LADY SLAYER
Chapter 1
West Hollywood, also known as Weho… A notorious place.
And its notoriety was for many things, but its most notorious and hottest commodity wasn’t a place, it was a person.
Someone referred to as ‘The Lady Slayer’.
To this day the origins of the name are unknown, its unknown who came up with this name..., but what was known was that the person lived up to the name and reputation to very highest standards…
The name to strangers was often misinterpreted, was this entity a slayer of the brutal kind, never…, but the word itself caused minds to wonder; ‘slayer: someone who causes the death of a person or animal…’, ‘to slay: 1) to kill by violence; 2) to strongly impress or overwhelm’.
The latter…, every single time…
For every woman who crossed the midnight path of the Lady Slayer they knew that they would experience a night to remember…
Bette Porter never disappointed.
~~~
Tina was the unassuming bombshell, a woman who was so unaware of her own natural beauty that it was an endearing feature… She wasn’t even aware of the affect, not aware of the jaws dropping to the floor, not aware of the staring eyes and not aware that the sway of her hips caught the attention of both passing males… and passing females…
A new job and a fresh start following the ego fuelled asshole that she had wasted two years on was ahead, a new job in WeHo working for a prestigious organisation, one she knew little about, apart from it was a very up and coming Arts Centre, but this was a temporary post, one to bridge the gap in her life while she placed the pieces of her scattered heart back in place.
She was to be the new Marketing Manager for the current hot spot in the art world which was the California Arts Centre, she was eagerly awaiting her first meeting with the Director, who's reputation had already preceded the meeting - who the hell was this West Hollywood Lady Slayer and what was she doing working at the California Arts Centre…
~~~
Bette was outraged, why everyone at the CAC had kept it from her. Such crucial information, the appointment of a new temporary Marketing Manager, and she was only told today that the post had been filled…
She couldn't believe Franklin had hired a Marketing Manager without her consent. The thoughts of the new recruit spiralling through her mind as her tempered breathing gave a clue to how worked up about the subject she really was.
“She is likely unqualified, uninspired and is probably his fucking niece”, muttered Bette…
She was now moments away from laying eyes on this woman…, this Tina Kennard…
The knock on the door brought Bette out of her caustic thoughts.
"Enter", she yelled grumpily.
"Oh, I’m sorry Bette,” said James cautiously, "I just brought your coffee in before your meeting!"
Bette sighed, “James…, how many times do I have to say this?” She ran her fingers through the thick curls, attempts to calm her rising anger not seeming to be working, in fact…, the opposite, every passing moment since entering the office since this morning the blood running through her veins had risen a notch on the thermometer, she was now at boiling point, and boiling point was not a good place for Bette Porter to be at…
James faltered in front of the desk, moving from one foot to the other, his nervous agitation getting the better of him, he knew all about the temper of his boss, he knew that the boiling point he was seeing right now would come down to a simmer, and he also knew that he was one of the lucky ones, the look that Bette gave him whenever that boiling bark came flying at him would always be followed by a look, and more often that not words to accompany the look, that said it was not pointed at him, he was her sounding board, he was the one she relied upon at work, he was her eyes and ears, they needed one another in this shark pit of a Centre.
"James…, please, you don't have to apologise every time you come into my office, its OK…, I'm just still wound up after that fucking asshole Franklin hired the new recruit without consulting me!"
“I know that…, it’s just…, well it seems that he kept his cards close to his chest on this one, it seems no one knew about it, and no one knows who this Tina Kennard is either…”
“Well, I guess we’re about to find…” Bette paced around her office, it usually helped to calm her, but today nothing was working. "Shit", she said more to herself than James, "why am I even wound up about this whole thing, its not like she is going to interfere with my job, I'm the fucking Director for god sake!"
“Can I get you anything? You know to help uh…, you know, calm things down a bit…?”
Bette stopped, she turned to look at her assistant, suddenly a smile graced her features, he never failed to do this, just to say something at the right time, “its fine James, I’ll be fine…”
James nodded at the now smiling Bette, without a word he turned toward the door, he glanced back toward his boss, knowing she would still be looking at him, how many times had this occurrence happened in the past…, too many to count, he winked, as he always did, and he was met with the same reply he always got…
“Careful…, you know you’re the only one who could make me switch teams…!” Bette jested.
“You couldn’t handle me…” came James’ quip of a reply.
“In your dreams…” Bette smiled. The boil was down to a simmer, he’d done it again, “hey…!”
James turned at the door opening, one hand on the architrave, one hand on the door handle.
“Thanks…”
“You’re welcome…”
No other words were needed.
As James began to close the door Bette’s eye caught a movement behind his retreating figure, a blonde mane swished past the slight opening of the door, Bette stopped dead in her tracks…
The immediate thoughts of the previous night came to the forefront of Bette’s mind, the weekly routine of a night at Milk with her friends, the weekly routine of picking up some random woman…, the routine she was bored with…
Bored with going out… Bored with the random pick of the same familiar faces that seemed to pop up every week, and bored with the feeling of having to keep up with the pretence of her reputation.
As much as she hated hearing what people called her and its obvious meaning, she had her pride, she had, although she never actually admitted it aloud, some semblance of a power trip whenever she overheard the word people muttered when she walked past… ‘Lady Slayer’…, ‘Never disappoints…’, ‘You know you’ve been had if Bette Porter has you…’
There was no challenge to it anymore, and she was fed up with it. Maybe she should give herself a break from it, stay away from the clubs, have a breather…, she was sure her libido would probably thank her for it.
But there was the flip side of Bette Porter…, with that power trip of being ‘The Lady Slayer’, came the other feelings, the ones no one knew about…, the feelings of emptiness when she entered her empty home following yet another rendezvous, for it would never be that someone actually entered the home of Bette Porter…, that was never an option, that was purely and utterly, strictly the domain of her and her alone, aside from her family and friends, no one stepped over the threshold of her home.
She was bored with it all… Bored, but she still couldn’t shake her eye at being drawn to an attractive woman…
She sighed and walked toward the bathroom situated off her office, she had to deal with this probable no hoper that the fuckwit Franklin had hired without her knowledge or consent!
As Bette was looking in the mirror of her bathroom adjusting the silk collar of her blouse, she overheard James' voice, "Miss Porter will be right with you Miss Kennard, please have a seat."
A deep breath, one to compose, one to rise above the fuckwit and be the professional woman that she was…, ‘Right,’ thought Bette, ‘here goes, lets see what this little unqualified, uninspired Marketing Manager has got to say for herself…’
The entrance from Bette's bathroom had obscured the full view of who was actually sitting in her office and as she slowly rounded the corner the first thing she noticed were the black high heels on the end of mighty fine pair of crossed legs.
Her eyes slowly made their way up the legs to a black skirt sitting just on the knee. She felt the presence of her alter ego on her shoulder whispering in her ear…, ‘Ok Porter…, concentrate…’ Bette's mind and thoughts began to race, ‘just get in there and focus on the meeting…, they are only a pair of legs, yeah…, but legs are your thing Porter, when they're naked and snake around your waist, bringing you closer and closer… And you thought that you’re going to give yourself… and your libido a break.’
Bette stopped, a deep breath to clear her mind, a shake of the lustrous curls to bring her focus back to a meeting… Bette took another deep breath and continued into her office, with her hand extended in readiness of introducing herself to the uninspiring Miss Tina Kennard.
Bette stopped in her tracks as her eyes took in the full view of the blonde before her. ‘Oh shit…, I am seriously… in trouble’, Bette thought.
She hadn’t even given a thought that Tina Kennard would have a smile that lit her up like a Christmas tree, or that her light brown eyes would draw you closer, into her personal space, or that taut sexy body would cause you to think of wonderful and creative ways to please it, mused Bette.
She was startled out of her reverie when she heard the woman standing before her clear her throat. Bette was mortified as she berated herself, ‘come on Porter pull it together.’
"Ahem…, oh…uh, hello, I'm uh… Bette Porter, it's nice to meet you Ms Kennard…," as she extended her hand to the beautiful vision and motioned for her to take a seat.
