"Ms Bellamy?" Caitlin flinched slightly in involuntary surprise; she would have sworn just moments ago that she was alone in the room, but the Korean woman in the long white smock stood close enough to her to make that impossible. She must have come in quietly while Caitlin was staring out the window at the falling snow and losing herself in thought, and padded across the plush carpet so silently that Caitlin hadn't noticed her despite the reflection in the window. Which didn't exactly speak well to Caitlin's state of mind at the moment, but she already knew she was a little bit frazzled after a tense day of negotiations. This only confirmed her suspicions about herself.
She turned away from the window and rubbed her forehead, trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain. "Yes, sorry, yes?" she stammered out, hoping she didn't sound hostile--it wasn't the household staff's fault that their boss was a fucking pain in the ass. Caitlin wished she'd listened to her instincts and gotten a hotel for the duration, but it was hard to turn down the gracious offer of a full suite of rooms all to herself. Ellsworth Drake was known for his gracious offers; the problem was, he was also known for the poison pills he hid inside every cup. She'd spent almost three hours going over his latest proposal, now... at least according to the clock. By this point she was so fried she wouldn't have been surprised to discover someone was moving it ahead when she wasn't looking.
Caitlin suddenly realized she'd accidentally lost almost half of what the other woman was saying while she was distracted. "I'm sorry," she replied, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Can, um, can you repeat that? It's been kind of a long day." God, this poor woman probably thought she was dealing with an imbecile.
If she did, she didn't show it behind her blandly pleasant smile. "I said that my name is Jasbee, and I'm the house masseuse. Mister Drake asked me to offer my services to you, since your stay ran a little longer than expected. Would you like a massage, or perhaps some acupressure therapy? I also do acupuncture, exfoliation, manicures and pedicures, facials, herbal wraps, aromatherapy... I can even do ashiatsu, if you're interested." She gave Caitlin a carefully concerned look. "All very relaxing."
Caitlin glanced over to the window, scarcely even recognizing the harried woman who looked back at her. Her skin looked wan and winter pale, and her long dark hair stuck up where she'd been absent-mindedly rubbing her head while she pored over the latest clause in the acquisition contract Drake had drawn up. She had deep dark circles under her hazel eyes, and she looked like she needed about twelve hours of sleep to get back to normal, not just a massage.
Of course Drake would pick now to send his private, personal masseuse in. Of course he'd pick this moment to remind her that the man she was selling her business to could afford his own private masseuse as part of the extensive personal staff at his luxuriant mansion in upstate New York. And of course she couldn't really say no, not with her every muscle knotted up in tension and her brain a foggy, frazzled mess. "Um, I... um, a massage, I guess?" she mumbled, knowing she sounded less like a visionary and savvy executive and more like someone who just stumbled out of a car crash.
"Of course, ma'am." Jasbee turned and walked away, and Caitlin followed her blearily with her eyes as she set up a portable massage table in the middle of the room. The executive knew full well what this was about--Drake was trying to butter her up, get her in a nice and amiable frame of mind for tomorrow's round of negotiations while reminding her along the way just what kind of perks came along with including herself in the deal. She understood that he was frankly desperate to have her expertise and experience on board when he took over the company, but as far as Caitlin was concerned that was non-negotiable--the whole reason she was selling was to walk away from the stress of her daily grind. If she was going to keep running Amber's Friends, she'd do it for herself and not some smooth-talking CEO who thought he could get some synergy out of adding a line of toys to his portfolio--
"Whenever you're ready, ma'am," Jasbee said politely. Caitlin blinked. Somehow she'd lost the last few minutes entirely, slipping away into a fugue with her eyes open and unseeing while the other woman had set everything up. Caitlin didn't remember watching. God, was she really this tired? She stumbled to her feet, even her clumsy movements betraying her complete and utter exhaustion. For a moment she thought about simply falling over into bed and telling Jasbee to go away, but maybe a massage would give her some energy back. She didn't want to walk into tomorrow's meeting unprepared, not with Drake ready to eat her alive over every clause and sub-clause.
She slipped off her jacket and lay down on the soft pad--Jasbee was probably used to her clients taking off more of their clothing for their massages, but Caitlin wouldn't put it past Drake to drop by for a little 'late-night visit' and use her exhaustion to his advantage in trying to persuade her for staying on as his employee after the deal concluded. If he did, the last thing she wanted was for him to find her half-naked and oiled up. He was a handsome man, sure, but that wasn't exactly the spirit Caitlin wanted to approach their negotiations in.
"There we go, ma'am," Jasbee cooed gently, as Caitlin settled her head into the little padded hole at the front of the table. "Just getting all nice and relaxed for me. Here, let me get you a scented towel." She rummaged around for a moment in her bag, bringing out a towel that felt deliciously warm against the back of Caitlin's neck and filled the air around her with the aroma of lavender and jasmine. It was the same scent that clung to her bedding, Caitlin noticed, and the one they used for all the soaps and the hand towels and even the tablecloth on her improvised desk. Did Ellsworth Drake have a signature fragrance? She wouldn't put it past him.
Caitlin gave another tiny little jerk when she felt Jasbee's hands pressing down on her shoulders--somehow she'd managed to forget for a moment that the other woman was even in the room, making the sudden touch seem to come entirely out of nowhere. "It's okay, ma'am," Jasbee purred, her voice soft and silky and almost as soothing as her rubbing fingers. "It's okay to relax and let go for a little while. Just let me guide you into peace and pleasure, taking you to a warm, happy place where nothing can touch you but the sound of my voice. It's going to feel so good, I promise."
Caitlin exhaled a long, ragged breath, releasing tension she didn't even realize she had as her body responded to the soft, soothing touch of the masseuse. She felt her whole body twitching, muscles letting go of strain so rapidly that they tugged against each other in their haste to dump out all of the stress they were holding onto. When she inhaled, the lavender came in with it, bringing a relaxation that she didn't know she needed until the floral scent hit her nostrils and she experienced a wave of almost giddy drowsiness. God, she needed this so bad. She wished she'd known about Jasbee hours ago. She would have given her right arm for something like this when she first walked out of the meeting with Drake.
Her vision swam, the patterned carpet becoming a blur in front of her face as the massage relaxed every muscle in Caitlin's body. Her jaw went embarrassingly slack, a tiny trickle of drool escaping her lips before she could swallow it away, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Nobody would notice, and the cleaning staff would no doubt stop by in the morning to give the whole place a top-to-bottom scrub. Jasbee was preoccupied with wringing all the tension out of her knotted shoulders, and she could give in to a little vulnerability. She could let go. She could drift into peace and pleasure and for a moment... just for a little moment... she could let her eyelids finally, blissfully close.
And then her blouse was gone.
