Page 5 of Saving Veronica
“Damn, I wish I could think like that.”
“It’s not hard, Lorna.” Ronnie reached over and gently laid her hand over her friends. “Know what you want and go for it. Don’t settle for what other people think you want, or what they think you need. Go after whatyouwant, whatyouneed. No one else. Please, if you take any advice from me, take this little tidbit to the bank. Don’t let anyone, not your mother, and especially not any man, tell you what you need in your life. Only you know what that is, even if you don’t know exactly what it is now, but I’m sure you have an inkling. Don’t settle for anything less than what you deserve. Once you start thinking for yourself, do things to achieve your goals. I’m not telling you what to do, but I’d advise that the first thing you ought to do is move out of your mother’s house. Once you’re away from her, then I think everything will begin to fall into place for her. You need to be able to live your life for you, not her.”
“I do have a lot of money saved up. I suppose I could move out.”
“Don’t look for something like where your mother lives. That’s not you. And make sure you do your homework before you decide what to do.”
“Homework?”
“Do you want to rent or buy? What neighborhood? Close to work? Out in the country? Do you want to be responsible for the upkeep of not only the dwelling, but also the land? Can you even mow your own lawn? Do you want a condo, or an apartment where you don’t have that responsibility? If you do buy property, do you want an HOA where people are telling you how your home should look,andpay a fee for others to get in your business. Or, do you want to do what you want, when you want, and not pay anyone for their rules and regulations? Homework.” Ronnie grinned. “Until you can answer those questions, you won’t be able to find what you want.”
“Crap, can I come over to your place and talk to you about this?” Lorna asked, as she looked around the breakroom. “This isn’t really a conversation I want to have here. Mother has spies and it seems like most, if not all, of our conversations get back to her. I’d rather do this privately.”
“Sure, how about Sunday? Pick up the Sunday paper on your way out. If you’re there by ten, we can have brunch. I’ll cook.”
“Deal, after I find a place to live, I’ll have you teach me how to cook.”
“You don’t know how?”
“No, mother has a cook.” She sighed, then giggled. “And a butler, and a maid, and a housekeeper.”
“Ah, so that’s why you still live there. You’d have to pick up after yourself if you lived on your own.”
“Probably.” Lorna sighed, then giggled again. “Maybe I can convince Mother she needs to pay for a cook for me?” She quickly sobered. “No, I don’t want her to lord that over my head.And, believe you me, she would.”
“Again, I’m not telling you what to do, but you’re going to want to make a clean break when you move out. Once you’re settled, only see her once a week, or month at the beginning. Limit your exposure to her. And for god’s sake, don’t give in to her whiny calls and run to her side every time she has a meltdown. If you do that, then you’ll never be free of her. This is just my humble opinion, but if you do run back to her, then you’ve played right into her hands. Be firm, set boundaries.”
“I’ll try.” Lorna sighed and they continued eating, each lost in their own thoughts. It was several minutes before Lorna shook Ronnie’s arm. “Is that your phone ringing?”
“What?”
“Is that your phone?” She pointed to Ronnie’s purse. Ronnie picked it up and frowned at the number. She answered it with a question.
“What’s wrong?” Ronnie listened and Lorna covered her mouth when she saw her friends face turn white. “I’ll be there in thirty.” She hung up and picked up her food, wrapped it before throwing it all away. “I have to go.” She hurried away, ignoring everyone in the room, not seeing that most of the men there followed her with their eyes.
*****
Ronnie hurried down to her office in the corner of the huge room and grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder as she hurried out the door. Down the hall she saw someone at the elevators and started running. “Hold the elevator!” she yelled, and sighed when the man stepped in and turned to hold it open for her.
“Thank you,” Ronnie said, as she hurried inside. She frowned as she looked around then realized she was in the executive elevator. “Crap, I’m in the wrong elevator.” She looked at the man, shrugged, then asked, “Do you have that card that stops the elevator without setting off the alarm?”
“I do.”
“Could you use it? I’ll only keep you hostage for five minutes, I promise.”
“Okay,” he said, and did as she asked. He watched in shock as the beautiful woman before him pushed a phone in his hands.
“Hold that, and close your eyes,” she said, as she punched numbers into the phone. Not waiting for him to answer, she immediately turned her back to him and while looking over her shoulder said, “Please unzip me.” The man was too shocked to protest, he reached up and did as she requested, then stepped back to watch as she began peeling the dress over her shoulders.
Ronnie heard a strangled sound over the sound of the phone ringing and looked over her shoulder at the man and winked at him. “Thanks,” she said and turned back to face him. “I thought I told you to close your eyes.” Finn did, but he grinned. He heard the phone in his hand ring and when it was answered his eyes opened wide, because he thought he recognized the voice. He saw the woman standing there with her dress around her ankles and she was peeling silk stockings down her legs.
“Pennyworth.” Came the firm female voice over the phone.
“Only a penny? I’m worth at least a nickel.” The woman laughed as she pulled out a pair of socks from the pack at her feet. Finn couldn’t get enough of the sight of her in a black lacy bra and panty set. When she turned to lift her foot to pull on a sock, he saw she was wearing a thong. It took everything he had not to reach out and touch. Feeling his cock grow behind his zipper made him want to caress every inch of her body, both with his hands, and his lips.
“That you are sweetie, that you are. What’s up?”
“Did you get that envelope I sent you?”
