Alex set out on his mission of
assembling a staff for his new venture.
He knew he was going to need talented people to run his business, not to
mention attractive women to bring in customers and ultimately to provide
entertainment. He was not shy about the
fact that he intended to assemble an all-female management team to go with his
women-only hiring practice for the nightclub positions. The only men he planned on retaining were
for security, and maybe a couple others for appearance sake.
One of the things Alex learned in
his business classes was the value of networking, and he did not hesitate to
call on the people he knew. Lauren, in
particular, was plugged in when it came to the right people to talk to. She also warned him that he should refrain
from enslaving his agents as much as possible.
If he wanted his business to succeed, he needed people who would be able
to say no to him. Alex knew all too
well that once he conveyed his magic kiss, no woman would dare say no to him.
After three days and nights of
canvassing some of the up-and-coming executives in the greater Los Angeles
area, Alex had under contract the bulk of his management staff. He used his business acumen and
vampire-enhanced charms to woo Karen Phillips, a young marketing genius, away
from one of the top advertising firms in town to direct public relations. He called on his lawyers to convince Debra
Rogers, who was one of the youngest women ever to make partner at Ernst &
Young, to come about as his controller and CFO.
Finally, there was Monica
Anderson. In less than ten years, she
progressed from a waitress at Hooters to an executive vice presidency with
Foodmaker, the company which operates Jack In The Box restaurants. Based on what Alex learned from Lauren’s
contacts, as well as from his own research, she would be the crown jewel for
his operations. She had brains,
business sense, and a knock-out body.
Alex couldn’t let himself think of the possibility that she would turn
down his offer to be CEO of his budding company.
“Ms. Anderson, your six o’clock is
here to see you.”
Monica looked up from her computer
terminal, where she had been doing some last-minute research, and peered out
the window at the Los Angeles skyline, with buildings glowing like Christmas
trees in the winter night. “Send him
in.”
The secretary opened the door to her
office, and escorted Alex in. Then she
closed the door behind her. Monica
swiveled in her desk chair before getting up to meet her business suitor.
“I’m Monica Anderson,” she said as
she shook his hand quickly. He sensed
that she was measuring him.
“Alex Winters. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.”
One of the things he had heard was
how attractive she was, and frankly, the advance info was far too faint in its
praise. Monica was stunning in her
navy-blue business suit. Her skirt was
just barely above the knee—no Ally McBeal here—and showed off half of what had
to be impossibly long legs for a woman who was 5’8”. Her tailored jacket was unbuttoned, revealing a cream-colored
silk blouse which strained to keep in her large, round breasts. Her platinum-blonde hair was wound tightly
in a bun, although he had seen pictures of her from her waitressing days, when
she wore it long and wild, like a glowing gold mane around her picture-perfect
face. Tonight, she wore a relatively
muted red shade of lipstick, which only served to emphasize her high cheekbones
and radiant blue eyes. Finally, there
was the gold choker around her fine throat.
Alex needed all of his discipline to keep from cumming right then and
there.
Monica offered him a seat, and then
returned to her chair behind her desk.
“It’s funny you should mention that,” she said seriously, “because I had
never heard of you before yesterday. I
did some calling around, and no one else had ever heard of you either. You have to admit, it’s pretty unusual for
someone to simply appear out of nowhere.”
She smiled, although he sensed a lack of sincerity.
“So why did you agree to my request
for a meeting, then?”
“Well, there were two reasons. First, I learned that you have been scooping
up young, talented professionals all over town, all of whom I have heard of and
all of whom, I noticed, were women.”
“And second?”
She hesitated a moment before
answering. Alex thought she was
debating with herself whether she should reveal this morsel of information.
“And second, you came highly
recommended by Sara Parker, if you know what I mean.”
Alex decided to play dumb, and see
if Monica would tell more. “Ms. Parker
is a well-regarded lawyer,” he said. “I
feel very fortunate to have been able to retain her services.”
“You know damn well that isn’t what
I mean, Mr. Winters.”
“Please, call me Alex.” He saw her relax a little at the offer of
familiarity. He wasn’t taken aback by
her candor, and he guessed that she appreciated that.
“Alright. Alex. Sara told me that
you and she... well, let’s just say that I didn’t think there was any man who
could melt the Ice Bitch. I suppose
it’s only fitting that someone named Winters did it.” She smiled, and he followed suit, demonstrating he appreciated
her attempt at humor. She was getting
more comfortable with him, he could tell.
“So in any event,” Monica continued,
“once I agreed to let you in the door, I took it upon myself to learn a little
more about you and your plans. For such
a short period of time, you’ve been remarkably thorough in lining up all of
your ducks in a row. According to what
I’ve learned, you’ve got a business plan, financing, a site for your first
club, and the first two scripts are ready for your X-rated films.”
It was time for him to press a
little. “And does that bother you? The fact that my business... our business...
will trade on sex.”
“Not at all,” she answered without
hesitation. “Remember, I got where I am
today because I wasn’t afraid to let it all hang out. Not that I didn’t use some discretion along the way, but I’m more
than willing to be in charge of a company which profits because there are women
prepared to take their clothes off and fuck for money.”
“And what about you?”
Monica tensed up at the question,
but she knew he was only testing her.
“No, I never went that far. Lord
knows I got enough offers, but I kept my clothes on and my sights set a little
higher than that. How else could I have
gotten to this point? Would you have
taken me seriously if I was an ex-porn star?”
He chuckled at the thought. “Probably not. But then again, I would have considered asking you to star in my
first movie.”
Alex noticed that Monica squirmed a
little, and recrossed her legs. He also
spotted the jutting nubs of her nipples beneath her blouse. She was getting turned on, and he wasn’t
doing anything at all.
The two of them exchanged additional
pleasantries for a few more minutes before Alex made his proposal. He offered her a three-year contract at
$150,000 a year to start, plus a stock option and a percentage share of future
profits. She would be the president and
CEO of the company, answering only to him, and then only in limited
instances. The money was far less than
she was making now, but the near-total autonomy appealed to her. It took less than a minute for her to accept
the offer. The two of them shook on the
deal. Monica felt a shiver as their
hands touched this time. After he left
the office, she locked the door, pulled down her soaked panties, and played
with herself until she climaxed, relieving the built-up sexual flame which
Alex’s mere presence had fanned.
Alex had one more night planned for
his stay in Los Angeles, before he would be heading off for a well-deserved
vacation. It had been a busy couple of
weeks. His staff was fully assembled,
and already well on the way to opening the first club. By the time he got back in two months, the
club should be a week away from opening night.
His last act, before he delegated
the remaining responsibilities to his staff, was to pick out a name for the
club. He had been leaning towards
something with a vampire-related theme.
Nothing too obvious, not like “Club Vamp” or something foolish like
that. Instead, it would be more
subtle. In a moment of clarity, the
idea came to him: “Nighthawks.” The
logo would be a stylized bat, with the name in red ornate script. He dictated a memo to Karen to get the PR
department working on the graphics.
With that off his mind, he turned
his attention to pursuits of pleasure.
He went down to the bar in the hotel lobby, looking around for his first
plaything for the night. It was early
in the evening, and he noticed a group of people in business clothes, who
seemed to be celebrating. There were
five men, with their ties loosened and their collars unbuttoned, telling
stories about how each of them was the key to closing the deal of the century.
Part of the circle, but just outside
of it, was a young woman with a yellow legal pad, dutifully recording every
little thing these conquering heroes said.
It would have been pathetic if it weren’t also so sad. He guessed that the woman was an assistant
by title, but had really been the one who brought about the successful
deal. Alex wanted her, and he wanted to
give her the chance to be recognized as the real star.
He thought about it for a moment,
and realized how to accomplish his plan.
But that would take patience.
First things first, he thought.
As Lauren told him, he has all the time in the world for unpleasant
tasks.
“Hello,” he said to the woman, who
was left behind as the men went back to the bar to order more drinks.
Alex arranged for Rachel to join him
later, after the “business meeting” broke up.
He suspected she would be highly distracted waiting for the long-winded
executives to finish with their war stories.
He promised her that he would make her patience well worth her while.
In the meantime, he had spotted
another very attractive woman, hidden away in a corner of the bar. She looked like she was trying to avoid
being noticed. She was wearing a
baseball cap which barely contained her willowy blonde hair, and a leather
bomber jacket which gave her a big and formless look. She was picking at a green salad, and as she ate, she had an
almost sad expression.
As he approached her, a flash of
recognition struck him. He knew her, or
rather, he knew who she was. He had
seen those lips, painted in magical colors, singing on MTV and VH-1. And her eyes stared out from the cover of
her newest CD, which was in the top five and would soon hit number one. He couldn’t believe that someone so famous
and popular would be out in public like this.
He imagined she would be mobbed anywhere she went. But there she was, all by herself.
“Excuse me.” A heavy-set man in a black suit blocked
Alex’s way. “Can I help you?”
Alex was stunned for a moment,
thinking like a young man and a captivated fan, rather than an ultra-powerful
being of the night. “I just wanted to
meet...”
“Yeah, buddy. You and everyone else. The woman wants to be alone.” The guard punctuated his denial by putting
his hand firmly on Alex’s shoulder and directing him away.
The singer looked up and noticed the
scene. Alex caught her eyes, and she
smiled. He didn’t even think to use his
charms on her; she just seemed to want a little human contact.
“It’s alright, Gus. I’d like the company.” Her voice was so different from the
well-packaged stage persona he was used to hearing on the radio and TV
shows. She sounded... human. Almost frail.
She smiled again at Alex as he sat
down at the table across from her.
“Hi,” she said in a soft, friendly tone, “I’m Misty.”
“I know,” Alex said, suddenly
embarrassed. “I’m a big fan of
yours.” He reached across the table to
shake her hand. “I’m Alex.”
“It’s a pleasure, Alex. I’m surprised you recognized me. Usually I don’t get spotted when I go out
without make-up.” Misty had made it big
with an act combining elements of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and the Spice
Girls. She wrote beautiful music, and
had a lovely singing voice, which had gotten her on the radio, but she didn’t
become a “star” until she dyed her hair and began wearing scandalously
revealing outfits. Tonight, she would
have blended in easily, with her natural blonde locks and comfortable-casual
clothes.
“It was your eyes,” he said
honestly. Of course, Misty couldn’t
have known that Alex was able to spot her eyes only because of his
hyper-sensitive vision. He had matched
up her features to the CD cover, also a feat only an obsessive fan or a vampire
could accomplish. “I felt them staring
at me, like from your album.”
Misty laughed in a soft, natural
tone. “I like you, Alex. You make me feel... normal.” She finished off her salad, touched her
napkin to each side of her mouth, and stood up. Each movement, which would be mundane for a normal person, seemed
remarkable and charming to Alex when she did it.
“Would you like to join me, Alex?”
Without answering, he slid out of
the booth and offered his arm. She
clutched him around the elbow, and he escorted the disguised rock star out of
the bar. As he passed the exit, he made
eye contact with Rachel, who was perched on a stool at the end of the bar, within
earshot of the men who kept droning on.
He silently mouthed instructions to her. She nodded and sighed.
“So tell me, Alex, what do you like
to do for fun?”
He thought about his answer, since
his idea of fun had changed so dramatically in the past few weeks. “Well, there’s karaoke,” he said flippantly,
eliciting another wonderful laugh from her.
As they walked along the street, he had run off one smooth line after
another. Misty made a wonderful
audience for his jokes.
Alex was also a thoughtful escort. He was attentive to the people around, and
he was careful to avoid crowds or music stores, where she was too likely to see
her eyes staring back at her. The
couple enjoyed the cool night air, walking at a brisk pace, and talking.
It was the first
time Alex had been with a woman since his rebirth when he thought of her as a
woman, rather than as something else.
Something less than a companion.
He was truly enjoying himself.
However, his urges were not gone, and this woman excited him in ways no one
since Lauren had.