After unpacking, Mika took a long soak in the bath... glad to be out of the car, as much as she had enjoyed being on it. What a place this was! And there was so much to do... another option, is to do nothing at all. The choice was simple as that. Given her way, she would opt for the latter. All she wanted to do this week-end was to wander around the grounds, look at the lake, take a swim in the pool, take pictures using her phone (would you believe she forgot her camera... tsk!), eat and be waited on.
Mika joined Vic in the sitting room when she had finished dressing for dinner.
"Is everything to you satisfaction, madam?" Vic smiled. Mika's dress was deep gray almost the color of her eyes. The soft folds of the skirt swung slightly as she walked into the room and its close-fitting bodice accentuated the gentle curve of her breasts whose beauty the boss had not yet seen. Already, her desire for the secretary was stirring in her loins. All she had to do was look at her...
They ate in the main dining room of the club house- a delicious meal of smoked salmon, fresh lobster, lamb steak, fresh strawberries... and it started happening to Mika all over again. Vic Galang had all her attention. Vic in a white, short-sleeved, button up cotton shirt making contrast against the tan of her skin- unspeakably desirable! She would have to be careful! She must remember the vow she made and keep up her guard.
"Mika, is something wrong? You have seemed to have vanished into your own thoughts."
"No! Nothing is wrong. Everything is perfect."
Vic excused herself for a moment and Mika slipped back into her thoughts, glancing around the restaurant. It was so beautiful here... with majestic outline of Mount Kenya against the moonlight for a backdraft, the tropical plants and flowers, the dramatic lighting of the restaurant... and the person she was with. Mika could smell danger in the air. She must not forget her resolve. She must not forget that there was already a woman in Vic Galang's life.
They strolled back to the villa a while later, walking slowly under a starlit sky from which a shimmering moon watch over them. They were in the Equator Courtyard. There was a beautifully lit giant tree in the middle. A resort staff told them earlier that it was called the Equator tree. Everything was beautiful to the eyes. Before this night, Mika was not aware that the equator line lights up at night.
Vic's arm was around her waist, creating tension inside the woman in skirt... a tension that had been building all evening...
Mika shivered, for the night air was not as warm as she had expected it to be. Vic stopped, her arm tightening around her. "Cold, darling?"
Darling! Oh, if only she meant it.
The secretary pretended the boss meant the endearment. She told herself her love meant it as the latter took her in her arms and her mouth hungrily possessed hers.
Vic kissed her passionately, long and deep. "I want you, Mika." Her lips trailed a path of fire from her mouth to the base of her throat, drawing from her a soft moan which came involuntarily.
As they near their villa, the door opened and a waiter emerged, bowing courteously as he bade them goodnight.
When Mika stepped into the sitting room, all her suspicions were resurrected and alarm bells started clanging in her head. The lamps were on, the fire was lit, adding a warm and romantic glow to the room, and by the sofa there was an ice bucket hugging a bottle of champagne. The air was thick with danger now, and there was only one way for her to get off this...
"Vic..."
She got no further. Vic drew her onto her arms the moment the door was closed behind her... murmuring against the silky skin of her neck. "Mika... my beautiful darling..."
Mika bristled, pulling away because she had seen everything clearly when she had walked into this room... including the falseness of her endearments. "Stop it, Vic. This has to stop. Now!"
"What are you talking about? What are you afraid of, Mika?" The boss asked in a surprisingly calm tone.
"You know what I am thinking about. And I am not afraid of anything. It is just... this is not... this isn't what I want."
Vic said nothing. She simply moved away from her and opened the bottle of champagne. She filled two glasses and carried one over to her, their fingers touching as she placed the glass in her secretary's hand. The brief contact sent a tremor through Mika's and her gray eyes met the brown ones.
It was only when the boss sat down that she began to speak. "Sit down, Mika. And don't dare lie to me. Don't lie when every touch... every look that passes between us tells me otherwise."
"I am not lying! I... look, we will go back to Nairobi first thing in the morning if you..."
"If I do what?"
"If you don't want to stay here in my terms."
"Terms?" The boss seemed to be amused. "Your terms? I don't recall terms having set by anyone."
Vic was laughing now, and Mika could not believe it. She was not in the least amused. She was angry.
"I'll say this for you, Vic Galang. You've got style!" She looked around the room, at the fire, at the lamps, at the untouched glass of champagne in her hand. She had set the scene for seduction and had done it magnificently, with such finesse only a rich and experienced one would know how. "But all these make a mockery of your booking a place with two bedrooms, wouldn't you say? Or was that just to put me at my ease? Come into my parlor! How stupid... how innocent do you think I am? It is all too obvious what you have in mind for me here."
"Here?" She was not in the least put out. Vic was still smiling, though the laughter had gone from her eyes. "I think you neither stupid nor innocent. As to your next statement... you know exactly what I have in mind for you. I have just told you I want you. But I don't see what difference our surroundings make. Perhaps you will tell me. I mean, are you or are you not the same girl who asked me in a brightly lit hotel corridor to kiss her the other night?"
Mika looked away. What could she say to that? She had wanted her to kiss her and so, she asked her to. "I see... So that's it? I am afraid you misunderstood..."
Vic got up, crossed the room slowly until she stood facing her. "Misunderstood, Mika?"
The secretary did not look at the boss. Her eyes were on the glass in her hand. The other person in the room was only inches away. Though it was the last thing she wanted to feel right now, she was affected by her nearness... very much so.
Vic Galang did not kiss her secretary. With two fingers, she traced the outline of her cheeks... her lips... her neck... "Feeling cold again, Mika? You are trembling..." Her voice mocked the latter, compelling the taller woman to look at her. "My dear Mrs. Ravena, you know as well as I that I could take you here and now... here or anywhere else we might happen to be. I have the power."
Mika's breath jerked into her lungs as her boss's fingers continued their path trailing lightly over the bare skin of her shoulders. She was right. She had the power over her.
"Vic, stop that. Please!"
"More games, Mika? You know very well that I am a patient person... but your little game of blowing hot and then cold is beginning to pall."
"I don't know what you mean. I am not playing any games with you."
Vic's fingers moved on... down to the swell of her breasts in the low neckline of her dress. Very lightly she touched her, trailing her fingers over the soft curves. While doing this, Vic's eyes were on her face, watching her reactions, seeing her inability to move even as she saw the alarm in her eyes. The compliance of her mind was what the boss wanted. Not just her body... she had that... but of her mind... that is what she was waiting for. She wanted for her to come to her willingly.
"If you are not playing games, then you are reluctant for some other reason. What is it? You want me as much as I want you. Why deny it? Why deny me? Why deny yourself? What is it about you that just do not add up? I don't understand you."
It was so simple for Vic. As far as she was concerned, they were two women who wanted each other. That is all there is to it. She was sure Mika wasn't straight the first time they kissed inside the lift. So that is not a factor anymore. Then again for the secretary it was something more... she fell in love with her boss.
Mika brushed Vic's hand away. "No. You don't understand me. I... Goodnight, Vic."
She escaped into her room, Vic's name on her lips as she lay down fully clothed on the bed... her inner turmoil making it impossible for her to do anything at all. She was very close to tears and she closed her eyes tightly against them.
She thought of Kiefer, but only so she could compare him with Vic. The physical attraction she had felt for her late husband was nothing compared to this... this awful, gnawing ache she was experiencing for this person in the next room... someone she love. She wanted so much to go back to her. She wanted to go to her room and knock on her door and hold out her arm for her.
Putting her fingers to her temples, she fought against the threatening tears and struggles desperately with the dictates of heart and body versus what her mind and common sense is telling her- to stay where she was.
There were so many conflicting arguments. Why not take what Vic had to offer and simply enjoy it? As she has said, why deny them both that pleasure?
But what of the future? If only that was not so plain to see. If she could only believe there might be a future for the two of them. But why waste time with daydreams? If she allow herself to take what she wanted.... what they wanted, they would have an affair which would simply fizzle out in time... which for Vic Galang, one of many... but for her, eventual heartbreak.
No! She had protected herself for so long from anything which might hurt her. She doesn't think she could go through it again- loving and losing. To have an affair with Vic Galang would lead to the destruction of everything... her job as her secretary, included. For how could she work with her when she moved on to her next woman? It would all turn horribly sour. Everything she had now would be lost- herself, the new life she built for herself after years of loneliness. She was not going to destroy it all for the sake of a transitory pleasure.
Hayst, Mika... you're over thinking things again.
Minsan, it is better to just go with the flow... and just let go.
But what of the consequences?
Would it be worth it?
Is Vic Galang worth it?
Tsk!