of my brownstone at 6:29 AM. I promised the cabbie a $20 tip if he got me to my brownstone in Brooklyn before 6:30 AM. I thanked him while taking the receipt. I ran up the small flight of stairs to enter through the parlor, tossed my jacket next to my red briefcase, and placed my purse next to it.

Knew I'd be grabbing them all as I ran out the door to work.

While taking my shower, I went over the details of the day to come. I knew Alice would be expecting me to have my presentation binder almost finished so that she could send it off to printing on 23rd Street.

Alice and I have been friends since I was forced to live in Forks, Washington with my father when I was eleven. She was the first person to approach me in the schoolyard.

Alice was the only bright spot in my life at that time. Seeing my parents break up the way they did was traumatic.

I closed my eyes tightly as I tried to get the memory of that event out and focused on Alice. The hot water vibrated through my body. She was always my voice of reason. You know when you have that little voice that talks in your head saying you're doing the wrong thing? Yeah, well my little voice was Alice. She always was like a sister to me. Including the annoying parts, too.

We grew up together in Forks-- a miserable wet town that received the most amount of rain in the entire continental United States. My father was a truck driver down in Los Angeles, CA and took the job as a police officer when a buddy of his got promoted to Chief of Police in Forks. After we moved, I never saw my mother again.

I was a quiet, too skinny, insecure little girl. My long stringy frizzy hair wouldn't be controlled in the damp weather. The huge overbite I had made me look like a cartoon character, but Alice saw through the rough exterior and wouldn't stop talking to me until I gave in. That little girl sure as heck knew how to talk. My mom would have called her a motor mouth. I wish my mom could have met Alice.

She instantly knew that we would be the best of friends the first time she saw me, even though I tried to avoid her. She always had these feelings, and they would come true. Fourteen years later...and we're still best friends. I guess the pixie was right on that point.

Before graduating Forks High, I got accepted into USC on a full academic scholarship, something my father strongly disagreed with. I had to hide the application from him or else he would have thrown it into the fireplace. He wanted me to go to Community College in Port Angeles so I would stay home to cook his dinners, clean the house and do all the domestic chores he already had me doing. The man never lifted a finger to help around the house. I was so thankful when I got the acceptance letter in the mail the day after I turned 18. The best birthday present a girl could ever hope for, I can tell you. I would get an education and freedom from the oppression dealt to me by my father. I was an adult and no matter what my father tried to do, he legally couldn't force me to do anything anymore.

Alice also applied to USC for their drama department. In fact, she only applied for schools in Southern California. She said she just knew that's where our lives would lead us and that one of us would be a big star. Since I was a business major, that left Alice to be the star.

As I finished rinsing my hair, I looked at the clock in the shower and saw that it was 6:53 AM. I turned off the water, quickly dried off and wrapped my hair up in the towel. I grabbed my little rose colored robe and walked into my room to grab an outfit. This day it was my pastel mint suite. It was modest, very modest in my book. The pencil skirt went down to my knees but had a slit on one side in the front that went to the center of my thigh. The blazer was tailored to fit me just right. I didn't spend a lot of money on my clothes but rather invested in getting them altered to fit me. There was no need in spending $1,000 on a suit when you could spend $50 on a suit and pay an extra $30 for it to be altered. It made the suit look like it cost 100 times more.

I set the suit to the side and worked on my make-up and hair.

At 7:40 AM I grabbed my bags and coat while running out the door with half a bagel in my mouth and a cup of coffee in hand. I had 50 minutes to get to work when it takes me 45 minutes to get there, if I catch the next train on time. I could make it but would have to walk double time to the subway.

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In a Midtown Manhattan office building, a pixie-like figure paced back and forth down a row of cubicles. She looked at her watch for the hundredth time in less than ten minutes.

"Damn it! Where is she?! It's 8:27 and she better not be late! I can't believe this."

"Gees Alice, take a chill pill. I'm here and it's not even 8:30 yet. Don't get your panties all in a bunch."

"It's about time! We have to get this sales proposal completed BEFORE the end of the day to have management sign off BEFORE your big client meeting tomorrow. Wait, what time did you come home last night? How much sleep did you get?"

I placed my purse, red briefcase, and empty travel mug onto my desk and took off my sunglasses. I slipped out of my peach wool coat, exposing my teal two-piece suit. As I hung my coat up, I looked at Alice with a hint of annoyance.

Crap. I knew she was going to slam me for this.

"I got in this morning at around 6:30 AM. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Alice placed her hands on her hips and looks up into my face with annoyance. "Who were you with this time? Another politician? Baseball player? A construction worker? What? Bella I can't believe you went out last night knowing how important today is!"

In seconds, a wicked smile replaced the previous scowl. "So tell me everything! Was he good in bed?"

"His name was Riley Something-or-other. He's a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, if you MUST know. But that's all I'm going to tell you."

With hearing the football player's name, Alice picked up that morning's copy of the New York Post and turned to the entertainment page. She handed the paper to me.

"I should have guessed you were the mysterious lady seen entering the W Hotel with Riley the QUATERBACK for the Titans last night! I can't figure out how you meet all of these famous men."

"Are you kidding me? I'm in the paper again? Damn it! Do you think anyone from the office figured out it was me in the picture?"

"I don't think so. You can't see your face but I recognized your coat and purse. That's how I figured it was you, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt that you would have been a good girl for once and stayed home to get some rest for today. You better pound that cup of coffee and I'll go put on another pot. You're going to need all the caffeine you can get."

Alice started toward the break room when two young women turned down the same row of cubicles we were in. Alice stopped and looked up into Jessica and Lauren's faces.

"What do you want Jessica?"

"Oh nothing. I just wanted to talk with Bella. Nothing that concerns you."

Interjecting, I blurted out "What do you want Stanley? I don't have time for whatever you have."

"I just had a question on something I saw in the Post this morning. You see Lauren and I disagree on if it was you on page 6. Lauren thinks it's you but how could it possibly be? How would you land a date with a famous football player?"

"What I do in my life is my own and not for you to gossip about. Lauren, let me look at that picture."

I grabbed the paper out of her hands. I didn't care if I was rude to her. She deserved much worse.

"This girl is way taller than me. Not like it's any of your business anyways. Don't you two have better things to do than concoct ridiculous rumors?"

"You see Lauren? I told you it wasn't her."

"Jess, I know bags. And she's got the same purse Bella has. I know a Hermes Birkin that was auctioned at Doyle's New York Auction for $64,800 and it's the same bag Bella has. So Bella, tell me how you met Riley Xavier?"

"Lauren, anyone can own the same bag," Jessica retorted. "It's just a coincidence. Bet Bella's is a knock-off anyways."

Alice shot out, "Jessica & Lauren please leave Bella alone. We have the Black proposal to finish today, so please leave. No one wants to listen to you ramble on. So unless you have something constructive to say or offer in regards to the Black proposal, then go back to your side of the building where you belong."

"Fine, Alice. I'll leave. I knew Bella couldn't land a famous football player."

With that said, Jessica and Lauren walked away, leaving Alice & I alone on the floor.

"That was close Bella. You know that scank will do anything to get back at you for getting promoted before her."

"Alice, I can't help it. Please just go ahead and make that pot of coffee and I'll start working. I'm confident all things will work out in the end. Positive projecting...just like you taught me to."

"Well positively project your butt not getting caught again," Alice answered and turned away from me.

That was close. I don't know how I let myself get photographed. And Alice is right. Jessica's been after me since I was promoted only six months after getting hired. I know she wanted that position for a while. She even gave Stefan, Eleazar's assistant, a blow job in hopes of Stefan talking our boss in choosing her for the promotion. How the hell Jess could stand touching that Romanian old coot stumped me. Stefan was short and much older than the rest of us, with hair so ashy blond that it looked pale gray. I'm guessing he was using the cheap 5-minute hair color for men that you pick up at the drug store.

I don't know why I went out last night. I knew I had to be in the office early. I just needed to blow off some steam. The Black Inc. proposal is huge, and I knew the senior executives were counting on me to bring in this account. It's been on the target board for the past five years. Every single Senior Account Executive in New York City had tried to get an appointment to meet with Mr. Black, without success. I was only able to meet Bill Black because I befriended his son Jacob.

"Bella? Earth to Bella; come in Bella."

"Oh sorry, Alice. I was thinking about Mr. Black."

"Are you sure you weren't thinking about his son Jacob?"

"Well, I was thinking of them both, but not like that. Come on, Alice. Give me more credit."

"I know. I was just teasing you. Have you started on the research yet? Were you able to go over any numbers yet?"

"Before I went out last night I did some research on Bill Black and Black Inc. I've found some interesting information on the history of the company and some interesting stuff about Mr. Black himself. I think I've figured out the angle in how to approach Mr. Black. I may have gotten him to agree to meet with me and the bank but we don't have his accounts yet."

"I have full faith in you Bella. You are a beautiful, talented and dedicated Account Executive. You will land this account. I just know it."

"Is that you visualizing a positive outcome...or are you seeing the future outcome?"

"Does it make a difference? Sending out positive energy to the universe never hurts."

"That's true Alice but you have an uncanny ability of predicting things. It's like you can see the future."

"No one can see the future, silly! Now give me your travel mug and I'll refill it for you before the boys get into the office."

"Thanks. How did I get so lucky in having you as a friend?"

Alice rolled her eyes at my comment as she walked down the hall to the break room.