Chapter One
Beep! Beep! Beep! The sound of the alarm clock pierced the quiet morning. A hand moved from under the blanket to slap the offending device and stop the horrible sound. Six a.m. Monday morning was not a happy time of day for Becky. She groaned in dread when she realized it was that time of day once again. In fact, she pretty much hated all mornings and every day of the week except Saturday and Sunday. Those were the only two days she not only got to sleep in, but that she was left to her own devices.
Not the week days though. No, on the week days she had to get up at an ungodly hour to report to a job she hated and a boss that was nothing more than a slave driver. Yeah, she really hated Monday mornings.
There was no point in her mental pity party though because no matter how much she complained to herself she would still have to go in. She threw the down comforter off her body, reluctantly exposing herself to the cool morning air and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Her toes touched the cold wood floor and scrunched up in defiance. She shivered and yawned, then braved the cool floor as she stumbled to the bathroom.
Turning on the IPod that never left its docking station on her bathroom counter, she stripped off her pink tank top and matching panties to the sound of one of her many favorite songs. Humming the tune to herself, she turned on the water and stepped into the warm shower. She tried to block out the thoughts of her job and just focus on the better things in life as she scrubbed with coconut scented body wash.
She was fortunate to have a job in this economy, one that paid well and promised a great future. She had a family that loved her, in their own way. And she had her evenings and weekends completely to herself. That thought was the only one that perked her up and got her through the long days. She actually spent most of her work day day-dreaming about what sort of magic her evening would hold. She planned and plotted, organized and re-organized until she knew it would be just right. She couldn’t wait to see what would happen and how it would happen. She lived for her secret nights.
Thinking about it now gave her goose bumps and made her heart race with anticipation. She knew she was probably too old for things like this, getting excited over childish dreams, but she didn’t care. Well, she did enough to keep it a secret from everyone, but still. Twenty-one was still young. She could be fun and irresponsible, even if her parents didn’t think so. She rolled her eyes just thinking about what they would say.
They were all about giving off the proper image and maintaining that persona all the time. Your manners must be impeccable at all times. You must always say the correct thing to the right person and you must never behave like a child. Even if you were a child. Oh she knew her parents loved her, there was never a question of that growing up. They spoiled her with items but also with affection and as much of their time as they could spare. But they were both prestigious attorneys and they had a public image to uphold. In addition to very busy schedules that didn’t permit for much time. Shaking away thoughts of the past, she rinsed the rest of the soap from her body and the conditioner from her curly red hair.
She quickly set about the rest of her morning routine, blow drying and then straightening her hair. She loved her naturally curly, almost waist length, fire red hair but the wild and unruly locks weren’t really appropriate for her work environment. She had been told one to many times how sexy she looked when her hair was left to its own devices. She didn’t want to be viewed that way by her co-workers. Once that difficult task was complete, she applied just the right amount of make-up to accent her perfect bone structure, pouty lips and deep green eyes. She slipped into a knee length pencil skirt, white blouse and matching black jacket, all of which fit her slim but shapely figure perfectly. She did all of this while drinking her usual two cups of morning coffee and singing to her favorite songs.
When she was finally done, she dropped her coffee mug into the sink, slipped into her black peep-toe heels, grabbed her purse and headed to work.