Amanda turned another corner sharply. The downtown sidewalks were jammed with the usual lunchtime crowd of suits and casual tourists, waiting in line at hot dog stands and enjoying the spring weather. She pushed her way through as quickly as she could, mouth set firmly in a tight frown and eyes fixed down the street on her destination.
Come on, come on...
she thought, weaving past a woman walking a dog very slowly and squeezing through a group posing for a picture. As Amanda came to a reluctant halt at a crosswalk, she once again self-consciously tugged her jacket over her chest. The clock at the bank on the corner read 12:06.
Shops and food carts rolled past in a familiar blur, but not fast enough. On the last block, she picked up her pace to the best brisk walk she could manage. Even if she could run in these shoes, though, Amanda could not take the jostling and bouncing. She was resisting the urge even now to cradle her breasts, holding them still against her urgent pace and the hard downtown pavement underfoot. Every movement seemed magnified in the tender, swollen flesh, and Amanda was biting her lip by the time that she made it to the building.
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Frank glanced up at the clock on the wall again. 11:54.
It was hot in the conference room, stuffy from the long meeting and the palpable sense of exasperation. The developers from Mid-Atlantic were clustered down at one end of the long table around the window. Two were talking in corners on mobile phones, staring at nothing in particular and speaking in hushed tones. One was trying to look busy on a laptop, and the man obviously senior to the others was sitting in the chair at the end of the table, tapping a pencil and looking annoyed. The midday sun cast a dazzling radiance on the city laid out below.
"Look, we're not budging. I don't see how hard this is to get through your heads," said the head representative finally, tossing the pencil aside with a dismissive gesture. "There's no point in the hard line here, folks. You either give a little, and come up to thirty-two five, or we walk. We already have another buyer lined up, and they're willing to go to thirty-four, but our clients would rather we dealt with you." He gave a grim frown at his counterparts down the table, leaning forward. "So you either give a little, or we're done here." He caught the eye of the young man on the laptop, who quietly and hastily packed it away.
Frank looked over at Amanda. His partner in this negotiation was the classic ice queen, he had long since decided. A professional-looking age over thirty, professional-looking blonde hair, professional-looking grey jacket and skirt. Piercing blue eyes. Usually content to stand with her arms crossed and look severe, right now Amanda was uncharacteristically leaning forward on her elbows across the back of an executive chair. Her eyes held the same calculating glare, but her breasts, jutting forward prominently from the grey jacket, were piled casually on the headrest.
I swear those things get bigger every day
, Frank thought idly, permitting himself a quick corner-of-the-eye glance as he swept his gaze across the room.
What a rack.
The swelling mounds forced her jacket lapels apart, straining at the white blouse beneath.
Didn't used to wear tight clothes all the time.
He dismissed the thought, as usual. Frank was not fool enough to ever seem to notice, thanks to the cold menace of HR and the gold ring on his hand. Besides, the one thing everyone noticed about Amanda was her distant, unapproachable air. He knew nothing about her personal life, or even if she had one outside the office. Deep down inside that shell of ice, Frank suspected, there was probably a heart of concrete.
At the moment Amanda was looking less aloof and imperious, and more irritable and impatient. Her lips were pursed tightly in a frown. Frank cleared his throat, addressing everyone. "Look, I think that what makes sense right now would be a lunch break. I could get some sandwiches ordered up, if you --"
There was a glitter of confident amusement in the other man's eyes. "No. You've heard our final offer on this. No breaks. We stay here, and we get the deal done." He leaned back in his chair, apparently satisfied at making his opponents uncomfortable. "That's why it's called business, ladies and gentlemen. Sometimes you have to put in the hard work until you get it done."
"Good point," snapped Amanda suddenly, straightening up slowly and pushing in the chair. "We put in a lot of hard work on this end too. Such as finding out that your other buyer backed out last week." She fixed them with that familiar cold stare. "And that you and your partners have suddenly set up a secret investment vehicle on the side."
If the senior representative were surprised, he did not show it, but his confident expression was beginning to crease into a scowl. Frank looked out the window, masking his reaction to the outburst.
"So it sounds to me," Amanda went on icily, "like all this bullshit is a cover for you to spike the deal with us, and go to your clients with your own private lowball offer, complaining that it's the only one left on the table. You're wasting our time, and you're trying to defraud them." Amanda started to cross her arms, then paused. "We're not giving on the price. We do this deal our way, or we're done here."
The man said nothing for a moment, clenching his jaw until his face grew taut and pinched. Then he rose stiffly to his feet. "Lunch sounds like a good idea," he said to no one in particular. "We'll be back in an hour."
After the Mid-Atlantic team had spilled solemnly out of the conference room, Frank turned to Amanda with a raised eyebrow. "I thought we were saving the smoking gun for later," he said lightly. "That
was
supposed to be the plan, anyway."
Amanda adjusted her suit jacket, looking distracted. "I was getting tired of dealing with this," his partner finally replied, glancing out the window at the weather.
It's not on my head
, thought Frank. "Well, all right... Want to grab something at the deli?"
Amanda, however, was already on her way out the door. "Thanks, but I've got something to take care of."
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Calves aching from the brisk walk, Amanda slumped back against the wall of the old elevator. Impatient fingers jabbed at the control panel, pushing and holding "7" and "Close Door" at the same time until it gave a tiny click. As the grimy brass doors slid closed, Amanda finally gave in and cradled her painfully engorged breasts in her arms. She allowed herself a sigh. The bulging globes were tender to the touch where they strained against her blouse, but the relief from their weight was immediate.
With a rattle and clunk, the elevator began to slowly descend into the basement.