Her dress bunched up around her waist, and the cool air of the conference room caressed her thighs. But that coolness was quickly replaced by the heat left in the wake of Anders’ hands as he trailed her skin with one hand while the other was buried in her hair.Veil arched her back when his lips left hers, planting themselves on the curve of her neck, biting, tasting. He savored the taste of her skin against his tongue, relishing in the thought that forbidden fruits tend to taste the best. Every part of Veil felt like it was being thrown into a source of electricity, as the sparks flew around. She trembled in his arms, shocked at the sensations his tongue could elicit out of her. He kissed nerves that Veil hadn't known existed until that day, and released every tension in her bones.Her toes curled up again when his hand left her hair, toying with the zipper that held her dress in place. All it would take was one yank to get it out of the way, and Veil anticipated it. He returned hi
Simon stopped by the door a micro-second, hoping that Anders wasn't inside the room. As he pushed the door open, he thought about the bulk of work he had left to do before the end of the day. His partner has chosen that day not to show up at work, leaving Simon to perform the tasks of two persons, while covering up for him.All through the day, he had been frightened that Anders would figure out he was hiding something, like the time when their eyes had met by the front door on the first floor during Lunch hour. Simon had almost felt the urge to pee on himself and he already had an apology speech prepared in his head.But Anders hadn't even paid him the least attention as he sauntered away, Veil right beside him. He breathed a sigh of relief and slicked back into his office, sending his partner a note containing a million reasons why he was never going to cover up for him again.Simon had no idea that the meeting that had been put on hold that morning was rescheduled for later in the
Veil was livid the moment Simon stepped out of the conference room. She hadn’t been able to say a word while he was inside because she doubted it would have made anything better. And besides, he hadn’t looked like he was any interested in whatever she had to say.Watching the emotions pass through his eyes broke her to bits. Simon was the only person who had made her comfortable working here on her first day, and it was unfair for him to be treated that way. She wanted to rush after him to explain that it wasn’t exactly what he had seen. But then, what else was there?She had no excuse for what he had just seen.“You didn’t have to treat him that way,” she strongly opined, glaring at Anders. “He only wanted to get his pen and was made to confront what he hadn’t bargained for. He was stunned and confused. The least he needed was some sort of explanation.”“And what would you say?” Anders shot back, angry that her naivety was getting the better of her and more furious that he couldn’t b
Veil raced through the hallway, then bounded into the elevators, shaking her legs impatiently as she waited for the familiar ding of the doors. She tried not to think too much about what Anders had just told her, repeating in her head like a mantra that he wasn’t the source of knowledge.As far as she was concerned, Anders was wrong. Simon was just shaken meeting her that way, and she was certain that when she explained the situation to him, he would understand. Be sympathetic even.The doors sprung open, and Veil walked briskly across the floor with a straight face, careful not to gain the unwanted attention of the receptionist. She had never been into Simon’s office before and it hit her that she just might have been a terrible friend to him.Veil couldn’t remember ever doing something nice for him, whereas he had gone out of his way a million times to ensure she was settled in fine. It made her feel terrible and added one more thing she needed to apologize to him about.The office
Veil had never seen Anders that upset before, so much so that it caused her to take a step backward. He shot lasers at Simon with his eyes, so harsh that the strongest person would have melted on the spot. His hands were still folded into fists and his veins pulsed from how tight they were kept. “What the hell did you just fucking say?” Anders repeated, oddly sounding calm. But Veil knew him well enough to know he was seething inside and was probably restraining himself from doing something much worse to Simon.Simon scrambled to the wall, putting as much space as he could between himself and Anders. But he was unrelenting, taking slow steps towards Simon. “Repeat yourself.”Anders was asking for the impossible as Simon would be out of his mind to call Veil a slut again right in front of him. He shook his head vehemently, not wanting to be put in the line of fire again.Stooping till he was on the same level as Simon, Anders raised his face up with a hand on his chin. There was frig
When Anders said he was going to take Veil home, she thought the home in question was the one she shared with June. But as Anders took another route, taking the U-turn instead of going straight down, she sat up, her eyes darting from the road to Anders' relaxed state.Or an almost relaxed state.Anders hated to admit it, but this situation rattled him than he let on. His hands tightened around the steering at intervals, and he couldn’t stop his leg from jerking. He was angry, but he couldn’t tell who that anger was directed to - himself, Simon or Veil?Perhaps the contract was a wrong idea. Or maybe he should just have let it all be when he saw her in the club that night. But at the point they were, there was no going back.He turned into his street, clueless as to why he had brought Veil here. He just wanted to talk without the pressure of Kingston Groups surrounding them or the eavesdropping ears of his employees.“I thought you said you were taking me home,” Veil mentioned, looking
The notion of change took various forms, with no strict rule applying to any specific occasion. For some, it was a highly noticeable switch, the gear put in motion for the affected parties to see. For others, it was much less obvious, hidden in the little things.Something had surely changed between Anders and Veil, even though it wasn't overly in their faces. Perhaps, it could be attributed to their conversation a while back, in his living room, armed with mocktails. Or maybe it was Simon and the whole saga that had gotten Anders snapping out of his reserved nature.But it was there.Veil looked out the window as the whole world went by. Anders had pulled down the convertible and the wind played with her hair, tossing it all over her face. She splayed her fingers out, relishing in the feel of the air on her skin and her face. Closing her eyes and relaxing into the leather of the seat, she took it all in, allowing the tension of the day to seep out.It was a temporary break, but Veil
The smile on Orleans’ face died as fast as it stretched across his face. The atmosphere shrunk into a small tank, seemingly dumping the three of them into it, without enough room leg space. The cosmos must have had a weird sense of humor, as it should have least warned Orleans that Veil wasn’t alone.It was hard for him not to notice how Veil gravitated towards Anders, slowly, unconsciously. They walked close to each other, their hands dangling so closely without actually touching. It reminded Orleans of a book he had once read about the whisper of a touch.This seemed to bring that phrase to life in Orleans’ head.He should have looked out the window before rushing outside because then, he would have seen the convertible and guessed right. There were no cabs that used that kind of car. But he had been so excited at the prospect of surprising Veil that none of that had occurred to him.Who would have thought that her mean boss would follow her all the way to her parent’s house?Ander