A Christmas Party

***Hey guys, thanks for the encouraging comments, hope you like this chapter. Happy New Year***

The sound of the alarm sent Kachi flying off her bed. She groaned when she turned to her phone which was kept on the bed-side cupboard, maybe using Davido's 'Dami Duro' as the alarm tone wasn't as smart an idea as she had thought...knowing the kind of deep sleeper she was though, it was the most appropriate song she could get in terms of loudness, either that or metallic rock, and she would rather hit her head on the wall repeatedly than wake up to that.

She drug herself to the bathroom and stared into the mirror as her mind replayed the events of two nights ago, even now she couldn't believe all that had happened, it seemed like some sort of weird dream... she could bet when she got to work, she'd discover that 'Thor' neither worked in the office nor even existed to begin with...yes, by the end of today she'd be flipping through another GQ or Cosmopolitan Men magazine and wishing she had someone who looked like any of the men that graced the covers or the pages of those magazines fawning over her....okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly fawning, but still, it was nice to think he was.

She had barely stepped out of the bathroom when she heard her phone ringing, she rushed to it and picked it up to see the caller ID, it was Phumi, her closest friend after Donald, she clicked the answer button, "Hey Phi, how are you?"

"I'm okay, so how did the party go?"

Kachi shook her head, she should have known Phumi would be calling for that, it was a wonder she hadn't called much earlier, "Really Phi? Over the phone? On a Monday morning? Don't you have a certain work place to be?"

"Ooh, something happened, didn't it?" the mischief in Phi's voice was pronounced over her yet to be lost South African accent, Kachi was glad Phi had no problems speaking in her accent, one she swore never to get rid of, that was something they both had in common. Though she had to admit, hers wasn't as pronounced as she would like it to be.

"What are you? Sherlock Phi searching for clues in a mystery?"

"Sweetie, there's no mystery here, I KNOW something happened, else you'd have been rambling on about how much the party sucked by now, so spill it"

Kachi smiled, she always knew, "When did you say you were travelling to SA?"

"Changing the subject? Really Kachi?" she asked, using the exact tone Kachi had used on her minutes ago.

"How about lunch this afternoon at that café....what's the name?"

"The one close to your office or mine?" Phi joked, they both worked in offices located on the same street and there was only one café in that vicinity

"Haha, very funny Phi"

"I love to make you laugh. So, I'm guessing Donny isn't invited"

"Of course he is" she put the phone on speaker and went about preparing for work knowing if she didn't begin now, she would never get off the phone with Phi

"Are you sure about that? We are going to talk about the guy you met at the office party right?"

Kachi paused at that comment as her eyes flew to the phone which was sitting on her dresser, "Guy? What guy?" She asked after two minutes of silence

She heard Phi scoff over the phone, "I was hoping to hear more about him from you" she replied, "Donny will freak if he hears you met someone" Phi laughed.

Kachi snorted, "He would do no such thing, Donny and I are cool" she said, but even she didn't believe that. She had been friends with Donald since she touched down on American soil, literally. He was the first person she had met at the airport who was her mate- technically, that had been friendly towards her, it had helped that they were both immigrants, though his family came from Monaco. She considered what they had a platonic friendship, but Phi constantly made it clear to her that Donald wanted more- she disagreed, but sometimes she couldn't stop that feeling....

Phi scoffed again, "Yeah right, even you don't believe that"

Eager to speak no further about whatever it was she and Donny had, she decided to bring an end to the call generally, "Phi, we'll talk later. I have to prepare for work, and you too. Can't believe I have to go back to that place, if not for this rent..."

"I know, I know, you would've been a gypsy" Phi finished.

Kachi laughed, "I wasn't going to say that Phi, later abeg" she said and immediately disconnected the phone to avoid any more attempts to continue the conversation

She was thankfully through in twenty minutes, a quick look at her wrist watch as she slipped it on revealed that she had about ten minutes until Donny came by to pick her up. They had a working agreement, that had him take her to work thrice a week, and social events on the weekends. He ran his father's supermarket and a carwash, it afforded him some time to himself, especially as he had a few employees to look after the place in his absence. It was one of those things she had always wished she had, but no, little Kachi would rather be someone's employee just to show her big brothers that she could do fine by herself, God! she really needed to think through some of the decisions she took before jumping right into them blindfolded.

As she walked out of her apartment, she spotted Donny's car on the driveway, and her best friend waving to her, his million dollar smile on display and coal dark, wavy hair with more hair products in them than she could say for hers, he was a sight alright. She had always wondered why he didn't have any girlfriends after Matilda, a girl he had dated for a few months in their freshman year in college, he definitely wasn't short of admirers. Her thoughts briefly touched on Phi's comment, could there be some truth in it? As she exchanged greetings and a customary hug with Donny and she took her place in the passengers' seat of his car, she dismissed the thought; Donny had no ulterior motives towards her, they were just really cool with each other.

*****

Jeremy stared absent-mindedly at his computer screen. He was supposed to be going through the end-of-the year financial records of the company, but his thoughts were far from that, he was committing a crime he absolutely loathed- cheating on the job.

All because of her.

He licked his lips unconsciously as he thought of that mind-blowing kiss they had shared for what had to be the thousandth time since it occurred. He shook his head to clear it of thoughts of his little vixen, but that had no effect whatsoever, bringing him to question how possible it was for one's thoughts to be held hostage so by a mere woman, a small one at that, was that normal or was he coming down with some illness?

Kachi.

Jeez! Even her name awoke his sleeping cock...that hadn't felt warmth in a while, but still, his lack of some action couldn't possibly be the reason of his infatuation with the woman.

He picked up the slip he had printed out that contained her full name, basic information like her date of birth, and place of origin, and the position she held in the office. She had only begun working here last month, why he hadn't noticed her...okay, maybe he would've taken a year to notice her if it wasn't for the party, he was more than a little detached with the staff of this establishment, only dealing with those he absolutely had to deal with; he would never have had to deal with the position she currently occupied, except she was promoted, even then, he doubted he would have noticed how good a company she made. He was sure he would have dismissed her as just another pretty face- much prettier than he was used to though.

He looked at the intercom which was just a few inches within his reach, he had refrained from asking that she report to his office for the past 3 hours, postponing the inevitable mostly because he didn't want to seem too eager, but the urge to see her was eating so deeply into him, he felt like in a couple of minutes, his life would depend on her presence.

He clicked on the intercom before he could stop himself and asked his secretary, Lee-Anne, to ask Kachi to his office.

******

Kachi stared at her sweaty palms, if she didn't calm her nerves she was going to have a freaking seizure right in front of the Vice President's office...oh no, wrong thought! Her nervousness had just tripled.

What was she doing here? Why did the VP summon her? A thousand thoughts ran through her mind when she was told that the VP wanted her in her office, what did he want with her? She didn't even know the guy, she had barely been here a month and the demigod of the office wanted her as the sacrificial lamb for what had to be the dumb mistake of one of her colleagues who she planned to cuss out and even cause bodily harm to if she was fired because of said person. She had checked up every single report and document in her possession for any shortcomings before she got here- twice! She knew she had been delaying the VP, but hell! She wanted to be ready for anything he threw at her.

She found no faults on her part, so it had to be one of those bitchy women she worked with who would do anything to sabotage her job here-despite her not offending them in any way- framing her up.

"Are you sure it's me he asked to see?" she asked Lee-Anne for what was definitely the fourth time since she got here. The secretary had on a smile; she seemed to be enjoying her nervousness.

"Of course. You really should go in now, you've wasted over ten minutes of his time and Mr. Blair doesn't like being kept waiting"

Kachi rolled her eyes, great, one more thing to add to the list of reasons she should be shaking in her pumps.

With one heavy sigh and a mental talking-to, she braced herself for impact as her small hand turned the door knob and she pushed the door open. She took another minute to finally gather up her wits to step into the office, and the sight that greeted her kept her feet rooted to the spot they were in for what she assumed was at least two minutes.

Him? Jeremy Thor Adonis Narcissus the Sixteenth was the VP? This had to be one of those prank shows on MTV. Really? They were now taking those to peoples' places of work? Phi had to be somewhere hiding by the corner...or was it Donny? They both had a thing for really expensive pranks.

As though to assure herself she wasn't a victim of one of those extremely annoying pranks, she did a double take and stepped out of the office to look at the sign she had been too nervous to notice at the door previously, and it read much to her shock: Jeremy A. Blair, VP.

She walked back into the office, slowly this time as it dawned on her that she had been fantasizing about the Vice President of her office, her employer, even more importantly...oh my God! She had said something about him that day, thinking back on it and confirming that it was nothing insulting, she gave an inward sigh of relief.

She stared at him for a while, without moving, waiting for him to give the go-ahead as she studied his still brilliant features. The lights at the party had definitely not done justice to him, and she thought he couldn't get any hotter than he had been that Saturday, shame on her! He looked every bit the executive hard-at work, the sleeves of his grey shirt were rolled up to his elbows, showing off strong hands she didn't doubt had done their own share of manual labor, he was leaning against his desk, arms crossed, and his long, athletic legs were crossed at his ankles, just the sight of him in that position made her all kinds of horny, the room suddenly seemed much too hot to be habitable.

A small smile crossed Jeremy's features when he noticed how shocked she was at seeing him here, and then the way she ran out of the office to assure herself that she was in the right place, got him grinning, only until she came back in- she wasn't smiling. He had pictured this differently, he had thought she'd have on a large grin when she realized he was the Vice President, and probably even give him another complimentary taste of her intoxicating lips, not stand there and stare at him like a child who was being scolded.

Seeing that she wasn't going to make any move to approach him, or even speak to him, he figured he'd break the ice.

"Hey" he said softly. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Hey" she replied. She wasn't sure what to do or even, if she was in trouble, she hadn't exactly familiarized herself with all the rules of this company, so she chose to take his lead.

Jeremy knew this wasn't the same care-free, witty woman he had met at the party, she seemed withdrawn all of a sudden, had his being the VP shocked her that much? Maybe he needed to do something to revive her.

With that thought in mind, he was inches away from her in four powerful strides, his arm took what had to be its rightful position around her small waist and he pulled her to him slowly, "It is me Kachi" he breathed just before his lips claimed hers as though to certify his claim. She went still in his arms only briefly and then loosened up. With the letting down of her guard, came access to what was presently the favorite coven of his wanton tongue until it was granted access to a part of her it desperately wanted to taste.

Kachi's mouth welcomed the warmth of Jeremy's tongue, an amazing reminder that she hadn't been in one of her many silly dreams on Saturday, this was real, the way he kissed her, how good she felt when he held her-and the fact that HE wanted her. Her tongue dueled with his as her hands slid up his broad chest and came together in a knot behind his neck, thank God for these pumps, else she'd have been stretching like hell to reach that high.

He ended what had to be the most passionate kiss he had given anyone in years with a playful tug on her swollen bottom lip which he had between his teeth, "God! I missed you" he confessed as he pulled her closer in a hug.

Kachi said nothing in reply, her brain was too busy manufacturing questions she planned to ask him later. She couldn't deny she missed him too, hell! He had been the only thought in her head the entire weekend and most of the morning, but how come it never occurred to her that he was the Vice President? She had to admit, she wasn't one to look closer at anything, but it should have hit her that he bore somewhat of a resemblance to Jonathan Blair, the President.

She thought no further on the matter, not wanting to ruin this wonderful feeling of being in his arms, or the afterglow of having his lips on hers and his tongue in her mouth, she could only imagine Phumi's reaction when she gave her the news.

*****

The harsh, cold wind provided the right excuse for a steaming hot cup of coffee in the late hours of the morning that was lunch break for Kachi and Phumi.

The two women sat across from each other inside the café, their usual position was out in the sunlight, but they retreated inside during winter, nine and seven years respectively in the States hadn't quite change their dislike for the weather, while Kachi had a valid reason for hating the season, she was yet to wrap her head around Phumi's considering the fact that it snowed occasionally in SA as opposed to Nigeria where this time of the year was escorted by dry, cold wind that got people's skins as dry as sunned fish and provided the best time for those who sold body creams and lip balms. It had taken her two years to decide which she preferred between snow and harmattan, but considering the fact that there weren't as much road accidents during harmattan period as she saw here when it snowed, and she definitely didn't have to go out looking like a stuffed toy to avoid getting the flu or worse still, pneumonia, back in Nigeria, she had come up with her preferred weather.

Phumi's black eyes studied Kachi, they had met at one of the meetings organized for African Students in Diaspora, five years ago while in college at University of Columbus. She had been a freshie and Kachi was a junior, they had hit it off after Kachi had made one of her many jokes to loosen her up. It was her first time at the meeting and she didn't want to do leave a bad impression by doing something silly, thereby single-handedly ruining whatever social life she expected to have while in college. Once she had left that meeting with one new friend, she didn't feel like she needed any more, and her being introduced to Donald had increased the number of people she could be herself with outside of her family members, the three had been inseparable since then- except for when Kachi and Donald had graduated.

She considered Kachi her sister, even though they didn't exactly look alike; while Kachi was small and curvy, and had caramel skin, an aquiline nose and small, full lips, Phumi was much bigger, she was taller at 5 ft9", she wasn't exactly fat, just thick, especially around her hips and ass as was the nature of most women of Southern African descent, she had mahogany skin, a small, button nose that Kachi sometimes teased was almost non-existent, and fuller lips, it was undeniable that both were beautiful in their own way- but when they walked down the street together, Phi's rump earned her more cat calls than Kachi's smaller one. In fact if one wasn't told, he'd think Phi was the older of the two, when she was actually younger by two years.

"So, are you going to spill the beans already or you're saving it for when Donny comes to achieve the desired effect?" Phi asked apparently talking about the guy Kachi had met at the party. They had been here for ten minutes now, and Kachi had spoken on everything but the party, they had only twenty minutes till they had to return to work, and she expected Donny here fifteen minutes into this, and he was sure to take up ten of what would be their remaining fifteen minutes, doting on Kachi like she was the next Monalisa, Phi had nothing against that, but it was now getting boring; the whole thing with Donald and his subtle messages and Kachi's total inability to grasp them. She more often than not felt like an intruder in their conversations.

Kachi rolled her eyes, "What desired effect Phi?"

Phi smiled, now thinking of the frown Donny would sport once he heard of Kachi meeting a man, and imagining how it would grow into a large scowl when Kachi gave details, and then the way he would dramatically leave their table to 'use the restroom', she missed that show, she hadn't seen it in up to a year since the last time Kachi had met a new guy...maybe lunch would be worth it.

"I shall speak no further, just get ready for at least a whole week of grouchy Donny, and if you and Mr. Perfect begin a relationship, Donny will do EVERYTHING within his power to make sure you and him break up"

Kachi frowned, "Stop it Phi, I've told you, Donny doesn't like me like that, and he isn't as scheming as you're making him seem, he would freak if he knew you said all this about him" she scolded. Phi had a wild imagination, and for the past three years, she had her mind made up that there was more to Donny's friendship than there really was, she made it a priority to analyze everything Donny did as an act to please Kachi, recently though, her suspicions had been getting to Kachi more than she wanted them to. She couldn't bring herself to think that Donny liked her like 'that', there couldn't be any romantic relations between them, that would totally upset the balance of the entire universe.

Just as Phi was set to give a reply, there was the clinking of the bell which was hung by the door to signify the entrance of a new customer, Phi, who was sitting in the perfect position to see who was coming through and going out the door, smiled, "Speak of the lover-boy" she said.

Phi turned to look over her shoulder to see Donny's light brown eyes searching for them, he gave a lean smile and a small wave when his eyes caught them. They watched with interest as he got his coffee, totally ignoring every attempt by the lady at the counter to flirt with him.