Professional Woman Pt. 03

Things hadn't gone to plan. I expected there would be some delays, maybe a hiccup here and there, but I was wrong, dead wrong. Nothing had gone right from the start. The building needed more work than we expected. The first day that we tried to turn on a tap, three pipes burst through the walls resulting in flooding on both floors.

It took another three weeks to get some of the girls back on our roster. Then the electricity went out, the wiring in the walls needed to be redone. From there, things kept getting worse, the heating, the flooring. Now nearly four months after I signed my name to the building it looked worse than the day I bought it.

"Morning," I said as I entered our makeshift office. I stepped over power cords that led all over the second floor from a gas generator.

"Uh-huh," Ginger said as she sat on a stack of milk crates one of the contractors had found around the neighborhood.

"Still no luck on the license?" I said as I sat on the only working chair.

"No!" she barked back at me over the constant noise of people around us working to fix everything and anything.

I hated looking at the bare walls or the ceiling with tiles missing. I hated driving into the underground parking lot and feeling like I was in the sauna from the combination of heat and water. Then to come up here and freeze my ass off.

I tried to look at the big picture. Lucy had been working with some of the girls and had gotten us three photo shoots this week. We were going in the right direction, all we needed is one massive show to get us going.

"Try it," someone shouted from behind us.

One of the electricians came inside and turned on one of the switches.

"You're kidding," I said looking up at the light above us.

"No," the man said turning to us. He flicked it on and off to prove his point.

"The entire building?" I asked showing my excitement.

"Yes," the man said.

Timothy, the main contractor, came in looking at us with all smiles. "Told you I would get it working today."

"Does this mean we can turn off that damn generator?" Ginger asked.

"Yes, your highness," Timothy said as he walked back outside. The sound of the generator cut off.

"Thank you," Ginger said as she turned back to her laptop.

"We are truly grateful," I said as I stood up and shook his hand. "We are all under..."

"No apologize needed," Timothy said. "I am just glad to be working again. Thank you."

Timothy and the other man walked out the door that led to the roof. I turned to look at Ginger.

"What?" She asked as she caught me staring at her.

"You could be nicer to them, after all, they are working for half of most of the others," I said as I sat back down.

"That's because most of the people he employs have a criminal record longer than these damn cords," Ginger said pulling on one of the power cords.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," I shrugged.

"Oh yeah?" Ginger asked. "Where is your purse and your jewelry Miss second chance," Ginger smiled looking at me.

"Shut it," I smiled back at her.

We heard heaving and panting coming from the stairs. Jeremy and three of his friends came into view they were carrying something.

"Found this," Jeremy said as he brought a very long desk into our office. I had to get out of the way as they brought it in. The three men pushed the table against the wall. It took up most of the left side of our office.

"Found it?" I asked looking at Jeremy.

"Yeah," he said as he tried to catch his breath. "The furniture place down the street is going out of business," he said as he took another breath. "The guy said anything they put outside is fair game."

"And this huge desk so happened to be outside," Ginger smiled.

"Outside ish," one of Jeremy's friends said.

"Jeremy," I said looking at him.

"It stays unless you want to carry it back down the stairs," he said as he looked at me. I looked at the desk.

"We do need a desk," Ginger said as she held her laptop in the air over it.

"Fine," I shrugged. "Clean it first."

"What else did you find?" I looked back at him.

"Wait and find out," Jeremy said.

After numerous trips, Jeremy had brought up four chairs to go into our office. A medium sized table for what was going to be our waiting room. He said he had brought other things for the first floor. I looked at him and shook my head. I could pretend to be mad at him all I wanted, but without him finding the contractors, as well as many of the other people that worked on cleaning and getting rid of the water, I would have been lost.

"Going to make another trip," Jeremy said as he waved at us.

Lucy bounced off of him as she came up the stairs. "Watch it, handsome," she said as she came into the office. "A desk!"

"Yup," Ginger said as she had already plugged her laptop into the wall socket and had her computer on one side of the desk.

"No way!" Lucy said as she jumped onto one of the chairs. "Power is working?"

"Uh huh," Ginger nodded.

"How did the photo shoot go?" I asked.

"See for yourself?" Lucy said handing me a check.

"No way!" I said looking at it. "The girls?"

"Treated like royalty, no grabby hands, no stupidity," Lucy said "A few provocative stances, but it is a swimsuit magazine."

I looked at her. "How provocative?"

"None of the girls complained or felt out of place if that's what you are asking," Lucy smiled. "The main guy..."

"Phillip," Ginger said.

"Yeah, him, he wants the girls to come back next week for another shoot," Lucy said as she spun around in her chair.

"Okay," I nodded. "If the girls want to go, then I am all for it."

"They already said they would," Lucy said as she stopped.

"Deposit this and pay the girls, as well as the contractors, they are overdue for a payment," I said.

Both girls nodded. It had been a while since we had seen any money come in for ourselves. Most of it went to the repairs, the contractors or the girls. Jeremy hadn't been paid for just as long.

"Food's here," Sara yelled.

"Good!" Ginger said as she turned to see Sara bringing in bags of Chinese food.

I couldn't believe it was lunchtime already.

"I ran into someone today," Sara said as she leaned against the desk. "Wait," she said surprised as she looked at the desk and the chairs. "Jeremy?"

We all nodded as we took our food to our neutral corners. "Who did you run into?" I asked.

"Howard," Sara replied with disgust.

All three of us turned our heads. Howard was a disgusting man. Most of the women he hired or wanted to hire were models that posed for adult magazines or adult websites. There were even rumors that most of his private parties were not parties at all.

"I know, but he wanted to talk, and he has heard of our situation, and he wants to help," Sara stated.

"No thanks," I said shaking my head. "We can do without his help."

"Even if he is offering this," Sara said as she put a piece of paper down on the desk.

"No way," Ginger said.

"One night," Sara said.

"With that, we could pay all this off," Lucy said holding the paper up.

I glanced at it and was shocked by the amount. Howard always had a flair for the dramatic. It wouldn't surprise me if he had someone working on the contracting team. The amount was nearly double the exact amount needed to pay for all the repairs needed.

"What does he want?" I asked shaking my head.

"A few girls to go to a pool party, he says there are going to be..."

"We aren't an escort service," I said shaking my head.

"There will be other contracts to get there," Sara shrugged.

"Yeah, most of them just like Howard or worse," Lucy said shaking her head.

"I got an idea," Ginger said smiling at me.

"I am not going to like this, am I?" I asked.

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

"So, let me get this straight, you are asking me for a favor?" Celia asked as I walked into my house.

"Yes, Celia," I pleaded. "I am sure none of your girls will mind."

"Of course not sweetie, most of my girls will love to go to one of the high rollers parties, we never get to attend," Celia said. I could see the huge smile on her face. "But I want to hear it from you."

I sighed as I threw my purse on the couch. "Celia, I need your help."

"See, was that so hard?" Celia said. "When is the party and where?"

I gave her the address and the date. "And you want them to say they work for you is that correct?"

"No," I said shaking my head as if she could see me. "I will let Howard know that I am outsourcing. I don't want anything coming back to me. Your girls will get a fair share..."

"No, no, no," Celia said. "This is a favor for my sister. I will not accept one penny. Just the satisfaction that you came to me for help is all I need."

The way she said that made my skin crawl. "I need to take a shower," I said as I hung up.

I needed to make one more phone call.

"Howard Crane," the filthy man said as he answered.

"Shut it, Howard," I replied. I knew he had been waiting for my phone call.

"Stephanie," Howard said.

"I am outsourcing your request as I do not have the number of women you need for your... party," I said nearly throwing up as I said it.

"Good, good," Howard said his voice going to a high pitched decibel. " Do they know to dress as pirates, it is a pirate themed pool party."

"Yes," I nodded.

"Good, I have a few well-named photographers coming, they will..."

"Bye Howard," I said hanging up. "I knew very well that most of those photos would end up on the internet.

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

Everything had gone well so far. The date had arrived, I had received the notice from Celia that she as well as a number of her girls had made it to the destination. Now all I had to was wait. Patience was not one of my virtues, primarily when the situation was out of my hands. I sat alone in my house waiting for Celia to return my text messages. Anything to tell me how the event was going.

"Come on," I said for the umpteenth time. I checked my phone again, and it had been over six hours since the party had begun. Even one of Howard's events wouldn't last this long.

I sent another text asking if everything had gone smoothly.

'Relax, everything went to plan,' Celia texted back. 'We got invited to an after party. I am sure you have no intention of knowing how that goes unless you want to come?'

"No," I said out loud as I sent the text. That part was over with, and as much as I wanted to make sure Howard would keep his end of the bargain, I had no intention on texting or calling him.

"Damn," I said as I looked at my phone. "Talk of the devil."

"Hi, Stephanie," Howard's snide voice said as I answered the phone.

"What, Howard?" I replied.

"Now, does it have to be like this between us?" Howard asked.

"Yes," I replied sharply. "You asked me to flash you the last time we met."

"It was at a beach house," Howard said, from the tone of his voice I knew he was smiling.

"You asked me in front of my husband," I shouted back.

"Why should he be the only that gets to stare at those mammoth sized things," Howard said.

"Shut it," I said shaking my head. "Are you going to pay up?"

"Of course," Howard said, I could sense there was something else.

"What?" I asked.

"Your sister, is she, well you know?" Howard asked.

"She is all yours, the two of you would be perfect for each other," I said shaking my head. "Now, are we done?"

"I will have the check delivered to you, or do you want me to wire it to an account?"

"An account is fine. I will send you the details," I hung up quickly before he could say another word.

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

"This is amazing," Lucy said checking our account.

I couldn't believe it myself. Howard had not only stuck to his word he had nearly doubled what we had settled on which made me question his motives.

"Told you, I would pull through for you sis," Celia said standing behind me.

I turned around to look at my little sister. Looking at her no one would guess she was my sister. Celia was seven years younger than me. However, the looks of her you would think she was my older sister. Numerous plastic surgeries had made her look unnatural. From her fake lips to her face, and bottle bought blonde hair as well as the humongous sized chest implants.

Celia looked more like a plastic toy than a human. Her incredible body had been contorted by years of wearing corsets. A shrunken waistline and her colossal chest made her look like a Barbie doll.

"Keep staring, darling," Celia said to one of the contractors. "I don't bite unless you want me to," she flirted with the man embarrassing him to disappear outside.

"Celia!" I said pulling her away from the view of the other workers.

"What?" Celia said as she tried to keep up with me. Her tall high heels clicked and clacked on the newly tiled floor. "I had to go out of the country to get these things," Celia said as she pointed out her chest.

"Yes," I said as I closed the bathroom door. "Because implants that size are too dangerous, even the surgery could..." I stopped and took a deep breath.

"I love you," Celia said.

I stared back at her, the only remaining family member I had left. No matter what she had done in her past, I still loved her. Even though she had slept with my husband, the day after we got married, looking at her now, I could still remember walking into the bathroom and seeing Mark anally pounding my sister. Why I hadn't divorced him on the spot was a mystery.

"I love you too, but..." I sighed looking at her.

"No flirting or consorting with people you know or work with," Celia chimed. "I know, I know, the rules. How you love your rules," Celia said shaking her head.

"Did you have to wear that as well as bring them with you?" I asked as I peered out the bathroom door. As I looked out at three of Celia's co-workers, to say they wore the skimpiest attire would be like stating that water was wet.

"What?" Celia said as she stared down at her self. Her crop top shirt barely contained her enormous bosom. Most of the bottom half of each boob was left out in the open. Her tight stomach was open for all to see. She wore a tiny skirt that came just below her ass cheeks, the moment she bent over everyone could see her pink thong. Not like they couldn't see it without her bending over as the thong straps were visible above the skirt, with the line at the back disappearing below the waistline of the skirt.

"You know what," I shook my head. "I love you. I really do, but..." I said staring at her.

"Fine!" Celia said. "I will take my open-minded friends, and I will go. Really, sis, it is just a body, you need to get over it," Celia said as she grabbed the door handle. "Oh, do you still enjoy the gift?"

"Celia?" I said pointing to the door.

"There is a newer version, I will have it mailed to you," Celia smiled. "Come on girls," Celia said as she rounded up her co-workers. "Make sure to leave a few cards behind. It's the least my sis can do to pass them out."

"Fine," I replied as I looked at them go. "I will leave them downstairs in the parking lot," I whispered the last part to myself.

I entered the office. "That's your sister?" Jeremy asked as he looked at the four of them enter the elevator.

"Yes," I nodded. "And no!" I pointed at him. "You can't..."

"Hell no!" Jeremy said holding up his hands. "Silicone parts are meant for toys," he laughed.

We all laughed except for Lucy. "I don't know," she said as she looked at us. "I have been thinking about getting mine done," she said looking down at her small chest.

"And not been able to wear those cute and fancy bras?" Ginger replied. "I don't think so."

"Yeah, and those dresses you like? Try getting some of those with these strapped to your chest," Sara said pushing out her chest.

Lucy stared at us with a smile. "Yeah, that's true," she nodded. "I do have it good."

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

Repairs went fast and furious after we paid more contracting companies to help. The parking space had improved as there was no more leaking water to cause large pools of water everywhere, they also had repaired the lighting down there.

The second floor had become a place for our models to go to unwind as well as change for their shows. I even planned to make a section for a daycare service for those that young children. The elevator company made it so that only those with a keycard could stop on the second floor. Otherwise, everyone else went up to our level.

Sara's desk area had been improved from the last one she had, a large desk with numerous seats in front and around it. Walking around her station people could see our office as well as the finance office and another waiting room.

"It looks," I said staring at it from the elevator.

"Awesome," Jeremy said standing next to me. "All they got to do is put the finishing touches on the signs outside and inside."

"You were right about the colors," I said looking at Lucy.

"Thank you," Lucy smiled as we walked past Sara's station. Sara was all smiles as usual.

"Like it?" I asked.

"Love it!" Sara exclaimed. Sitting down behind her computer. "Already got a few interviews today, we are getting back some of the models we lost."

"Great!" I said as we walked back.

"Jeremy, come in?" a voice said over Jeremy's intercom.

Jeremy had hired two of his friends to attend to the parking downstairs as well as being security. "There is a Ms. Martine here to see Stephanie. Shall I..."

"Yes!" We all shouted at once.

"Okay," the voice said. "She's on her way."

"Sara," I turned to look at her, but she was already on the elevator.

"On it," Sara said as the door closed.

"Can we light the sign," I said walking back to the large sign that hung above Sara's station. It was going to be the first thing anyone saw as they exited the elevator.

"Sean," Jeremy said over his intercom. "Turn the signs on, outside and in."

"But.." the voice said.

"Do it!" Jeremy said back.

"Okay," Sean replied.

It took a few seconds, but the sign lit up, just as the elevator door opened. Teresa and her driver walked out as we turned around to greet them.

Teresa stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes began to tear as she looked up at the white dolphin lighted up over her daughter's name.

"A dolphin," Teresa said as she looked at it. "How did you know?"

"We asked around," I said as I held her.

"It's my favorite," Teresa cried. The Angelique sign was lighted a baby blue the background colors of light purple and blue made it stand out. "You nailed it," Teresa said turning to me. "You truly nailed it. This is perfect."

The second elevator door opened up, and all the models came out of the elevator. Teresa took a few steps back and looked at them. Her eyes filled with tears. "Look at you all," she said as she walked among them. "You did it," she said looking at me.

"No," Ginger said, without you, this wouldn't be possible.

"We aren't talking about the money, or the place," Lucy said.

"Without you and your friends paving the way, none of this would be possible," I said looking at her.

"Thank you!" the models said.

Teresa nodded and smiled. "I don't know, why you are thanking me. All I did was pose for a few pictures."

We all laughed.

Teresa stayed for a while and talked about the old times. I asked her to bring in some old photo's, and we would get them copied and put up. I walked her down to her car.

"Listen," Teresa said as she shooed her driver out of hearing distance. "You have to be ruthless, just like the rest of them, they knocked you down once, and they will try every moment of every day trying to put you back down. What you are doing for those girls up there is unheard of, they won't like it."