Friday, October 21, 2011

SHORT STORY REVIEW: Begging For Favors by Leota M. Abel

At just under 3650 words, Begging For Favors is a short story that packs a lot of drama into just a few pages, but which doesn’t seem at all dense or rushed.

It all starts with a lesbian twist on the typical workplace fantasy. Mona is your average, ordinary, every-day office worker. She’s neither drab and insecure, nor mousy and timid – instead, she’s the kind of woman you’re just as like to smile at as to take for granted. Grace, on the other hand, is a powerfully sexy woman, an absolute bombshell who inspires as much fear as she does lust. Being a secretary may place her on a lower rung of the corporate ladder but, socially, she is definitely a few steps above Mona.

I love the way Leota so quickly sets up their confrontation, letting us know first that Mona is afraid of the other woman, but then letting it slip that she’s also attracted. By the time Grace demands some rather risqué, almost demeaning sexual favours exchange for Mona’s simple business favour, we know there’s going to be very little coercion involved. Their brief encounter is so intense, so wonderfully erotic, it isn’t until they are interrupted that we realise they’ve hardly touched one another.

That interruption comes in the form of Paul – Grace’s boss, and the man from whom Mona needs a favour. You almost expect him to take charge, to reassert the ‘proper’ office dynamic, but he’s quite content to allow Grace to continue taking the lead. I deliberately use the word 'allow' because there is definitely a flexible power exchange between the two that really adds that final erotic touch.

Hot, short, and very sexy, this is definitely a story from an author to watch.

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