Exchange of Power Part 3

By Erica Storm

Tonya
“I don’t know what Hayden Powers wants from me? I can’t give him what he wants, but I have what he needs. Until I get the truth from him we can’t go forward. Until I tell him the truth, we can never be together. We are both hiding the truth among a bunch of lies.”

When Tonya learns the truth about Hayden Powers, she holds the power in her hands to get everything she wants except him. Will she stop acting stubborn long enough to recognize the power in herself, or will she let another woman wrestle her power from her, and capture Hayden’s heart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erica Storm
• Release date: Jun 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310849275

Erica Storm

Hi, I'm Erica Storm and I write spicy erotica and erotic romance. I have over fifty short titles and box sets to arouse your senses. If you don't have the time to invest in a long novel, you can read my short stories on the go as you wait in the checkout lines. "When you read erotica you feel alive." Happy reading!

Book preview

Chapter Sixteen

Before we could reach our cubicles, the office manager, Kathryn Page in charge of the research department at Wolfe and Robbins law firm, cut us off. She’s standing with her hands on her hips, looking down checking her expensive watch. I stopped but Tamika walks past her and she turns to me and says, Excuse me but weren’t you due back an hour ago? She’s still wearing a pair of black frame reading glasses and her eyes appear larger, brighter, and angrier than usual.

Tamika walks back to her and faces her. Tamika places her hands on her hips and stares. Everyone stops what they’re doing. There is silence cutting through the large office area. 

Kathryn is blond, her hair is short and hangs just below her ears. She’s about twenty-nine. She’s wears a size two and she’s five-five. She stands eye to eye with Tamika. Her eyes are a lazy blue nothing fantastic about them. She’s average looking, not pretty but not bad looking just a little too pale. 

Where have you two been? she says. Her tone is obnoxious and overreaching. She can’t fire anyone. We just give her respect as long as she respects us, but she has crossed the line with Tamika and I can tell.

If Mr. Wolfe didn’t like you and your friend, I would write you two up and you would be out of here tomorrow, especially you. She turned to glance my way and just far enough not to see that I wasn’t wearing panty hose.

Tamika’s head twist to the side back and forth and she smacked her lips. It’s not because Mr. Wolfe likes me. It’s because I’m a valuable employee. I do my job, unlike you. I don’t have to fuck every man in here to get ahead. So back off bitch, and let us get back to work.

Walking past Kathryn, Tamika elbowed her somewhat. Just so she would get the point to back off and leave us alone. She knew what that meant and moved out of Tamika’s way. If they had a smack down or hair pulling contest, Kathryn would lose and they both would get fired.

I hadn’t been there long enough and I needed the job, so I looked away and walked over to my desk. Tamika on the other hand was ready to take her on. She didn’t need any help not unless someone else got involved, and in that case, I would have to help my friend out. But like I said she didn’t need any help at this point.

It became an old fashion stare down. Everyone had something to lose and they weren’t ready to give up their four and five figure a month jobs, so Kathryn slinked to her desk and turned on her computer.

I saw Tamika look down at her heels. Tamika had already stepped out of one.  I knew that if Kathryn Page made a move, or put her hand in Tamika’s face, Tamika would have reached for her shoe and landed one blow on Kathryn’s head, and that would have been the end of that. We all could have gone home early.

Although Tamika smiled and was gracious to everyone, she had a short fuse. The least little things could set her off. But in this case as a black woman, calling her names, and talking about her mama was a good way to get hurt. 

Tamika lost a job because in a heated argument a woman called her the N word. They both lost that day. The woman lost her front teeth and Tamika lost her job. I can get another job, Tamika had said, but she will be sipping her meals through a straw for a few months. And that was that. Tamika went on to get a job at Wolfe and Robbins.

Upset at Kathryn’s unnecessary attention-getting loud call, Tamika didn’t feel like doing any work, so she found a chair and pulled it up near my desk. She sat in the chair and turned to face me. Did you hear that bitch, she said. Someone glanced up. It wasn’t because they had never heard the word, it was because they never heard Tamika use it and for the second time.

I did my best to stay away from her. Now I will make her life miserable. You know it’s because of you that she’s behaving that way.

Me? What did I do?

You didn’t do anything. She must have seen you getting out of the limo with Hayden. Maybe someone told her, I don’t know. She has spies all over the place. You can see everything down on the street level from her office. It faces there. Those large tinted panoramic glass windows only prevent people from seeing in here, not seeing out.

Why would it matter if she saw me or not. She complained about us taking too much time for lunch.

That was just bull shit. She knows if someone takes a long lunch they can make it up by working late. I heard in the break room when I got my coffee that she was going to Baltimore to the conference. She was supposed to meet Hayden there, and she couldn’t make it. It was her getting out of his limo when we were going to lunch. I couldn’t miss her skinny flat ass if I tried too.

If that’s the case, he screwing her too? I said panicking, he’s going to cause me to lose my job and I can’t afford that just yet.

You have a rich boyfriend what do you need this measly job for?

I think you’re ahead of yourself. I don’t know this man.

You know how you feel. She shot me a curious glance.

No I don’t. He could be a serial killer or worse.

What is worse than a serial killer? Tamika inquired as she bent forward to see my eyes and get an answer to her question.

He could be a serial killer and I could be pregnant for him.

Now that is worse, she said laughing taking that as a joke.

Girl sometimes you make me laugh. Not often. Just sometimes. What’s in that bag?

I had placed the small bag on my desk and forgot about it during