This 3-Part Novelette is not available in the published 1st edition of The Boudoir Chronicles Vol. 1

"I'm so sorry to hear about you and Rob," Brooke said with remorse just before she cautiously took a sip of her fresh latte. She blew on the coffee lid opening, realizing it was still too hot for her taste. I shook my head, trying to shrug it off like it was nothing. Despite the stinging promise of tears behind my eyes, I still had a facade to uphold. That I was over it and the loneliness hasn't gotten to me.

I physically shrugged. "It's okay. I'm totally over it." I took a sip of my tea with a level of nonchalance that bordered on apathy.

Liar.

"Despite the heartbreak, it turned out it was the best thing for me in the end."

Liar.

"We started to grow apart and we realized some pretty real truths about our relationship." I sipped my hibiscus iced tea and gave a weak smile. "Silver lining is that we at least figured this out young before we stepped into anything serious like the dreaded 'M' word."

At least that part was true.

Brooke aimlessly nodded, probably trying to determine how genuine my reaction was. Or maybe just felt guilty on bringing it up in the first place. "That's good that you're moving on. Are you dating?"

I sputtered as the tea went into my nose. I hastily grabbed a napkin and wiped my face. Like instinct, I gently laugh off my flub and glanced at Brooke. "You nearly made me choke!"

"Sooo, I guess that's a resounding 'no'?" Brooke smiled. "I was just asking. If you're out of the rebound world, you should get back on that horse."

"What horse is that?" I ask, trying to be sarcastic.

Brooke put her hand on the side of her mouth as if to whisper a secret. All she said was lower her voice a notch. "You know exactly what horse I'm talking about. That baloney pony, Violet."

Her timing was awful, because at that moment I just sputtered out my tea again, giving everyone in the coffee shop an encore performance of my latest one-woman show, 'Choking Victim'. I'm sure everyone thinks I'm incapable of consuming the drink without tempting death. This time Brooke hands me a napkin and giggled.

Embarrassed, I pushed my half empty cup of tea away. "I think I'm gonna just stay away from this until our friend date is over, if you don't mind."

Brooke finally sipped her latte. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to make you laugh." She scooted her chair closer to me. "It's just that, you've been really bitchy about work and haven't been socializing much these days. I just want to see you happy and not pining for that asshole."

I frowned. I know it's the best friend's duty to shoot down the ex so you could move on, but I still felt this need to defend him. Rob wasn't a bad guy--he was a great guy. We got along and had some really good times. But something changed in our relationship. When I met him, he was totally self-sufficient and independent. But as we started to live together longer, our relationship started to mirror my job. I had to make all the decisions. If anything was ever gonna happen, I had to make it happen. Every small to major decision about our lives as a couple was dumped in my lap and it got old really fast. Sure, I'm more ambitious than him, but with what little spirit he had when he met me, it degraded to the point where I was the dominant figure in our relationship. I hated that. I'm a feminist, so I crave balance of equality in a relationship, not dominance. I was looking for a partner. Someone to help take the load off of me and Rob just wasn't showing that potential anymore. So my bitchiness came from what my therapist called Decision burnout or Decision fatigue. At work and at home, I'm just worn out from having to make decisions that not only affected me, but others in my charge. Just wanted a break from having to lead everything in my life. But that break was never going to come.

The reality of that turned me into a monumental bitch and I didn't like the person I was becoming. So letting go of Rob was the first big step. But I was lonely and confused, so the departure to me wasn't going well. "I'm not pining for him, Brooke. I am just a little sad, and that's normal."

Brooke quietly shrugged in her seat and toyed with her coffee stirrer. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I need to just shut my trap."

"You said it, not me." I raised my eyebrows at her as I sipped my tea. "Besides, I'll get back on the damn horse whenever I'm good and ready. I'm just not interested in lame, rebounding sex. For once, I don't know..." I trailed off, looking for people within earshot. I had to have some privacy to my ridiculous life. I leaned in towards Brooke to complete my sentence. "For once, I want someone else to take control, you know?"

Brooke's eyes ballooned to an obscene size as she leaned back in her chair. "Kinky little bitch. Be careful what you ask for."

I folded my arms onto the table. "Sounds like you speaking from experience?"

"No, I'm just saying. Most women try to stay away from domineering men. And here you are interested in one taking you to bed. Don't get me wrong, though. What's not to like about a man who not only knows what he wants...but knows what you want. I get it. Just don't get all Fifty Shades on me."

She stifled a giggle as she slurped her latte. Yeah, she can laugh all she wanted. The truth was, I've become far too much a master of my own satisfaction. Jilling off became nearly an unhealthy pastime when I was alone at night. And since Rob left, no matter how much I wank it, the orgasm wasn't really fulfilling anymore.

Sad, I know. We, women, are supposed to have a satisfactory wank session almost every time. Fast, efficient and satisfying; that's how it should be. I couldn't tell Brooke that, though. She'd swear it was because of Rob. It can't be. I'm just tired of being the master of my own bedroom. Maybe my vag was tired too.

My phone began to buzz with a 15 minute warning to head back to the office and this sense of relief washed over me. I swiped my phone and tossed it in my bag. As I stood up, I sipped the last of the tea, annoying the nearby cafe dwellers with my excessive draw on the straw. Sucking down every bit past the ice like a kid with a good soda pop. I tossed the cup in the receptacle like a WNBA champ and smiled with superficial pride at Brooke. "I've gotta meeting with a contractor on a new project. I'll call you later, Brooke."

Brooke was already texting someone with her phone by the time I said goodbye.

"Laters Violet." She barely lifted her head as I walked out. Millenials, we're the bane of our own technology-dependant existence. No wonder real conversation spooks us. Moving through the post-lunch sidewalk traffic, I focused on getting my mind right for the next meeting. Looked like I finally get to work with the Brit contractor everyone kept raving about. Mr. Simon Ealy.

Simon Ealy was quite the whisper at work. A Brit that was flown in as a contract web developer and engineer, he piqued a lot of girls interest. I don't know what it is with us women and foreign accents, but apparently, the stereotype is true. Me and my bitchy behavior wasn't ready to make new friends, so around the office, I kept my distance from him, keeping conversation very light and superficial. And via email. It wasn't until we got paired by my boss for another programming assignment, did I realize I was in big trouble.

His appearance was the antithesis of a stereotypical code monkey. His light brown hair was cropped short which made it easy for his bright gray peepers to catch all the attention. His faint facial hair added a certain decadent masculinity to his face. As I sat in the conference room, I watched him walk into the room as if he owned it. His long, determined strides forced my immediate attention as he set his laptop down on the table and extended his hand to mine with a brilliant smile.

"Hello, I'm Simon. Nice to finally meet you. I'm excited to work with you." His bold, British accent lingered on his tongue as he locked eyes with me. His grip was firm, allowing me to feel the warm clutch of his hand for a few moments of our greeting. Hmm, very nice eye candy.

I stood up and offered a polite smile while I shook his hand. "Yeah, I believe we've only emailed each other back and forth."

Simon grinned. "Right. Right."

Before I could sit, Simon quickly pulled out the chair for me as I sat down.

I will admit, I was a bit confused at the sudden act of chivalry, which did seem stereotypical of a Brit. With an uneasy chuckle, I scooted into my chair. "Uh, Thanks."

"My pleasure." Simon walked around to the other side with his laptop and sat down.

I opened my laptop to log in and felt his eyes moving over me as I sat. Hesitant to meet his eyes, I pretended to stay occupied with the files on my computer until he broke the silence.

"I saw your new website design for that Texas hockey team. It looked really good."

"Thank you," I replied, still puttering around with my files on the computer. That project was pretty recent. So recent, it was no surprise who brought it up.

"I saw the previous website they had and what you did was totally a 180. It no longer looks like it was made in 1995."

I managed a smile and looked up, finding his grey eyes staring at me with a soft smile on his face. He leaned back in his chair with one leg resting over his knee, revealing his Ninja Turtle socks with his sneakers. Even his hotness couldn't hide the obvious signs he's a coder. " Yep. It actually took a lot of convincing them that their site was in serious need of updating. Aaron thankfully has a way with selling and got the account."

"Yeah, I bet. I think he should be joining us shortly, but we can get started if you want to start. I'm excited to see your ideas for this new project."

"Sure." I hissed a curse as I tried to load my file for the presentation and it crashed, not once, but twice. "Shit."

A concerned expression crinkled his face. "What's the matter?"

I kept trying to close out the application, but it was freezing on me. "Ugh. My freaking system is crashing again today. I had IT look at it the other day and they swore it should be running at optimal performance. My dev environment keeps freezing." I groaned as the embarrassment started to annoy and overwhelm me. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with technical difficulties.

Simon stood up and came over to my side of the table. "Mind if I take a look?" He stood behind me, leaning over to look at the screen. The aromatic scent of his cologne paired with the warmth of his closeness made me think of playful, flirty touches on masculine flesh. The kind that pushed the boundaries of intimacy when an attraction was beyond your control. His arms braced on the table on either side of me as he examined the screen. "Did they give you a fresh copy of Dreamweaver? It doesn't seem to be working with your updates."

I sighed as I stared at the screen. "I don't know what they did, honestly and if any of my files got corrupted as a result of this, I'm gonna freakin' freak."

"Steady on, now. I'm sure we can get this going." His voice was calm, everything I wasn't at the moment. I tensed at the feel of his hand covering mine over the wireless mouse. "Mind if I drive?"

"I should take this to IT and reschedule this meeting. I want this presentation perfect." I started to close my laptop, when Simon gently stopped me, our hands touching for a second time.

"I can handle this faster than IT, Violet. Just give me a moment and trust me. A small token of faith from your contractor. Can you do that for me?"

I looked into his eyes and the reassuring tone of his voice. I didn't like anyone touching my system. I barely condoned IT to do it. With a pretty good reason why considering the fallout with my application. I blew out an exasperated breath.

"Uh, okay. Go right ahead." I softly conceded, trying not to focus on him violating my personal space and commandeering my laptop. I watched him close out my program and pull up a command line where he proceeded to type away system commands I was unfamiliar with. My body shivered at the strange embrace we inadvertently shared as he worked and embarrassment heated my cheeks. "Do you need me to get up?"

"Nope, not at all," Simon's accented voice rumbled close to my ear. "Stay right where you are. I think I know what's wrong. Just sit tight." He continued to type away and click around, showing off his skills. Water cooler talk said he really knew his way around a computer. Seems like they weren't lying.

I gave a soft laugh, hoping to break the tension as he remained close to me. I liked to own my space, but right then, it seemed as if Simon brazenly took it over without so much as a fight.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Didn't know you had IT experience as well. Are you secretly a designer as well?"

Simon smiled as he moved the mouse around, finding himself getting closer to an embrace with me. Oh, but that smile of his was brilliant and sexy, highlighting his charming features. "Nope. Not much on UX design. I started out in IT and found myself taking coding courses shortly after graduating from college. Don't get to use it often, but guess it's still hard-coded in me. No pun intended." He brought up another screen and typed in something on the command line.

His humor made me giddy. I don't know what it was, but seeing him work with my system like he was Edward Snowden, began to turn me on. Maybe I did have a thing for chic nerds after all? "I'm a total fan of geek humor."

He turned to meet my eyes. "I was hoping you were. Was hard to tell given your reputation."

I arched a curious eyebrow. "Oh? What does that mean?"

"Just that you're the big boss around here and you like things a certain way. That's not necessarily a bad thing, Violet."

I loved the way he said my name. It was like he made a point to say it. The intensity of our gaze made us both snicker with awkward laughter. Clearing his throat, he turned his attention back to the screen. "Sorry, I talk too much. I'm gonna reset that program for you so it should load properly. I backed up your file, and trying to pull it up now." With a smile, he hit enter on the keyboard. I couldn't help but fidget in my seat, unsure of what I should do until my file finally loaded without a hitch.

I gasped in surprise as my web design mockups loaded. "That was fantastic! Thank you so much!" I turned my face and found myself barely an inch from his lips. Trying to corral my soaring interest I slightly backed up in my chair, preventing us from inadvertently kissing. God, what is wrong with me? Has it been that long since I've been in the game?

Simon finally backed away, and I immediately missed his presence. "You're very welcome. Glad I could prove some value to you so quickly. And considering we're going to be working together, I hope I continue to impress you." He grinned as he slipped back into his seat, watching me.

He managed to charm another smile out of me. Quickly sobering, I responded as I connected my laptop to the conference monitor. "Considering your track record, I'm not worried in the least."

He leaned in against the table towards me. "I'll take that as a compliment. When Aaron told me I was going to be working with the best in the company, I didn't know she would be gorgeous as well."

Before I could say anything or die of shock at his bold compliment, Aaron finally walked into the room.

"Hey guys! So sorry I'm late. The last meeting ran over and was a total shit show anyway." He scoffed. "I love having meetings about other meetings, don't you?" He gave a sarcastic laugh as he sat down at the head of the table. Aaron looked at us both as if he walked into something he perhaps interrupted. "I take it that you two have met already?"

I looked at Aaron, then looked at Simon's confident smirk and couldn't pull the words together. "Um...I...uh..."

Simon leaned back, crossing his legs. "Yes, I was just telling Violet about my enthusiasm to work with one of the top UX designers in the industry. I'll definitely have my work cut out to keep up with her."

Aaron nodded as he sat down. "Yep, V is a rock star and her awesome reputation precedes her." He looked at Simon. "As does yours, Simon."

He stole a glance at me, before looking to Aaron. "Thank you, Aaron."

Aaron turned to me, talking with his hands as normal. "He speaks code like a first language and has built some pretty amazing developer apps as well. And you, V, Simon's well aware of your design skills. I think you two will be an incredible duo and ask that you guys work very close together. This account is huge for the agency and code and design works better when the owners have chemistry."

Oy Vey.

I couldn't look past Aaron, as I felt Simon staring at me as our boss continued to evangelize the need for me and Simon to spend nearly every waking moment together to pull off this project. Uncomfortable wasn't the word for it, though it didn't seem to bother Simon in the least. Aaron was quite overbearing and though not necessarily a micromanager, he always felt the need to oversee the talent and preach the importance of team "synergy". Typical management drivel.

"Well, I'm definitely looking forward to it." Simon confirmed with a gleam in his eye. His gaze was paralyzing to me. We shared glances that made me feel stripped and bare. Vulnerable. "Hope you are too."

I cleared my throat. "Absolutely."

"Good." Simon I'll set up the meetings going forward so we can sync on this more frequently. I agree with Aaron; code and design works best through great chemistry. I want to make sure we have that."

I swallowed at the double entendre he put out there and I was floored. Where did this guy come from? All I could do was smile and try not to give in to the fact that whoever he was, he sparked something inside me. It was dangerous and for the first time in a long time, I wasn't in control of the situation. A rarity for the likes of me.

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