When Anne entered the private room, she had intended to introduce herself to the men and request for their time, but she didn't expect to walk into a room buzzing with loud music with men sitting in couches, each having a woman on his lap.
What was this situation?
She understood that this was a night club...but why did it feel like a brothel?
The women in the room were provocatively dressed in a way that made Anne, even as a woman want to cover her eyes with her palm just so she wouldn't see the sensitive parts of their bodies they had chosen to expose.
All eyes turned on her immediately she came in and she instantly regretted rashly bringing herself here.
PR needed to be thick skinned, Rebecca had said.
Recalling those words, Anne sighed deeply letting out a long breath before putting a polite smile on her face, but before she could even say a word, she heard a roar of laughter.
"Hahaha! Joshua, you nasty punk, I didn't think you'd actually call for another one to fulfill your silly fantasy. So you were really serious when you said you get turned on by innocent looking girls huh?" Caleb Scott, a man in his early fifties roared with laughter.
Joshua Briggs looked over at the woman that had just barged into their private room. He had to admit that with her long hair, large eyes and harmless appearance she was totally the kind of girl he would like to try out, but he hadn't called for another woman.
"Shut up Caleb, I didn't call for her. Did any of you guys call her to prank me? I must say she's doing a great job playing the role of an innocent, clueless girl." Joshua Briggs said to the other men in the room before looking over Anne again with interest shining in his eyes.
The more he looked, the more he liked the idea of calling in a woman to play the good girl just to explore his fantasies.
He crooked a finger towards Anne, "Come here, aren't you tired of standing?" He pushed off a girl from his lap making space for Anne to sit.
Anne felt repulsion crawl up her spine. She quickly said, "No, no you're getting the wrong idea, I'm not a...I mean my name Is Anne Thompson, I'm from the PR department of Sterling Enterprises."
Anne didn't realize that her voice had caused a pair of eyes in the dark corner of the room to flash open. A face concealed in darkness. The person didn't turn to look at the source of the voice, he already knew who it was after he'd heard the familiar sounding name and voice. A flash of something insidious passed through his eyes.
Joshua Briggs turned to the other men in the room for confirmation, all of them shrugged and shook their heads to indicate that they hadn't called in a woman, which meant she truly was one of the company's staff.
Joshua turned towards the corner of the room to cast a sneaky glance at the figure bathed in darkness. Since arriving, this person hadn't said a word to them yet, he allowed them to have their fun, so he shouldn't interfere in them having fun with one of his staff that brought herself right into their den.
The man was fascinated by this girl. He was familiar with most of the females in the PR department but not this one. Evidently she was new.
"What brings you here young lady?"
"I'm here to discuss your proposal to pull out your funds from the city mall projects sir. I'm sorry for being here at a time like this but..."
"A time like this is the most convenient for me Anne, can I call you that?" Joshua Briggs replied sending a knowing glance to his friends in the room who concealed a snicker behind their lips.
"Of course sir. I brought the newly remodeled plan along with the updated benefits and profits related to this project, if you give me just a little bit of your time I believe I can convince you to not pull out your funds."
Joshua smirked, "I believe you can too, but of course you can't do it from so far away. Come here and take a seat, then you can tell me all about your little proposal hmm?" He spoke in a voice of coaxing a child, trying to tempt her into walking into something sinister.
Anne looked around the room and found no empty seats, every single one was preoccupied.
Something about the way these men looked at her felt unsettling.
He'd asked her to sit but there wasn't an empty seat. What did he expect her to do, sit on his head?
"Thank you sir, I prefer standing."
A few of the men in the room coughed into their hands in laughter. Mr. Briggs' expression seemed to have somehow hardened before it relaxed again.
Well, he couldn't complain. This type of resistance was what he liked about the good girls. The chase and coaxing it takes to bring them into bed was always the fun part for him.
"You know Anne, I have a hard time hearing from a far away distance..." He took a glass of scotch from a woman standing behind him massaging his shoulders. "You need to come closer if you want me to hear whatever you have to say."
Anne sighed and slowly walked up to him. Her face burned with embarrassment as she could feel the eyes of every man in the room on her with every step she took.
Someone next to Joshua Briggs, whom she recognized as Caleb Scott as she'd seen their pictures, leaned towards Mr Briggs to whisper something while his eyes remained on her. That made her almost stumble over her own feet.
"This one would look so sexy once you peel off all those clothes she's wearing. Don't forget to share the view with us when you do, I'd like to see what she's hiding."
"Won't it be fun to just make her strip right here for us all to see?" Briggs replied and both men laughed to themselves.
When Anne stopped in front of him, she was eager to quickly get out of there. She pulled out the files about to recite her well planned speech about benefits and profits when Mr Briggs suddenly groaned tiredly dismissing the woman massaging him and leaned his back against his seat.
"Your hands look so tender. Why don't you give me a massage while you tell me about that proposal you've got there. I tend to concentrate more when I'm relaxed."
Hearing his words, she suddenly stiffened.
"What?"