Page 2 of Mine

“Yes, ma’am,” Charles made notes. “Excuse?”

“I suppose I shouldn’t tell them men are fucking annoying.” Annabel sighed.

“Finally broke up with Sam,” Charles asked.

“Tell them… I’m unavailable,” Annabel ignored his question.

“Here are your messages,” Charles handed her a stack of blue papers.

“You got rid of the pink,” she noted.

“You said you hated it,” Charles reminded her.

“I’m not fond of it,” Annabel admitted. “Work only. Nothing social.”

“Did you come to work to be a hermit,” Charles asked.

“Where better,” Annabel said. “I can sit in my ivory tower and look down on my minions.”

“Oh, it didn’t go well with Sam at all,” Charles speculated.

“Sam… is a dick and not the good kind,” Annabel stepped into her office and let the doors close.

She dived into her messages. She returned calls and got down to work. Work soothed and eased her mind and her annoyance. She knew Sam came nowhere near her emotions. He was another alpha male who thought women owed him. She was so tired of alphaholes.

“Not thinking about this,” she grumbled. Reaching into her wallet, she pulled out the card she got from Ava Goode. Female Dominatrix. She tapped the card against her fingers and moved to throw it away. After every bad date for the last few months, she pulled out this card. She liked to be in control. She wasn’t sure she wanted to tie men up or whip them or some of the other things she read about which Domme’s did but she wanted thecontrol. She wanted her men panting for her next move, whether it was a kiss or something else. She tapped her fingers with the card again. “Get real, Annabel. You are vanilla in the sex area.”

Men. Maybe she should just play the field. She knew men in her income bracket who played the field and women panted after them. Leaning back in her chair, she wondered if she could pull it off. Since her daughter left, she’d been reading a lot about alternative sex options including being with multiple partners at once.

“Vanilla,” She scoffed at her own thoughts.

Around one, Charles walked in, “Here’s the last of third quarter reports.” He held the file folders. He set food in front of her.

“Give me the reports,” Annabel ignored the food.

“Do you remember what you told me the last time you broke up with a man,” Charles asked.

“Fine,” Annabel said. She opened the plastic tray and smelled a greasy burger and fries from her favorite joint. Her stomach growled. “Did you go out for these?”

“No, I sent an intern,” Charles watched her take a bite of the burger and pick up a salty hot fry. “I already ate mine.”

“Give the intern a raise,” Annabel ate the fry. “I swear they put crack on these. They’re addicting.”

“And thoroughly bad for you,” Charles grinned. “You will eat every single one.”

“Of course,” Annabel said. “Any departments I need to know about?”

“Sales in Plank’s region dipped again,” Charles sat on the edge of a chair holding the folders. “Several office staff left.”

“If he’s fucking in the pool,” Annabel complained.

“You mean again,” Charles said. “You want me to send someone?”

“Who’s new enough he won’t know her but ballsy enough to tell him to go fuck himself,” Annabel asked.

“Oh… easy. Shawna Miller. She’s six months into her job in accounting and hungry to move up,” Charles said. “She’s got a wicked sharp tongue when needed too.”

“I won’t tolerate his shit,” Annabel said. “You get her decked out with all the hidden cameras and microphones and spy stuff we have. I want video proof. If he’s messing with the people, he’s out. But the bastard is a litigious shitface so I want to make it so he has no leg to stand on.”

---