Sweet Anticipation

     Malcolm woke up this morning and quickly assessed his life. He’d requested to work with his associate, Melody Von Line. If there was a burlesque name, he’d never heard. The name warned a man of exactly what he’d get. She was sex personified and that he needed to get out of his system, or she would break his concentration too much.

     So, today he’d start his campaign to have her. He figure by his response to her he’d need a long weekend to work her out of his system.

     His driver’s service picked him up. His assistant and Beta Jordan Blacksmith. A tall blonde man with similar eyes to Malcolm. It was the wolf in both of them and the fact that they were distantly related on Malcolm’s mother’s side of Jordan’s father.

     “Morning.” Jordan said as Malcolm settled into his seat. “So, what’s on the docket for today that I should know about?”

     “I’m taking the long weekend off for once. You need to pick up one of those blueberry muffins Ms. Von Line likes and her favourite coffee.”

    “Ahhh… You’re blowing off some steam this weekend and you’ll be with Melody. Good to know. I’ll make arrangements. What location would you like prepared?” Jordan knew the score and what was needed. They’d done this many times before.

      “The Muskoka cottage.” Malcolm replied without thinking more than he wanted to see the contrast of the green woods with her colouring. His mind wandered to what he would do with her as he went through his morning email. “Anything I should know for today? What’s on the schedule?”

     “New client meeting. We will announce your team for it at the meeting. Then we have a couple of phone meetings and finally the video pitch from that new boutique franchise.”

      “Right. When we get there, you go for her food, and I’ll grab my own today.”

     “You’re the boss.” Jordan smiled at him, knowing this meant Malcolm would be on his A-game by Tuesday and they’d have another success on their hands.

     While waiting for his coffee, he sent a text off to Melody to meet him. It didn’t take long for him to find her compact but curvaceous form in the crowd with her rich red hair up in a loose, but professional bun. Malcolm wanted to tear the pins out to find out how long her hair really was as he ran his hand through it and over her lush form.

     As they spoke, he expected her to take offence or make demands. Oh, she made demands, but he could get behind all of them, just like her.

     Melody turned the tables on him in the most enjoyable way, then slinked off to the elevator after giving him a heart stopping look at just how real her curves were. She left him with lavender and vanilla in his nose and the promise of her silky, tan curves.

     It was that voice that grabbed him by his balls and promised far too much for eight in the morning and no bed in sight.

    The meeting went by slowly, but when he was out, he found Jordan in his office. “Send Ms. Von Line an email with directions to the cottage. I’ll be back Tuesday morning.”

     “Got it.” Jordan didn’t sound like himself, and that stopped Malcolm in his tracks.

    “What’s with you?”

    “Oh, I think if I play my cards right, I may have found the one.” Jordan pointed to Melody’s office. Through the window, he could see a second woman in jeans and a shirt. Her colouring was much like Melody’s, and he assumed she must be family.

     “Who is she?” Malcolm found it interesting because, even though the two women looked so alike, only Melody struck his interest.

    “A friend with a message for Melody from home. Her name is Ellie. Or that’s what she signed in down at security.”

     “You don’t look happy about that.”

     “By what I see from in there, whatever she has to say isn’t good.” Jordan’s chin moved to return Malcolm’s attention to Melody and her friend’s embrace. He hoped everything was okay and not serious enough to cause their trip to be cancelled.

    “Well, if we need to know, she’ll tell us.”

     Melody got a message from security. She had a guest coming up. Ellie was waiting in her office when the meeting broke up. This was a complete surprise. No one came to her office. It was too easy for them to be accidentally discovered. Melody had told Ellie there were wolves on staff. “Ellie, what are you doing here? You can’t be here.”

     “I know I won’t stay long. I took one of those pills, don’t worry. Actually, I’m glad I did. That blonde wolf has been eyeing me like I was a prime rib dinner and he’s not eaten in a month.”

     “Watch it, that’s Malcolm Richard’s assistant. His name’s Jordan Blacksmith.”

     “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Malcolm is the one the media call the Wolf of Bay Street. You work with him, right? So, he or they are both wolves? Oh, Mel. It’s too dangerous here. What if you’re caught?”

    “It would have been fun while it lasted?”

    “Well, I’m not here for fun and games. Sadly, I’ve been sent to tell you your mother’s gone. The den elders are demanding you return and take her place as soon as possible.”

    Right then, her phone pinged. An email from Malcolm. Melody’s emotions were rioting, and her mind was racing. The email was entitled ‘Directions to Cottage.’ It wasn’t fair. Melody felt like someone was blocking her freedom to live. Melody wanted to throw a tantrum. Kicking and screaming. Expressing her frustration, but it wasn’t a professional thing to do. Her mother was gone, and she experienced a dream. The guilt and frustration were overwhelming to her.

     She didn’t want to go home. Or be a healer. It wasn’t her. But that’s what she’d been born to do. She’d trained under her mother, but she’d gone in a different direction in school. She’d not spoken to her mother since she moved out of the den.

     The den was a small, isolated community of fox shifters who lived together in an apartment building in Etobicoke, in the western part of Greater Toronto.

     “Gods, this can’t be happening. Why didn’t she contact me when she first got sick? How did this happen?”

     “I was told it was her heart, Mel. We aren’t sure she knew. It was all so sudden.”

    “When?”

    “A week ago, they didn’t wait for you to find out and return. They held her funeral already.”

     “I know they aren’t happy with me, but that was cold.”

     Ellie reached out to hug her and show her solidarity. Neither woman agreed with the limitations put on female fox shifters. They expected them to be there for everyone all the time. They should serve the den. Giving up their self and identity to give their all to the den. Caregiver, healer, cook, cleaner, and all that. The elders deterred them from working outside of the den.

     “I’ll need a few days to make arrangements. I believe I can return late Tuesday.” She would have this fling with Malcolm. Something to remember on those lonely nights to come.

     Ellie looked as disappointed as Melody felt. Ellie probably expected her to resist. But she wouldn’t, couldn’t she’d promised her mother that she’d return when she was needed. Just because they didn’t speak didn’t mean they didn’t love each other.

    But Melody wouldn’t miss out on a weekend to remember.