Rules of Intercourse (2): It’s About What I Want

Twirling the cable with her thin, long, bare fingers, Ashleigh spoke with undeniable poise and trapped her prey with her insane manipulative skills,

- Emilio, you know very well that I’m not that kind of a woman. I thought that after all I had done, you would have the decency to approve this one little project. If I recall correctly, you signed a pre-nuptial agreement didn’t you? Just think about what your wife would do if she were to find out what you were up to on those so called seminars of yours? ... Ha ha, I knew you would come around, it truly is pleasure doing business with you darling!

Yes, the fashion industry was a cut throat jungle, and Ashleigh, like any other achiever, had learned to be a survivor and get through the jungle without starving. She used her sources so well that no deal escaped her claws; she had everything, and more importantly, everyone on her radar. Since she joined the magazine, three years ago, sales had hit the skies and she has never looked back. Promotion after promotion, in a very short period of time Ashleigh kept establishing stronger grounds amongst her coworkers, propelling her to land the coveted spot of “Head of Creative Department”. With great power came great perks, of course, and no one knew how to take advantage of power and position as well as Ashleigh did. How she managed to vacate her third floor dusty cabin and move all her belongings to a glass walled office bigger than six cubicles on the 29th floor has always been debatable. Rumours and scandals of affaires with the boss and bribes spread quickly and viciously at work; however, this only encouraged her, provided gasoline to her power-hungry flame, for she knew she was what they envied the most.

So there she was, behind the glass walls, watching all those little minions running around, stressing about making the deadlines, while she was in the comforts of her air conditioner, playing with her silky tresses. She picked up a review catalogue of all the colour schemes and season patterns off her desk, inclined her seat and started going through the details of the booklet. As she circled the colours and patterns that were to appear on the next issue of Smile and marked the designated pages, she put her feet on her desk and noticed her splendid footwear and immediately felt her heart float on the lightest of clouds on the highest levels of the sky.
She was quickly awakened from her reveries when Elaine interrupted her to alert her of a 4 o’clock appointment. Startled, Ashleigh got up and told Elaine to prepare her coat. She brushed her black pencil skirt, took the catalogue and headed out the door. Outside, Elaine was waiting for her with her fur; Ashleigh dropped the book on the intern’s desk and slipped into her warm winter cover and walked away. As she approached the elevator doors, she turned around and said:
- Elaine, I hope you didn’t wear those seemingly new stilettos thinking you would be going out tonight... That would mean you weren’t planning on completing your assignment on the Adriana Lima piece.
- But I was not aware I was working tonight, I made plans...
Ashleigh looked over her shoulder; she didn’t even bother turning around, rolled her eyes and looked back towards the elevator,
- Such a pity.
She walked into the elevator with a smug smile on her face, as if she had accomplished her goal of making the little intern’s life that much worse. Before closing the doors, she feigned a sincere smile and waved goodbye to her defenceless prey,
- Remind me why I hired you Elaine, get to work.
The company car was already waiting outside the building as Ashleigh exited. The driver got out of the car and opened the door as she neared,
- Good afternoon ma’am!
- Stop wasting my time, she said in an unfriendly tone.
She put on her goggles and slid into the sleek BMW 335i and the driver drove off to her appointment. On the way, she brought out some hand cream and started to apply some frantically while staring out the window with a different look in her eyes. She stared as the world outside began to look like a mush of colours on her window, paint smeared on to a pallet; it began to rain.
The car stopped in front of a tall building with sad features, it looked somewhat gothic yet not enough to be attractive. The driver rushed out to open the umbrella for Ashleigh. She exited the car and quickly made her way in the building, not letting a drop of rain touch her. Once she was through the doors, she sent the driver away and stomped to the receptionist who instantly recognized her,
- Miss Slayton, Dr. Martinez will see you shortly. His last session is running a little late, and he is deeply apologetic. Why don’t you have a seat?