("I don't eat with strangers," Mirabel said. "So get familiar.")
Janelle didn't expect the call. She was halfway through her sandwich in the break room when her office line rang.
"You're coming with me."
Just that. No explanation. No room for a no.
Fifteen minutes later, she was in the backseat of a sleek black car, beside the boss everyone feared and fantasized about. Mirabel didn't look at her. She scrolled through her phone like Janelle wasn't even there. But her leg touched Janelle's. And she didn't move it.
They arrived at a five-star restaurant, the kind with crystal glasses and soft piano music. Janelle had never even seen the inside of one before.
"Order whatever you want," Mirabel said, crossing her legs under the table, eyes sharp. "Except the steak. I hate watching people chew like cows."
Janelle blinked. "O-Okay."
"And no stuttering."
Mirabel leaned closer across the table, her voice like satin and sin.
"I don't like fear. I like obedience. There's a difference, Janelle."
She couldn't breathe properly.
The waiter came, but the whole time he took their orders, Mirabel's eyes stayed on her. Not even blinking. Janelle felt it, like fingers sliding under her skin.
"Is she your girlfriend?" the waiter joked as he walked away.
"No," Mirabel said instantly. "She works for me. But she might start earning extra. if she behaves."
Janelle choked on her water.
Mirabel only smirked. "Relax. You're cute when you're flustered."
The lunch wasn't about food. Not really. It was about power.
Mirabel let Janelle speak a little about her past, her university, how she got the job but every time she got comfortable, Mirabel asked something that made her squirm.
"Ever had a girlfriend?"
"Are you seeing anyone?"
"How many women have made you blush like this?"
Janelle could barely eat.
By the end, her face was warm, her thighs tighter, her mind a mess of confusion and something else desire she didn't want to name yet.
As they stepped out of the restaurant, Mirabel held the car door open.
"Lunch is over," she said coolly. "But you're not off the hook yet. I'll call you tonight."
Tonight?
For what?
The car door shut before Janelle could ask.
---
To be continued