Aubrey's Playground

:37:

Aubrey began questioning his own leniency when it came to Lori, he questioned every move he made with her, this was 'Old Aubrey' behavior, and if a woman was strong enough to get him to question his behavior towards and around her, was she really worth it him slipping back into his old ways? Was Lori truly the sub that he envisioned before she signed that contract? She had a room in his home and was slowly making her mark on his condo, instead of separate personal space he willingly and desperately pulled her into his, a whole bedroom on the second floor was dedicated to her and whatever belongings she felt needed to be there, yet she was not in there, he felt comfort in sleeping next to her instead of alone. Instead, he began to hate sleeping alone.

Sunlight flooded the spacious boardroom, sitting high on the 26th floor of the towering RGE building making everything under it look small in comparison. Aubrey pulled the right strings he needed to pull in order to get Jay&Elle Real Estate to head a new smoke lounge he currently had in the works. It wasn't just the efforts to see her in a working environment but to also be around her when he normally was forced away from her, in an environment that he normally forced himself away from any woman he was involved with.

Listening to anything come out her mouth was physically impossible as he sat there staring at her from across the table, the more professional she was the more appealing she became, even though he had seen her outfit that morning it was like looking at it for the first time, the way she wasn't afraid to disagree with something she didn't like not caring for his presence in the room, the way she easily ran things without trying to demand attention, and somehow she managed to lock-away that lustful look that she got in her eyes whenever looking at him, he had never seen anything like it, a woman play a similar game and be just a tad bit better than him at it. It bothered him, she bothered him, she was not supposed to be able to turn off the urge to want him at any and every time of the day, she was not supposed to be able to control herself while he was in her sight. Yet, she did. That did not sit well with Aubrey.

Somehow Lori brought old behavior out of Aubrey, a need to be obsessed over, a need to be demanded at that moment, wanted but not caring enough to offer himself to the woman that lusted after him. His teeth clicked behind a tightly closed mouth, his jaw clenched as he sat trying to hide behind how annoyed he was, his right knee bounced up and down under the table, there was truly no reason for him to be angry but seeing her interact with other men angered him in a way he was not expecting, as professional as the room was, she was, she laughed at the dry humor of coworkers and tossed some in herself here and there, she lightly placed her hand on another man's shoulder when she liked and agreed with the idea he tossed out.

"That's a really good idea!" She said as she pulled her hand from Rick's shoulder and nodded her head.

"Yeah, it worked great with the other restaurants and granted this isn't a restaurant, but you know? I don't see the harm in trying it." He continued.

"No, I totally think it's a good idea and if it doesn't work we'll do it differently." She shrugged her shoulders and reached down flipping the paper to the next page as she stood up in a bushel of RGE employees, most of them being men.

Rick nodded his head and shrugged. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Lori closed the large packet of paper, several blueprints laid overlapping one another on the long shiny dark wood table, the room slowly began to empty, yet conversations lingered throughout the room as people gathered their own personal things. Aubrey stood up and smoothed down the front of his suit jacket doing his best to control his unwarranted anger over her casual interaction with another human being during a business meeting, he continued watching as she carried out another business based conversation with Rick and Greg listening from a distance, both men standing at an appropriate distances from her, showing no interest in any other interaction with her other than to carry out their current conversation of building investments.