A squat little building with flaking paint greeted her as she stepped out of the cab. The interior was little better, a beige affair offset by dark wooden panelling. A young woman sat at a receptionist desk beside a double door.

Heels clicked across the floor and the receptionist looked up from her phone to see a woman in a red trench coat and black patent pumps approach.

“Welcome to Olympian Technologies. Do you have an appointment,” the receptionist droned.

“Yes,” said the woman in red, “I’m here to see Mr. Horne.”

The receptionist sighed and pointed toward the double doors.

“Through there, back of the room. He’s expecting you.”

The woman in red nodded her thanks and pushed through the doors. The room beyond them was a cavernous one filled with desks and people sitting at them, typing, talking on phones, writing. The room was drab, carpeted in stained grey, with a paler grey paint on the walls. No one was smiling, no one was talking to a colleague. There wasn’t even a watercooler.

She strode through the room to a large office, separated from the main room by a mahogany door. A small plague on it read ‘Timothy Horne, CEO’. The woman walked through the door and shut it behind her.

This room was entirely different to the rest of the building. Fine, old cabinets lined the walls. Decanters and bottles of expensive drinks filled them. A large wooden desk sat in the centre of the room and behind it, a middle-aged man in a navy suit. He remained seated as the woman approached a leather chair and stood beside it.

“Mr. Horne,” she said, extending her hand, “a pleasure to meet you.”

Timothy Horne frowned and offered a weak handshake.

“Yes, hello. Ms. Calia? No surname, or have I been misinformed?”

“Just Calia is fine.”

Horne took a moment to regard her. Red lips, bright blue eyes, long brown hair tied in a high bun. She was attractive, certainly. He paid rather a lot more attention as she pulled off her coat and placed it on the back of the chair. A tight dress accentuated her curves, showing off a petite figure tapering into stocking-clad legs. Horne let his gaze wander down, then back up, and was sure he saw her smirk, but she quickly sat down, crossed her legs, and nodded, ready to continue.

“Yes, yes, Calia. Look, I know you’re here to discuss our technology, but I must tell you, I have little interest in licensing or selling. We’re making a tidy profit with it, to be frank.”

“I understand your position Mr. Horne, but I am so very interested in how your technology could be applied to my own work. You see I create- “

“I’ve been quite clear; I have no interest in…”

Horne trailed off as Calia took a deep breath. She folded her arms just under her chest, and Horne’s gaze went immediately to her cleavage.

“Mr. Horne,” she said with a soft, delicate tone, “I know you’re protective of your business, but I really feel we can come to an arrangement that suits both of us.”

Horne shook his head and looked back up to Calia’s face.

“Look, Miss, this is not going to happen, ok?”

Calia took another slow, deep breath. Horne did the same, copying her, and then his eyes moved down as she re-crossed her legs, sliding one over the other and revealing a flash of stocking top.

“Now don’t be so hasty, Mr. Horne. I really don’t think you know the potential of what you have.”

Horne looked back at Calia’s face and was met with a devious grin. He grimaced.

“Don’t you want to hear how I’d like to make use of your technology, before you say no?”

As she spoke, Calia pulled a clip from her hair and Horne watched, transfixed, as her brown locks cascaded over her shoulders.

Horne was silent. Instead of speaking, he licked his lips.

“Mr. Horne?”

He snapped back to reality and his cheeks flushed.

“Yes, yes, show me then,” he stammered.

“With pleasure,” Calia said, reaching down to take her phone from her handbag.

In doing so, she gave Horne another long look at her cleavage, and he was quite happy to enjoy the view. When Calia sat up straight again, Horne struggled to peel his eyes from her chest.

“So, you’ll see how this video,” she said, pointing the screen toward Horne, “is an excellent example of what your technology could make more effective.”

Horne looked at the screen. He saw a spiral moving and some flashing images, some text, and little more.

“What is this exactly? What am I looking at?”

“It’s quite simple, Mr. Horne, just keep watching and you’ll figure it out.”

Horne blinked rapidly, his mouth twisted into a snarl, and he reached out and pushed the phone down, and Calia’s hand with it. She bristled at his sudden anger.

“Look, Calia whatever-your-name-is, I don’t care about your little videos. I don’t care that you came in here in your tight dress flaunting your tits. I don’t care what potential you think my tech has. This is business, it’s a man’s world, and I don’t need to make deals with some bitch pretending to understand what I do.”

She took another deep breath.

“A little rude, Mr. Horne.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said,” Calia repeated, standing up from the chair and leaning over the desk, “that was a little rude.”

“The hell do I care?”

Calia leaned closer to Horne, who reflexively moved back in his chair.

“You shouldn’t be so dismissive of someone because of how they look, or their gender, or anything else really.”

“Why the hell not? I’m not in this business to make friends.” Horne said, with a slight wobble in his voice.

“Because you’re just the latest in a long line of CEOs who have treated me exactly the same way, and Mr. Horne, Tim, I’m a little bit sick of it.”

“Not my problem,” Horne said, though his voice was wavering even more.

“I think, Tim, it is your problem. Because you’ve convinced me I need to change my approach. I’ve been going at this all wrong.”

Calia spoke with intensity, a quiet anger that made Horne tense with anticipation.

“You see, Tim, I’ve been trying to be quietly seductive, and that just isn’t working, is it?”

She began to slide the strap of her dress off one shoulder, revealing a silky bra strap.

“I think it’s time I was a little more… direct.”

Horne’s eyes bulged.

“This is h-highly inappropriate,” he muttered.

“Doesn’t that make it all the more enticing?” asked Calia, sliding the strap down a little more and tilting her head to one side.

Horne licked his lips. Calia grinned.

“I talked about what you can do for me,” she said, “but maybe I should have made it more clear what I can do… for you.”

Horne relaxed. A smile formed.

“You know, you make a good point,” he said, “maybe I was… rash.”

“Maybe,” Calia replied, “why don’t you just watch that video, and then we can really get… down to business.”

She winked. Horne’s smile grew larger.

“Fine, fine. Show me.”

Calia sat down and picked up the phone, then pushed play and held it out for Horne to see. This time he watched it intently.

“Try to focus on the details, won’t you Tim?”

“Yes, yes, whatever,” he blurted.

Despite his impatience, he did focus on the details. The swirling spiral grew more transparent and beneath it images of a woman with brown hair, blue eyes, and red lips appeared. Calia. He was already quite aroused at the idea of what she might do when the video ended and seeing her in increasingly erotic poses and in sexier outfits was driving him wild with desire. He barely noticed her speaking in hushed tones as he watched.

“That’s right, just keep staring and you’ll understand how important your technology can be for me. Imagine yourself watching this video and enjoying it even more as it becomes tailored to your desires. Can you see the stockings, the red fingernails. The deep cleavage in black silk?”

Horne nodded.

“Good Tim, but imagine if it really spoke to you, the way you enjoy the most. Showing you your fetishes, your secret desires. Imagine it pulling from your internet history and using that machine learning tech of yours to give you what you really want.”

Horne’s eyes were locked on the video as the images focused on legs, Calia’s legs. His mouth hung open.

“You see I took the liberty of finding out a little about you Tim, and I know you’re a leg man. Aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“And you’d do basically anything for a sexy pair of legs. Wouldn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Calia watched his eyelids start to flutter and his breathing slow.

“You love staring at sexy legs, my legs. So pretty in all those pictures. All those words flashing on screen telling you just what to do. Anything for my legs, right Tim?”

“Anything for your legs.”

“That’s a good boy Tim, why don’t you just stroke yourself for me ok? Really enjoy the experience the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Doesn’t that sound good?”

“Yes, it does.”

“Yes Mistress, Tim.”

“Y-yes Mistress.”

“Good boy.”

Horne began rubbing himself through his trousers as he stared. Calia lifted her foot and ran it up Horne’s leg. He shuddered with pleasure.

“You’re becoming obsessed with my legs. Addicted to them. You would do anything I asked just to see them, am I right Tim?”

“Yes Mistress,” he said.

“Good, and you might think they look good in a video but imagine being able to see them in real life. To worship and adore them. To take your rightful place beneath them.”

Horne was lost in the video and Calia’s words. His mouth hung open. His eyes were glazed over.

“All it takes is giving me what I want, Tim.”

“What you want.”

“That’s right, and you’ll give me what I want, won’t you?”

“Yes Mistress.”

“And you know what I want, say it.”

“You want my technology, Mistress.”

“Correct Tim, but you’ve been naughty, so I don’t want to license it. I want you to sell it to me.”

Horne paused. Calia held her breath, hoping that hadn’t broken the spell, but Horne started to twitch and buck as more images flooded his vision.

“Yes, yes, I’ll sell it Mistress.”

“Good boy Tim, and you don’t care what I give you, because you just want to touch my legs. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes Mistress,” he said, stroking himself furiously.

“Good, you’ll take one dollar, and apologise for being a nasty little man.”

“I’m sorry Mistress, thank you for your offer,” he said, writhing in his seat.

“And when we shake on it, you’re going to orgasm for me, and accept your place as my slave.”

“Yes Mistress,” said Horne desperately.

Calia reached out her hand and let out a little cough to draw Horne’s attention from her video. He glanced long enough to reach his free hand to hers and shake, then exploded with pleasure, his entire body quivering and convulsing as he stared at the screen.

“Good boy,” said Calia as she stopped the video, “now, come to me.”

Horne stood up and walked to Calia. She looked him up and down, at his vacant expression, at the damp patch in his trousers.

“On all fours, now,” she said.

Horne bowed down before her and Calia lifted her feet up and placed them on his back.

“Now slave, after our deal is complete, your company and its technology will be mine. You’ll be fired of course, you’re no longer useful, but I’ll keep your staff. They’ll help me start something new here. Something special.”

Horne was staring at the ground with a delighted smile on his face. He could feel Calia’s legs. That was all that mattered.

“This will be the first acquisition. You were easy. I’m sure plenty of other CEOs and owners will be the same. They’ll all fall for me, and I’ll take what I need, until there’s no one left to compete, and it’s your technology that will make all the difference.”

Calia lifted a foot and crossed it over the other. Horne twitched with pleasure.

“The world doesn’t need another moron running another horrible company exploiting staff and customers, draining resources. It needs someone who can make things better. To use what you’ve created to its full potential. If I must take a few people like you down along the way, so be it.”

Smiling, Calia adjusted her feet once more, digging them into Horne’s back. He groaned.

“I look forward to welcoming your former employees to my business. This is a big day Tim. This is the beginning of an empire. The beginning of CaliaCorp.”