The jarring sound of the alarm woke Kristy the next morning. As she took in her familiar surroundings, she had the brief notion that the whole weekend had just been a bad dream. Then she stretched and hissed as her body protested, the welts on her skin stinging and her abused muscles aching. She put her hand to her head in dismay and cursed as she felt the towel. She had forgotten to dry her hair last night! Swiftly she got out of bed and hurried into the bathroom, stepping into the shower and turning it on full blast. She hissed as the stinging water hit her skin but gritted her teeth and quickly washed and conditioned her hair. She patted her skin dry and roughly towelled off her hair. She sat down in front of her dressing table, picked up a comb and ran it through her hair before grabbing a brush and hairdryer to style it. Eventually her hair fell to her shoulders in gleaming golden waves. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. In this style she was reminded of her ordeal on the island. Lips thinning in disapproval, she swept her hair up and into a french pleat. The result was neat and businesslike, as far from the dishevelled state she had been in as she could manage.
She expertly applied her make-up, dabbed Chanel No. 5 behind her ears and on the pulse points of her wrists then walked over to her closet to pick an outfit for the day. A charcoal grey Armani trouser suit caught her eye. "Perfect!" she thought to herself. Next she chose a masculine looking, white, pinstriped shirt. She went to her underwear drawers and selected La Perla black label briefs in an opaque tulle and a beautiful white lace bra from the same label. She eased the briefs up and over her hips, careful not to disturb the area where her tattoo was being removed. Then she put on her bra and winced as the lace abraded her sore nipples. She went back to the drawers and pulled out a different one, this time a mixture of tulle and lace, infinitely softer and more forgiving to her nipples! She eased a pair of pantyhose up her legs and then drew on her shirt and trousers.
She walked into the kitchen and split a bagel and placed it under the grill to toast whilst she brewed herself a strong coffee. When the bagel was done she slathered it with butter, cream cheese and smoked salmon. She sat down at the kitchen table and hastily consumed her breakfast. She added cream and sugar to her coffee and mentally prepared herself for the coming day.
She picked up her car keys, and retrieved her jacket from the bedroom. She transferred the contents of her purse into one more suitable for the office and swept out of the apartment, taking care to lock the front door behind her. Ignoring the doorman completely, she made her way to her car and drove to the office. Thanks to forgetting to dry her hair last night, she was running around 30 minutes late, a fact guaranteed to irritate her!
She pushed through the double doors of the office with a face like thunder. The receptionist opened her mouth to wish her good morning, took one look at her expression and lowered her eyes to intently scan her computer screen. She had no wish to have her head bitten off first thing on a Monday morning! As Kristy swept through the office people hurriedly found somewhere else to be. The admin staff had all been on the receiving end of her sharp tongue and had no wish to endure another tirade! David stood in the doorway of his office, arms crossed, quietly watching her entrance. His lips thinned slightly as he saw her push through her work colleagues, not even acknowledging their existence. Two or three of the junior partners tried to wish her good morning and congratulate her on her win last week, but she completely blanked them and strode towards her office.
Susan, her secretary looked up as Kristy swept past her desk. She grimaced as she saw the expression on the woman's face. Today did not look as if it would be a pleasant one! She couldn't understand what had gone wrong. Surely Kristy should have been relaxed if nothing else from her weekend away, but she looked as if she had eaten something rancid! Maybe it was just the fact that she was running late, but in any case, Susan had a sinking feeling that nothing she did today would be good enough! Gritting her teeth, she followed her boss into the office.
"How was your weekend?" she asked brightly. "Was the hotel good? It looked lovely on the website!"
"None of your business!" Kristy snapped. "Did you get those tapes done on Friday?"
Biting down on her resentment, Susan managed to maintain an even tone as she replied. "Yes, everything is on your desk in clearly marked folders."
Kristy intently scanned through the documents in their folders, obviously searching for something to criticise. Finally she had to admit defeat.
"Very well," she said. "Get me a cup of coffee then leave me alone for an hour. No interruptions under any circumstances. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Ms McCall," Susan replied and went to get her coffee.
As she made her way to the kitchen, David caught Susan's eye and beckoned to her. "Rough morning?" he asked, smiling gently at her.
"Yes, and the day's barely started!" she replied with a wry grin.
"Well could you put an entry into Ms McCall's diary for 11pm this morning? I need to have a meeting with her," he asked.
"Of course Mr Bourne," Susan replied. "Good luck," she muttered under her breath as she watched him walk away.
She met David's secretary in the kitchen where she was making herself a coffee.
"You are so lucky to have Mr Bourne as your boss!" she told her enviously. "He's so polite and civilised! Not like the harridan I have to work for! Honestly, you would have thought she would be marginally easier to deal with this morning after a weekend of rest and relaxation, but no. Not a word of thanks to me for booking her hotel and she bit my head off when I asked her if she had a good time!"
The other woman shook her head in sympathy. "I don't know how you put up with her!" she commiserated. "Mr Bourne is strict, but he's never been anything but polite and courteous. Can't you ask to be placed with another boss?"
"Are you kidding Helen?" Susan replied incredulously. "Who would want to trade places with me?"
"Hmm, you have a point!" said Helen.
"Oh well, I guess I'd better get this back to the Valkyrie, before she starts finding fault with my work!" Susan said with a grimace.
"Good luck!" was the response that followed her out of the kitchen.
She tapped on Kristy's door and a curt "enter" answered. Steeling herself, she opened the door, placed the cup of coffee on the desk and waited to be acknowledged.
"Well?" Kristy asked, looking up and frowning. "What is it?"
"Mr Bourne has asked for a meeting with you at 11am this morning, Ms McCall" Susan told her.
"What does he want?" Kristy snapped.
"He didn't say Ms McCall" Susan replied.
"As if I'm not busy enough!" Kristy grumbled.
"Should I advise Mr Bourne that you're unavailable?" Susan asked.
"No, no. He's a partner. I'll go," Kristy replied. "Remind me at 10:45. I don't want to be late."
"Very well Ms McCall," Susan said and quietly left the office.
For the next couple of hours Kristy buried herself in her work, losing herself in case law and writing opinions. She was so engrossed with what she was doing that Susan's quiet tap on the door startled her.
