Stiletto Sisterhood

Original Edition: PRIYA| A hot mess straight out of dysfunction station

Priya rose up in the elevator, her eyes fixed to the climbing numbers as inside her belly jittered and jolted. The carbs she'd inhaled earlier weren't sitting so well and she raised a hand to her mouth to stifle the burp as last night's alcohol came back in nauseating waves. The urge to let it all spew sat at the back of her throat, like a finger hovering over the button of a detonator. Waiting to be pushed.

Oh please, she prayed, let me get through this nightmare without vomiting.

The doors pinged open as she reached the thirty-seventh floor and bright lights bounced off of stark white walls, floors and furniture. F*ck, it was like a gallery without a hint of colour of contrast aside from the dark skinned receptionist and the framed artwork on the walls.

Wincing against the glare, as Priya approached the desk a slender finger lifted in acknowledgement.

"Mr. Harrison is not in at the moment, may I take a message?" the receptionist spoke into her headset, eyes fixed at some distant point beyond Priya's right shoulder. "Yes, I understand, you've mentioned that three times, already, but as I've explained, several times as well, Mr. Harrison does not want any calls sent to his voice mail as he's—" she halted suddenly, and her dark eyes rolled at whatever the person on the phone had to say. "You can do so, if you'd like, but I'm telling you—okay..."

Bringing a hand to her ear, the receptionist ended the call and finally, shifted her gaze to Priya. To her credit, she barely blinked. "You must be Ms. Seth." A welcoming smile brightened her face.

"I am."

"I'll let Ms. Nagao's assistant know you're here." Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she fired off a quick message. "Why don't you have a seat? Is there anything I can get for you in the meantime? Water? Cappuccino?"

The weight of that lump sat heavier against her tonsils and Priya did her best to swallow it all back down. "Water would be great."

"Still or Sparkling?"

"Um...sparkling?"

"Wonderful. Ice?"

"Sure."

"And would you like a slice of lemon or lime?"

Jesus. "Just the water, please. Thanks."

"Certainly. I'll be but a moment. Please have a seat." She rose from behind the desk and was gone in a flash of long legs and high heels, far more impeccably dressed in a soft grey suit that Priya was almost tempted to bribe her out of when the glass doors beyond the desk whisked open and a stern-faced blonde whisked out. Her blue eyes snapped to Priya and her stride faltered the barest fraction before she recovered.

"Ms. Seth?"

Scheisse. "That's me. You must be Heather."

"Yes..." Blue eyes racked Priya from head to toe, not at all discreet in her stunned disbelief. "Ms. Nagao is waiting for you in the boardroom. I'll show you the way. Please keep up."

"Oh, the receptionist was just—" At an arch of her brow, Priya swallowed the rest and gave her skirt a tug to urge down as low as she could manage while keeping up with Heather's determined gait that pushed her to almost job just to keep up, and that put her at serious risk for further flashing of her naked ass as they swept down a long corridor of glass front offices and row of cubicles.

Turning a corner, Heather pushed open a heavy set of double doors and swept Priya into a conference room large enough to seat twenty people around a laze sized table of polished wood, the grain exotic stripped hues of burnished reds to deepest mahogany.