security unit had discovered the plan and come to the rescue.
After their tour of the lab, Marissa and Hadley had been taken around the town itself, and she’d been shocked to find out just how much was down here: a movie theatre, a clothing store, a hospital for treating the support staff, a large apartment building for the single residents, a cheery white picket fence neighborhood for the families with children, a grocery store, schoolhouse and library. There was even a water park, for God’s sake, and more she probably hadn’t seen. The only restaurant in town, however, was a diner, plus pub food at a joint called Garwald’s Pub, and pastries at Ælsi’s Coffee Shop, so her skills were undeniably needed. The community was going to build her a brand new restaurant from the ground up according to all of her own specifications, and wasn’t that a great way to cut her teeth in the business? Make all of her mistakes down here before she had to face the harsh restaurant critics up top in San Diego.
“Here you go, miss.” The bartender set her drink by her elbow.
She thanked him with another blush-inspiring smile, and took a sip, observing everyone over the rim of her class. The cocktail shindig was in full swing, people mingling, chatting, laughing. Most of the partygoers were the higher-ups of the community, as well as the lip-smacking treats of the Warrior Class. Her rescuers were here: Sedge, husband to Kimberly, whom she’d met over legal contracts this morning, and Thomal, balanced on a pair of crutches. The gorgeous blond had been mobbed earlier in the evening by the new hires, and although he’d been courteous to all of his female fans, it’d soon become obvious that his interest was focused on one.
No surprise it was Hadley.
The woman had cleaned up…wow, remarkably well. Shiny, honey-colored hair tumbled down to her shoulders in a multi-layered cut that probably took forever to style, but which accentuated her heart-shaped face and uptilted almond-shaped blue eyes beautifully. She was tall for a woman, her legs to-the-moon long, and her body was proportioned in what The Commodores had probably envisioned when they wrote Brick House : 36-24-36 , what a winning hand, yay! Slim-waisted, full in the hips and bust. Definitely, wow. But mostly, Hadley seemed to own some kind of…ethereal quality that did more to draw the eye than even her beauty.
Weird, but Marissa could count on one hand the number of times she hadn’t been the prettiest girl in any given room, and she’d certainly never had to go head-to-head with every female, like now. The eight other new hires were all ridiculously eye-catching, not to mention the women who already lived here. And yet…not an ounce of competitiveness seemed to exist among them. Just the opposite. The ten of them had been like a bunch of sorority sisters up on the third floor, getting ready for tonight’s bash, racing back and forth between each other’s rooms, sharing clothes, helping with makeup and hair. They’d become instant friends, which was…kinda strange.
Marissa had always been well liked; she generally made herself amenable to others because of the terrible relationship she had with her sister. But for herself, she’d never connected to women as quickly and deeply as she had with these, especially Hadley. Tonĩ Parthen, too, owner of the beautiful face Marissa had first seen last night when the van doors had opened. As co-leader of this community, Tonĩ obviously wielded a great deal of power here, yet she’d treated Marissa like an equal, a friend, even pulling her aside at one point and privately admitting to having gone through a similar ball gag experience.
All in all, the year she was going to spend in Ţărână was shaping up to be pretty great. She’d ended up here on the tail end of the most horrific night of her life, but, damn, if she wasn’t going to turn that into something good.
Ah, there was another one of her rescuers across the
After their tour of the lab, Marissa and Hadley had been taken around the town itself, and she’d been shocked to find out just how much was down here: a movie theatre, a clothing store, a hospital for treating the support staff, a large apartment building for the single residents, a cheery white picket fence neighborhood for the families with children, a grocery store, schoolhouse and library. There was even a water park, for God’s sake, and more she probably hadn’t seen. The only restaurant in town, however, was a diner, plus pub food at a joint called Garwald’s Pub, and pastries at Ælsi’s Coffee Shop, so her skills were undeniably needed. The community was going to build her a brand new restaurant from the ground up according to all of her own specifications, and wasn’t that a great way to cut her teeth in the business? Make all of her mistakes down here before she had to face the harsh restaurant critics up top in San Diego.
“Here you go, miss.” The bartender set her drink by her elbow.
She thanked him with another blush-inspiring smile, and took a sip, observing everyone over the rim of her class. The cocktail shindig was in full swing, people mingling, chatting, laughing. Most of the partygoers were the higher-ups of the community, as well as the lip-smacking treats of the Warrior Class. Her rescuers were here: Sedge, husband to Kimberly, whom she’d met over legal contracts this morning, and Thomal, balanced on a pair of crutches. The gorgeous blond had been mobbed earlier in the evening by the new hires, and although he’d been courteous to all of his female fans, it’d soon become obvious that his interest was focused on one.
No surprise it was Hadley.
The woman had cleaned up…wow, remarkably well. Shiny, honey-colored hair tumbled down to her shoulders in a multi-layered cut that probably took forever to style, but which accentuated her heart-shaped face and uptilted almond-shaped blue eyes beautifully. She was tall for a woman, her legs to-the-moon long, and her body was proportioned in what The Commodores had probably envisioned when they wrote Brick House : 36-24-36 , what a winning hand, yay! Slim-waisted, full in the hips and bust. Definitely, wow. But mostly, Hadley seemed to own some kind of…ethereal quality that did more to draw the eye than even her beauty.
Weird, but Marissa could count on one hand the number of times she hadn’t been the prettiest girl in any given room, and she’d certainly never had to go head-to-head with every female, like now. The eight other new hires were all ridiculously eye-catching, not to mention the women who already lived here. And yet…not an ounce of competitiveness seemed to exist among them. Just the opposite. The ten of them had been like a bunch of sorority sisters up on the third floor, getting ready for tonight’s bash, racing back and forth between each other’s rooms, sharing clothes, helping with makeup and hair. They’d become instant friends, which was…kinda strange.
Marissa had always been well liked; she generally made herself amenable to others because of the terrible relationship she had with her sister. But for herself, she’d never connected to women as quickly and deeply as she had with these, especially Hadley. Tonĩ Parthen, too, owner of the beautiful face Marissa had first seen last night when the van doors had opened. As co-leader of this community, Tonĩ obviously wielded a great deal of power here, yet she’d treated Marissa like an equal, a friend, even pulling her aside at one point and privately admitting to having gone through a similar ball gag experience.
All in all, the year she was going to spend in Ţărână was shaping up to be pretty great. She’d ended up here on the tail end of the most horrific night of her life, but, damn, if she wasn’t going to turn that into something good.
Ah, there was another one of her rescuers across the
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