The water washed upon the sea shore pulling the graining beach sand to the sea and pushing it back again. A little girl placed on the beach with a woman while a man held the phone.

"Lillian, say hi to your aunt Cleo". Sitting at her desk in a small office surrounded by computers, was twenty-three-year-old Cleo. She waved at her niece, yet another year, yet another birthday she was missing. She could smell the beach from where she sat not that it mattered. Her brother turned the phone to himself, "you know you could be here right?" he asked a question she already knew the answer to.

"Omarion, you have no idea, how much I would love to be there but I can't" she was about to give her legitimate reasons that her family was calling excuses by now. The landline on desk rang, pushing her chair to the right side of the desk, she picked up the phone. "Au-Ful Man Corporations, I'm Cleo and I will be answering all your questions", she said reaching out to the tablet on her desk. She took the light-pen and jotted down what the complaints were. She looked up at the screens on her right side where she sat that held the customers common complaints.

"Please give me your serial number", she said and typed furiously as the customer spoke to her. "Oh, ma'am, I can see that you aren't online", she said as the customer's system showed. "No, ma'am, yes ma'am. Of course,", she said with a smile and a hearty voice. "No problem", she said typing furiously. "Of course, you are online again. I will handle the upgrade now and should I give you that with the software boost or would you love to skip that?" She leaned back in her chair and turned around to see her brother staring at her. Her mother joined him, "yes, ma'am. It will make your system feel like it is invincible", she replied and smiled at the customer's response. "And you too, ma'am", she said and ended the call. She took over the customer's computer and began to run the various upgrades.

She turned her chair to face the laptop. "Do you ever take a break?" her mother started on her.

"Of course, besides, this is a stepping stone to something greater", she repeated something they had all heard a thousand times. They completed the last part of her statement with her.

"It's been five years at that dump, move on", her father echoed from behind and she forced a smile giving him a nod. She was about to speak when Jean, her sister-in-law snatched the phone.

"This is Lillian's time, not a pathetic, loser, overgrown baby that can't get her life together!" she yelled and ended the call.

"Happy birthday Lillian", Cleo muttered silently to the empty and quiet room. The humming of the computers was all she had to herself. She lifted her head to the only window in her cold, closed air conditioner office. Her office light was the only one on. She looked at the time, on the dimmed screen to protect her eyes and she could see her sad reflection and the time that read ten fourteen pm. She rose to her feet; her body would ache if she hadn't just gotten out of the bed at work. She was glad her family didn't understand time difference, nor did they care.

She strolled to the door, opened it, and turned the lights off. She couldn't afford to put anything to sleep, not while the corporation had an ongoing project. She strolled down the large office hall to the small security space in the back. It was like a one-bedroom apartment. Actually, it was her one bedroom apartment. She got there, closed the door, it had no windows so no one could see who was inside. It had a shower and toilet that was meticulously clean. One single bed arranged, the room was in order and sterilized. She slipped under the blankets and slept.

She knew what brought her here, she knew how to get out, she had to buckle down and finish this year and she only had two months left. Pulling the cover over her head, she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Just two more months, C, just two", she whispered to herself and a smile spread on her lips.

Loud cries echoed through the room, "yes, yes, yes", a lady cried out. Her perky breasts bouncing as she moved up and down. A pair of masculine, big, broad hands reached out for her. One held her waist and the other cupped her breast. She threw her head back and screamed out as she climaxed.

She got off of him, collapsing in bed next to him. His set of deep, dark eyes set on her. She lay beside him, sweat trickling down her mahogany brown skin. Tessimae, was her name, they had been in a relationship for four years. She looked at him and smiled, her eyes squinted as she did.

"You can stare as much as you like, I have given all I can today", she spoke still out of breath. He smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. It never reached his eyes or his soul. He took in a deep breath and sat up. With the sun rising and greeting them this day, he played the things he had to accomplish in his head.

She sat up, reaching over, she took the ten-caret diamond ring on the nightstand and put it on. "Really blowing my back out for this is worth it", she added while he walked toward the bathroom. "I should call my parents and friends and your parents", she went on. He got in and turned on the shower to drown out her high pitch voice. It was bad enough having to listen to it when they fucked. He stood in front of the mirror. A tattoo of a compass on his left bulging pec; was all she would let him keep of his tattoos. The others he had to cover with make-up as he wasn't ready to give up on them. He had the money to remove them but they marked the important miles stones in his life. Gripping the edge of the sink, he lowered his face closer to the mirror. His jaw line was more rectangular than square, difference, his face appeared longer than a squared jawline but just as strong.

His lips paused in a perfect disapproving scowl. He ran his fingers through his rough, black, wavy hair at stopped just above his neck. Tessimae pushed her head into the bathroom and flashed him a smile with her pearly whites. His lips managed to curl into a smile. It looked as though he was glad to see her but in reality, he wanted nothing more than to shove her head backward and push her out of his room and his life.

Her blue eyes, oval shaped jawline, flat cheeks, and lip injected full red lips was the thing of his nightmares. She was still naked, oh how he wished he could throw clothes on her, tell her to get the hell out. What brought them together, a one-night stand and a cocktail party. The one-night stand obviously came first then they met at a cocktail charity event that honestly, he regretted going to. All orchestrated by their grandfathers.

"Just spoke to your father, or dad", she let out a hearty laugh. Oh, her fucking screechy laughter, was all he could think of. "He is insisting we have dinner to celebrate our engagement", she said and bit her lower lip seductively. She raised herself on her tip toes to look at his penis. "Are you hard thinking of me?" she asked in a flirty voice.

"Can't afford to", he finally spoke, his deep voice swallowed her giggle, oh her giggle. The giggle she thought made her seem cutesy and girly. Sounded like a leopard fucking a tiger, it got into his ears and his dreams, no, his nightmare.

She bit her lower lip, "I can make it quick", she said coming closer to him. He would have to think of someone else to get hard again. The entire time they were fucking his mind was on a woman he made up. A woman whose ass actually bounced when he slapped it and didn't stay flat like a chopping board. A woman whose waist and her hips were not the same thing. Who didn't look like she was a caricature of someone's nightmare. Whose smile actually showed lines and he could tell what emotion she was feeling and it wasn't just paused full lips that were stiff when he kissed it. Whose idea of sex wasn't just rubbing lube in her cunt and pushing his penis inside her. Who wouldn't tell him, don't speak I want to feel myself fuck you away.

He was still in thought when she went into the room. She stepped out, lube dripping from her cunt down her legs. He caught her by the arms and stopped her. "Tess, I have to get ready for work. I just bought this company I need things to go well on the first day, you understand?" he asked and she pulled out of his hand roughly.

"You are a fucking joke, you are worth billions and you can't spend two minutes giving me a release?!" she yelled. "Go fuck yourself, Ash!" She continued. "A dildo will do a better job than you, you retard!" She snatched his face towel from the rack, wiped her vagina with it and threw it at his face. Then she flipped him off and walked inside the room. The towel fell to the floor inches from his face, his face scrunched at the smell of it.

Mateo Ash sat at the desk that was now his. Before him was report after report to catch him up. Everyone seemed withdrawn as if he wouldn't last. He wondered what was so bad in the books that made people run. Au-Ful Man was beyond profitable yet no one wanted to touch it with it ten feet pole. He knew he appeared crazy to the outside world buying a corporation that though extremely profitable, no one stayed owing the place for more than nine months.

Unlike the others that came, he wasn't here to fix anything. He came to make sure he got a piece of the pie and spat in his father's face while he did it. This awful, shitty place used to belong to his great, great, great grandfather. It has gone through generations, always adapting and growing with the times. The minute it got into his father's hands, his father sold it. Mateo didn't care about it because he loved cars and building his own business.

That all changed when he found out that his father was adamant that the company stay out of the family. He still bore the family surname, Asheron or just Ash. He knew that once his father, Juan Jose Asheron found out about this, he would throw a fit. Papers were stacked on his left hand side and his new work email was flooded with emails telling him all he needed to know. He wanted to have a meeting with the directors from the various departments. He just needed to be caught up and ready for the meeting.

Pouring a cup of coffee for herself, Cleo yawned. Wearing a silk blue buttoned up shirt and black short skirt that showed more of her legs than necessary. The great thing about her job was she barely interacted with her co-workers. She was the first to work and last to leave. The red tips of her braids hanging just above her shoulders in a ponytail. She pushed herself up on the cabinet in the breakroom as she watched the window lost in her thoughts.

The work was a chore, one she could do in her sleep. Which was why she picked up some extra work around here. She wasn't paid for the extra work even though she used her work card to show she did the work. She worked in the IT department and had been here for five years and seven months. She first started here in her second year of university for her internship program which was for three months. After the three months, she was hired as a contract staff in the IT department.

For some reason, which was how it was explained to her, no one in IT department made it passed the year gap. She quickly learnt why and it was because they were maltreated, severely overworked and drastically underpaid, the ironic thing, it was a tech firm. Her contract paid her hourly which meant she was worth more than she was getting paid and it paid her based on the job she did while her work card was logged in. This was done so it would be easy to terminate her when they got bored or she began to demand her dues.

She had the law enforcement from the local police to the federales breathing down her neck for something. She needed this job for this long to hide under the raider. Now everyone knew she was on the straight and narrow. Her name had been blacked out of the most sort after growing criminals. It was why she didn't make demands. Once the two months are over, she was going to submit her hours to the labour board that would force the company to pay. She could take her time before she went back to work for anyone.

"Of course, you are here before me", Raquel said pulling Cleo from her thoughts. "I swear, you probably leave here", she joked and Cleo laughed knowing it wasn't far from the truth. Raquel was a beauty, slender, tall and curves that she always showed in her tight dresses. "Has the reason for you coming early shown up yet?" she asked placing her bag down on the table as she joined Cleo at the counter.

Cleo lifted her eyes, from where she sat, she could see the elevator and everyone that stepped out. The elevator opened, a man, porcelain fair skin, a few centimetres above average height. He wore a black suit and he wore a suit well. In his hand was a cup of coffee from Delicious, the café across from them. His black hair was neatly combed to the back, he had black narrow eyes and small but full pink lips on his chiselled face. His name was Dalton Haun.

"I just want to sit on his face", Raquel moaned.

Cleo turned her face to Raquel grinning as she did. "Who's going to tell Erin that you are lusting after her work husband?" Cleo asked. Raquel playfully pushed her body against Cleo's.

"She is married and should get over it", Raquel replied. Dalton looked at his watch and turned for the conference room instead of his office. Raquel turned to her, "So, what do you know about the new owner of Au-Ful Man Corporation?"

Cleo shook her head at Raquel, what Raquel was really asking was: whose ass are we kissing this time? The corporation had changed hands a lot over the last ten years.

"Our new owner used to be a mechanic", Cleo replied and jumped down.

Raquel let out a short laugh of disbelief. "Please laugh too", she blurted out and Cleo giggled playfully at her. "Thank heavens", she blurted out.

"No…. I am laughing at your reaction. His name is Mateo Asheron, he used to be a mechanic and owns a lot of chain car body and repair shops. He's a multi-millionaire if not billionaire. No recent pictures and he is engaged to a woman called Tessimae Carpenter. She's a socialite and granddaughter of Rupert Carpenter. Yet for some reason, everyone refers to her as a social climber and a lot of other bad names. She just announced their engagement this morning and the backlash was not pretty".

Raquel sipped her coffee as she listened. "Any pictures of her?"

"Several, she has active social media accounts with lots of pictures. She used to be a sale's girl at some rundown boutique now she is modelling clothes on her social media accounts. Nothing on her business socials like Join-hands and Who-u-know. I didn't even find her there. However, personal socials like Loud' It, Ask 'em and See 'em, she is everywhere there".

"Do people still use See "em? That place is just filled with fake news, gossip and drama", Lily spoke as she entered. She rushed in looking tired and dishevelled.

"Who robbed you of a goodnight's rest?" Cleo asked.

"The fucking in-laws", Lily spat as she pushed her laptop bag and handbag on the table next to Raquel's bag. Cleo poured her a cup of coffee and stretched out her hand. "Thanks", Lily said snatching the cup from her hand and began to drink it while it was hot. "Two tiny, loud and energetic children, I can handle. What I can't handle is Jake's mother thinking my house is her house and her incompetent husband that just sits down watching the game and drinking", she narrated sipping her coffee. "Last night, I finally got the children to bed by eight and Jake was doing the dishes. His mother came in to yell at him for being less than a man because he was and I quote doing my job".

Raquel and Cleo shared a look because they knew Jake very well. "Which of his parents tried to crawl back into the house?" Raquel asked. Jake, Lily's husband was a no-nonsense man. He barely spoke and never raised his voice. He was also a man of action, he was large and strong. He used to lift weights professionally in his twenties and early thirties. Now in his forties, all he wanted to do was run his gym and training centres.

"His father", Lily announced. "Jake lifted him with the chair, tossed him outside on the cold, wet pavement. His spent four hours trying to get back inside. He only stopped when Jake released the wolves", she added. It was not a figure of speech, they trained and kept wolves as pets feeding them livestock.

"Is your father-in-law alright?" Cleo asked quietly. Lily's head fell to the side and her eyes lifted to show Cleo that was a stupid question. Cleo muttered an apology on her coffee and sipped her coffee. "So, what kept you up?"

"Police, ambulance, animal control who tried and failed to find the wolves. They left four hours ago", she looked up at Raquel and noticed her ring finger was bare. "Another one, Raq?" she asked in a condescending tone.

Raquel laughed, "yeah, I should stay married so I can be kept up through the night because my husband rears wolves as pets", Raq shot back with a stiff smile on her lips.

"You are thirty-one, just had a baby boy, that needs you and in your third failed marriage", Cloe's lips parted in shock as no one expected that.

"This is my second marriage. My first marriage didn't fail, Lonzo died in the war. My son is my business not yours. We all have our issues, also I forgot my wedding ring today, Jaf and I are fine", Raq slammed her mug on the counter. Took her bag and walked off.

Lily turned her gaze to Cleo. "I am taking my frustration out on her, aren't I?" she asked and Cleo was about to answer when Lily noticed what she was wearing. "I can see your mid and lower thighs, isn't that too short for work?"

"Take a fucking nap in the lounge room before someone breaks a cup on your head", Cleo put down her mug and walked out while Lily shouted an apology after her.

Standing in the broad visitor's space stood three women all in their late-twenties to early thirties, Erin, Esme, and Eva. Their ages, twenty-nine, thirty and thirty-one respectively. Each of them was married with children and yet looked like they were in their early twenties. Of the three of them, Erin was the prettiest and she didn't hide it.

With bronze brown skin, cat green eyes, small, full, pouting red lips and small round face that radiated innocence though she was far from it. She had a full, curvy figure. She worked out and kept in shape but it didn't diminish her curves. From her ass that didn't quit to her round, grapefruit size breasts and everything in between. She was a wonder to behold as she managed to squeeze all of her into tight outfits, that made working for the men impossible. Human Resources had had many conversations with her but she was in the sales department and her numbers were up so most people looked away. Besides, it was the women complaining not the men as she never hit on them.

Esme was more athletic, with broader shoulders and narrow hips but big breasts that she always had up. She worked in sales as well and though her numbers were not as good as Erin, she was always a close second. Her square jawline with her amber brown skin gave her a classy look, her lower lip was fuller and her cheek bones sharp. She was a mother of two like Erin. She was taller than every woman in the office so she rarely wore heels so she doesn't intimidate the clients.

Eva looked like a barbie doll, from her olive brown skin to her piercing baby blue eyes, her sharp chin, and round cheeks. Her smile never reached her eyes or her face because she hated lines on her face. She was average height, always in tall heels, and fitted clothes. Nothing pouring out like the other women. She worked in the finance department and despite her fragile look, she knew numbers like no man's business and was great at complicated math problems. She had only one child and it was through a surrogate.

They were laughing as they watched Dalton walk into the conference room as they discussed him.

"Oh, Esme you are bad", Erin laughed out. Esme lowered her head to Erin's shoulder to hide in case he turned them. Erin wasn't quiet in her laughter.

"Okay, Dalton, Byron, Kenta and Francois", Eva changed the conversation as she whispered for their hearing alone. "Date one, turn one into your occasional lover, marry one and fuck one once but never again". Immediately, the women's eyes raised to the ceiling as they thought.

Esme bounced, "okay, date Byron, it doesn't have to lead to sex", she paused thinking about it. "Turn Dalton to my occasional lover because –," she bit her lower lip hard and let out a whimper causing her friends to giggle. "I mean look at him need I say more? Marry Kenta obviously, he wouldn't be faithful to me and I wouldn't be to him and fuck Francois once. If there is one thing I have learnt in life, don't fuck with doctors and lawyers", she remarked and her friends laughed nodding their head in agreement.

Cleo stepped out of the break room and Erin saw her. "Excuse me", she said and approached Cleo. "Hey cube chic", she called out and Cleo stopped knowing instinctively that Erin was addressing her. Because they went through IT staff like they did coffee, no one bothered to learn her name. At least Erin added Chic to it which was nice. Others just yelled "hey cube!" or a variation of it.

"Morning Erin", she said softly. Her big, brown eyes looking at Erin.

"I didn't have the time to deal with the Cyprus account, please tell me –," before she finish, Cleo pointed over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Sent it to you this morning", Cleo spoke and Erin flashed her bright smile.

"Thank you, you are a fucking life saver", reaching out, Erin's finger ran down Cleo's arm. She did not know when to turn off the flirting and used it on everyone. Cleo gave her a polite smile, Erin turned to go join her friends and Cleo continued to her office. Her smile faded, they were not friends. None of them were her friends, not even Lily and Raquel. They were all work colleagues.

She got into her office, the blinds were closed. She walked behind her desk and sat down. She opened her laptop and opened a page. It was list of houses in a different state. It was time for her to start somewhere else. She had kept her word to the government and her name was off the fucking list. She needed to buy a house and set down her roots somewhere no one knew her and she could start again.

She opened a woman's social media page; another memorial post was put up about her as well as prayers for the ones responsible for her death to suffer. Cleo rolled her eyes. No one told or forced anything down her throat. She knew what she was buying. She opened another woman's page and she was talking about her late son. Cleo closed the pages and opened her eldest brother page and looked at it. He was shaking hands with some rich idiot. Of course, their parents would be proud of him.

They all act like they came from nothing. As though all four children were raised in poverty, when it was just her. With her parents doing little to help. Her three brothers had done well for themselves and to an extend so had she. She was doing great until her fucking, greedy, waste of a grandfather stuck his disgusting pig snout into her business. Now she was working her ass off to stay under the raider. She opened her mother's page and read as she talked about her grandfather being really sick and dying. She relished in the thought that he was so close to death's door. He was lucky she loved her freedom more than her desire to end him for good. She would settle for failing kidneys, failing lungs and damaged livers.

A knock at the door drew her attention as she looked up. "I just got a letter from Callswell Corporation", Byron, a forty-three-year-old that cared about his appearance more than anyone she knew. He had had a few botox injections, lip fillers for his lower and upper lip to give the pouty look. Chin implants so he could have a chin dimple, cheek implants for a chiselled look and his bone had been shaved to give the lean yet square jawline he wanted. He had green eyes, she thought used to be close together, but with surgery, he had them in a place he called, the normal side. Hair implants to give him luscious brown full hair. Honestly, she couldn't remember what he looked like when she first started. Despite his work done, he was considered one of the most handsome men in the office, not that she saw it.

She put her most corporate voice and sickly-sweet smile. "Yes, Mr. Byron". She greeted.

"Why am I getting a letter from them. It is run by a farmer. Do I and my sales team look like we work with farmers?!" He yelled at her and she responded with a smile. "You are a glorified secretary that can fix technical problems. Do me a favour, don't let your mistake piss me off again", he barked at her. Then he turned on his heels, stopped and turned around. "Also, stop asking for a raise, you are so fucking annoying", he stormed off slamming her door shut.

Her smile faded, "melted ken doll", she hissed under her breath and rolled her eyes. He was the director of the sales department if it wasn't clear enough for her. He designated her to be an honorary sales person. She was sent a new contract that came with an increased pay, not that he ever allocated her real pay to her but shared it amongst the 'real sales team'. Her job, was to sell to undesirable clients, AKA, people that weren't born into, or worth a lot of money. Their software for every business and they knew that but they didn't want to associate with people that would pull down their record.

Cleo's office was a hybrid, the wall facing her had computers, the wall to her right computers and before was an L-shaped desk with two separate keyboards and mouses for the computer screens with a landline on the right of the desk. Her laptop was the desk, to her left was a large window, a small wall that had a door. The door led to the security suite which was where she lived. The wall behind her had two air conditioners blasting on full blast. In here, she controlled everything in the office.

She pulled up Byron's office, she could see what he was doing in there. Every office had cameras for security reasons. The only places without were the restrooms and the security rooms, this was because the rooms were made as bunkers and abandoned years ago. Now, it was just a renovated one-bedroom apartment that people forgot existed. She shouldn't have access to the security cameras but no one knew so she continued.

She turned on the cameras on his phone, desktop, and laptops to record him at all times, both audio and video and set it up to back up in a server no one knew about. She closed the screen and went back to work.