H-514: Cap Isle, Victory Hotel, Private Room
Attire
Raina has chosen a sand-coloured pant suit, with soft-cut lines (rather than sharp shoulders or creases) and a wide, brown belt – possibly of real leather, and matching lightweight ankle boots. She is wearing a dark chocolate brown shirt, glittering highlights sewn into the material, its collar open to her sternum but remains modest due to the loose cut; underneath, Lia can catch a peek of a matching high-tech bra without a cross-piece between the cups. Her hair has been dyed a honey-blonde and styled at the top, with three rows of braids pulled to the sides and tied at the back with an ornate clasp. She’s wearing various items of gold and gold-themed jewellery, some of which is a little garish.
Private Room
“I thought it would probably go one of two ways, and it has. I thought you’d yes, likely get angry at, in your words, ‘being manipulated’.
“It’s good, though less pleasant for me, and you too, but shows you have the independence of mind and spirit that I have enjoyed meeting in you. Not many people have the courage to lose their temper with me.”
She pauses briefly, taking a slow breath before continuing.
“I really don’t want to argue with you, I do want to have a discussion with you, and I thought carefully before taking this approach because, as you said, you wouldn’t have agreed to meet with me to discuss this if I had asked you. I did take this path to get you here, but only that. I can’t deceive you into actually having the discussion, that has to be open and honest. I’m now being open, and you are, of course, free to leave if you don’t want to have it.
“What would you like to do? Or ask?”
Lia’s eyes rove over Raina’s face as she speaks, focusing mostly on her eyes but flicking occasionally to her mouth and then away again.
Her breathing is quite rapid and her loose woolen top has fallen completely off one shoulder, revealing the creamy lace of her bra strap and an enticing amount of cleavage as she takes each breath.
A flicker of concern crosses her face when Raina mentions people not having the courage to lose their temper with her. She opens her mouth before snapping it closed again as Raina continues.
Frustration creeps across her face as Raina keeps speaking until finally, she clenches her jaw and with one last flickering glance at her mouth, Lia throws up her hands and moves away.
“I want to be angry! I don’t want to discuss things reasonably, I want to yell! I think I have a right to be pissed off right now and you’re robbing me of it by being all…”
She turns and hurls the next word at Raina.
“… reasonable!”
Raina can see quite clearly that her words seem to have punctured Lia’s fury and the heat is leaking out of her. There are shades of a petulant child evident in that speech but the anger seems to have been covering pain of some kind.