Leaving the board meeting in an almost angered stride, Anna felt her assistant trailing further and further behind; she could've publicly chastised her for it, but honestly appreciated that over the "subtle" ass-kissing song-and-dance meant to calm the marketing head down. In her mid 40's with long straight black hair, Anna was a beauty of Korean descent that still turned heads in any room she walked into, often mistaken for a woman ten years younger. Barely the lines on her face from work-related stress or her often annoyed look deterred appreciated looks, unless she caught people staring, or they worked directly under her. Unfortunately in her high-risk position, her main catharsis seemed to be depositing her stress down the corporate ladder. Lately, she worked her people ragged to produce numbers her superiors initially wanted, even if their reaction to her department's performative numbers that evening seemed not only uncongratulated, but insufficient. Walking back to her office, she was looking forward to whatever reprieve she could get. It being a Friday, there were few people around she could take her anger calmly but blatantly out on. Not even the workaholic Cheryl was around to "explain the situation," but really to tell her that giving her all wasn't enough, and that she needed to find "another gear to operate from."
Looking around the office for visible heads within cubicles, seeing none, she figured everyone else had knowingly escaped the wrath to come. The bitterly-divorced, scary female alpha that she was, she was hoping to find some entertainment for the evening somewhere, maybe even the hotel bar some of her subordinates had mentioned; ruining their evening with her mere presence would be the only fun she'd had all week. Dusk was well on its way by the time she opened her office, dim enough that she had to turn on the lights. The room illuminated, Anna froze in place as she found her office chair already occupied.
"Wha-" she gasped at the audacity, and the appearance of whom had decided to intrude in her position of power.
Black, sexy heels were propped up on her desk as if they owned it. Puzzled eyes followed up the shoes and bare, attractive legs, to a leather black skirt and jacket over a white blouse. The sleeves of the arms were bent as the hands were behind the head of the beautiful interloper. Red streaks stood out nice on a dark head of hair, just like the red, lipsticked smile stood out on a beautiful face, signaling she was happy to have been found exactly where she was.
"Anna, I presume," the voice intoned from Anna's seat crossed the room theatrically, filling the space between them with such playful, taunting tone.
"Who the hell are you? And what the hell are you doing in my office?"
"The name's Hannah, but Goddess Hannah to those who know me best."
"Goddess..." Anna was trying to put so many things together at once, her original questions left unanswered by pushed aside by the impressive arrogance of someone calling themselves some kind of supreme being. Hannah's attractive figure and beguiling confidence was being observed involuntarily, as if finding justification, while still shrouded in the mystery of her presence in a marketing executive's office. Even her stylish dress impressed compared to Anna's strict, no-nonsense navy suit and conservative heels her appreciate feminine beauty in a way few people had in her adult life.
"Whatever the hell you want to call yourself, you're obviously lost. Get out of my office before I call security," Anna's tone was clearly threatening, forcefully cutting through all the unanswered questions.
"How interesting, as you are the one looking lost more than anyone. And it's very hard to believe you want me to get out, as all those questions in your head are leaving you so...unsatisfied. Like you won't feel good until you get some answers."
Obviously not in a hurry to move, nor feeling threatened in any capacity, Hannah let her heels on the desk gently sway back and forth, half of the time concealing the smiling visage from Anna's point of view, but also getting fixed eyes to notice their grace, and the beauty of someone unfazed and in-control.
"Believe whatever you want, Hannah. But-"
"I most certainly believe whatever I want, Anna," the interjection was almost delivered seductively. "And I believe in sharing beliefs with others, especially those whom might already share my beliefs. For example, we both believe that you have questions which I have the answers to. And you are hoping to have those answers as soon as you can, and feel curiosity surging through you with what those answers could be. Because it's not every day a woman, a Goddess appears before you, a grand mystery to unlock."
Hannah nearly smirked watching eyes follow her heels still, all the way to below the desk before they disappeared. Anna gently shook her head to focus on the Goddess standing tall in her office, slightly shorter than the leather-clad visitor, accurately called out for wanting the beautiful enigma to be solved. The smile across the room only widened as they both waited for Anna to respond, whom could only fill the air with silence and loud confirmation of Hannah's belief.
"And today might be a great day, a rare day amongst many as one of the greatest mysteries in your life gets solved in the same day, at the same time they're presented to you. Doesn't that sound awfully fun?"
The beauty of Hannah's melodic voice aside, the taunting tone nagged at the exec enough to cut through the charm she barely realized she was beginning to drift in.
"Fun? I don't think so," Anna regained some confidence as she crossed her arms, ready to step up to her desk and reclaim whatever was implied that she lost.
"'Funny' is a better word if you think you're some great mystery. You really are some lost little girl, stepping into a grown woman's domain, trying to pretend you have power, playing at being something you desperately want to believe you are, but coming up hilariously short if I'm supposed to believe that."
Anna let her own smile show in devious glory, making Hannah's lose a small amount of its curve, and her eyes widening before she laughed to herself.
"I seriously underestimated what I was told about you."
Anna's smile disappeared instantly. "Told? About me? By who?"
"Oh, it's nothing, just more questions to add to the pile of mysteries you don't believe in. But I'll tell you what, answer one of my questions, and I promise I'll leave your office. Deal?"
Still thrown by the prospect of Hannah being here at someone else's behest shook her. She imagined Hannah could've been some plant sent to tangle Anna up in some corporate scandal by the board, to embarrass her enough to oust her from the industry. She admitted how paranoid and far-fetched that sounded the moment it became a thought, but it seemed like anything was possible the moment she found Hannah.
"Deal," Anna agreed, hoping the mystery talk and suspense would be over.
"Very well then. What is a palindrome?"
"A...what?"
"A palindrome. If you need a hint, why don't you ask the woman behind you?"
Anna's head turned quickly, expecting an attacker from behind, but the only thing attacked was her senses and sensibilities, finding a naked woman standing straight against the wall near her door. Standing close to the door's hinges, she was practically invisible with her sights set towards her desk, but now she couldn't look away, or unsee the sight. Her figure was like Hannah's, but instantly arresting as naked flesh gave ample reason to stare. Oddly enough, besides the naked woman simply standing there, the real draw was her face, staring straight ahead, emotionless except for a baseline of happy acceptance, revealing her to be none other than workaholic Cheryl, standing with a wide, dumb smile plastered over her face.
"C-cheryl, what the fuck are you doing in here like this?!? Why are you....what is going on?"
"She can't hear you," Hannah supplied helpfully. "She only hears the sound of my voice, because that's all that matters to her."
Anna had seen Cheryl visibly sink in apprehension of any of her bosses negative tones of voice, but she looked so undisturbed by anything Anna said now. What's worse, she did respond in hearing Hannah's voice, automatically breathing a little harder, letting the heave of her breasts become slightly more pronounced, and lips gently part as if desperate to gasp. Anna was afraid to look down to see evidence of her subordinate being turned on by the mere sound of another voice, the inverse of what she was known for.
"And what's going on is a palindrome, or the question of it. But since nor you or my good girl Cheryl can give an answer, allow me to inform you. A palindrome is a word, phrase or sentence that reads the same backwards as it does forwards. Words like 'tenet,' for example, no matter which point you start from, the journey seems to be the same. As someone that believes in words, and even letters having power, palindromes are such unique phenomenons, bringing the idea of inevitability to power. Like no matter the point you start, no matter what you do, the outcome is decided."
Anna herself was still visibly stuck on the sight of Cheryl, watching her respond to nothing but Hannah's words. It didn't even seem like specific words roused anything in her, but just the sound of it brought her indescribable ecstasy. Anna's consciousness absorbed that fact while trying to fight her subconsciousness absorbing Hannah's words and beliefs on some level.
