Henry visited Sigrid in her office first thing when he arrived at work, and she greeted him with a happy smile. That smile slipped as she saw the tension in his eyes.


    “What’s wrong? What happened?” she asked.


    Henry snorted with a mix of amusement and frustration. “That’s bing our thing. Always another problem,” he sighed, and she gave him a sympathetic smile which made him think of what Nate said about the beautiful women supporting their happiness. He couldn’t keep a chagrined smile of his own from spreading across his face.


    Sigrid watched his expression change. “What’s the smile for?” she asked curiously.


    He shook his head gently. “Nothing. Just something Nate said to bring things into perspective.”


    Her smile widened. “I like this man even more if he can put a smile on your face like that.”


    Henry could only nod as he agreed. Then his expression turned serious. “Did you hear what Cam didst night with the NSA agents?”


    “No, what happened.”


    He filled her in on the details and how he’d resolved the issue with the Director with his solution.


    “They should have spoken to you first!” Sigrid said with a frown. Henry picked up from her bodynguage that she was pissed at her friend.


    “I said as muchst night. Regardless, with what happened I think they’re going to leave us alone. That doesn’t mean I won’t be watching. Eternal vignce is the price we pay.” Henry sighed then smiled at Sigrid.


    The inte buzzed. “Yes?” she asked.Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    “Ms. Vimor is here to see you.”


    “Please send her in,” Sigrid said.


    The door burst open as Cam surged through the door and closed it behind her. She spun to see Sigrid and Henry watching her in surprise.


    “Good, you’re both here!” Cam gasped.


    “What’s wrong? What happened?” Sigrid asked, and Henry snorted involuntarily then murmured an apology.


    Cam yanked off the big Hollywood sunsses and stared at them intently.


    Henry shared a look with Sigrid then turned back to Cam. “What-”


    “My eyes!!!” Cam eximed.


    “Are you having trouble seeing?” Henry asked in concern.


    “No! That’s not it!”


    “Maybe if you joined us over here we could see what you want us to notice about them?” Sigrid suggested gently.


    Cam quickly moved up next to them, and they both immediately caught the difference.


    “Oh! They’re lovely!” Henry gasped. Her dark brown eyes once had small flecks of gold in them, giving them the impression of being a dark gold. Now those flecks were more substantial, and her eyes had a subtle but perceptible gold glow to them.


    She smiled nervously at him then turned to Sigrid.


    Sigrid wasn’t smiling. “Tell me how you came to have these alterations to your mor, Cam.”


    The woman in question was no longer smiling either. “Don’t preach to me-”


    “How did it happen?” Sigrid asked with a calm voice.


    Cam huffed and crossed her arms across her chest under her heavy tits in a very defensive posture. She caught Henry trying not to ogle her pushed up breasts and some of her anger dissipated. “I- I seriously depleted my energy levels with pushing two NSA agents beyond their ability to restrain their impulses. I was in a desperate state. Henry offered to feed me. I needed the energy.” Her expression turned a little dreamy. “It was very… potentst night and… I may have be a little aggressive.”


    Sigrid looked to Henry whose face looked like it might ignite. “How aggressive?”


    He nced between the two of them then looked down at Sigrid’s desk. “She growled at me and gripped my legs to keep me from pulling free.”


    “And you stopped her, how?”


    He looked away then back to her. “I dropped my mor and choked her with it.”


    “PFFFFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Sigrid burst into loudughter as Cam pouted and looked everywhere but at them.


    Henry stood and moved to stand before the gorgeous brte, taking her hands in his. “I think you look incredibly beautiful! You’re eyes still look human, just with an exotic touch. I think they’re stunning!” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles.


    Her eyes were looking into his, and he swore he could almost see the gold sparkling happily.


    “Thank you, Henry,” she purred.


    He nced at Sigrid and saw she was getting control of her amusement. He still wanted to talk to her about his issues with controlling his heat, but Cam looked like she needed Sigrid more. “I’ll talk with you twoter, ok? I should get started on my day.”


    She nodded with a smile, and he let himself out.


    Sigrid sighed and shook her head. “Henry’s right, theyaregorgeous! May I assume your actual eye color changed as well?”


    “Yes! They’re now brilliantly gold, but I’m not sure how to exin these,” Cam stated, gesturing to her eyes.


    Sigrid tilted her head as she examined her friend’s eyes. “Tell people your ophthalmologist prescribed corrective contacts which have a side effect of emphasizing the natural gold in your eyes. I also like the highlights in your hair.”


    “Thank you,” Cam said with a smile as she touched her hair fondly. Then she caught the look in Sigrid’s eye and her smile slipped again. She sighed and nodded. “OK, I admit it. I lost controlst night. I pushed myself too hard with those agents and left myself in too desperate a state to be able to control my appetite.”


    Sigrid nodded in satisfaction, d her friend could see the mistake she made. Then she grinned. “So he choked you with it?”


    Cam’s eyes red with the memory, and a tingle ran down her spine as she bit her lower lip. “It was so thick; it filled my throat!”


    Sigrid threw her hands up in surrender. “Sorry! Don’t need to know the details!” The image of it was shing in her mind giving her tingles too.


    Cam snorted and put her shades back on with a satisfied smile of her own as she knew what Sigrid was thinking. “I leave you with that… delicious thought. Have a lovely day!” she said as she let herself out.


    -=-


    “Good morning, Mr. Gable!” Marisa said with a brilliant smile. “You’re a littlete this morning.”


    Henry returned his assistant’s smile. “I stopped to talk to Sigrid… and Cam.”


    “Oh! I didn’t see you pass by,” she said.


    “No, I was with Sigrid when she dropped by,” he exined a little awkwardly. Her brows rose.


    “What’s wrong? What happened?” she asked in concern.


    He gave her an exasperated look. “Were those questions asked as frequently before I started working here?”


    She gave him a smirk.


    “Ask your… aunt. All I can say is she got a small taste of what Paloma faced the first night… Stanley and… her… never mind.” As he struggled to keep the names straight, he stumbled to a stop as his words just felt weirder and weirder.


    Just then Cam rushed by and waved, her shades in ce hiding her eyes once more, the red highlights in her hair catching the light beautifully.


    With a final surprised look at Henry, Marisa rushed out to chase after Cam.


    Henry let himself into his office and settled in behind his desk with a sigh. He needed to put this stuff, this non-human stuff, in the background. He started up hisptop, and his calendar app popped up a reminder for a trade show he was supposed to attend today. It was going to have a lot ofwork security vendors in attendance as well as lots and lots of tech. He tingled in anticipation!


    He opened a desk drawer and smiled down at the box of business cards Marisa had printed for him. It would be the first time he’d be presenting himself in public to his ‘peers’ with his title. He admired the embossed piece of cardboard.


    VRL Investments


    Henry Gable, CIO


    He giggled then caught himself and nced to the door. If he wanted anyone to take him seriously, he’d have to kill the impulse tough like a little girl.


    He pocketed a bunch of cards and nced at his calendar once more. Marisa had cleared his day for him. He smiled at her incredible efficiency. Henry shut down hisptop and decided against bringing it. Cell in his pocket, he exited his office and bumped into Marisa as he stepped into the hall.


    “Oh! Sorry!”


    She shed him a grin. “Off to the trade show?”


    He smiled in return. “Yes!”


    “Look, but don’t buy anything! Eve tells me we have no budget for the next two years,” she admonished him gently.


    He snorted and nodded. “Understood. Not to worry, I’m just shopping for ideas primarily.”


    “Fill your cart then!”


    Heughed and headed off to the elevators with a wave.


    Getting to the Javits Center took a little time and registering took a little more, so it was almost noon when he finally got to walk the floors of the convention center. It was only when he was in the center of the building that he recalled his intention to avoid being in crowds. He looked around and saw most of the attendees were male. He spotted women in the gathering, but the majority were men. He rxed somewhat as he realized how absorbed everyone was with the tech. Just like him. He grinned and got to it.


    As a throwback to the old days, some vendors hiredbooth babes, models dressed suggestively to draw customers to the disy. Thesedies were more of a distraction as they seemed so out of ce now.


    He saw a few booths which were making ims of military-level encryption with nog, so he made his way over to review what they had to say. The salesmen were eager to speak to him and dly took his card, but he could see their disbelief when they read the CIO title. He actually saw one toss his card into the trash as he left the booth. That pissed him off, but he wasn’t going to try to change the fool’s narrow little mind.