Free Foreplay: A Succubus Diaries Prequel by Jill Myles

Foreplay
    Published by Jil Myles at Smashwords.
    Copyright 2010 by Jil Myles
    Art by http://km245.deviantart.com Al rights reserved.
    No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the author's permission.
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.
    Foreplay - A Succubus Diaries Prologue “We’ve decided to give the position to someone else.”
    I stared at my boss from behind the thick lenses of my glasses. The oversized frames had slid so far down my nose they were pinching my nostrils. Not that I could breathe anyway – not when my life was ending. I struggled to find the right words, but al that came out was a squeaky, “Beg pardon?”
    “The position has been fil ed.” At my blank look, Julianna added, “And not by you.”
    Hurt wel ed inside my chest, and I shoved my glasses up my nose. “I don't understand.”
    This was my job. I’d worked as a docent at this museum for two years with nary a raise, waiting for the right job to become open. And it had – Museum Coordinator. The position of my dreams
    – one that would let me run the museum as I’d always wanted to.
    Except that they’d overlooked me, even though I was the most qualified person in the museum to fil the job.
    “I do hope you won’t cause a scene about this, Jacqueline.”
    She looked down her long nose at me, frowning. “The committee had a very difficult decision to make, and it was not made lightly. There were more qualified people for the job. End of story.”
    “I see,” I began slowly. “They had bigger…degrees than I do?” After al , I had a masters in archaeological studies and was working on getting a bachelors in art history. Sort of.
    Julianna folded her hands and leaned forward on the desk.
    “If you must know, Jacqueline…while your academic pedigree is quite sufficient, there are other factors to consider in fil ing such a position.”
    Was that supposed to be a scolding? I was so hurt and depressed at the moment that I didn’t care. “So who got it, then?” I tugged on the jacket that was a little too tight across my front. I’d planned on getting better clothes when I’d gotten the promotion. No chance now. “Who got the Museum Coordinator job?”
    “That wil be announced next week,” Julianna said in a sharp voice. “You can go now.”
    As I stood, tears wel ed in my eyes. I was not going to cry in front of Julianna. I was not going to do that. I pinched the inside of my wrist as I walked out so I wouldn’t burst into tears.
    Not going to cry in front of my nasty witch of a boss.
    Not going to do it. Not–
    As I left Julianna’s office, another woman stood up from her chair in the lobby. She wore a neat blue suit with a pencil-skirt and high, strappy heels. Her blonde hair was pul ed into a shiny chignon and she wore a strand of pearls around her neck. She looked like she could be a member of White House staff, she was so polished looking…except she also held a portfolio in her hands, and was pul ing out copies of her resume and the same orientation package I’d completed two years ago when I’d taken my stupid, crappy job as a museum docent.
    It was obvious who’d gotten the Museum Coordinator job.
    I tugged at my too-tight jacket and brushed a hand through my tangled brown curls. So I wasn’t as put together as this chick. I knew this job. It should have been mine!
    “Oh good, you’re here,” Julianna gushed behind me. “Come in, and let’s get the paperwork started.”
    This cal ed for a drink.
    ~ ~ ~ ~*
    “Another one, bartender.”
    I reached for my nearly empty martini-glass and knocked it over. Whoops. I held up one finger. “Just one more.”
    “You said that three martinis ago,” the bartender said, but left to get my