Synopsis : Cassandra Riley, a young and powerful rising star in the business world, meets her match in a coworker, Jane. Unprepared for the feelings that Jane's domineering personality brings out in her, Cassandra begins to unravel, and takes drastic action not to lose herself completely.
Author note : The following story is the beginning of an ongoing, multi-part series.
It is a work of fiction. All characters, places, etc are completely made up, as is the plot.
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Chapter 1 : An Awakening Begins
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"I'm sorry, but this is just... far below our standards." I said, my cherry red lips pursed into a condescending frown. "I hate to say it, but I think your roll here might need to be readdressed. Perhaps even your employment here at Illuminate Media."
I stood up from my large, polished desk.
"Jane," I said, looking over the pathetic woman across from me with obvious disdain, "It's not entirely your fault. I should have known better than to leave your little department so unsupervised. I'd been told you were capable... but I suppose that was my mistake."
The face staring back at me was defiant, instead of horrified. That surprised me. Normally, just being paged to my office sent shivers down spines.
To say I was not known as an easy going coworker was an understatement. It was well accepted that I was not afraid to put my heel through those who came up against me.
'Cassandra Riley : The Tech World's Brightest Rising Star under Thirty!' proclaimed the tag line of last year's "Cutting Edge' magazine. 'Energetic and ready to conquer the world!' it added for good effect, under a large, full-cover, glowing picture of me.
The magazine had featured the story of my rise to stardom not even one year ago -- and though it was hardly my only claim to fame, it was one of my favorites, mainly because I liked the photo they'd used.
The girl on the cover was beautiful, pale skin with a smattering of freckles, her golden blond hair pulled into a tight, militant bun, and piercing emerald flecked eyes. Her cherry red lipstick was the same shade I was wearing today, exploding with colorful contrast against the bright white business blazer and matching skirt she was wearing.
The picture of me also wasn't subtle in capturing my thin, curvaceous frame. The pose and the angle made sure to extenuate my ample, heavy breasts, as well as the slender and perfect frame, all the way past my sexy ass to my long, smooth legs.
I was a knockout, and the cover could have easily passed for a men's magazine splash page, if not for the fact that I was looking up, as if towards the future, commanding respect and admiration!
"I'm sorry," I said, pointing to the large, blown-up framed poster of the cover that adorned the wall of my expansive office, "Does that say anything about showing up late, putting in a half ass effort, or making snide jokes about superiors?"
"No, Cassandra," Jane said flatly, cringing as a pair of coworkers walked past my open office door. "It doesn't."
"Ms. Riley," I corrected, "Let's not forget this is a place of business, not one of your little party scenes or dance clubs."
The girl looked truly chastised now. Good. It had taken long enough for the insolent little brat to remember her place.
That I'd made her leave the door to my office wide open was probably aiding in my efforts to tear her apart. The office floor was quiet enough that there was little doubt everyone outside was hearing my remarks with ease.
But this woman deserved it.
I'd called her into my office almost a half an hour ago, but she hadn't shown up. In a rage, I'd had to page her a second time, and then a third, before she'd finally sauntered in, as if it was a casual affair.
It was anything but. Jane Scott had been a thorn in my side for two weeks now, ever since she'd somehow been promoted to my department.
It was anyone's guess how she'd rose to this level so quickly, though I had my share of depraved ideas. Not since my rise to stardom had anyone at Illuminate Media reached such heights so quickly.
My office was perched in the corner of the third highest floor of the towering complex that housed the super-star tech company. I was second only to the the board of directors, and the President, and a handful of powerful figures.
While technically I didn't outrank anyone on this floor -- we were all senior executives, after all -- it was well established that I was in charge. I made it clear that I was not to be challenged, and my skill, success and influence with the higher ups gave me all of the ammunition I needed to reign over my coworkers with ease. More than once, I'd skillfully outmaneuvered those that opposed me, and my quick rise to my position was built upon the ruined careers of those who thought they could best me.
Jane, however, was different.
Shorter than me, with sandy brown hair pulled into a tight little pony tail, she was as young as I was, and every bit as confident. She had piercing blue eyes, and smooth, unblemished skin. If it weren't for the fact that she wore whoreish, dark eye shadow and had a gaudy, emerald piercing in her nose, she could have found herself on the cover of her own high end fashion magazine. But unfortunately, she seemed more content to play the roll of an office slut than something respectable.
I'd meant what I'd said about her clubs and party scenes. Though I didn't know much about her, I could easily imagine her pounding back shots, stripped down in a skanky, cheap little outfit, flaunting her body.
She was definitely the type, I thought dryly. Aside from her pierced nose, there were also several small gold rings that rose up the back of her right ear. Her lipstick, a cheap, inexpensive brand from the local outlet mall, no doubt, was often smeared onto her pouting lips in a thick, tramp-like blob.
We couldn't have looked more contrasting, especially at this moment.
Leaning against my desk in a designer, power skirt and blazer, the clothes on my body were worth more than this harlot made in a month.
My wrinkle-free skirt clung to my long legs like it'd been made for them. My blazer and shirt similarly matched the curves of my voluptuous body, buttoned up just high enough to agonizingly restrict anyone's direct view of my large, perfectly teased breasts.
By contrast, Jane's outfit was ill-fit. Her black skirt, shorter than mine in an obvious attempt to show a little more leg, barely covered the tops of her cheap stockings.
Her blazer, a dark blue that failed to match her skirt, was clearly right off the rack. It had obviously been purchased for one effect only: to push her tits up and out as far as it could manage, creating a valley of cleavage that would border on indecent outside a work place, let alone in one.
Nevertheless, this petulant little whelp had become a prickly little weed in my otherwise prized bed of flowers.
Since she'd started her job in my department two weeks ago, she'd been finding ways to annoy me at every turn.
She was immensely popular, especially among my male coworkers, and she was confident enough to challenge me in front of them! I'd even heard whispers of comments she'd made about me, jokes at my expense. I'd more than once heard someone chuckle and whisper "Sassy Cassy!" when I'd walked by.
Though I couldn't prove it, I knew it was a name she'd started. I hated that name, more than I can describe.
Despite my condemnations and snide remarks of her near every move, I'd failed to garner much support against her, and this morning it had culminated exactly how I'd feared.
We'd had a morning meeting, to go over various proposals and ideas for our next quarter. Normally, the meeting was less an exchange of ideas, and more a circle of coworkers listening to my thoughts and praising me accordingly.
But this morning, Jane publicly spoke out against some of my ideas in a meeting.
In front of everyone, she'd had the nerve to tell me a proposal I'd put forth needed revision. Worse, she'd commented on past decisions I'd made, even going so far as to bring up financial numbers to back up her assertions that I'd been less than effective in my position.
