So, there we are again. Took me some longer this time. One of you wrote in their review, they want to see at least a kiss while being in Paris. We'll see if that's going to work out. :) Thanks for all your responds. I thrive on it :D
Enjoy!
Chapter 13
"What's going on with your thumb?"
The blonde pointed to Bo's left thumb. It was in a dark shade of red.
"Huh?"
Bo followed the shocked gaze of her Boss to her left hand laying on the table. The brunette had forgotten all about it. She had gotten so used to the dull throbbing pain within the past hour or so. By now, her thumb was numb. How could she remember anything when she couldn't even feel it?
The heck…
She hid her hand underneath the wood and placed it on her leg.
"Nothing."
The blonde frowned.
"So, what you say is, that your thumb has always been purple?"
"Basically."
Let's rewind.
Bo was waking up to her alarm clock bouncing on the bedside table. Two thirty pm. Wow. Sally might have lost her skills. The brunette stretched out on her bed. She needed to be careful to not get used to the luxury of having a king-sized mattress.
"So much space!"
Bane would love it and yet cuddle up on her pillow next to her head in the end. A lot of space or not. Not that she did mind the closeness but turning around and being greeted by some ticklish fur around her nose wasn't what she preferred in a relationship. That sounded all kinds of creepy but the bottom line here was, Bo loved king-size beds.
The room was still pitch black. Just the alarm clock's little light, that lit up when one turned off the disturbing beep, revealed some of the room's secrets.
Bo wasn't a fan of total darkness. It confused her vestibular organ. Fancy words. She liked to use some advancement in her language from time to time. Anyway, her balance system was totally fucked up when she couldn't see shit!
After rolling out of bed she stumbled to the screen at the wall holding her alarm clock in front of her like a lantern. The brightness of the small computer in the concrete blinded her vision for a hot second when she touched its cold surface.
"And there was light…"
The black of the windows vanished and the sun was shining into the bedroom.
A growl escaped the brunette's stomach.
"Yes, I know. I'm hungry, too."
With a little pat on her belly, Bo marched into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Or for what was left of it.
She couldn't quite decide what to wear though. With her toothbrush in her mouth she threw her suitcase on the bed and dived into what was basically her entire wardrobe. What? She didn't know what to bring.
When the peppermint of her toothpaste started to burn on her gums she had finally come up with some tight black jeans and a loose ruby-colored blouse. Her hair was in a ponytail with that favorite rocker quiff of hers. She had gotten so used to that look by now. And she loved it.
A muffled voice from the main area caught Bo's attention.
"Entering the stage, Miss Lauren Lewis."
Bo took Sally out of the drawer and looked at the time. Three thirty.
"Let's get the party started."
She was trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach when she opened the bedroom door.
„Good morning."
Bo closed the door behind her and walked towards the dining table where her Boss was sitting.
"Or whatever one says at three in the afternoon."
"Good afternoon maybe?"
The blonde was holding a cup to her lips and continued to look down on her tablet.
"Yeah, or that."
Bo was holding the back of the nearest chair in her hands unsure of what to do next.
"Coffee is at the bar."
The blonde kept her gaze on that little screen in her hand. Bo made an internal jump of excitement and took a beeline to the bar.
An espresso machine grinned back at her. Or how Bo liked to say expresso. Only because the caffein boosted through her system like one of those express trains.
"Come to Mama."
It was one of those fully automatic coffee machines. One button for some harmony in a cup. It wasn't as good as the one from her favorite barista but it was definitely better than what she had at home. Instant coffee was the sad little brother of black tea.
Sorry, but when one wanted coffee, then tea wasn't really an alternative. Even if it contained caffeine. At least not for the brunette. Taking a sip of that little piece of heaven Bo sat down at the table.
Half a cup later, Bo was still taking in the beauty of the scenery outside the window. The blonde placed her tablet on the table and turned her attention towards the brunette.
"Your wardrobe will arrive later today. Petra just informed me."
Her Boss was looking at Bo's clothes and the brunette wasn't sure what to think of the expression on the blonde's face.
"Is something wrong with what I'm wearing?"
Bo looked down at herself. Nothing wrong of what she could see. When she looked back up, she found hazel eyes staring back at her.
"There is nothing wrong per se. It's just not what a personal assistant in our company wears."
"Personal assistant?"
Bo knew that there was a fine line between secretary and assistant but she knew that there was a difference.
"Yes. What I demand of you describes the job of a personal assistant. I hope that is not a problem."
"I guess not?"
"You guess not?"
Bo shrugged.
"No, I guess it's fine."
The blonde took another sip of her coffee.
"Okay, should we get started then?"
And they did.
Bo got a tablet herself and was pleasantly surprised that it worked the same way Sally did. She also received earplugs. Not to listen to music to, no, they were basically a headset. For talking. Like for when receiving a phone call. Yeah, right? Crazy shit!
Those earplugs were teeny-weeny and light as a feather. They sat in Bo's outer ear like gummy bears tasted: A-ma-zing! And the sound was to die for.
Not that Bo would listen to music with them. Nope-y nope. Even though Bob just recently showed the brunette this music-app-thingie, that she downloaded on Sally, where she could find all the songs of the world.
This man knew a lot of stuff.
So, a tablet, some earpieces and a short introduction to an Excel-list of her Boss' clients Bo had to talk to later, the brunette found herself alone in the loft. Miss Lewis went to that business meeting of hers without her personal assistant.
"The phone is over there. Call roomservice if you want to eat."
With that the blonde had left.
"Roomservice, baby!"
After ordering a way too greasy, way too big burger with way too many fries but barely enough sauces to dip into Bo started working.
It felt a little bit like callcenter all over again. But with a view and free drinks – non-alcoholic of course, she never drank and drove, figuratively speaking, okay? – and those little sound machines made of clouds in her ears.
Typing number after number on Sally's display and talking to secretaries and assistants and here and there business owners themselves the afternoon went by pretty fast. Every now and then Bo stopped in front of the window to lean her warm forehead against the cool glass.
"The freaking Eiffel Tower, tsk!"
Pacing up and down in the main area, sitting on first chairs, then the couch, then the bar-countertop, she made one appointment after the next and set meetings into that calendar-app.
She was still pretty baffled over all those things Sally was capable of. Like for example having a call and writing on that little app for notes while looking up the route to the meeting Bo just scheduled.
Not that Bo was into mobiles now but she could acknowledge good work when she saw it and Sally did a great job here.
Way into her third call she had found that keychain-ring. It was in her pocket, however it had gotten in there in the first place. It probably even had to survive a washing machine tour or two.
Since her headset was wireless and a pen was nowhere to be found she had to use something else to occupy her hands with.
Hence the keychain-ring.
First she just played with the little steel object by catapulting it into the air with her thumb. Like one did with a coin. Then she placed it in front of her left eye as if it was a monocle.
She liked to see the world through the tiny ring. It pointed out the little things around her she otherwise would have probably missed. Like that light shine of lipgloss on Miss Lewis' coffee cup that was still standing where she left it. Or the blonde's fingerprints on the table's varnish. Those kind of things.
After she sat down at the table she put the ring on first her pinky, then the ring finger, the middle finger and the forefinger. Everything went easy-peasy so far but when she then tried to get it off of her thumb again it just wouldn't.
Back to the beginning.
"So, what you say is, that your thumb has always been purple?"
"Basically."
It was already past nine in the evening when her Boss had come back. For someone that hadn't rested much she looked pretty freaking stunning. Maybe that was also one of the reasons why Bo didn't think about her trapped extremity.
"Don't be silly. Show me your hand."
Bo rolled her eyes and stretched out her right hand for the blonde to look at.
"The other hand, Miss Dennis."
Bo mouthed a ‚so demanding' and slowly revealed the poor discolored thumb.
"Oh my, what did you do?"
Her Boss took a hold of her left hand and turned it around carefully to take a closer look. The sudden contact of skin to skin sent a shudder through Bo's body.
"Does it hurt?"
Bo shook her head.
"Not anymore, no."
"Oh boy! Wait a second."
The blonde went into her bedroom. Bo got up from the chair she was sitting on to place her earphones into the small black charger-box. She was almost done working through the sea of names on that client-list. It had to be enough for today.
"Sit down on the couch."
Her Boss' demanding voice came from behind the door of the bedroom left ajar.
"Ai, ai, Captain!"
The brunette whispered back while she plopped down on the part of the couch she had proudly called dibs on around two hours ago. Well, called dibs on, smeared dip on… Tomato, tomato. Potato, potato.
A few minutes later, Miss Lewis came out of her quarters. Or better said after-hours Lewis since she had changed from her deep blue business suit into a pair of black yoga pants and a grey sweatshirt hugging her loosely. Bo's mouth went Antarctica-style. Meaning dry as a tree bark.
"Okay."
With that the blonde sat down on the coffee table opposite of Bo and placed a small leather case next to her. Their knees were almost touching and Bo tried her hardest to basically crawl into the back pillow by pushing her body against the couch.
The brunette's eyes were trying to avoid anything Lewis and came to a halt on the small box, that the blonde just opened.
"What, uh…"
Bo's voice broke when she saw what the case contained. Needles, little knives, bigger knives and a small saw and the brunette decided she had seen enough. In one swift move Bo rolled sideways off of the couch and was now standing up, fleeing behind the sofa. With a tight grip on the backrest Bo was breathing fast.
"What are you doing?"
Her Boss looked at the brunette questioningly.
"Well, I'm not going to be your next little biology project, that's for sure."
Pointing on the blinking steel equipment on the table.
"So, you rather want to lose that thumb of yours then?"
"I have two of them anyway, haven't I?"
A chuckle filled the room.
"Are you afraid of me."
"No. No! Of course I'm not afraid!"
She was terrified. But that wasn't the question after all.
"What do you think I'm going to do?"
"I don't know. You tell me!"
Thinking about this 'Dexter' slash 'Resident something with zombies' -hallway.
The blonde got up slowly. One step after another she moved around the couch and towards the brunette.
"I'm not trying to hurt you."
"That's what they all say."
And with all she meant serial killers.
"I wasn't joking. If that ring doesn't come off, you will lose that thumb."
"Well, I guess everything has an expiration date. Hey, what do you think you're doing?"
Her Boss made her way in front of the brunette and managed to take hold on Bo's left hand again. The soft touch of cool fingertips on the brunette's heated flesh was soothing and nerve-wrecking at the same time.
"I'm going to take that ring of."
"By amputating my thump?"
In the other hand the blonde was holding a small, sharp looking pair of pliers.
"You have two of them anyway, right?"
Bo tried to pull her hand back but her Boss had too strong of a hold on her. That was very unexpected to say the least. Another chuckle escaped the blonde and if Bo's body wasn't all in flight-not-fight mode it probably would have opened the gates to the land of all kinds of turned on.
"I'm not gonna hurt you. I swear."
Her thumb wasn't just numb it also lost any ability to feel. So when those pilers came closer to their target Bo couldn't help but squeeze her eyes close.
Goodbye thumb.
A quiet click was heard and within milliseconds what Bo thought was already dead came back to life.
"There you go."
The brunette peaked through one eye and saw all five fingers still in place and that ring now in her Boss' hand.
Moving her freed thumb Bo was smiling in relief.
"Thank you and ouch."
"You're welcome. And that ouch wasn't me."
No, it was the tons of liter of blood splashing back into dried out veins that caused that ouch. As if she had been sitting on her foot for too long and it fell asleep. That kind of ouch. A mix of a thousand ants under her skin and double as much needles poking through her flesh.
"Now let me see."
Her Boss held out her hand again after she had placed the steel instrument back into the case and had laid the ring next to it on the coffee table.
Bo was clutching her left hand protectively to her chest, eyeing the blonde with a proving gaze.
"Come on."
Still waiting, her Boss wouldn't back away. After blowing out a voiceless ‚okay' Bo let go of her hand and held it for the blonde to take.
"Well, it looks good."
Gentle fingers were brushing against the brunette's palm and thumb and wrist and she had to take in a sharp breath.
"I'm sorry. Did that hurt?"
Soft, light brown eyes were searching Bo's face. She wasn't used to that much of attention from her Boss. At least she didn't think that she would be on the receiving end of Miss Caring Lewis again any time soon.
"It's…"
Bo had to clear her throat to free her vocal chords from those webs these damned desire-spiders had weaved.
She hated spiders. Eight legged spawns of evil.
"It's just a bit sore, I guess."
Bo had shut her eyes for a second to give her mini-Bo a break and when she managed to open them again the blonde stood only mere centimeters away.
When did they get that freaking close?
Her hazel eyes were still examining Bo's hand, while those slender fingers were very much torturing the brunette in the most exciting way and all of a sudden Bo forgot everything around her.
Blonde strands were hanging loosely around that perfect shaped face. Scents of perfume and shampoo were flying around Bo's head.
After what felt like an eternity, her Boss finished her work and looked back up. She kept Bo's hand in a gentle grip.
Those eyes.
Bo was staring. She was staring into those eyes. And she got lost in their depths. One of the blonde's thumbs was brushing in small circles over Bo's pulse point at her wrist.
The brunette felt the urge to lean forward, just a little bit further into the blonde's personal space. This gloss Bo had found on that cup hours ago was now sparkling back from those lips in front of her.
She remembered the feeling of those lips against her own and mini-Bo was basically pushing the brunette closer to the goal.
Everything went silent around them. The only sound Bo heard was the rush of blood and her own heartbeat when a hard knock on the door hit Bo's ears like a shrapnel and made her cringe. Her Boss let go of the brunette's hand as if she had burned herself and walked over to let in whoever that was that hated Bo so much.
"God evening, my lovelies."
"Petra."
The bird of paradise walked past the blonde and into the middle of the room. A young concierge followed her with a long clothes rail on wheels. Bo's new wardrobe.
Now, she had to come.
"Excuse the late hours, but there is just so much that will kiss this beautiful human being in just the right places."
Petra was pointing at the brunette who was still recovering from those intense few minutes her Boss and her had shared.
Kiss. About the point. Didn't happen, Petra!
But beautiful? Bo had to cut the designer some slack.
Finally falling out of this trancelike state, the brunette was walking over to the clothes still covered in their plastic suits for protection.
"You will look so professional in these!"
Petra was standing next to Bo and leaned closer to whisper a ‚meaning gorgeous' on the quiet.
Bo usually went for sexy but gorgeous was something she could definitely work with.
As fast as she came the designer was gone again. Leaving a flustered brunette and an uncomfortable looking blonde behind.
"Wow, these must be what? 15 outfits?"
"Yes, Petra is always a little bit over the top."
"No kidding."
Wait. A. Second.
"Wait, Petra? What did she do to deserve to stay in your memories like that?"
That sounded harsher than intended but to Bo's defense, she felt a little bit less special right now.
"Nothing."
The blonde walked past Bo and towards her bedroom.
"Noth-…. So, you just decided she was worthy but it took you a drunk night and a heated kiss to call me by my last name? Wow!"
The blonde froze in her tracks. Yeah, well, Bo was angry and angry Bo sometimes talked faster than that word-filter of her brain could catch up with.
"It's different with you."
"Well, thanks. I feel so special now."
Shaking her head, the brunette took a hold on that rollerblade of a clothes rail and had to restrain herself to not stomp all the way into her room. She wasn't a teenager and that blonde wasn't her mum.
Well, thank what ever higher power there was, she wasn't her mum otherwise the brunette would have needed to have a serious one on one with her feelings and body reactions.
"Miss Dennis."
Her Boss had turned around and was seemingly trying to say something but Bo was done for today.
"You know? It's late. I'll see you in the morning."