In all honesty, Alexa had to admit to herself that it was her sense of mischief that had tipped the scales in favour of accepting tonight's booking from Adam Cole. It was one that she could easily have rejected, if the prospect of seeing the look on Stephanie McMahon's face when they 'met' each other hadn't been so appealing.
Meeting a client while working for another client was something that had never happened to Alexa before. She would likely seek to avoid it should it look like happening again, but just this once she had decided to enjoy it. It wasn't as if Stephanie would react by never booking again. She was addicted to her moments of Bliss, and they both knew it.
There was also the possibility of more repeat business from Adam Cole. Clients tended to either book once to try out their fantasies, book once because it was all they could afford, or become repeat customers. Cole had made this second booking, so there would almost certainly be more.
The only real problem Alexa was concerned about was getting into the White House without being filmed or photographed by the media. Being seen on TV with a client would have been very bad for business indeed, so she had made avoiding any and all media a stipulation of accepting the booking.
"Relax. Have a glass of wine," Cole said when she reminded him of the stipulation. They were in a luxurious hotel suite, not far from the White House.
Alexa accepted the glass of red that she was offered. Before arriving at Cole's suite, she'd had her hair and makeup done. Wearing an incredibly stylish and expensive black dress with diamond effects, she looked the part of the character she played for him. Lexi Kaufman, the beautiful bimbo girlfriend of mega rich oil tycoon Adam Cole, was ready to dine with the President.
After the meal there would presumably be a few hours of boring, fake social schmoozing to get through before they came back to the suite for the sex that he had unsurprisingly requested to end his booking.
"I am calm," Alexa responded. "I just want to know how you're going to make sure we don't get photographed or filmed."
"Simple," Cole said, slouching on a comfortable couch in front of her. "First off, the dinner hasn't been publically announced. Second, they don't allow media near the entrance to the White House. Third, we're going in a car with blacked out windows. You'll feel like you're a CIA operative on an infiltration mission, that's how secretive we'll be."
Alexa grinned at his humour. "I can roleplay if you like. Might be better to save it for another time, though."
Cole grunted a laugh. "Yeah, I think that's wise."
Alexa felt glad that they could share a bit of humour with each other after the week they had spent together for his first booking. It was always good to build rapport with clients, and it had the added bonus of making bookings more enjoyable.
"You can lessen up on the bimbo act tonight," Cole said after downing what remained of the shot of whisky he had been nursing. He stood up, ready to leave.
"Okay," Alexa said. For a second she had thought he was making the concession because he had come to respect her intelligence and the fact that she was an independent business person just like him, albeit not worth as much money. But then she figured out that wasn't his line of thinking at all. No, the reason he wanted her to drop the airhead act was because it wouldn't impress the people they would be mingling with at the White House as much as it had impressed John Layfield and the other people they had spent time with in the Cayman Islands.
"Okay, no problem," she said sweetly, showing no sign of having seen through him.
Cole stepped up to her and gently put a hand on her cheek. "You know, if things were different, I could see myself dating someone like you."
"Why's that?" Alexa asked innocently.
"Come on, there's no point playing dumb with me. I spent a week with you, Alexa. You're a very intelligent woman and an excellent actress. Excellent doesn't even do you justice. You make a lot of money doing what you do. Also, you're not a gold digger."
"You know there a lot of women who fit that description out there, right? Maybe you've been looking in the wrong places."
"Maybe," he admitted. The moment of frankness was quickly brushed aside as he turned away. "Come on, our car will be waiting."
Alexa picked up her clutch and followed him out of the room. Once they were outside in the hallway, she smoothly transitioned into character and linked her arm with his. She was now Lexi Kaufman, on her way to a somewhat daunting meeting with the President. Alexa Bliss was going to enjoy it.
True to Cole's prediction, he and Alexa had gotten into the White House with no media attention at all. Her concerns had been totally unfounded. Even the car with the blacked out windows had not been necessary as there had been nobody at the entrance to the White House grounds other than the staff.
Once inside, they had been escorted to what they had been told was called the State Dining Room. Given the title of it, Alexa doubted that it was intended to hold a celebratory dinner for donors to the McMahon campaign, but one of the things that had attracted voters to McMahon was her unwillingness to follow tried and tested protocols. She was something new. For people of big business like Adam Cole, McMahon had promised tax cuts. By donating to her campaign, he had essentially been spending money to make money.
Entering the lavish dining room, it only took Alexa moments to figure out that the donors invited to the dinner were not exactly a diverse group. She could tell that they were all men, since they all had trophy wives with them, and apart from one exception they were all white. She was sure social justice warriors would have been triggered if they had the chance to see a picture of the group, not that she personally had any time for that kind of thing. She also noticed that Adam Cole was the only good looking man among the group. She supposed that made her the lucky one, at least in character. There was no sign of the President or the First Gentleman. It seemed likely that there would be a ceremonial entrance for them once all of the invited guests had arrived.
"I guess the President will arrive later?" she asked, mindful of the fact that Cole had no idea Stephanie McMahon was a client of A Moment of Bliss. For obvious reasons, that would remain the case.
"Yeah. She'll come down from the residence once everyone is here," Cole said, seeming like he was in his comfort zone in the White House. Alexa felt a little awed by it, but he didn't appear to feel the same way.
Walking further into the room, Alexa tried to look as glamorous and beautiful as possible, since that was what Cole wanted from her. She was there to wow the other rich businessmen; to make them think, 'Christ, look at Adam Cole's girlfriend.' She had some pretty good competition in the looks department from the other trophy wives. Even so, a few pairs of wandering male eyes strayed her way as they walked in.
"Let me introduce you to some people while we wait," Cole said.
"Okay," Alexa said, conveying more excitement than she felt.
The first person they approached was a man with greying dark hair and a goatee. He was overweight, but had on a well-tailored black suit that gave his figure every chance. He looked like money to Alexa, and the blonde woman who was half his age standing beside him looked like the most stereotypical of trophy wives.
"Adam Cole, good to see you," the man said, offering his hand. "What a remarkable occasion. She really did us proud."
'She' was Stephanie McMahon, Alexa realised.
"She did. She definitely did," Cole said as they shook hands. "I don't believe you've met my partner before? Lexi, meet Ted DiBiase."
"Hi. Nice to meet you," Alexa said, giving the man one of her best smiles. In return she got one that looked rather slimy to her, not that she let her opinion show.
To make matters worse, DiBiase took her hand a kissed the back of it. She supposed that in theory it was a polite gesture. All she wanted to do, though, was cringe.
DiBiase introduced his wife, then the two men started talking business. The topic of conversation was what long term impact the McMahon election was going to have on the stock market. Alexa would have been interested to join in, if she had been there as Alexa Bliss. But Lexi Kaufman knew nothing of the stock market, and therefore stood there with a contented resting face while the men blathered on.
Eventually moving on from talking with DiBiase, Cole introduced Alexa to two more businessmen and two more wives before an announcement interrupted all of the conversations taking place in the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the First Gentleman of the United States, Hunter Helmsley, and the President of the United States, Stephanie McMahon!"
Alexa joined in with everyone else, applauding as Stephanie entered the room on the arm of her husband. She was wearing a long red dress that made her look both Presidential and beautiful. There was no doubt about it, for a woman her age she looked incredible. In Alexa's mind, she pictured Stephanie dressed very differently, in a black latex bodysuit. It was quite something to picture in this setting, on this occasion.
McMahon began greeting the guests, shaking hands with the men, thanking them for their donations and sharing a laugh with some of them. She was introduced to wives, and introduced her husband to the donors. Alexa had never met Hunter Helmsley herself. For obvious reasons, McMahon's moment of Bliss bookings had taken place when he had been out of town on business. She personally found the custom of a wife keeping her maiden name instead of taking her husband's a little odd, but that was McMahon's business.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Alexa commented quietly to Cole as they watched on.
"Hell yeah. Badass, too. Exactly what this country needs."
"What's the First Gentleman like?"
"Nice guy. Met him a couple of times," Cole said.
The President and First Lady were working their way around the room, now not far from where Alexa and Cole were standing. Alexa had to actively stop herself grinning. The moment she had been waiting for was approaching. If there was ever going to be a test of McMahon's diplomatic poker face, this was it.
When Cole's turn came to be greeted, McMahon didn't even look at Alexa initially. She only had attention for her donor. "Adam Cole, good to see you. Thank you very much again for your sizeable donation. We wouldn't be standing here right now if it hadn't have been for the kind of support," the President said with a broad smile that made her nose wrinkle slightly in the way that Alexa had noticed many times before.
"You're very welcome, Madam President, although the reason we're standing here is your amazing campaigning and the brilliant ideas you're bringing to the table."
"That's very kind of you," McMahon said. Still not having noticed Alexa as anything more than a blonde woman standing next to her donor, she turned towards the First Gentleman. "I don't believe you've met Hunter? Hunter, this is Adam Cole and…"
McMahon finally looked at Alexa. The recognition was there immediately, and it stopped her in her tracks. Her reactions were excellent, though. After only a second she feigned a cough to cover her sudden pause. She looked at her husband again. "My throat is a bit dry. Could you maybe get me some water?"
"Uh, this is Lexi Kaufman, my partner," Cole said as the First Gentleman stepped away to get the attention of someone who could fix a glass of water. Cole was somewhat thrown off by the President's uncomfortable moment.
"Hello, Lexi. Excuse me," McMahon said, doing a good job of faking another cough. It was an excellent ruse because it also explained her cheeks turning red.
Looking concerned, Cole went after the First Gentleman to find out where the apparently-needed glass of water was. Having a moment alone with the President was an unexpected turn of events for Alexa.
"What are you doing?" Stephanie quietly demanded in something between a whisper and a snarl.
"Working," Alexa said simply, keeping her tone light and her expression happy for the sake of any onlookers.
"Why the hell are you working here?"
"Because Mr Cole is a valued client, just like you."
"You shouldn't have done this booking," Stephanie hissed. "It's highly embarrassing."
In the spur of the moment, what felt like a perfect response came to mind for Alexa. She kept the same expression on her face but took a sterner tone. "Don't you dare talk to the goddess like that. I'll be remembering this exchange."
Stephanie's eyes widened for a second, then her anger melted away into deference. "Right. Sorry," she muttered.
The First Gentleman returned with a glass of water, Cole only a few paces behind him.
"Thank you," McMahon said. Taking the glass, she downed the contents in one slow hit. It helped her to regain her composure. "Nice to meet you," she said to Alexa. Nodding to Cole, she quickly moved on.
Cole stood there looking at Alexa with a, 'That must have been a nice moment for you' expression on his face.
You have no idea, she thought, smiling back at him. Talking to the President like that in the White House dining room had given Alexa her own moment of Bliss.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review last time.
What did you think of the meeting between Alexa and Stephanie? :D
Safe to say we'll have to see another booking from Stephanie in the future!
Next time, we'll be meeting a new client and a kind of booking that we haven't seen before. What do you think it might be?