Dr. White's Code of Sluts Ch. 02 Pt. 01

"Oh my God! Elizabeth! I just heard the news! This is insane! Thank you so much!" Marley gushed excitedly.

"Oh! Yeah!" Elizabeth replied, realizing that that younger woman clearly didn't know the circumstances of how she'd gotten the client. That Stacy had ripped it from Elizabeth's grasp and gift-wrapped it to her.

"Stacy told me just now. This is crazy!" Marley stated, grinning. "She said that you were gonna brief me on the project, which is good, because I don't know a thing about them, haha!" Elizabeth gave her a pained smile and rolled her eyes inwardly. Yeah... she was DEFINITELY ready to take this on.

"We can talk about it later," Elizabeth replied diplomatically.

"That sounds perfect!" Marley effused. "Stacy said that she wanted to talk to me after we got done, so I can get that done, too! I'll need lots of time to get ready! Oh my God, this is so crazy!" the young woman gushed. Elizabeth didn't even want to know what wicked advice Stacy was readying to give her, but she moved on, not wanting to dwell on it.

"We can talk more on it later," the blonde repeated.

"Definitely!" Marley replied. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Elizabeth stated. About to turn away, Marley glanced at Ryan.

"Hi!" she said nervously, realizing she hadn't greeted acknowledged him at all.

"Hi there," he replied, lifting his glass to greet her. She nodded at them both before turning away to talk to some of her other friends. As she did, Ryan stepped up next to his wife.

"Who was that?" Ryan asked. Her smile falling, Elizabeth replied.

"That's Marley, the girl I've been training," she began. "She's about to get a promotion over me..." she added sadly. This puzzled Ryan, and he turned to look at his wife.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing..." she replied. Sensing this was a touchy subject, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him, lovingly rubbing her neck. She smiled as she was filled with warmth and affection for him.

Being in his arms, under his protection, it was hard to be too upset. With him by her side, nothing could get her too down. And nothing could get between them.

************

"Okay guys!" Kendall announced into a microphone, standing next to the big Christmas tree in the center of the office. Under it were wrapped gifts. Everyone at the party turned to look at her as she got their attention. Kendall smiled warmly as all eyes were on her. Stacy then stepped up next to her as the next stage of the party began, causing a lot of those eyes to go to her instead. "It's time to hand out gifts to our wonderful employees!" Kendall stated with a grin.

People cheered at this, some clapping, some raising their drinks and some calling out. Ryan turned to his wife and smiled. She was seated at her desk, and he was leaning against it as they listened in. Each had had a few more drinks since the moment they'd recommitted to riding out the party. Since that moment, they'd had a good time, chatting with some of her office mates, allowing him to finally put some names to faces. Ryan got the impression that his wife kept her head down at work, not making a big mark, and he was getting the vibe that people were taking more of a liking to her as they experienced her in a less pressure-filled setting. Ryan's easygoing personality certainly helped win them over, something which only encouraged him to stay the course and win over Stacy in the same way.

He'd only had a few passing interactions with Stacy since their first main conversation. A few quick glances, their eyes meeting across the room, a few excited greetings as they passed by each other, even a couple friendly waves. Ryan could feel his wife boiling at these moments, but Ryan saw it as progress. At one point, when Elizabeth was in the restroom, a coworker of hers came up to him and told him that he'd never seen Stacy being so nice to anyone before. While it certainly lent credence to Elizabeth's description of her true character, Ryan saw this as an opportunity to get closer to her. Not... not in any untoward way, of course, he didn't mean it like that, like he wanted to be in her intoxicating presence again. Nothing like that. Just... he had his plan, and if she was feeling a friendly bond with him, he would use that to cool her feelings towards Elizabeth.

Kendall and Stacy tag-teamed this next part of the party, drawing names of employees from a Santa hat and handing out gifts. Stacy made sure to note she bought all these gifts herself, and they were admittedly pretty impressive. One guy got a PlayStation, a lady got a five-hundred-dollar coffee gift certificate, one got a laptop, one a tablet. Like... they weren't playing around. He was somewhat excited to see what gift Elizabeth was gonna end up with. And they wouldn't have to wait long.

"Elizabeth Logan!" Kendall announced.

A polite clapping filled the room as her name was drawn. Elizabeth looked up at Ryan nervously, but he smiled and guided her back up to her feet.

"I'll go with you," Ryan offered, one hand on her back as they walked towards the women handing out gifts.

"That's perfect, bring your husband," Kendall stated. As they approached, Ryan saw Stacy kneeling in front of the tree, inadvertently pushing her butt out as she went to grab a gift. Finding what she was looking for, she lifted it up and set it on a table where everyone could see. Stacy smiled at Ryan as he approached. The couple turned to face the room in front of the gift. Elizabeth looked to her husband, as if asking him to open the gift, but he guided her to do it, pulling off the green wrapping paper, only helping her out once she got started. And then, the prize was revealed.

Booze. Or, to be more specific, a very fancy box containing an ornate bottle of tequila.

"Oh my God!" Kendall said excitedly upon seeing this. "Okay, guys, I tried this once. This shit is for real! They only make, like, 100 bottles of this a year! It's really fucking good. It packs a kick, for sure, but trust me, not many are lucky enough to try it."

"Oh..." Elizabeth began. "I'm not much of a drinker." It was true. She drank a little, but she was somewhat of a lightweight, so she never overdid it. And the sight of this bottle alone almost intimidated her. She just knew what it contained would be pretty intense. Ryan was a bit more open-minded with alcohol, but in deference to his wife, he didn't drink a whole lot anymore. And while Elizabeth seemed unsure of this gift, Ryan was intrigued. It sounded good. And for it to be in line with the other gifts, it had to be both very expensive, and worthy of such a price.

"You don't know what you're missing out on," Kendall warned Elizabeth. "This bottle is crazy expensive," she added, confirming Ryan's suspicions.

"Are you not gonna take it?" Stacy asked, a somewhat firm tone to her voice.

"No. I mean... I'll take it, but it's kinda wasted on me," she admitted. Stacy looked at Ryan.

"Will you drink it?" she asked, her eyes meeting his. He shivered ever-so-slightly as she stared him down, but he shook it off.

"Yeah! I'll drink it," he said amiably. This made Stacy grin.

"How does this sound," Stacy began. "Since it's not fully your thing, let's spread the wealth a bit. Let's each have a glass now," she said, gesturing to her, Elizabeth, Ryan and Kendall. Not waiting for an answer, she grabbed four glasses from the bartender and placed them down in front of them.

"Okay..." Elizabeth said, not wanting to be a party pooper. Stacy and Kendall grinned in unison at this, and the boss turned to look at Ryan.

"You mind pouring?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied, doing a good job of keeping his eyes on Stacy and not letting them drift to her cleavage, which remained on the periphery of his vision.

Grabbing the box and removing its heavy contents, he admired the quality of the ornate bottle of booze. Quickly able to open it, he poured the alcohol into the four Glencairn glasses, giving slightly less to his wife knowing her low tolerance. He sensed the two boss women would not require such mercy, and he did the same, giving himself an equal amount. Setting down the bottle, the four picked up their glasses in unison, raised them up and clinked them together. And then, in the same instant, they each raised their glasses to their lips and let the drink fill their mouths and pour down their throats. Three of them were able to handle the strong kick of the booze entering their systems. For the other.

"Oh!" Elizabeth called out, coughing, the tequila burning at her throat. Her body tried rejecting the drink as she coughed some of it up into her nose, where it only burned further. While Ryan quite enjoyed the flavor and kick of the expensive tequila, his attention went to his wife, rubbing her back as she worked through the intense alcohol entering her system. Some of her officemates giggled at her struggle, not with any malice, of course, it was just kinda funny. And while the loyal husband helped his wife, grabbing her a chaser to soothe the burn, Stacy sneakily grabbed the bottle and poured herself and Kendall another glass of the expensive stuff for themselves.

"Alright, alright, we have to move along," Stacy said impatiently, shooing her struggling employee away carelessly. Elizabeth tried to be a good sport and give the amused crowd a thumbs up once she was past the worst of it, letting her husband guide her along. With a smile, Stacy handled him the bottle of booze as they walked away.

"Enjoy!" she told him with a grin.

As the proceedings continued around them, Elizabeth made her way back to her desk. She shouldn't have let herself get pressured into drinking, as she was immediately regretting it. Since she was a total lightweight, she'd been trying to take it easy. She drank just enough to be social at events like this, mainly sticking to lighter fare. But this stuff was strong, and it was hitting her like a freight train. She took a seat and rested her forehead on her hand, the alcohol already getting to her.

"You okay?" Ryan asked sympathetically.

"Just... give me a minute," she said, not even looking up at him, for fear that such a motion would make a wave of dizziness hit her. She just had to ride this out and let her head get settled.

"I'll get you some water," he stated.

"Thanks," she called out, not even looking up.

Ryan's heart went out to her. She got pushed a little past her limits in terms of booze, and she was feeling it. Not wanting her to get in an embarrassing state in front of her coworkers, he moved his way over to the main bar area that was set up right there in the office.

"Hey, do you have any water?" he asked the guy behind the counter. He nodded and began filling a glass with water. As Ryan waited, a presence next to him got his attention.

"You having fun?" Stacy asked, startling him. She'd stepped away from the gift giving festivities, leaving it all to Kendall. Stacy had worked up the smallest bit of a sweat, her skin glistening with a light sheen of perspiration after working the room all night. Despite knowing better, his eyes stole a glimpse at her ripe, smooth breasts, the added sheen of sweat making the view extra inviting.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, shaking his head clear of what he'd just seen. Perhaps the booze had lowered his guard as well, making his response time sluggish, his eyes stealing a look at her succulent body before his mind could catch up.

"Back for more," she said with a grin, turning to face him, giving him a primo view of her body if he was willing to look.

"What?" he asked, not biting on this no doubt inadvertent bait.

"Booze! A drink!" she said, pointing out where he was standing as she ordered a drink of her own.

"Oh! No. Just, uh, getting Elizabeth some water. That drink hit her hard!" he stated with an empathetic smile.

"Oh! That sucks," she said, her nose upturned at this. Then a big smile lit up her beautiful face. "But that tequila was SO good though, right!?"

"Yeah..." he sheepishly agreed. "It was really good." He couldn't help but admit it, despite his wife's current plight. He could taste the quality of it as he gulped it down.

"I know, right!" she said, gently patting his arm. "That shit is, like, crazy expensive, and really rare, hard to get your hands on. But I know people!" she boasted.

"Yeah, but it kicked her butt pretty good," he replied sadly, glancing back at his wife.

"Well, that's a shame..." she said, in a tone utterly devoid of sympathy, for the first time somewhat showing off the cold, cutting side Elizabeth had often told him about. Quickly, she caught herself. She sipped her drink before turning back to him and putting back on a smirk. "But I don't blame her. Not everyone can handle the real stuff. Some girls just don't have that level of experience." Ryan scrunched his eyebrow in confusion, not sure what she was getting at. Choosing to ignore it, he just pressed on.

"Yeah, she couldn't quite keep up," he stated with an understanding nod.

"Well... I'm sure that's not the first time..." she said quietly into her glass.

"What?" Ryan asked, not quite having heard her. Again, she caught herself.

"Nothing..." she said, grinning. "But hey... you shouldn't let her stop you from treating yourself. Enjoy that tequila, even if she doesn't. Treat yourself to the finer things. Hell, I do all the time!" she said with a laugh.

"Yeah... maybe," he replied. While both he and Elizabeth made pretty damn good money, both of them were responsible with it, making no majorly frivolous purchases. That's why they only went to one or two basketball games a year. Clearly, with having access to season tickets, and spending so much on gifts to hand out in the office Christmas party, Stacy was probably not quite as sensible with her funds. Or perhaps... she just made that much money...

"I don't know," he continued, shrugging. "It seems nice, but I feel weird spending that much money on stuff I don't really need. Like... okay, I love nice cars, but I can't imagine actually spending a huge amount of money on anything like that. Like, I saw a literal Lamborghini in the parking structure walking in, and it's like, damn, that's a nice car, but I couldn't imagine owning anything like that." At this, Stacy grinned knowingly, barely containing her pride. That's when Ryan realized... "That's your car?" She nodded proudly.

"That's a sexy fucking car, isn't it?" she said knowingly. He grinned and rolled his eyes. Finally, he relented.

"Yeah, you're right," he admitted. She laughed and sipped her drink. Unable to contain his curiosity, he pursued this new line of conversation. "I gotta know... how's it drive?"

"Like a dream!" she admitted, patting his arm, leaning forward ever so slightly, again, inadvertently giving him a view of her juicy cleavage. He maintained his control and kept that sight on his periphery. "I always wanted one, even when I was a kid. It purrs like a kitten, it handles like silk, and it... you know... you feel like a fucking badass behind the wheel. Even the keys are fucking cool. Like, it's not really keys, it's like a little tablet. And it folds out, and you can control it like that. It's just so fucking cool!" She effused.

They went back and forth about this car, and cars in general. While he wasn't some gearhead who was into cars in the mechanical sense, nice cars were something he'd always admired from afar, going online and looking at pictures when he was younger, watching videos and movies and going to the occasional car show. But he'd always been practical and economical, always living within his means, never splurging. He knew a lot about cars, but again, he didn't have an outlet to talk about this stuff, as Elizabeth cared even less about cars than she did sports. Again, he was struck by how this woman who had such a bad reputation with his wife could have so much in common with him. She knew her shit, and they went back and forth, talking about cars in general, and more specifically her sports car. And the more she talked it up, the more intimidated he was with the idea of getting in the driver's seat of such a thing. It was look but don't touch.

"Yeah, I couldn't handle anything like that," he said with a laugh, holding up his hands. "I'll leave that to someone like you." She studied him for a moment.

"I don't know..." she began. "I can see you behind the wheel. Don't hold yourself back. You can probably handle more than you're used to." He shrugged.

"Maybe," he relented, grinning sheepishly.

"Again, just call me up sometime, and I'll let you get behind the wheel," she offered.

"Yeah, I don't think my wife would approve," Ryan admitted, only then remembering that he was over here for a reason. Despite her negative presence in his wife's eyes, he'd found Stacy shockingly easy to talk to, and a lot of time had passed since he'd come over here to get his wife some water. Glancing over at her, Elizabeth's head was lifting, eyes on her husband as he and her boss chatted it up again, distracting him from his purpose. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, he turned to Stacy and made his exit.

"Sorry... got to get Elizabeth this..." he said, holding up her glass. Again, he had found himself bonding with her, but he'd never been able to circle around to a point where he could talk it out with Stacy about how she was treating Elizabeth. Ironically, his wife's current needs prevented him from her major needs.

"Go ahead," Stacy said with a smile, sipping her drink and allowing him to leave her presence.

Elizabeth watched him moving him towards her, her mind and stomach in turmoil from both the booze and at seeing Ryan conversing so easily with that bitch she hated, totally forgetting about his own wife. She gave her husband a withering stare as he approached.

"Sorry," he said, embarrassed. "Got delayed," he added, setting the glass down in front of her.

"Yeah," Elizabeth said simply, upset at her husband at being so damn nice to that bitch. He said he was standing up for his wife, but he kept just backing down when confronted with this figure that haunted her. He was too nice, and that bitch just kept taking advantage, posing and preening and acting all nicey-nice, and he was too kind to call it out. To really confront her. Again, she appreciated his goal of trying to help her, but she feared he didn't fully comprehend who he was dealing with.

Sensing his wife was upset, and feeling nature calling, Ryan chose to give her a little space.

"I'll be right back," he told her. "I gotta hit the bathroom." She nodded and watched as he walked away, the opposite direction that Stacy was, thank God. She couldn't help but look back at Stacy, only to be shocked to see Stacy looking right back her.

Stacy smiled at her, a sickeningly sweet smile that could only be a fake one. And maybe because of the alcohol in her system, or the dim lighting of the party, but she could have sworn Stacy winked at her. A wink that said that she knew exactly what Elizabeth was fearing, and that she was right to be afraid. Elizabeth knew she must be seeing things, and that it could be her worn down subconscious seeing what she feared most, but her heart nonetheless dropped. Her fears rose to the surface. Her mind began running in circles. Her thoughts began swirling a mile a minute. She was right! Stacy was making a play at her husband! But wait! She could be wrong. She could be seeing things. It could be her crazy mind leading her down the wrong path.

Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed. Panicked. She wanted to run, but she knew she couldn't get far. She wanted to warn her husband, but he wasn't here. She felt absolutely justified in her fears, and at the same time felt like a crazy woman seeing things. Her mind was being pulled apart, and her worst fears were consuming her, and she wanted nothing more than to calm herself down. To silence her demons. Her eyes drifted to the glass of water on her desk, before moving past it.