Cassia and Mathew

Cassia Montgomery stepped into her black leather pumps and smiled at what she saw in the mirror. The outfit she planned the night before looked just as she imagined on her curvaceous body. Her eyes started up her body slowly, starting at her feet. Now clad in a leather black pump, her size 7 feet looked like it was built for those shoes. Her toned calves led to toned but thick thighs that looked amazing in her Ann Taylor dress pants. She turned slightly to look at her full ass, and smiled again, and reminded herself to thank her trainer Marcus for helping her get herself into shape. She turned back to the mirror and remembered just 7 months ago when she was 67 pounds heavier. Her eyes roamed over her green silk blouse and how perfectly her 40 DD breasts looked under it. Her milk chocolate skin shone beautifully from the sun peeking through her window.

"Today is the day, Montgomery. Pull yourself together," said into the empty room.

She smoothed her hands over her hair, which she'd recently cut into a chic A-line bob. Her brown eyes shone hopefully, and she coated her full lips with a perfect shade of maroon. She gave herself one last lookover making sure her hair and makeup was in place. Satisfied by what she saw, she made her way into the living room tip-toeing carefully on the plush carpet of her condo. She shimmied her way into her black thigh length trench coat, grabbed her to-go cup from the Keurig, her black leather purse and walked out the door.

She pressed the call button on the elevator and hummed lightly to herself while mentally running through her day. The doors opened and the brightest smile greeted her. Her heart instantly warmed.

"Good Morning Ms. Gloria," Cassia said as she stepped onto the elevator and greeted the old woman who lived upstairs on the 13th floor.

"Good Morning Sweetheart, and don't you look lovely! You start that new job today, right?"

Cassia smiled genuinely at the woman who remembered that detail from their conversation three weeks prior.

"Yes I do! I'm so excited, a bit nervous though." Cassia stepped aside to let her walk off the elevator. As they walked out the building Gloria turned to her, grabbed her free hand, stopping her. "You walk in there with your head held high. You deserve every bit of happiness you are about to come into, enjoy it, and enjoy the ride. They are going to love you. I mean honestly, how could they not?"

She reached up and touched Cassia's cheek. "God bless you baby girl."

Cassia had never tried so hard not to cry in her life. Cassia met Ms. Gloria 9 months ago when she moved to Chicago from Brooklyn. They instantly hit it off because she reminded her of her wonderful grandmother back in New York.

"Thank you so much Ms. Gloria. I'll be sure to stop by when I get off."

She smiled, "I would love that! Now go, before you're late for your first day."

Cassia walked to the taxi near the corner and waved good-bye to Ms. Gloria. She gave the driver the address and leaned back into the seat for the 20-minute ride into the city. She pulled out her iPhone from her purse and saw text messages from her best friend Carissa, her sister Monica, and her mom Lisa. They were congratulating her on her first day as an editor at one of the largest publishing companies in the world, Leopard-Hill Publishing. She thanked them for their well wishes and promised to call them and fill them in after she got off later that evening.

The text from her best friend Carissa made her chuckle as she insisted she come over and "celebrate." Celebrating to Carissa usually consisted of a bottle of great wine, watching old black shows and take-out. That kind of thing was right up her alley and she loved spending time with her friend, so she happily agreed. She looked out as the streets zipped passed her. Chicago was a wonderful city and she loved her new home, even though she missed her family back in New York.

About a month ago, as her internship at Leopard- Hill was coming to an end she got a message that her supervisor wanted a word. A little nervous, she immediately tried to remember if she had forgotten anything. She really liked her supervisor and looked up to her greatly. She took a deep breath and remembered how much she loved this job. She knocked on the door and was called in.

"Good Morning, Ms. Kincaid." She walked in and sat on the chair facing her boss. Alexandra Kincaid was one of the top editors at the company, and was well respected in the field. She worked her way through school, and found her love for writing young. Now, at 64, she was still on top of her game, but age started to take its toll. Her roots were now sprinkled with gray, and her eyes creased deeper with each smile. She wanted to retire, but she loved her job too much.

"Morning Cassia. How are you this morning?" She asked as she pulled off her glasses and placed them on the stack of papers on her desk.

"I'm fine thank you, a little nervous that you called me in here so urgently. Is everything ok?" She felt her heart rate start to increase, and she wiped her hands on her pants to reduce the sweating she felt building.

"I always loved that you aren't afraid to say what's on your mind. But I wanted to talk to you about your performance during your internship here with us." She said looking at her calmly. Cassia found that it was always hard to read what she was thinking. She didn't know if she should be nervous, or worried, but she squared her shoulders and raised her head a little higher. She could handle this.

"We have been keeping a very close eye on you since you came here highly recommended by Dr. Jones from Columbia University. Dr. Jones and I went to college together so I knew whoever he sent me would be great."

Ok, not too bad, Cassia thought.

"You have shown amazing drive, you work great with the team, and you show a strong sense of sniffing out talented writers." Cassia was starting to relax a little as the woman she looked up to sang her praises. She was both shocked and humbled.

"Wow, thank you Ms. Kincaid." She rushed out.

She simply smiled politely and nodded. "As you know I'm getting a little old, and my eyes just don't read as fast as they used to," she chuckled a little at her own joke. "And before you have a heart attack in my office, I wanted to offer you an editor's position here at the firm."

Cassia heard the words, but her brain was a few seconds behind. AN EDITOR?! Her mouth hung open with shock. Was she really being offered her dream job, by one of her biggest role models?

"Oh my God!! Are you serious? You're offering me a job as an editor? Me?"

She smiled and nodded again, "not just any editor, but I want you to fill my position. You're exactly what we've been looking for and sure do hope you say yes. But from this reaction I don't think you're going to say no. Are you?"

Cassia was shaking her head in the negative. "I am just so blown away Ms. Kincaid. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're very welcome, and congratulants. I gave my 30 day notice half hour ago, so you kind of didn't really have a choice." She laughed out loud then, and cassia couldn't help but join in.

She felt the cab lightly jolt to a stop, and she stepped off memory lane. She paid the driver and gave him a pretty big tip, for which he smiled brightly and thanked her. Why not spread the love, she thought. She walked into the now familiar building, and walked to the security desk.

"Good Morning fellas" Cassia said to Jose, and Richard, the head security guards.

"Hi Cassia!" they said in unison.

Jose and Richard were identical twins and had been her friends since she started her internship. They made small talk, and caught up on each other's plans over the weekend. Over the months she worked there they became wonderful friends. They even went out to dinner and a club with a group of their friends for the twins' birthday. Richard, the younger of the two, (by 3 minutes) printed her new access card, since her old one was her internship ID. Today she was getting her big girl access card.

"Well, Ms. Big Time Editor, here's your new card. You have security clearance for every floor, and conference room." He smiled brightly, and handed her the card.

A shiver ran down his spine when their fingers touched, and thankfully neither Cassia nor his brother noticed. He's loved Cassia from the day he laid eyes on her. And here she was, looking every bit of sexy as she always did. Cassia smiled politely and took the card. She waved at them and walked up to the turnstile. She swiped her card, and the display screen said, WELCOME MS. MONTGOMERY. She smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.

She made her way up to the 26th floor, where her new office was. The interns shared an office on the 13th floor, and she never had a reason to go up there. The same elevator she's ridden in countless times felt brand new to her. She exited the elevator and was greeted by the receptionist. She stood instantly and greeted her kindly.

"Good Morning, Ms. Montgomery." The receptionist smiled.

"Please, just Cassia is fine. Even my mother wouldn't want to be called Ms. Anything. So, just Cassia."

"I'm Charlene the receptionist." She said proudly.

Charlene and Cassia shared a giggle. She knew right away they would be good friends. She always had a good sense of reading people and Charlene was bubbly and kind.

"Your assistant Michael is waiting for you in your office. He will have all the information you need. And if you ever need anything feel free to dial 3 on your desk phone. Have a wonderful day!"

As she spoke Cassia took a good look at her. She was quite tall, maybe 2 inches taller than her 5'9 height. She had long black hair and looked to be Hawaiian. She was most definitely beautiful. Exotic even. Not that Cassia was sexually attracted to women, but she just appreciated women for their various beauties.

Cassia asked, "What time is your lunch break? Maybe you can come to my office and we can order something, or go to the café downstairs." Cassia looked at her expectantly.

She looked at her with surprise written all over her face. "Are you serious?! I would love to." She beamed at her, and Cassia could have sworn she saw all 32 of her teeth. Waving at her new friend, she pushed through the glass doors into the office. The room was spacious with a very modern feel. The couches in the waiting area were deep brown leather, and the floor an immaculate wood. Windows spanned the entire room, which caused sunlight to sine easily through, giving the space a sophisticated, yet relaxing feel.

Cassia felt more empowered with every step she took towards her office. As she walked further in she noticed the cubicles where the members of her new team worked. She was half hour early so they hadn't really started to show up yet. Her office was in the corner next to the conference room. When she got to the door she looked up and saw her name printed boldly. CASSIA L. MONTGOMERY, EDITOR. She traced the words with her finger and opened the door.

A young man, who she's assuming is Michael, her assistant, almost jumped right out the seat in front of her desk. He stood on unsteadily, and stammered.

"Good Morning. Hi. I.. I...I'm Michael." His cheeks turned pink. Cassia found him adorable immediately.

Cassia could sense his nervousness, and couldn't help but want to calm him.

"Good morning Michael! Wonderful to meet you." She placed her coat and bag on the chair next to where he sat. Instead of the handshake he was preparing for she pulled him in for a hug. She felt him relax and awkwardly hugged her back. She smiled up at him, and motioned for him to sit. Before her butt could touch the seat he began spilling on her meetings, and appointments for the day. She held her hand up to stop him.

"Michael, breathe, and have a seat." Cassia said kindly. He stopped talking immediately and sat down.

"Before we start working together I want to lay a few ground rules." He sat up straight ready to hear her instructions.

"First thing's first, relax." He looked up at her sheepishly and his cheeks turned red again.

She looked at her watch and realized she had 30 minutes before she was due to see her new boss. The BOSS boss.

"If we are going to be a successful team, I need you to relax. I'm sure you wouldn't have gotten the job if you weren't qualified. I may be your "boss" on paper but we are a team. When you succeed, I succeed, and vise versa." Cassia said reassuringly.

"I wish we had more time to get to talk and get to know one another. So I asked Charlene out front to join me for lunch in here so we could get to know each other, and I would love if you joined us." He looked up at Cassia smiling brightly, and quickly agreed.

Cassia finally looked around the office. It was bare with just the essential, desk, chair, seats, and the ugliest cloth couch she had ever seen in the corner.

"When do I get to redecorate this room?" She asked quietly, mostly to herself, but Michael heard.

"Of course you can Ms. Montgomery, that's number 8 on the list." He said nonchalantly.

Cassia's head snapped around, "Number 8?! Well I guess we better get started on this schedule for the day."

They spent the next 20 minutes going over her appointments, and meetings. She had a video conference call with a big time CEO in London later that evening. She didn't have more details yet, since the conference was set up by Mr. Hill, founder of Leopard-Hill. She wanted to be overwhelmed but this was her dream job, and she had to slay it. Michael excused himself when they were finished to give her time to get situated. She looked at her watch, 9:47am. That gave her 13 minutes before she was to meet with her boss, the CEO of Tiger-Hill Publishing Co., Lester Hill.

Something Ms. Gloria said to her earlier came back to mind. "You deserve every bit of happiness you're about to come into." What did that mean? Was she psychic or something? Cassia shook it off and looked around the office again. She definitely needed to re-decorate, it felt like she was going to suffocate by how bland it was. The only thing she loved was her desk. She decided to look around a little more. She opened the door on the far right wall and found a full bathroom, fully stocked, and beautiful. She walked to the other side of the office and found a conference room. It had a beautiful oak oval table with 8 chairs. The far wall held large windows that looked over the city of Chicago. A huge TV was hung on the wall, and she noticed the camera attached to the top. She figured it would be where the videoconferences were held.

The sound of her office phone ringing made her jump half out her clothes. She ran over to it and picked it up.

"Cassia Montgomery..."

"Hi Ms. Mont... oh uhmm, hi Cassia. Just wanted to remind you, your meeting with the boss is in 5 minutes. And don't worry, Ill give you a full tour when you're done with your meeting." Micheal's voice sounded deeper over the phone.

"Thanks Michael." With that he hung up. She smiled, and thought they were going to be a great team. She grabbed her notepad and her cell phone and walked out to the elevators to make her way on up to the top floor to meet the boss. She had only met the Vice President during her internship. Now she was meeting the CEO, the big man, THE MAN. She walked passed Charlene who was on the phone and waved to her. She smiled and waved back quickly as she wrote down whatever the person on the other end was saying. She felt confident as she rode up to the top floor, and when she exited came into contact with a blonde woman who sat at the desk. From the moment she laid eyes on her Cassia knew she was trouble. She looked up and barely acknowledged her.

Cassia smiled and walked up to her, "Good Morning, I'm here to see Mr. Hill."

Without looking up she asked, "And who are you?"

"I'm Cassia Montgomery, the new editor." As the words left her mouth she saw her expression change from one of boredom to one of disbelief. Her eyes were like saucers as she jumped to her feet.

"Oh, Good Morning Ms. Montgomery, please right this way. Mr. Hill is expecting you."

Cassia just shook her head at the rude woman. She was used to that kind of racial profiling, but it was 2016. When was this going to end? She was led down a hallway to his corner office. Blondie, who didn't even say her name slipped away quickly. Knocking on the door she waited until she heard a gentle voice granting her access. When she walked in the old man stood and smiled at her. His smiled felt genuine and she liked him immediately. She put a mental post it on her brain telling her to thank her mother for giving her such an acute sense of discernment.

"Ms. Montgomery, what a pleasure to finally meet you." She walked up to his with outstretched hand. Cassia shook it firmly yet feminine. She saw the smile touch his lips, but was quickly replaced by a serious look. "Please have a seat."

Almost 2 hours later, Cassia walked out of the office on cloud 9. She and Mr. Hill or Reggie, as she was told to call him, hit it off perfectly. He gave her a run down of her job, which she already knew, but she listened anyway. She was told that she would head a new department that found and recruited African American writers to the company. She loved this job since she studied African American literature at Columbia. Cassia would be leading a team of 6 other editors to start the new department. Cassia of course, asked about her secretary Michael, and was pleased and surprised to find out he was Reggie's grandson.

"Michael is a great boy and I think you two will be a great pair. He has to work his way up in this company just as I did."

Cassia instantly loved the man. He had morals, and values, and believed they would only be great as a company if they worked as a team. As she stepped onto the elevator she checked her watch. Holy Cow! It was almost 12:30pm. Thankfully it was her lunch break, and the conference would be starting at 2pm. She got off on her floor, but Charlene wasn't at the desk. Michael saw her as she got closer to his desk and stood immediately.

"How was it?" He asked.

"He's amazing. And thanks for telling me he's your grandfather. How old are you anyway?" His cheeks flushed.

"Sorry Cassia. I didn't mention it because I didn't want you to think I was just here because of him. I had to apply like everyone else, and work my way up like everyone else. And I'm 22. Just graduated from the University of Chicago."

He did look young, but she was thankful, she could have someone young and fresh on her team.

"Oh! Do you know how I can get in contact with Charlene? She's not at her desk and I promised you two lunch remember?"

He pulled out is phone and called her, but as soon as he put the phone to his ear there was a tap at the door. It opened and there was Charlene all smiles.

"Hey I was just asking Michael to call you," Cassia said, smiling at the beautiful woman.

Charlene looked at Michael and smiled shyly at him.

"Mikey, are you joining us for lunch?" His cheeks turned pink again and he nodded.

Cassia could see he had a crush on Charlene, but she had no idea. Charlene turned her attention back to Cassia.

"I took the liberty of ordering some food, it should be up in a moment."

The food came a few minutes later and Cassia ushered them into the conference to eat. Michael and Charlene spread all the food out on the table. Everything looked and smelled delicious.

"Hope you like Indian food Cassia." Cassia was in heaven!

"I love it," Cassia replied.

She took off her pumps and her suit jacket and placed it on the back of her chair, next to Charlene, while Michael sat across from them. They looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?" Cassia asked. Charlene spoke up first.