Lancelin’s P.O.V
I sprang out of my seat as soon as the elevator doors shut behind Ms. Johnson and headed for the trash can. Frowning, I debated what to do as I looked at the discarded Starbuck’s cup and my hands. The entire building was regularly cleaned and disinfected by the clean-up crew early every morning, before office hours started but I was still uncomfortable picking up the cup with my bare hands.
Ultimately, my curiosity got the best of me and I pulled out a glove from one of the drawers of a cupboard and fetched out the cup. Opening the lib, I found the thick milky beverage staring back at me mockingly as the scent of vanilla tickled my nostrils. So I shut the lid back on the cup and discarded it back into the trash can, along with my used glove.
If there was one thing I hated most in this world, it was being proven wrong. And thanks to Ms. Johnson, I had just been proven wrong and on top of that, she had just saved me a lot of research time and dug out some top secrets from the Ace Media archives. I had a feeling that Acelin had played a big role in this whole situation, but I wasn’t about to go accusing him or even asking him questions because the more I let him into my life, the more controlling he got.
I walked over to my desk and picked up my cell phone. I had a feeling Ms. Johnson had gone to use the restroom downstairs, not knowing that there was a separate women’s restroom on this floor itself, reserved for my guests as well as Secretaries. The receptionist downstairs answered almost immediately.
“Tanya, provide Ms. Johnson with a layout of the building and also hand her the files that were left by the previous secretary. Tell her I’ll need them all on my table by tonight.”
“Yes, Sir.” Tanya’s response was curt as I hung up the call and went to stare out the window at the busy New York streets below.
The hustle and bustle of the humans, the cars that drove by, barely keeping up with the speed limit…it all served as a reminder that human lives were too short compared with the immortals. Time was precious as life ticked away with every passing second while I stood watching over their fleeting luminescence.
What also had me disturbed was the way that I had reacted to Sanaya Johnson. I’d lived for over five centuries and yet, no one has ever evoked such emotions inside me, not even the woman who had been my first lover. I did not play games with my human secretaries, I didn’t want to prove them wrong or watch them squirm. Yet, the minute I had laid eyes on Sanaya, my good sense seemed to have deserted me.
I had hated seeing the impassive look on her face as she asked me all sorts of questions about my meals. I had hated the polite smiles she had given me even when I had tested her patience. And most of all, I had hated how much I had desired her even when I had several top models and actresses at my disposal.
Love was not a common concept in the world of the Incubi. Yes, there were several in the immortal world that loved true and loved forever. The vampires had couples that lasted millennia. The Lycans and the Were’s mated for life. The Aqua’s and the Mystic were a mystery to almost everyone in the immortal world and they were so secretive a bunch that only a few immortals knew about their powers and their homes, let alone their mating rituals. And the Incubi…we are physical creatures.
Some of us develop a connection with the people we feed from, but most of us just treat the humans as feeds, as nutrition. Since the Incubi are a lot less in numbers than the humans, there is sufficient feed available for every one of us.
Attachments would lead to commitments. Commitment between an Incubus and a human would always result in heartbreak. Because there was only so many times that an Incubi could feed from a human without draining so much of their life force that they become prone to major illnesses. Humans needed faithfulness to validate a relationship, physical relationship was only limited to one partner at a time, but Incubi did not live according to that rule.
We were physical creatures. s*x and pleasure were so intertwined with our life that it was difficult to think about my life without it. Which is why I mostly associated with women who were looking for a fun time only and they knew that this relationship was purely physical and would never take any other turn. But Sanaya was different. She was the kind of woman that a man thought of when he wanted to settle down. The kind of woman who you dreamed of having rug rats with.
So, when I saw her coming back into my office with a bunch of files in her hand, I had to remind myself that she was just another human, just another secretary…just another Scribt. Five years in ReefWood, that was all the time she will have. For a human, five years might be a long time, but for me, these five years will pass by in a blink of an eye and then, she’ll be out of my office and out of my life for good.
There was no need getting frustrated over a little human woman, no matter how much my body desired her.
“Ms. Johnson,” I called out to her as I rolled down the sleeves of my shirt and pulled on my jacket. “Dial Martin and tell him to prepare the car.”
“Yes, Sir.” Sanaya gave me a small bow and picked up the receiver of the phone on her table.
“And tell him to inform the security at Ms. Durev’s house that I’ll be paying her a visit.” I added as I buttoned up the jacket and checked my reflection.
“Would you like me to give her a call personally, Sir?” Sanaya asked; no tremors in her voice.
“No.” I told her curtly. “I’ll call her once I’m in my car.”
With that, I turned and headed towards the elevator. The doors shut to Sanaya bowing low with a polite smile on her face.
“Have a good day, Sir.”
I didn’t know why that bothered me more that it should have.