<div class="floatleft">(http://25.media.tumblr.com/63778f451dddfcacb31f8acbd2edabc3/tumblr_mlmpo3jOmy1rkcdc7o1_1280.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Talia Jasmine Heilprin<br/><strong>Location:</strong>The Living Room<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Tasha, Jessy, Annabelle, Tami, Eryn<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Talia felt her heart begin to pound as she saw Miranda and her assistant enter into the building. She didn't know much about Miranda's personal life, but she knew her past connected with Tasha's. The two women were best friends during high school, but time had replaced Miranda with Talia, although Talia didn't realize this fact. It was hard for Talia to imagine their relationship due to their commanding, albeit different personalities. Talia was an independent woman, but there were still two women who had power over her: Tasha and Miranda. Talia would never say no to Tasha because of their friendship. They were the best of friends, and their loyalty to one another was part of that. Whenever Tasha got in a rough spot in college, Talia was always there with her cool and collected composure to help pull her out.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Her relationship with Miss Hot, however, was entirely different. Talia had gone through her successful career without a sense of entitlement. She worked for her scholarship, and she spent hours studying to graduate in such a short amount of time. But even a woman of her ability needed some help. Her father had, of course, been the original benefactor. He had helped pay for the costs she couldn't cover during college, and she had, in return, paid him back with interest. But those costs were miniscule compared to the cost of starting Talia's dream business.<br/><br/>Her dream was ambitious, but Talia knew she had the innovative talent and leadership abilities to make it happen. She knew she could create a major restaurant franchise and run it effectively. The upfront costs were large, and she didn't have the money to start things on her own. She went to several banks, but they all rejected her requests. For a month she tried to find a bank, but they seemed to avoid her. Her credit was perfect, and her father had offered to co-sign along with her, yet something was amiss. She began to use her connections to seek out loans when the unexpected happened. Miranda somehow caught wind of Talia's plan, even though the two had only spoken a few times, and offered to help.<br/><br/>Talia knew all about Miranda and her rise to riches. The woman was a genius, and she had made millions within the span of a few years using her guts and head. Some of her friends knew Miranda more than Talia did, and they labeled her as a harsh, yet trustworthy businesswoman. Talia respected successful women above anything else in the world, so she took Miranda's offer.<br/><br/>For months, Miranda paid for all of the costs of Talia's business, Tilapia Cove, in return for a sizable share. As the restaurants began to grow, Miranda kept funding her to expand. After a year, Talia began to repay the loans in small repayments. The Israeli woman never missed a deadline, and it was clear she was a reliable business partner. In some ways, Miranda served as a farmer fattening her prized cow. Talia gave some reward back in the short term in the form of milky stocky increases, but the<em>true reward</em>would come later.<br/><br/>After two years, Talia had paid off a considerable portion of the loans. Miranda continued to fund her, but Talia was also making enough to fund some of her projects out of her own pocket. Talia wanted to become fully independent. Although she appreciated and enjoyed working with Miranda over the phone, she wanted to repay her and move on. She offered to buy Miranda's share of Tilapia Cove for 15% more than it was worth. Talia was shocked when Miranda abruptly declined the offer. The two got in a heated argument over the phone, because Talia was frustrated and didn't understand Miranda's reasoning.<br/><br/>For two weeks, the two did not talk to one another. It was, of course, Talia that caved. She called Miranda and sincerely apologized. Miss Heilprin spoke about how she would have been nothing without Miranda, and about how she had let her ambitions get the best of her, causing her to rashly take out her feelings on Miranda. The little event revealed a whole world of truth. Miranda certainly was the puppet master, and Talia had a strange habit of coming back to her. The bombshell Israeli respected nobody more than Miranda,<em>and that respect was slowly turning into obsession and attraction.</em>She wanted to be like Miranda, and if she couldn't, then she wouldn't to study and grow close to her for her own advancement. She admitted that Miranda had outsmarted her, and she happily moved on. It had been the first time that a deal hadn't gone Talia's way, and she ended up taking it with grace.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Talia rose from the couch and embraced Miranda in a hug. She could feel every beat of her heart, and she felt herself slowly grow chilly when Miranda released their embrace. "I never expected you to come! It is such a wonderful surprise to see you here, Miss Hot." When it came to business, Talia was the type who followed procedures and always had a high level of manners. It had become a habit for to simply use the name Miss Hot. The two were acquaintances, but they were not yet close friends. Talia wanted to get closer to Miranda, but they lived far apart and were both busy women. Because of that, they were restricted to communication on the phone on a daily basis.<br/><br/>Something about Miranda was causing Talia to feel uncomfortable. It had been a year since they had last met one another, and they had not met in person since their short fallout. The way that Miranda carried herself was so powerful that Talia couldn't help but feel attracted. She wasn't attracted to her body, but rather her skill and presence.<em>She respected her, oh, how she respected her.</em>