The noise pierced her ears like a knife in the stomach it forced her awake. Eliza lifted her head in search of the source, it was her alarm buzzing against her wooden nightstand.
Encased in a cloud of warm feathers, she groaned under the comforter. Eliza reached for her phone, it kept evading her grasp until her fingertips grazed the screen and it dropped on to the linoleum floor.
"Fuck," the crack sounded expensive.
She grumbled but anger evaporated after a moment. She lowered off the raised bed reaching for the device.
When she flipped over the phone her eyes widened when he saw the time.
"No, no, no" she panicked, Eliza whipped the thick blanket from her legs and rushed to the bathroom. She turned on the facet, filled her palms with water and thrust it upon her olive brown skin. The icy chill relieved her from grogginess. With several twists of her wrist, the water came to a stop. She looked into the mirror that stretched across her the small bathroom. Leaning forward she examined her face.
Her cheeks and nose sprinkled with tiny brown freckles hardly noticeable, but she noticed. A separate alarm sounded, it made her jump, she rushed to freshen up for the day ahead.
Eliza hurried along the crosswalk. The city thrived with liveliness despite it being early hours of the day.
Expensive vehicles maneuvered through the white and yellow lines on the bustling streets. Business professionals painted the sidewalks neutral colors with their attire.
Her navy knee-length peacoat billowed behind. Her long curls, brown as cinnamon, tamed into a slick wavy bun. She rushed across with the wind slapping against her skin and her glasses absorbing the cold.
Her destination was within reach, the glass skyscraper towered over the rest. The windows glimmered in the tangerine sunlight hovering over the horizon.
"Hold the door please" Eliza shouted to a crowded elevator. Not a single person budged at her request. She broke into a light jog. The doors moved at the pace of a snail slowly closing in around a group of strangers. The least they could do is pretend they didn't see her. Nope, not these guys they watched as her flats clapped against the shiny hard floor.
Her eyes narrowed. It was a tight fit but she managed to shove her wrist between the metallic doors. They jerked back open. She stepped forward. Their eyes fell upon her searing through the back of her neck.
Her heart was beating through the layers of her clothes. Her chest heaved up and down trying to disguise her shortness of breath.
She stepped off the top floor. Eliza looked at the time again and a small sigh escaped her lips. After adjusting her coat she scanned her ID badge and entered the workspace. She walked toward his cubicle, when she arrived she noticed the entire place typically full of computer taps and phone conversations, was vacant.
A round of applause erupted behind her. The conference room was crowded with peers and upper management huddled in rows of rolling chairs. She hurried over to the secluded meeting.
Carefully she reached for the door, the handle was cold and stiff as ice. Eliza slid into the back of the standing group now taking their seats. Her friends Jocelyn and Aaron quickly surrounded Eliza and helped camouflage the late arrival.
"Omg, where have you been?" Jocelyn demanded though she kept her voice in a low whisper. Her brown tresses fell to her waist. She kept her hair half up and the rest down her back. Jocelyn had a hint of an accent in her words as if her tongue didn't budge when she spoke.
"You didn't miss much, she's just going on another tangent per the usual" Aaron whispered.
Eliza's other beloved friend, Aaron, stood taller than both of them. His body was lean, his chest and arms fit snug in his buttoned shirt. Many other ladies of the office found him irresistible, but he never paid much attention to women.
Eliza's breathing slowed and relief settled upon her. She was where she needed to be at the right time. Muffled words left her boss's mouth, though nothing stuck with her remembrance.
Her boss was, Adelaide Smicdt, she stood on a raised platform. Her voice was hefty and intimidating. The lady lived to make their lives miserable. Her jowly face revealed a hint of her age, no one dared ask the number. She was clearly past forty, but still in relatively good shape.
Eliza zoned out from the meeting. She found herself daydreaming about him and the things that he used to do to her. Those thoughts are what fueled her fingers last night.
His lips were soft like cotton, when they kissed their tongues danced in sync. On his breath she tasted a hint of peppermint, the flavor intensified the kiss.
He hopped on top of her, spreading her legs with his sculpted abdomen. He flung her hands above her head and pinned her down leaving her helpless and vulnerable. But he knew that's how she liked it.
He stripped her down and placed the tip of him on her pearl. Swirling her sweet spot with just enough pressure. Teasing her like nobody else could. In one quick thrust he entered her filling every part of her with his girth. He was thick and long and curved like a plantain. Damn he was fine and knew what to do with his gift. It was foolish for her to resist him. Pleasure came over her in waves with every slow and passionate stroke. Only her ex, Trevor, could make her back arch and curl her toes that way.
If only she could just call him up and have a random hookup with him and it mean nothing, but that was impossible. To call Trevor her weakness would be far from accurate. This man could convince her to get naked and wrap her body in sushi. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a problem, if Eliza wasn't allergic to fish.
Trevor was model-type. He had the height, the body and the smile that made her body tremble in his presence. He mastered her body in ways she couldn't perform on herself. And even the thought of him made the lips below her waist salivate.
Adelaide continued the meeting pacing back and forth eyeing everyone in the room like a hawk. She stopped like she spotted something strange.
The fancy vernacular floating around the conference room wandered in and out of Eliza's ears. None of these meetings ever really pertained to her. Actually, it could've been an email, but that's beside the point. The useless words faded into the background. That is until her boss proposed a question to the group.
"Or what do you think...Eliza?" her boss inquired in front of everyone. A slight smirk appeared on her face as she took a sip from her coffee.
Eliza's eyes widened when she heard her name. At first she hesitated, did she really hear her name?
She was forced from her euphoric trance. Eliza couldn't think clearly her mind drew blank. Her lips quivered fumbling for any words. She felt her heart dropped into her chest.
Eliza observed the room, and nothing but scowls were looking back at her. She fixed her glasses and cleared her throat.
"I think we...should listen to our consumer," Eliza said in front of everyone. Her confidence was shaky. The compact fluorescent lights, built into the ceiling, bounced off her glasses. The glare prevented her peers from seeing the fear in her eyes.
"That was.." Adelaide paused but kept her gaze fixated on Eliza. She took another swig from the disposable coffee cup she held delicately between her thumb and middle finger. A slight chuckle came from her mouth.
Eliza swallowed, her throat drier than the Sahara.
"Well said," she applauded, a smile crept across Eliza's face. "You're all dismissed."
***
Eliza sat in Adelaide's office across from her polished mahogany desk. Her workroom took up the most space on the floor and equaled roughly the same size at Eliza's apartment. The curved high back office chair forced her upright. She stood to relieve herself from the strain. Eliza walked closer to the window, the view was a painting of the city. Its skyscrapers, mostly newer buildings, colored the city different hues of silver and sapphire. Eliza marveled at the sight.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Adelaide mumbled she stood in the doorway, leaning against the transparent walls.
Eliza jumped "I-I'm sorry," she rushed from around the table back to her seat.
"You apologize too much, you saw an opportunity and you took it," Adelaide said, her tone dry and humorless. She closed the door behind her, then sauntered toward the desk. Her mute-colored pantsuit swished with her movements.
"You know why I asked you here?" Adelaide asked, she took a seat in her chair and rolled underneath her desk. She buried her head as she sifted through piles of folders on her desk. Eliza watched her every move.
"No, no I don't," she played with her fingers.
"I'd imagine you don't. I read your piece on race-relations, and it doesn't quite fit in with the overall concept we have here at Adelaide & Co, but that's neither here nor there."
Eliza's breathing was labored. Saying nothing was the best thing for her to do in this situation.
Adelaide stopped and looked up, "The real reason I asked you here is, you see, I have a problem." Adelaide placed a thick set of frames on the bridge of her nose, then continued reading the documents in front of her.
"I need to fire someone, and I'm not sure who, you think you could help me with that?"
Eliza's chest tightened,"yea, I mean yes, yes, of course, I can help" she fumbled. The pit of her arms grew warmer.
"You see it's really between a handful of people, there's Aaron he's gorgeous but about as useful as a jar of marbles. There's also Jocelyn she's helpful but she takes forever to get stuff done and I swear there's one more person oh wait I believe it's hold on" Adelaide rustled through mountains of papers but then stopped.
"And.. you," She said, darting eyes at the poor girl in front of her.
Eliza's eyes widened in shock. She froze in the chair. The room was sucked into a whirlwind. Suddenly she was unusually aware of her breathing, like her lungs weren't grabbing enough air.
"Well, any suggestions?" Adelaide queried, she raised her voice.
The only part of this job that made it bearable, besides the paycheck, was her friends. Eliza sank in the chair, the cool breeze from the air conditioning began to seep into her skin. Dread coiled in her stomach like a snake. Though it pained her, she had to make a decision. Eliza parted her lips.
A tall well-dressed man burst through the door.