She now had a purposeful life. A sense of beginning, middle, and end. No matter how trivial the end was, or how short the trip could be, it would be eventful, because she was going to move along with full awareness; because her mind would not be tired of forever being alert even to the tiniest joy; because now her heart wanted to savor every moment—moments which many might see as being all the same. From then on, she would truly experience her days, and her life had just become a journey.
All this because of a kiss?
But that wasn't a kiss like thousands of other kisses she had had. That was a kiss of profound depth; one that wasn't planned but happened, one that originated from the lips but felt as if from everywhere in her being.
Abram witnessed how his friend was lost in his thoughts, unmindful of his presence. This was not the reason he wanted to meet him tonight, he regretted having troubled him. He had shared his enthusiasm about Gina's competence too far. "Georg, forget about it. That is not the reason I asked to meet you tonight. We were supposed to meet again this week, but then the secretary brought something up to my attention this evening, and I thought, if you could make it tonight, why not tonight?" "Alright. Tell me." "In a week there'll be a meeting with key shareholders. We have all but Colin lined up to support your company as our partner for the Indonesia proje
"What is it, Rhonda?" he asked, pouring his drink. She walked into his office, with long strides and an upright posture. She wanted to catch him before he was gone again. She had been trying to get a private moment with him for the past two days—and one was finally there. He motioned her to sit. He sat himself down, too, with a drink in his hand—something to do when awkward moments came along. His usual smile when he greeted her was absent. She noticed that. "Well, I have been with you for almost three weeks now," she said, sitting across from him on the other side of his enormous desk. Tense shoulders, strong bare arms, her elbows on the armrests. She did not lean back on the comfortable leather chair. "Yes, probably. I don't count the days. Cigar ok?" Without waiting for her answer, he lit his stubby cigar. She nodded, racing with his torch—her approval had to count. "May I know if I am doing ok by y
The usher walked them through a narrow, dimly lit hallway, making several turns until they reached what seemed to be the end of the labyrinth. She opened the thick door to a huge room, and closed it quickly once they were inside. The room was dominated by red, Rhonda felt the space was both warm and discomforting at the same time. It had a well-appointed bar and a bartender, and three more doors other than the entrance. From the sign on one of the doors, she knew it was a bathroom, but she wasn't sure where the other two doors would lead to. The carpet was plush, and the lighting was generous but subdued. She felt the floor engulf her dainty feet, freed her of her stilettos and devoured her naked soles. The mixture of scents of the pouring alcohol, leather, and cigars, together with the sight of scantily clad waitresses hustling and bustling, presented a luxury that pampered the luscious imagination. Seated around a large sectional sofa were a group of suit
A lounge. Within the same establishment. On their way out. So they went there, carried by feet with steps no longer staked into the ground, for what had transpired in the karaoke room had bred inspirations in their heads, grown his penis in the presence of a lady friend, and made her vagina pulsed with life and wet with anticipation. While walking, their arms touching should've meant nothing, instead, it consumed every bit of their wakefulness already corrupted by the carnal minds. And if they were to carry on a little further, time would distill those inspirations into a commonsensical proposition of how the two should truly end the night. So a couple more drinks would not lead them to the road—they had exclaimed "last one for the road"—but to the loosening of considerations, relaxing self-imposed mora
After a good night’s sleep, and a promising day ahead, she was wide awake at 5, beating her 7 AM daily alarm. In her dream, he was kissing her everywhere but on the lips, and when he moved to the last destination, she was awakened. Sleep wouldn't let her have the crown of her dream. The morning air was cool, yet she found her naked body sweating. She reached for her phone on the bedside table and checked the sent text messages—a habit she had acquired after completing each routine activity. She wasn't sure whether she had sent it. She found it: her text to Tom—their Portland's managing consultant—sent just before she went to bed last night. "Tom, can our internal meeting be moved to midafternoon? I need to discuss something with him before I leave for Portland."&nb
Like Gina, Rhonda was naked too, but she was neither asleep nor making her morning coffee, but grinding her body atop The Boss'. His was huge and really hard, Rhonda was pegged onto it, but she was slick, she could easily slip away only to come back to submerge him, again and again, seemingly unscathed until she cried out. "Rhonda, we have to leave for work," The Boss had said earlier when Rhonda teased his flaccid penis with the tip of her foot—it didn't take long. What he truly meant was Rhonda needed to leave for work and he needed to get some rest. "Georg, last one for the road," she said, whispering to his ear—her hand started stroking—referring to their last sane agreement last night, to have one last drink for the road, and they ended up in a night of delicious decadence instead. They both laughed, and Th
At 9:45 AM she could see Rhonda coming, walking toward her. They smiled when they were within sight of each other. She kept smiling and picked up her pace as she got closer. The blood rushed to her head, turning her cheeks pink. Without waiting to catch a breath, she said, "Hi, Gina. Glad we could meet before you’re off to Portland." Rhonda pulled the chair across from Gina and sat herself down, grinning ear to ear. "Look at you! You look so happy. What's going on?" "Oh, do I have a story to tell you!" "Oh, you do? Tell me." 
"I know I've asked you this many times." "Rhonda! This again? NO. Ok? No." She said, adamantly. After all, he hasn't called me since the kiss. "Oh, come on. Don't be upset with me." Maybe I shouldn't tell her of my episode with The Boss last night until I clear this up. I hope I don't break her heart. Please God, no. "No, I'm not upset with you. Sorry. It's just that you keep on asking me the same thing over and over, and I have to keep saying no. And every time I say no, it sounds more and more like a denial. I hate it." "Ok. It just seems to me his approval means so much to you. Either you have a very ambitious profe
She looked out the window. It was raining outside. The plane was still taxiing, rolling slowly on the taxiway. This was it, the last time she would be in the land of her hometown for a long time. She had planned to go back no sooner than six months. If she was to start anew, then today should be her past, tomorrow should be her today, and yesterday should not be revisited too soon. She would not think about the people she left. Not her friends, nor those who were once her clients back in Abalido and Quinaeros—like Roy. Not even Rhonda, the last person she said goodbye to just an hour ago at the airport. And not The Boss—especially not him. She had to make room in her mind for new people, new acquaintances, and new kinds of relationships. She took out the card from her purse—Rhonda had saved
She was not sure how to enjoy the glitz, attention, and admiration she received on the night of the lavish farewell party The Boss threw for her. She would leave for Jakarta as a Trelleconian the following day, and cease to call Georg her boss—and start calling Abram her boss, instead. Something she had never thought would happen. It was surreal—and not something she enjoyed at all. The Boss was her boss now and always—that stood no more. She saw he had spared no expense for her. He closed down the entire Eggs and Flowers for the party, and had them fill the room up with more flowers than what it already had. He made sure that not only the entire management of Abalido and Quinaeros were there that night, but also people who were dear to her. Rocco was there, and a couple of clients she had had cl
"So, you’re finally letting her go," Abram said, seated comfortably, gnawing a cigar, with a drink in his hand—The Boss was doing the same. The Boss said, "I have to," from the mentally opposite side. "It was her decision." He brought to mind the day following their talk the evening after the celebratory party; she had called him to say she was seriously considering the offer, and needed a week to think—and thus his turbulent state of mind. She got back to him yesterday to confirm. Crushed—the seconds that passed tortured him all throughout the night. He met with Abram the following day—this day—to let him know. He forced himself to come to terms with her decision: she would take Abram's job offer and leave him.
It was a glorious day for all of them. The Trelleco board had met and came out to support the Indonesian project, and appointed Abalido and Quinaeros Inc. as their consulting partner. The decision was unanimous—Abram got the unity he wanted not only at the management, but also at the board levels. Kronos had withdrawn their bid the day before when Aerlman—as Trelleco's COO—requested a clear list of key resources to be included in their counterproposal—as he did Abalido and Quinaeros. He acted on the advice Gina gave through The Boss. Surely enough that would have disclosed Kronos' intention to supply inadequate resources if they had not pulled out. To the people who knew, Gina was the star of the private party that the two companies jointly threw together that evening. With the latest thing
The meeting with Waylor was in some place out of town, about twenty miles off Seattle—in Bothell. The diner restaurant was nondescript, and the patrons were scarce. She walked to the end of the room and recognized the other gentleman Abram had introduced her to during breakfast at Eggs and Flowers. He was not Waylor. He was casually dressed, fitting the atmosphere of the place—so was Gina. Waylor had told her what to expect from the place, "We would just be two suburbanites having dinner," his text to her said. He stood up as she approached, and formally introduced himself and they shook hands, unlike two intimate suburbanites. "I'm sorry Mr. Waylor cannot make it in the last minute but insisted this meeting with you
What The Boss did not want to reveal, was not a mystery hard to unravel. The four of them got together on the same evening after Gina met The Boss. She had expected something that would take much longer with him, but otherwise considered what had transpired during lunch as progress. Still in her jubilant mood, Gina told Rhonda, Linda and Rocco what she had learned at her lunch with him: The Boss' hands were everywhere in their affair on and before that fateful night. "Still, he wouldn't let me know how." Except in the case of Roy, which Gina knew from Roy himself—The Boss gave him a pass that was valid on the day their plan was to be executed. Cunning—the girls realized how shrewd their boss was. Rhonda shared what sh
The Sun peered now and then over the grey condensed water vapor. The wind slipped through between the buildings and trees and was quick to wipe out the warmth off the skin. One could see the windswept hair of the women as they went in and out of the shops, and smell the wafted scent of perfume as they passed one another. The afternoon was cloudy and cold. Her heart was joyous. The concierge at Eggs and Flowers was cheerful to see her back. He was quick to greet and usher her to her dining room. He left her at the doorway of the private room. "He's been waiting for you, Miss," he said, smiling before walking away. He stood from his seat the moment she appeared, and walked toward her
The vigor of their lovemaking had sated them and made them hungry. Roy thought it would be nice if they could have their after-sex meal together, and Gina liked the idea. She would not come to lunch with her boss that hungry, either. As she was whipping something up in the kitchen for them to eat, from the other side of the kitchen countertop he said, "By the way, I’ve informed your boss of the unfortunate thing that happened to you last night." What? She stopped beating the eggs. He continued, unaware of her surprise, "He did not say much, but from the few questions he asked I could hear his immense anger through his quivering vo
She observed the good-looking man lying beside her. Roy was still fast asleep. He brought her to his place following her sweet promise of a night together —although she had offered her place, too. That was an odd choice to make, she thought. For a man who was after sex, he should have preferred the female counterpart's place instead, so he could leave when he wished —usually a dent on the pillows was all that was left as the evidence of his ever being there, or maybe fleetingly longer if there was a last-minute subsequent loving-act. She had thought the vain Roy was merely interested in sex and scoring a conquest. She was ok with that, liked it even. It would be a tango. Now, after the night of lovemaking, she caught a different vibe from him. Though not in clear terms, she was sure he was in love with her.&