Her Wolf

Catherine screamed out, her nails scraping down Ryan’s back as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

*****

The morning rolled quicker than what seemed fair and the sound of birds chirping on the balcony caused Catherine’s eyes to flutter open.

“What time is it?” She asked herself, her nose crinkling in distaste. “And why do my thighs feel….oh.”

A faint blush spread across Catherine’s cheeks as she laid back in bed and mused over what happened the night before. It had been a long time since she had spent a night with a man and her body still quivered in the wake of the aftermath.

“Oh God,” she thought to herself. “He’s lying next to me and I probably look like hell.”

Catherine carefully shifted her weight and moved with a delicate precision until she was capable of rolling off of the bed without causing too much disturbance. She inhaled a pacifying breath of air and turned to face the bed, preparing herself to find a sleeping Ryan.

The bed was empty.

“Ryan?” Catherine called out, grabbing her robe and searching the bathroom for any sign of him.

He had done exactly what she figured he would do. He “hit it and quit it” as she had said the night before, though sneaking out in the middle of the night left her with even less dignity. As she searched the Penthouse with any remainder of hope, Catherine found herself feeling dirty.

“Not even a note,” she said to herself.

The sound of Catherine’s cell phone vibrating from the table caught her attention and she lunged forward with newfound hope in her eyes. The lines in Catherine’s forehead deepened as she read over the text that came from her office instead of the person she desperately wanted to hear from.

“The world must go on,” she admitted to herself and slowly found her way towards the bathroom to shower.

The heat of the hot water spraying down on her relaxed Catherine’s muscles and made her want to stay in the shower all day long. Her pencil skirt felt stiff on her body once she had gotten dressed and her blouse felt full of starch. The Louboutins she wore felt even more uncomfortable than usual and for some reason, her heart ached.

“Get over it,” she said to herself. “You’re powerful and strong; at least you got one good night out of it. Who cares if it will be awkward working together?”

Upon the realization that Catherine had left her car at the restaurant yesterday afternoon, she narrowed her eyes in annoyance before she swiped up the keys to her Navigator and immediately fled her Penthouse. Under usual circumstances, she wouldn’t have been in such a rush to get to the office but Ryan’s scent still lingered in the air and the more she stuck around, the more she berated herself.

Catherine arrived at her parked SUV and sat in silence once she started the engine. There was no music she wanted to hear, no one she wanted to talk to.

“Business before anything,” she said to herself as she backed out of her reserved parking space to head out onto the highway and ultimately, her second home; work.

The silent ride seemed to last longer than what it actually was and when Catherine pulled into the parking lot of her office building and saw her silver Mercedes parked in her spot, her throat tightened and her eyes fell shut.

“He had time to deliver my car, but he didn’t have time to tell me he was leaving,” she thought to herself before she smacked her hands against the steering wheel in frustration. “Asshole.”

Catherine’s mood went from bad to worse as she parked next to her signature car and made her way into the building. She could feel the eyes of her staff burning into her back as if she were making the walk of shame. Her heels seemed to click against the tile flooring louder than usual, as if they were purposely trying to get the attention of everyone in the building.

“They’re not actually staring at you, it’s all in your head,” Catherine tried to convince herself as she found her solitude in the awaiting elevator. “Even if they were, it’s not as if they know for sure. If you’re asked why you have two cars here, simply say you had too much wine and didn’t feel comfortable driving last night.”

The elevator chimed upon its arrival and Catherine walked into her office with her head held high.

“This is my domain,” she mused. “It’s my territory and no mistake I make is going to change that. Maybe he left a message with Jess.”

There was a soft humming sound that came from the ceiling fan as Catherine stepped into her office and breathed in the scent of the Peach Bellini candle that Jess had burning on her desk. It was Catherine’s favorite and while most people used the scent of pine or teakwood to relax themselves, Catherine preferred something on the sweeter side.

“Jess?” Catherine called out.