Carrie stretched her long limbs beneath the silk sheets. Her alarm buzzed on the locker and lazily she reached out and clicked it off. Another day of the usual errands. Turning over in the bed she stared wistfully at the empty space beside her. Why did Richard leave? It didn’t make any sense. They were happy, or at least she thought they were. A week had passed since Richard had left, taking all of his belongings with him. Carrie remembered the tears she had shed as she begged him to explain why. All he had given her in return were cold looks and a brief peck on the cheek before he walked out the door. Carrie hated to admit it but she was lonely without him. She missed his touch, the smell of his aftershave and the way he always sang out of tune when he was in the shower. Sitting up she threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Stretching her arms above her head, her breasts strained against the soft camisole that she wore. Padding into the bathroom she flicked on the shower, and then stopped to stare at her reflection in the mirror. She stripped slowly, her eyes picking out each little flaw and imperfection that she believed she had. Richard had always joked that he loved having a little something extra to hold onto when they made love. It had always made Carrie feel insecure. But it didn’t seem to matter how much she hit the gym her body just wasn’t cut out to be thin and waif like. With a sigh she stepped into the shower and let the hot water cascade down across her naked body. Why did she let thoughts like that bother her? She knew she shouldn’t. She was supposed to be a strong, confident, independent woman. And yet, the niggling doubts still filled her mind that she wasn’t good enough and no one would ever love her in the way that she craved. Grabbing the shower gel she squirted some out into her hand and began to lather up her body violently. Each time her hands rubbed against her nipples it made them stiffen a little more. Too long had passed since she had, had sex and now she was beginning to suffer for it. Her hand dipped between her legs, rubbing her clit in lazy circles. Carrie moaned and pressed her free hand against her breast, pinching and playing until her nipple was painfully erect. The phone rang. Its insistent sh r ill tone made her freeze. Just ignore it, it’ll go to voice mail. The little voice in her mind urged. Her hand began to slowly circle her clit once more as the answer machine kicked in. Her apologetic greeting made the anger within her surface and she slipped her fingers into her body. Why was she always so apologetic about every god damned thing? The smooth caress of her boss’ voice filtered out from the answer machine. Carrie froze . The sound of his voice sent shivers of passion down her spine. Now there was a man who knew how to be in control. Carrie had often thought what it would be like to surrender to a man who held all the power. A man who with just the tone of his voice could reduce her to a quivering mess. Something clicked in her brain. What the hell was he saying? Carrie launched herself out of the shower stall and into the hall. She stood there, water dripping onto the wooden floor from her naked body and listened intently to the message. “Look, Carrie, I just need you to get your ass over here as soon as. This whole deal has turned to shit and I need you here... We need to...” He sighed on the other end of the line. Carrie could picture him sitting behind his desk his hand idly pushing his dark hair back from his face. The phone clicked dead. He had probably pressed the wrong button. He seemed to be doing that an awful lot lately, Carrie pondered as she headed back into the bathroom and grabbed a towel. When she had begun working for Mr. Ashcroft, he had been more than capable of dealing with all of the fancy gadgets at his disposal. However, as more time passed, he seemed to be needing her help in using them. It was odd and out of