The beat pulsing through the club changed as she stepped through the door. A switch from a chaotic, blaring track to a lower, deeper base. Less overwhelming, easier to talk under. It was the kind of music she liked playing when she was discussing business, and a few quick hacks from her phone were all it took.

 

No one looked up. The staff didn’t care, and the clients didn’t notice. Everyone out on the dance floor was too seared right now. Slice had been hitting the streets hard and cheap lately, and no one who’d spend their night in a dive like this had the will to resist its siren call. Their bodies were moving, grinding to the rhythm, but their brains may as well have been lumps of rock.

 

Perfect place to talk where you weren’t going to be overheard.

 

She slipped through the crowd with ease, passing through dim bubbles of awareness without leaving a trace. What was there to remember about a woman like her? She had shoulder length blonde hair with pink streaks – so did every dancer in the club, and half of the customers too. The bodysuit might have been eyecatching, if it wasn’t covered up by a casual black jacket and denim pants. Ultimately, she was just notable enough to be completely forgettable.

 

Navigating through the dance floor and into the shaded seating area, she slid into the booth without a word to the woman sitting across from her, snatching up the drink in front of them and downing it in one go. It was a move she liked to use to set the tone of any meeting, a way to establish dominance.

 

“So,” she said, finally taking a look at her prospective client. “Why did you call for me?”

 

The woman, to her credit, didn’t so much as blink at her entrance. “Miss Gatespark, I presume?”

 

“I’m just some rando,” the blonde giggled, slinging her feet up on the table. “Meeting another rando in a club, randomly. You can call me whatever you like – as long as you’re paying the right fee.”

 

The other woman’s eyes narrowed, but she made no move to drive the blonde away. Instead, she looked her over one more time, before nodding. “I suppose I can understand secrecy, given your line of work. If you’re here and she’s not, then you’re probably the kind of agent I’m looking for anyway.”

 

The blonde grinned, pulling a box of pocky from her jacket pocket and clenching a stick between her teeth. “Do tell.”

 

The other woman nodded. She was a plain thing – blown hair, business suit. Didn’t look like she belonged in this dive at all. But then, half the people in here looked like that. “I represent a party interested in hiring you for a one job contract.”

 

Crunch. “You mean you represent Helena Powers.”

 

That, at last, made the other woman stumble. “I’m sorry?”

 

“Don’t play dumb.” Gatespark fed another stick of chocolate coated goodness into her mouth. “Your security was laughable. I had you pegged from the moment you contacted me. Nice try, using one of PromiTech’s computers, but not enough.” Crunch. Crunch. “I knew you worked for Pandora as soon as I saw their code. From there it was easy to find a Miss Susane Richards, gopher and general secretary, a nobody in Pandora’s.” Another stick twirled between her fingers. “And it was even easier to find out about your meeting with Miss Powers yesterday afternoon.”

 

The brunette was silent for a moment, taking all of that in. Then she clasped her hands. “You’re well informed.”

 

A flash of a grin, and the crunch of another stick. “Isn’t that why you came looking for me?

 

The woman’s head tilted slightly in acknowledgement. “You certainly have a reputation.”

 

“… Mmm.” For the first time, the blonde woman’s expression darkened. “Yeah, well. Don’t believe everything you hear out there. I’m the best freelancer you’ll find on the market. That’s all.”

 

The brunet’s dark eyes scanned the blonde once again. “So the rumours about you and Olivia Cleopatra?”

 

“Are just rumours.” Gatespark’s voice was firm, with no playful edge. The pocky stick stilled in her fingers, and nearly clattered to the table before she caught it with a sigh. “… I did a job for her a while back. She got too attached. Wanted to retain my services permanently and personally. I like a good paycheque as much as the next lady, but when she started talking about wedding bells, I knew it was time to get out of there. I disappeared from her life, blocked her contacts, deleted the spam mail she sent out…” The pocky began to spin again as she shrugged. “Ever since she’s been trying to tank my reputation, wants to drive me back to her. But obviously, that’s not going to work.”

 

“You have my sympathies.” The brunette nodded. “PromiTech is a rival of Pandora – we know all about how underhanded it’s CEO can be.”

 

“Heh. Yeah, I guess you would.” The blonde shook her head. “Well, whatever. You’re not here for a history lesson. As you can probably guess, I’m never going near a PromiTech job, but that’s all there is to it.”

 

The brunette leaned in, her lips twisting into a smirk. “Are you sure?”

 

Blonde raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Pretty sure.” Crunch.

 

“Well that is most unfortunate,” the brunette said, leaning back. “Because five days ago, PromiTech stole one of the most advanced prototypes of one of our top secret designs. As we speak, they’re trying to reverse engineer our technology and beat us to market. The job I’m here to offer to you is to infiltrate the PromiTech lab complex and retrieve our prototype, while deleting all of their records on the subject. Collateral damage is expected – in fact, I dare say, it would even be encouraged.”

 

Gatespark stared at her. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. “… Alright. You’re a better saleswoman than I thought. I’m listening.”

 

Brunette smirked, just ever so slightly, as she nodded and pulled a laptop up onto the table, sliding it around the freelancer’s feet. Popping open the screen, she revealed a set of schematics for some kind of device, with a great deal of space reserved for the slowly rotating image of a headset. It looked like a more clunky version of those old VR visors, from back when those had been popular. This one was black, though, and the bulk was more evenly set around the frame, making it more of a ring, or a particularly awkward looking hat.

 

“This is the product in question.”

 

The blonde snorted. “I don’t see that one flying off the shelves.”

 

“It’s not supposed to.” The brunette nodded in agreement. “It’s a helmet designed to perform permanent alterations on the wearer’s psyche. Slow, steady, and irrevocable.”

 

Crunch. “You’re talking about mind control.” The blonde didn’t look surprise. Another stick twirled through her fingers.

 

“Is that a problem?”

 

She shrugged. “Does it work?”

 

“Tests are promising.” The brunette pressed a button on the keyboard, flashing a few graphs up on screen. “Though it requires quite a lot of time to run effectively. Faster methods are… potent, but less useful.”

 

“Ominous! I guess I can look forward to society getting even more fucked up soon then, huh?” Gatespark grinned fearlessly. “Anything else?”

 

The brunette tapped a few more keys. “Here are the blueprints for the complex where we believe our technology is being held. We’ve included information we’ve been able to extract about the building – air vents, locked doors, security systems, the usual. And we’ve taken the liberty of highlighting the optimal route in and out.”

 

Gatespark looked over the maps, mildly impressed despite herself. “Solid plan. Not easy to pull off, but it could work.”

 

“We’re willing to provide assistance where necessary. Nothing that will get back to us, but codes for the doors and software for the computers. We need to confirm the data wipe ourselves.” The woman closed the laptop. “As discretion is paramount, we will also be providing our own stealth op equipment to assist you.”

 

The blonde frowned at that. “I prefer to work with my own tech.”

 

“Of course.” The brunette nodded understandingly. “But we need to be completely sure their system is cleaned. It may be inconvenient – but it’ll hurt PromiTech that much worse.”

 

Crunch. “Mn. Fine.”

 

Another nod. “Then once you confirm that you have the actual helmet, and that it is secure, the payday will be yours. Any questions?”

 

The freelancer thought about it for a moment, before swallowing one last pocky, and sticking out her hand. “Nah. I’m good. Let’s do it.”

 

-

 

The question of how to infiltrate the PromiTech lab complex presented an unexpected snag. Whoever had planned this little heist – probably Powers, or someone close to her – had expected their agent to walk in through the front door disguised an executive, flash a badge and just walk on in. As plans went, it wasn’t half bad. Simple, easy, and relatively low risk.

 

But that was impossible for the freelancer. Alas, it went against the one rule she’d made for herself, one that she’d stuck to for all of her life.

 

Suits were too safe, too cozy, too dull. She had no desire to be some anonymous corporate drone. She was better than that, and she knew it. The rise of the wi-fi age of technology offered a woman like her unprecedented levels of freedom – she knew she’d be a fool to give it up for a 9 to 5. All the gates were open if you knew how to send the right spark.

 

So Gatespark had made her own adjustments to the plan.

 

“Maintenance, coming through!” She greeted the front desk cheerfully, rolling a cart in ahead of her. Her blonde hair was mostly hidden by the grey cap on her head, hopefully just barely enough to stall recognition from the security cameras. It matched nicely with the grey jumpsuit she was wearing.

 

Look, suits were unforgivable. Jumpsuits were different. You could do a lot with a good jump suit.

 

For instance, you could be utterly ignored by the bored secretary at the reception desk, who waved her on through as soon as she saw that the new arrival was on the schedule. Which, of course, she was. Gatespark had hacked herself in there not ten minutes previously. Easy job – especially with the upgraded hacking software that Pandora had provided.

 

She was in.

 

Beyond the reception, the building began to look rather futuristic. The walls and floor became white, smooth panels with backing lights, the corridors twisting off in all directions. If the freelancer hadn’t had a map, she might have gotten lost very easily.

 

As it was, though, she had more than a map – she had a plan. One that started by shoving her cart into a storage cabinet, throwing the jumpsuit in after it, and setting out on a deliberate path.

 

The plan was simple. There were two stops she needed to make before she could get into the vault proper, and retrieve the property she was here to retrieve. One was the office of the Head of Research – that was where she expected to find the files she needed to destroy about the stolen device – and the other was the Security Hub for the building – where she’d be deleting all traces of her visit. Both were important and were basically on the way. It was up to her which one she hit first.

 

Hm… Security. Just to remove that potential complication. She was totally confident in her ability to handle a bunch of grunts if she needed to, especially with the toys Pandora had given her to play with on this mission, but why take the extra risk?

 

So the freelancer turned to the right, slipping through empty corridors silently, scrubbing her image from the camera feed as she went. Some people might have needed a team to do this kind of work, but she’d always found it easiest to handle it all herself. It wasn’t like it was hard. Insert footage loop of her mopping the bathroom here, scrub her image from the cameras here here and here, keep an eye on that wandering scientist to make sure she didn’t cross his path here… It just made sense to keep track of it all herself, right? And the software upgrade Pandora gave her made it all so simple!

 

Simple enough that she was stepping into the security office, pressing her back against the wall to avoid attention from the corporate stooges manning the cameras. None of them looked switched on enough to notice her, but hey, she was being paid to be professional, might as well put the effort in.

 

Her destination was a door at the back. It was locked, understandably, but a little fiddling with Pandora’s software on her phone had it sliding open soundlessly. Perfect.

 

Gatespark stepped into the Head of Security’s office, and locked the doors behind her.

 

Frederica Rosenberg (Freddy to her friends) had been working for PromiTech for close to two decades now, having joined up with them as soon as she got out of school. Her record was flawless, and littered with commendations from superiors she’d worked for as she climbed the chain in the tech company’s security division. A tall woman with curly brown hair, green eyes, and a shockingly youthful face for a woman so accomplished. It was no surprise she’d been entrusted with security for one of the company’s most important facilities.

 

Of course, browsing through the woman’s personal files had uncovered a woman who was rather bored with her current posting, and was hoping for a transfer to somewhere more interesting in a couple of years. Unsurprising, really. The security in the lab complex made most thieves far too leery to stage an actual heist against the place – not without a guaranteed payday, which was rare. Hardly the kind of place someone could distinguish themselves.

 

All of that had been uncovered with a quick scan of Freddy’s social media. Gatespark had used the scan as a way to test Pandora’s software, and it had been the first time she was impressed with it, though far from the last. With just a few key words, she’d learned practically everything she needed to know about the lab’s Head of Security.

 

And now the woman was sitting before her, studying something on her computer. Despite her record, she hadn’t heard her come in. She really was just as bored as her profile had indicated – and boredom led to complacency.

 

Now here was where the contract got tricky. Gatespark wasn’t a violent woman, and generally tried to avoid fighting unless it was absolutely necessary – but she wasn’t afraid of going for the kill if she needed to. Pandora, however, had asked that she avoid bloodshed on this mission – instead, they had provided her with a different set of tools.

 

… She’d been nervous about using them at the start of the mission, but after seeing how much success they’d had with their software, she had to admit she was curious to see how effective this stuff was…

 

So, the freelancer dipped a hand into her new bag of tricks, and pulled out a small, metal disk, about the size of a coin. It glittered with semi-visible circuitry in the light of the office. Then, without waiting for her target to notice her, she tossed the disk through the air – straight on to Freddy’s forehead.

 

The Security boss looked up, startled by the sudden impact, her hand already reaching for her gun – but before it could reach, her body had already locked up, frozen. Then Gatespark watched her eyes cross, as if trying to focus on the device – though a closer look revealed an odd twitchiness to them.

 

She knew the truth, of course. The device had been explained to her. It was a ‘Drone Disk’, apparently, though the name was still being considered in marketing. Essentially, it worked by connecting to the target’s head – preferably with direct skin contact – and forming an electrical connection with the nervous system, specifically the brain. Then it locates a few key areas in the frontal lobe, areas responsible for independent conscious thought and decisions, and it overloads them.

 

The freelancer had to wonder how it felt, to have your sense of self obliterated like that. Just this little pop behind your eyes, and your thoughts going silent. Had to be weird, right? She’d been told it was painless, but surely you felt something. Or… Maybe you didn’t. Not ever again.

 

The blonde shrugged, stepping into the office proper and slipping around the brown haired woman’s desk, ripping the keycard ID off from around her neck. “Get up and go face the wall,” she said. Freddy rose, and did just that. With the parts of her brain responsible for thinking no longer in play, there was no resistance to outside orders. She’d just discovered a whole new level of obedience. Good for her!

 

The freelancer leaned over the computer. Freddy had left herself logged in, so it was the work of a moment to sync it up with her phone, and let her programs go to work. Just a couple of keystrokes and it was done. This software really was good – and it took a lot to impress her. She’d have to take a look under the hood after this mission was done and see how it all worked.

 

For now, though, she had other places to be. The blonde slipped out of the security office as easily as she entered it, leaving without a sound. She left Freddy staring at the wall. The woman wasn’t going to be moving – or thinking – for as long as that disk was on her head. Apparently if it stayed on for long enough, the droning would become permanent. She’d be an unthinking drone for life.

 

Gatespark shrugged and left her to her fate, putting the brunette from her mind. She had some files to go delete.

 

The trip through the halls was even faster now that she’d essentially made herself invisible to the security system. Her programs meant that she had almost full run of the place without challenge. And she was going to handle the ‘almost’ next.

 

So it wasn’t long before she reached the main research lab. This area was more populated – people were working here, studying computers or conducting experiments. Maybe they might have spotted her if she’d hung around, but as always she was a woman on the move. A snatched lab coat slipped over her shoulders was enough for her to blend in as she walked through the halls towards sub-objective two.

 

This one was easy enough. Delete all PromiTech research files on the stolen device, and make sure that the main record in the complex was completely wiped clean.

 

In this case, said main record was otherwise known as Rebecca Davies, the Head of Research. Well, Pandora had given her ways of dealing with that. Once again, Gatespark turned to her new bag of tricks, and selected something fun.

 

“Miss Davies!” The blonde called out as she entered the woman’s office. “Hi there! I just wanted to say it’s such an honour to get to work with you!”

 

The redhead whose office it was blinked in confusion at the appearance of this strange woman who absolutely had no right to be in this facility no matter what kind of lab coat she was wearing, but before that observation could worm its way into the alarm section of her brain, the blonde had closed in and was offering, no, demanding a handshake. The scientist, of balance and uncertain, couldn’t see a reason to refuse. And by the time she did – by the time she felt the wet, tingly sensation that came with the liquid coating the blonde’s hand – it was far too late.

 

The chemical on Gatespark’s glove was not one that the freelancer was familiar with, and given how impossible it looked to pronounce, she hadn’t bothered to remember its name – but Pandora had been very clear about its effects, and how careful she should be around it. While it worked best ingested in small doses, it could easily be absorbed through the skin, and when it entered the bloodstream, it quickly headed straight for the brain. The effect it had on people then was very interesting, she had been told. They became extremely suggestable. Practically hypnotised, in fact.

 

She could see it, too. As she watched, the redheaded science officer’s green eyes were becoming glazed, their focus drifting, pupils dilatating. Man, these Pandora people knew what they were doing. Maybe she should work with them more often.

 

“I’m the new hire,” she said quickly, explaining her presence with the least amount of background she felt needed. “They sent me over from the main office. Don’t worry about the paperwork, I’m sure they’ll send it through in a few days.”

 

“Oh… Okay…” Rebecca nodded slowly, the words sinking into her suddenly very soft brain. “Don’t worry…”

 

“That’s right!” The blonde grinned, releasing the handshake and carefully stripping the chemical coated glove off of her hand, tossing it away. “And I have some personal instructions for you from the boss!”

 

The redhead blinked at her. It felt like her gaze was staring off into infinity. “Instructions…?”

 

“Yep!” Gatespark nodded. “They want you to listen to these for the rest of the day,” she said, pulling out another new toy – a pair of wireless headphones. “Just take a seat and let ‘em do their work. No need to worry about anything else.”

 

“Okay,” Rebecca nodded. “No need to worry…”

 

The blonde snorted, shaking her head. ‘Suggestible’ was an understatement. This was almost creepy. Ah well, none of her business!

 

She caught a crackle of a static whisper as she handed the headphones over, and nearly staggered. Hoo, feeling that dizzy just from a small sample? Yeah, Pandora wasn’t messing around with any of this stuff. From what she’d been told, the subliminal laden static from those pods was enough to wipe anyone’s memory clean with a long enough exposure…

 

Well, good luck with that, Becca! Gatespark shrugged, snatching the researcher’s ID from around her neck and adding it to her collection, before heading onwards. She still had a job to do, after all. With a merry skip in her step, she walked over to a nearby terminal, and hooked up her phone to the research database, letting it run.

 

Annnd… done! System scrubbed clean! Easy as one two three. Had, how had she ever lived without this stuff? Pandora had outdone themselves this time. They really were the best.

 

Now there was just one target left. The main target. The vault. Located down the hall, past both Security and Research sections, it was supposed to be the most secure safebox in the entire city, maybe even in the country. No thief, hacker, or thug should be able to break in.

 

But other hackers didn’t have the access cards of both the Head of Research and the Head of Security.

 

Gatespark grinned, tossing the lab coat aside the second it was no longer needed, striding right up to the vault door and sliding the two cards through the lock mechanism. Then she repeated the motion a few times until the scanner actually detected the IDs properly. PromiTech wasn’t that great on its sensor tech yet, apparently.

 

Finally, it registered. The door swung open. And there, in the middle of the room sized vault, was the headset. No more protections. No more defences. Just her, and her goal.

 

Easiest paycheque she’d ever earned.

 

Maybe that should have been her warning. Nothing was ever this easy. But as she all but skipped to her objective, crossing into the vault, a single word rang out, and ruined her day.

 

“Bianca.”

 

Gatespark froze, her hand inches away from the headset. Her teeth ground together, and her breath hissed through them in a suppressed growl.

 

Olivia Cleopatra. Her ex-client/stalker – and CEO of PromiTech.

 

“I should have known you’d impress. I wasn’t expecting you to reach me down here for another hour! It’s such a joy to see you working at the top of your game~”

 

The freelancer turned, glaring. There was the woman herself. Sitting at the side of the vault in a comfortable chair, a fancy table and a glass of wine near her hand. Straight black hair and dusky skin, combined with those piercing blue eyes… There really was no mistaking her for anyone else.

 

“Stay back, Oli- Miss Cleopatra,” the freelancer muttered. “I’m here on a job, not for you.”

 

The CEO chuckled, standing and straightening out her black suit. “Oh, I know, darling. I hired you for it.”

 

The blonde’s brow furrowed.  Huh? “You… What?”

 

“I hired you.” Giggling, the black haired, black hearted executive crossed the vault floor, her heels clicking against the steel floor. “How else was I going to get you back?”

 

Uh oh. Swallowing, Gatespark shook her head. “No, no, Pandora hired me – Helena Powers hired me.”

 

Cleopatra just grinned. The freelancer couldn’t help but shudder, feeling those eyes roaming over her body again. “Powers has been my obedient little lapdog ever since I slammed that helmet down around her ears – and Pandora works for me. I bought their company a week ago.”

 

She nodded to the helmet in front of the blonde with an eager smile, as if she was proud of this scheme and wanted the freelancer to be impressed. Gatespark felt her stomach flip at the implications.

 

It couldn’t be true, it couldn’t be… Could it? All of this, just to get her back? No one sane would do such a thing, but Olivia… She’d known she was a little obsessed, but all of this…

 

Shit. She needed to get out of here.

 

No words, no arguing. The blonde just turned on her heel and went to sprint-

 

“Ah, you can’t leave, Bianca.” The CEO’s voice stopped her dead in her tracks, before she’d even taken a step. “Not yet. You still have a job to finish, don’t you?”

 

A… A job to… finish…?

 

The dark-haired beauty circled around her prey, drinking her in from every angle – obsession burning in her eyes. “I know you’re a professional, darling – it’s one of the many things Iove about you.” Brrr… Just hearing that made a shiver shoot down the blonde’s spine. “But more than that? I know the subliminals in Pandora’s software have been pounding into your brain all night. Every time you used their software.”

 

Pandora’s amazing software? W-wait, what was she… Ooohh… Why… Why was her head so fuzzy all of a sudden…?

 

“But I suppose it’s not your fault.” Olivia loomed over the blonde, practically drooling over her. “I made sure you wouldn’t be suspicious. I had your favourite business music laced with subliminals at the club. I knew you’d never be able to resist playing it while you met my- I mean, Helena’s agent. And I had her drink laced with that lovely chemical you used on poor Rebecca. I knew you’d take it for yourself. Ingested, it’s a lot slower to work, a lot subtler… But it does work.” Her eyes flashed. “I know you better than you know yourself, beloved. And I know once I make you stop pretending you don’t love me back, we’ll be perfect for one another. So now, at last, I need you to finish the job.”

 

The words struck a chord, even as everything else felt like it was dissolving into chaos. Right… Right… She had to… finish the job…

 

The freelancer reached for the helmet, plucking it off its stand easily. It felt heavy in her hands. A good weight. More real than everything else around her. With it resting in her arms, she turned to stumble away from the vault… But…

 

“Ah ah, Bianca.” That dreaded voice speared through the fog of her thoughts. “Not so fast. Aren’t you forgetting something?”

 

Was she…? She felt like she was forgetting a lot right now. Her head felt so empty…

 

“Are you sure that’s the real helmet?” The voice continued. “Don’t you have to confirm it?”

 

And as it spoke, another voice echoed out of the past. One from the club. From yesterday. From a time when everything still made sense.

 

Right. She had to confirm this was the real deal. And the only way to do that, would be…

 

… Would be to use it.

 

A blank frown on her face, the blonde turned and began to advance upon the black haired CEO – but the woman just grinned and shook her head. “Oh, I’m afraid it won’t work on me,” she said, and the freelancer believed her. “Not on me, or on any of the employees here in the building. I’ve made sure of that.”

 

What… But then… How could she…

 

“No, Bianca. I’m afraid there’s only one person here who can prove that the helmet is the real deal.”

 

One… person…? Who- Who could…

 

… Oh.

 

Olivia’s smile filled Gatespark’s vision as the CEO stepped closer, gently pulling the helmet from her limp hands. She felt her former client and stalker’s arm slide around her shoulder, guiding her over to the chair at the side of the room, sitting her down. Then, darkness lowered itself down over her head, as she allowed the heavy helm to be place on her. The only way to confirm it was the real deal.

 

For a moment, she felt soft lips pressing against her own, a sweet tongue brushing along her inner lip. And then her world flooded with bright, swirling light, and loud, hissing noise. Spirals spun before her eyes. Static crackled in her ears. Silence spread through her mind.

 

Gatespark lay back, and lost herself in the helmet’s embrace.

 

-

 

Bianca blinked, wetting her dry lips as the helmet was lifted off of her head. How long had she been under? It felt like a while, but her mind had been a total blank – she didn’t remember a thing about the process. To her, it had only been on her for a few seconds, but surely it must have been longer.

 

Had it worked? That was a strange question to be asking yourself. She didn’t feel any different. Her mind seemed to be spinning along as normal. Maybe it wasn’t actually the real thing after all? How could she-

 

A black painted nail stroked up under the freelancer’s chin, drawing her eyes up to meet piercing blue. “How are you feeling, Bianca?”

 

Olivia.

 

There was only one answer she could give.

 

“Darling~” With the brightest of smiles on her face, the blonde rose up and threw herself around the love of her life, lips meeting lips for a passionate, hungry kiss. “Mn~ I’ve been such a fool. Can you ever forgive me?”

 

“Of course, my beloved.” Black and blonde tangled, lost in one another’s eyes. “I’ve already forgotten the whole thing.”

 

The freelancer giggled. “Funny – so have I~”

 

Hunger flashed in the CEO’s eyes, mirrored in the blonde’s… But to Bianca’s surprise, the dark-haired woman backed up a step before they could truly embrace. Puzzled, she watched as the love of her life pulled a small slip of paper from her pocket.

 

“Here.”

 

The blonde took it with a confused frown. “What’s this?”

 

“Your paycheque.” Olivia smiled mischievously. “You completed your job perfectly – just as I knew you would. Although…”

 

The freelancer’s eyes flicked between the paper – oh, that was a lot of zeroes – and the face of her love. “Although…?”

 

“I was hoping that, perhaps, instead of the money,” the dark-haired CEO said, drawing close once again. “You might consider working for me in a more permanent position. After all…” She raised an eyebrow. “I do need a new security chief, after you proved how unworthy the last one was.”

 

Oh yes. Poor Freddy. Well, Olivia could surely find a use for the silly drone.

 

“I’d love to,” Bianca nodded, tossing the cheque away without a second thought. “I can’t even think of a reason I’d ever refuse. I’m yours forever, beloved.”

 

“Ah. Darling!” The two fell into one another’s embrace again – and this time felt no need to come back up for air. They could sort everything else out in the morning. For now, they’d been apart for far, far too long.

 

There was one other thought that circled through the blonde former-freelancer’s head for a moment, before it drowned in the swamp of love and lust her mind had become. Just one, small thought…

 

She couldn’t wait to get measured for her new suit~