Author's note: this will be a long series (at least 3 books of 10+ chapters each) and it has a bit of a slow build.
After a quick makeup and hair check in the mirror of her minivan, Lisa Hansen strode into the building she always considered "her" branch of Western State Bank. It was well past 9 in the morning on a Monday, and both of her morning tellers, Terry and Shawna, as well as her branch VP, Annie, were at their desks. A quick look around showed that coffee had been brewed and the morning papers set out neatly on the coffee table in the lobby, which looked more like the living room of a well-appointed home than the entry area of a bank.
After briefly greeting all of her employees, she entered her large office, surveyed the pictures of her and her team competing in various charity events, and sat down behind her large walnut desk. She started her morning habit of a quick read of her emails to see if any customers, or someone at corporate, needed her attention. After she was done, she would go talk to each of her employees in turn, and greet any customers who were taking advantage of the free coffee and newspapers.
Lisa's later arrival and her well-appointed office were a reflection of more than 25 years of service, and the exceptional performance of her branch. In other circumstances, someone with her qualifications and record would be part of the corporate leadership team, but she had chosen to stay as branch president of one of the two WSB branches in Rogers, Nebraska, for a number of reasons. First and foremost was her husband's management position at a small trona mine outside of town, a distant second was the comfort they both took in small town life. Not that Rogers was ridiculously small - it had a mall, hotels, nice parks and good schools. But its residents certainly had a set of small town attitudes that sometimes made Lisa chafe.
Lisa and her husband Bill had raised their two children, Maisie and Robbie, in Rogers. Both she and Bill had been sad to watch their children move hundreds of miles away to attend college, and still farther away after they graduated. Lisa's minivan was the last obvious remnant of her child-rearing years - she had enjoyed her children, but it was a lot easier to be an accomplished 50 year-old empty nester than a 30 year-old working mom juggling day care and a job where you couldn't roll in 20 minutes after the opening bell. Her empty nest also gave her more time to work out, which she did at home six days a week.
Lisa would say that she liked to look good. Other, less charitable, observers might call her vain. No matter your perspective, it was obvious that Lisa spent quite a bit of time on her body and her overall appearance for the simple reason that she liked to turn heads. As a 5' 10" with long brunette hair, olive skin, and long legs, she had the body type that women's clothes were designed for. Though Rogers had relatively little to offer in terms of fashion - and, until lately, she didn't have the extra income to spend much - Lisa had become quite adept at finding business appropriate, form-fitting yet tasteful outfits on a budget. Banking culture being what it was - low entry pay coupled with high expectations for professional dress - Lisa often took her new employees under her wing for a short shopping trip to the Rogers mall, where she would show them how to buy a couple of nice outfits for her welcome gift of $100.
Today, for example, Lisa was wearing a pair of black slacks that showed her firm, high rear end, a short sleeve white silk blouse that showed off her toned arms, and a black vest. Her small breasts were hidden by the vest so she wore a very light bralette, and her thong kept her from showing panty lines. As usual, she was wearing a pair of high heel pumps. Her jewelry was inexpensive, simple and elegant - pearl studs with a matching pearl pendant with a silver chain. The small wedding ring Bill had bought her when they first got married was the only ring she wore.
After working through her emails - just a bunch of what Bill would call "horseshit from corporate" - Lisa touched base with each of her employees. Her first stop was at the teller station of Shawna, a petite young woman with red hair, green eyes, a quick laugh and a curvy figure that got her plenty of attention. Twenty-five year-old Shawna was in her second year of a relationship with a young cowboy named Dale. Dale worked on a ranch a few miles out of town, but spent most of his free time at Shawna's small apartment downtown. Lisa had met him once or twice, and he was certainly cowboy handsome, wiry and tanned, with piercing blue eyes and short blonde hair. She also knew a bit about him from the many little chats that she and Shawna shared, and Lisa had come to believe that Dale was a nice guy who somehow decided to take on the challenge of a relationship with a firecracker like Shawna.
Lisa never worried about Shawna - she embodied confidence and excitement about the challenges of her daily life, and Lisa had her pegged for promotion as soon as a slot opened up somewhere.
When Lisa approached Shawna to ask about her weekend, she shared a story of a date with Dale at a nice restaurant and then a bit of what Shawna called "special services" at her place. From other conversations, Lisa knew that if Dale and Shawna's relationship fell apart, it wouldn't be from lack of adventurous sex, much of it led by Shawna, who was both insatiable and pretty kinky. Lisa often found herself excusing herself from some of Shawna's conversations when they became graphic, though the other employees didn't seem to mind.
Terry, the other teller, was a bit of a different story. Lisa thought that Terry was probably the prettiest of her employees, but where Shawna was an expert at using just the right makeup and buying the right clothes to make the most of her considerable beauty, Terry sometimes looked like she bought her clothes at a potato sack factory and got makeup advice from a grade schooler. When she had taken Terry on her shopping trip, she saw a lovely figure and, despite the Maybelline sunrise on her face, Lisa believed that there was a pretty face hidden under the layers somewhere, no matter what Terry did to camouflage it. Terry seemed to be between boyfriends, which suited Lisa fine. She, Annie and Shawna had spent an inordinate amount of time soothing Terry's insecurities and doling out advice before Terry's latest relationship fell apart. Lisa and Terry had a quick chat where she learned that Terry had spent the weekend binging her latest Netflix anime find.