Touching Angel's Desires (29 page)

Angel had about two seconds of peace the next morning when she woke
up before it came flooding back to her. Stacie fucking Clifford. She’d tossed
and turned for a good couple of hours the night before, thinking about her. Angel
never thought for a second Stacie would be back after what had happened last
weekend.

She would just have to make sure something even worse happened to
her this time around. Angel thought for a second. She could always just cancel
her contract and tell her she wasn’t welcome. That would be the simple
solution. But then again, that would take away the opportunity to take her
revenge on the woman. She had seen the way Dan had reacted to Stacie’s booking
him again. It had suddenly got personal. Dan was hers, and it was time Stacie
knew it. No one touched Angel’s desires.

She closed her eyes, bringing back the memories of last night, and
the way Dan had made her feel. Never had she felt such exquisite passion. Her
body had quivered for him, wanting him in a way she’d never wanted any man. Sex
had always been good, but only on a physical level. Last night, she and Dan had
connected in a way that was beyond physical, beyond simple skin on skin. She’d
heard it said that sex was better with someone you loved, but never really
understood it, until now. How could he not have felt it as well?

It was early, but she got up, putting on tracksuit bottoms and a
baggy T-shirt then headed out. Angel saw Shannon and Bailey handing over to the
day receptionists. She stood, staring aimlessly into space. Their voices were
blurred in the background. She paid no attention. All she could do was picture
Dan and his adorable smile. She felt a touch on her arm. Angel turned in the
direction of the touch. Shannon stood staring at her.

“Are you all right? You seem miles away,” she asked.

“
Mmm
? What?” Angel said, trying to pay
attention.

“I asked if you were all right. Oh, by the way, I don’t know how it
happened, but someone has damaged the reception desk.”

“I did it,” Angel told her, glancing at the damn thing.

“Oh, right,” Shannon said, looking at her oddly.

When she opened her mouth again, probably to ask what had happened, Angel
suddenly couldn’t face it. She turned abruptly, heading for the main door. She
opened it, feeling the bitter winter air hitting her. She stepped out, suddenly
desperate for a cigarette. She hadn’t smoked in two years, but the craving was
so strong, it made her shake. She had always kept a secret stash in her car, to
test her will-power, she’d always virtuously told herself, although secretly
she knew it was for emergencies. She scrabbled in her pocket for her car keys,
stumbling across the car park in her haste to get to the car. She sat in the
driver’s seat, and opened the glove compartment, reaching inside for the
crumpled box. She drew out one thin cylinder, inhaling the smell of the
tobacco. It would be stale after two years in the glove box, but she didn’t
care. She put it between her lips and lit it, coughing as she took the first
puff. It seemed stronger than she remembered, or maybe she just wasn’t used to
it any more.

She blew a stream of smoke at the windscreen, gazing at nothing. She
had made a complete mess of the situation. How the hell had everything gone so
wrong? One minute she had Dan to herself, only giving him unattractive women
and then along came Stacie. Had Little Miss Boring really won his heart? She
wanted to believe everything Dan had said was true, but somehow she was
struggling. Her gut told her there was more to it, just by watching the way he
acted with her. If last night was anything to go by, she could certainly see
what Stacie would see in him.

Angel sucked on her cigarette, enjoying the head rush. The car was
becoming uncomfortably full of smoke—it stung her eyes. She got out and paced
around the car park for a while, kicking at stones. She caught a movement and
looked over to see the main door opening. Shannon came out, looking around for
a minute before spotting Angel and coming over.

“Would you like someone to chat to?” Shannon asked. Angel glanced at
her while taking another drag.

“No, not really.”

“Are you sure? It’s just I have known you for years and never have I
seen you act this way.”

“Really? Well haven’t you been lucky?”

“Angel, what is bothering you? Is it this place and the weekend?”

“Look can you just get the fuck back to your desk and do some bloody
work,” Angel snapped.

Shannon took a step back, looking shocked.

“I’m sorry,” Angel said, bursting into tears and dropped to the stony
ground on her knees, curling into a ball.

Angel felt Shannon place her arm around her. “Angel, tell me what’s
going on. I will help the best I can,” Shannon begged Angel whilst comforting
her. “I have never seen you like this. I would like to help.”

Angel shrugged off Shannon’s arm, wiping away the tears which ran
cooling down her face. She stood up, wandering further into the car park. She
bent down and picked up a handful of stones, letting out a wild shriek as she
hurled them at a tree. They scattered and the tree still stood, unmoved.

Angel stared at her surroundings. The landscape looked cold and bold,
standing in stark relief against the white sky. Trees swayed in the freezing
wind, hopeless and naked, like her heart. She turned to look at Desires. The
building was her life, it was all she ever needed. It was her home, her career,
her everything. Now, it all just seemed pointless if Dan was not to be hers.
How could she have found herself emotionally getting involved with a worker?
She’d made that rule for a damn good reason. It was a rule that was never to be
broken. And yet, she had broken it. It had crept up on her so quietly that she
hadn’t even noticed herself falling in love with him. And when she did, it was
too late.

Should she confide in Shannon? Keeping it a secret was crucifying
her.

“Last night Dan was here, and he made love to me. I allowed him to
make love to me. It was amazing.” She felt a silly smile creep over her face at
the memory. Shannon frowned, looking confused.

“Do you understand? I made fucking
love
to Dan. I allowed him to take charge. I did nothing but lie
back and enjoy, and fucking hell, was it good. It was earth shatteringly good.
Who the hell needs an earthquake when Dan is about? Then,” she gave a shaky
sardonic laugh. “Then, I discover Stacie fucking Clifford has re-booked him for
the entire weekend. Shit, shit,” she said, sniffing, as her eyes filled with fresh
tears. She took another drag of her cigarette, dashing them away angrily.

“Are you jealous?” Shannon’s quiet question reached her easily.

“Yes, I bloody am. Stacie is
gorgeous
and
sweet
and
nice
…” she injected every word with venom, “and me? Well I’m a
complete bitch with an attitude problem.”

“Are you in love with Dan?” Shannon said, her tone awed.

“I don’t know, Shannon. What the fuck is love? All I know is I have
never felt this way for anyone. I think about him constantly. I dream about
him.” She paused. “I’m only really happy when I’m with him,” she confessed. “My
cardinal rule broken, by me. No emotional connection between workers, or
clients.”

“But, I don’t understand. Stacie is just a client. Can’t you just
take him off her? Reassign someone else to her?”

“Oh, I could do that. But that’s not the problem.”

“Angel, you’re not making any sense.”

The thought of saying the words was distasteful, but it had to be
spelled out. “I think Dan and Stacie have developed feelings for each other.”
Fresh tears fell as she spoke her greatest fear, and this time she just let
them fall. “Of course he denies it, but I can tell. He looks at her
differently, smiles at her, and…and he is deliberately prolonging her stay here
at Desires.”

“So he smiles at her, and he wants her to keep coming. Have you ever
thought he might just be doing his job? Obviously, he’s going to encourage
Stacie to come more. All the workers are told to encourage further bookings.
Angel, you know that.”

Angel did know that. She stared at her shoes, watching tears splash
down onto the floor. “That’s what he says too. But, I don’t know, I can just
tell something is different. Maybe I should wave her contract in her face.”

“Then what? Get her thinking that Dan is in love with her?” Angel
stared at her, not understanding the comment. Shannon explained. “Okay, I’m
Stacie. I have been having a sexy young man teaching me how to have sex, and,
bear in mind it’s a very emotional time for me because I’ve been in an abusive
marriage. So my thoughts might already be running crazy and then you go and
push the contract in my face, reminding me about no emotional involvement
between worker and client. So I’m going to start wondering if Dan is having
secret feelings for me and the boss is scaring me off.”

Angel paused, thinking. Shannon was right, of course. Angel was
letting her emotions do the thinking. She needed to keep her distance, try to
be the nice woman.
Easier said than done.

“So you’re saying, stay away, and don’t encourage the situation?”
Angel said, finishing her cigarette and throwing it to the floor, grinding it
out with her foot.

“I am saying exactly that. I have never seen you this way, Angel.
Falling in love…?”

“I never actually said it was love,” Angel hastily interjected. Shannon
looked at her, a ‘yeah right’ look plain on her face. Angel swallowed. “It’s
just a silly crush. I just need to explore it for a bit. I’ll get over him,
then he can go back to fucking whoever I tell him to fuck. I simply want him to
myself for a while, like a play toy,” she said, unsure who she was trying to
convince, Shannon or herself.

They headed back into Desires. Bailey looked at her quizzically as
she passed the reception desk. She didn’t look back, but headed back to her
room. She sat staring at her dressing table mirror. She needed to get her head
together. There was a big meeting of as many of the workers as could come that
day, to make sure everyone knew what they were doing on Saturday.

It was guaranteed that something or someone would cause a few
unwanted problems. There was no such thing as a perfect event—something had to
go wrong. But if everyone was as prepared as they could possibly be, any
problems would be minimized from the outset.

If it hadn’t been for how much Desires meant to her, she would have
struggled to muster up the enthusiasm. As it was, it was hard. This stupid
crush, or whatever it was had set her back. She couldn’t understand where these
ridiculous feelings came from. She’d never even thought herself capable of
feeling like this.
The love word?
What
the fuck!
A crowd of butterflies fluttered inside her tummy, her muscles
ached, she almost felt insane. But she had to pull herself together and get on
with her job. She should be concentrating on the ball. Even if she was in love
with Dan, she knew that men came and went. But Desires would always be here for
her, and right now Desires needed her.

She headed back into the office and collected her precious folder
containing all the information about the ball. Angel made her way to reception
seeing Shannon and Bailey grabbing paperwork and note pads and falling in step
behind her. They all went down to the restaurant where the meeting was to be
held. She took a seat on one of the bar stools and looked around the room. Plenty
of her workers were already there, sitting comfortably or helping themselves to
the generous buffet situated at the far side of the room. Stingy employers
ended up with unhappy staff and high turnovers. Angel wanted neither. Shannon
and Bailey took seats on the bar stools next to her, getting their paper and
pens ready. Bailey placed the cordless phone from reception on the bar, in case
a call came through.

Angel placed her folder on the bar as the barman asked for her
order. She ordered diet cola. It was far too early to start on the vodka. The
drink came and Angel took a sip, staring around the room.

Once all the workers had helped themselves to whatever they wanted
and were seated, Angel began the meeting. Most of them already knew the drill.
She went through the plan for the weekend and the schedules of all the planned events.
Many of them were already booked in with clients—others were attending to be
available for the ball attendees. For many, this was their dream job, socialising
with like-minded people, and having lots of lovely sex with anyone they wanted.
Anyone who wasn’t truly suited to this line of work didn’t last very long.
There had been some who thought they would enjoy it, but discovered that being
required to have sex with pretty much anyone, was very different to picking off
the pretty girls or boys in a club situation. Those who thrived here truly
enjoyed pleasing other people, making them happy, as well as having sex of
course. They loved the unknown, being adventurous, and dealing with whatever might
happen. The meeting was a success—Angel had to clarify a few points, but no one
had any major concerns and everyone seemed to know what they were doing. It
segued naturally into a social event, the workers eating, drinking, and
gossiping between themselves.

Angel sipped at her drink, comparing notes with Shannon and Bailey.