My Cup of Tea

by Alice Wilde

  There’s a knock at my bedroom door and I lean out of my closet to see Liam.

  “Hey, you’re supposed to be watching the door!”

  “Already fixed. Just coming to see if you needed any more help.” His eyes momentarily drop to my chest. “Nice bra.”

  My cheeks burn. But for whatever reason, I don’t mind him looking. He steps closer and pinches the material of T-shirt between his fingers and then he looks me in the eye, searching for a sign.

  I swallow and find my mouth dry from nervousness. Slowly, I raise my arms above my head. The corner of Liam’s mouth turns up and he tugs the material from the waistband of my skirt and then carefully up over my head before tossing it to the side. His body radiates energy. His thumb gently caresses my chin before his hand moves to glide gently down my arm, sending pleasant tingles down my spine.

  He suddenly steps back and bends at the waist until he’s level with my breasts.

  “I just had to get a closer look at this ridiculous contraption you’re wearing. Do the tassels actually work?” Liam asks, chuckling.

  I swat at him, but then do a quick shimmy to show him the tassels do indeed work. I’m shaking from how close I am to throwing myself at him. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today. Fitz, Dan, and now Liam. I’ve wanted each of them all so badly. No, not each of them. I want them all.

  “Out, I need to get dressed.”

  “Aww, can’t I stay and watch?” Liam asks with a pout.

  “Out!”

  I slip off my tassel bra as soon as I’m alone, along with the rest of my clothes. I exchange my lazy day underwear for a much less comfortable, but much less embarrassing, set of lace. Taking the pantsuit off its hanger, I pull it on.

  For once in my life, I’m grateful for my small chest. The deep V effect just wouldn’t be the same if I had to wear a bra. I step out of the closet and pull my hair into a topknot. Liam is waiting for me in the living area and sucks his breath once he sees me.

  “Are you sure you have to be somewhere else?” he says.

  I roll my eyes at him as I slip on a pair of black wedges and select a red cape coat from the closet by the door.

  “Come on,” I say to Liam as I slip my phone into my new coat and pickup my purse.

  He’s on his feet and by my side like an obedient puppy in an instant. I open the door and follow Liam out the door. Just as I’m shutting the door behind me, I hear a shout from down the hall.

  “You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend,” Liam whispers to me.

  I spin around to see Dan and Fitz walking quickly toward us. What are they doing together?

  “Mandy, is this guy bothering you?” Dan asks, shooting a look at Liam.

  “He’s harmless,” I say, although I’m not entirely sure that’s true. “He’s the maintenance guy and offered to help me. I was locked out of my apartment.”

  I purposefully leave out the other not so minor details. We all look at each other for a moment in awkward silence.

  “Why is Fitz with you?” I finally ask, breaking the tension.

  “Wait, you two know each other?” Dan asks Fitz.

  “Just from the coffee shop,” Fitz says.

  Dan shifts uncomfortably. “When you didn’t come down, I went back and asked Fitz if he’d mind coming with me to make sure you were okay. In case I needed backup.” He pauses. “And I forgot our tea.”

  “I didn’t know it would be you we were rushing to save,” Fitz says with a soft smile.

  I blush and watch as Dan looks from Fitz to Liam to me and back.

  “This isn’t seriously happening, is it?” says Dan.

  “What? What’s happening?” I say.

  “You guys feel it, too. Don’t you?” Dan says.

  “Feel what?” I say in exasperation.

  “Mandy,” Fitz says, biting his bottom lip. “I’m not sure how to phrase this, but you’ve cast a spell on me.”

  I snort. “A spell? You’re joking, right?”

  “I mean, of course not a literal spell, but ever since I saw you this morning, I’ve been unable to think of anything or anyone else. I wasn’t even sure I’d ever see you again, but here we are.”

  “As long as we’re in the sharing spirit,” Liam says, “I would one-hundred percent love to throw you on a bed and—”

  “Careful, you’re talking to a woman, not a piece of meat,” Fitz growls.

  “Sorry, just being honest. Didn’t mean to step on any tender toes,” Liam says.

  “So, what now?” I say sure that at any moment someone is going to jump out and tell me I’m being filmed for some prank show.

  “I thought you were on your way to work this morning?” Fitz says.

  “I was. I mean, I did go to work, but then I quit.”

  “Wait, what?” Liam says. “Just like that?”

  “Did something happen?” Fitz asks calmly although I can see jaw tighten.

  “Of course, something happened. I didn’t go all the way to work in a skirt and heels just to quit.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Dan says.

  “I just didn’t feel like talking about it.”

  “Can you tell us now?” asks Fitz.

  I take a deep breath, trying to choose my words carefully and then I laugh. “I was trying to think of a way to phrase things,” I say, “and then I realized there’s absolutely no damn reason why I should try to sugarcoat what happened.”

  All three of the men are watching me carefully now.

  “My boss…My boss asked me into his office and then proceeded to touch me.”

  “What?” Liam roars.

  “Well he only grabbed my boob, but it was enough to piss me off,” I say.

  “I should hope that would anger you,” says Fitz. “What happened next?”

  “I punched him in the dick.”

  “The dick?” repeats Dan, barely able to keep a straight face.

  Liam can’t help himself. He puts his arm around my shoulders and gives me a side hug as he laughs aloud. “You’re definitely my kind of girl.”

  “Do you want to report him?” Fitz asks, trying to keep the conversation calm and focused, but I can see rage seething in his eyes.

  “I just don’t know that it would do anything,” I say. “I’m not the only girl he’s harassed, and I’m sure she’s gone through worse.”

  I can hear Fitz’s teeth grinding as he struggles to composed.

  “Gentlemen,” says Fitz looking over at Liam and Dan. “I think we know exactly what we need to do.”

  Liam grins savagely and Dan nods in unspoken agreement.

  “Mandy, we’re going to need you to lead the way to your old office.”

  “Seriously?” I say.

  “Absolutely. All you have to do is lead the way and we’ll make sure your boss never lays a finger on you or any other woman again. The decision in your hands. Either way, command and we will obey.”

  How did I go from being single and employed to having no job but three gorgeous men throwing themselves at my mercy in less than eight hours?

  “To heck with it all, let’s do this.”

  “Yeah,” shouts Liam.

  “Lead the way,” says Fitz, offering me his arm.

  I reach to take it, but Dan quickly steps between us and takes my hand in his, giving Fitz a look.

  “We still haven’t finished our date.”

  Dan squeezes my hand encouragingly while Liam rubs my shoulders comfortingly. Fitz is trying to give me a pep talk, but I haven’t heard most of it. We’ve been standing outside my old office building for the past ten minutes, but I haven’t been able to get myself to go inside.

  “You alone have to make this decision,” Fitz says. “We won’t force you to face him, but we’ll be here to support you if you do.”

  “And then some,” Liam chimes in.

  “You’ve got this,” Dan whispers. “Don’t let the bastard make you feel anything less than you deserve.”

  My heart is racing, bu
t I know they’re all right. I have to do this for myself, for Catherine…and for the idiotic notion that women dress just to please men.

  “You’re right,” I say, standing taller. “Let’s do this.”

  And then we all try to cram into the revolving door together. This was a lot more dramatic in my head.

  Once we’ve all made it safely into the elevator, I start to feel anxious again. I never been one for public confrontation. It’s one thing to say something to yourself or even behind the anonymity of an electronic screen. It’s quite a different story to deal with people face to face.

  I look around at the men surrounding me, men I’ve only just met today. Liam has taken off his coat and rolled his sleeves up even higher, making his arms look even more powerful than before. Dan is cracking his joints and hopping up and down lightly on his feet. He’s much leaner than Liam, but he’s definitely not scrawny. Fitz straightens his collar, but otherwise doesn’t move. He looks at me and gives me an encouraging smile.

  “It’ll all be over soon.”

  The elevator doors slide open and I’m surprised to see Catherine. Her eyes widen as she first looks at me, then at the three tall men with me. The doors start to close, but she slams a hand between them to keep them open.

  “What are you doing here?” Catherine says.

  Something about seeing her still here, working under the thumb of that man, sends the remainder of my anxiety running.

  “We’re here to take care of business.”

  “Like, actual business or…?”

  Liam grinds his right fist against the palm of his left hand and Catherine’s face lights up.

  “Oh, thank God,” she says as she moves to the side and lets us out of the elevator.

  “After you, Mandy,” Fitz says.

  I step forward, and Liam, Dan, and Fitz fall into a diamond formation with me.

  Catherine lets out a little squeal and claps as I lead the way through the desks, heads turning, to Nick’s office.

  Apparently, Nick had noticed us come in and tried to lock himself in his office, but as I already knew, locks aren’t an issue for Liam.

  Smashing the lock, Liam kicked the door in and then stood back to allow me to enter first. I’ve never seen anyone so terrified in all my life. Although, I suppose I did look a bit like a mob boss with my red cape flying and my tailored pantsuit.

  “This him?” Liam growls.

  “Yes.”

  “Who are you?” Nick asks, shrinking back in his chair.

  “We’re Mandy’s men. You mess with her, you mess with us,” Liam responds cracking his neck.

  “I didn’t know,” Nick says.

  “That’s the excuse you’re going to give for harassment?” Dan says disgustedly.

  “I swear, I didn’t do anything.”

  “That’s not what we’ve heard.”

  “Mandy’s a pathological liar. Always has been,” Nick says. “She probably told you she quit, but no, I had to fire her. She was fiddling with our data.”

  “Sorry, no dice,” says Liam.

  “I’ll call the cops!”

  “And tell them what?” Fitz says. “That you’ve been threatening to fire women to get them to sleep with you and one happened to fight back?”

  “Yeah, pretty sure my dad won’t look the other way,” Liam adds, and we all turn to look at him.

  “Oh, right. I probably should have mentioned that my dad is the chief of police.”

  “Besides, I know what you’ve been doing to Catherine,” I say. “You disgust me. We’re here to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”

  I snap my right-hand fingers and then cross my hands in front of my chest. There’s a quiet pause in the room.

  “I think that was supposed to be our signal,” Dan says.

  “Sorry, we didn’t plan that very well,” Liam says.

  “Oh crap, yes, that was supposed to be the signal. I was definitely just playing a theme song in my head,” I say as my cheeks flush with embarrassment.

  “Good enough for me,” says Fitz, who proceeds to round Nick’s desk, yank him out his chair by the collar, and drag him out of the room.

  It’s only now that I realize just how tall these three men are. Even Nick is dwarfed next to them. Dan trails Fitz out of the room and Liam leans in to whisper to me before we follow them.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve already spoken with my dad. The police are on their way now. Everything will be okay.”

  The funny thing is, I’m not even worried.

  The fight ends as quickly as it started. Fitz insisted on a fair match, or at least as fair as it can be against any of them.

  I’d never seen a real fight before, and was mildly disappointed when Fitz knocked Nick out with a single punch.

  “Well, that was anticlimactic,” someone said before sitting back down to work.

  “Over here, officers.”

  Catherine leads a number of men in police uniforms over to us who handcuff the still unconscious Nick and question Fitz briefly before nodding at Liam and dragging Nick away.

  “How’s Lucy,” I ask Catherine.

  “Angry, but unexpectedly okay. She didn’t seem very surprised to hear that he was mistreating women.”

  I shudder at the thought.

  “By the way,” Catherin says with a wink, turning toward Liam, Fitz, and Dan, “which one of you is Mandy’s or are you all single?”

  Ah, there’s the Catherine that annoys me.

  “We’re all Mandy’s,” says Fitz.

  “Damn straight,” agrees Liam.

  “Since when were you two included?” asks Dan.

  “Wow, you go, girl,” Catherine says with an appreciative nod in my direction before walking away.

  “So, what now?” I say.

  “I can think of a thing or two,” says Liam.

  “Don’t be uncouth,” Fitz says.

  “Can we at least finish our date first?” says Dan.

  “Yeah, let’s have that date.”

  “Well, the dates going to have to turn into a foursome because I’m not leaving you alone with Dan,” says Liam just as Fitz clips the back of his head with his palm.

  “I didn’t mean it that way, but that would be okay, too.”

  I laugh awkwardly. I still have no idea what’s going on or how any of this is going to work, but it’s certainly going to be fun while it lasts.

  I quickly realize Liam wasn’t joking when he said he was tagging along on my date with Dan, and Fitz decides to come, too. He keeps insisting it’s just to keep Liam in check, but I’ve noticed him steal more than one jealous glance our way whenever Dan holds my hand or says something sweet.

  All in all, this is turning out to be the most uncomfortably awkward but exciting date I’ve ever been on.

  “How about going ice skating?” Dan says.

  “Okay, sure, why not?

  “Who even ice skates?” Liam grumbles, but I ignore him.

  “Give me a minute, I need to use the restroom,” Dan says.

  As soon as Dan is out of site, I find myself scooped up in Liam’s arms as he makes off with me in the opposite direction as quickly as he can.

  “Hey, get back here,” Fitz yells.

  “Do you want to go back?”

  “You can’t just go running off with me like some troll,” I say, avoiding the question.

  To be perfectly honest, I’d be just as happy if we all went back to my place and spent the night indoors. Scandalous, I know.

  “As you wish, my little troll,” Liam says.

  “Hey, no, I’m not the troll, you are.”

  “Whatever,” Liam says with a wicked laugh. “Get used to your new nickname.”

  “Can you please stop behaving like you’re some pre-pubescent?” Fitz says once Liam has returned with me.

  “Can you please stop behaving like some 18th century twat?” Liam says under his breath.

  Dan returns and we all head over to the ice-skating rink only to be
met with a posted sign: Closed Due to Inclement Weather.

  “Perfect,” says Dan. “What do we do now?”

  “How about we go home, pop on a show, and chill,” Liam suggests.

  “I wasn’t asking you. What do you think, Mandy?”

  “Well, it is pretty cold out,” I say, scrunching my nose.

  “So, whose house are we breaking in first?” Liam says.

  “Mandy is more than welcome to come over to my place,” says Dan. “But you two will have to figure yourselves out.”

  “How about we all just go to my place,” I suggest, hoping to stop any further argument.

  “Fine with me,” says Liam.

  Dan shrugs, obviously annoyed at not having me to himself.

  “Okay, as long as you’re comfortable with that,” Fitz says.

  “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t,” I say with nervous excitement.

  I change into a T-shirt and soft pair of shorts and we sprawl out on top of an assortment of blankets on my living room floor, munching away on popcorn.

  “So, what should we watch?” I ask, scrolling through the never-ending list of shows.

  They answer in almost perfect unison, “Horror.”

  “You can’t be serious. That’s the oldest boy meets girl trick in the book.”

  “Because it works,” says Liam taking the remote from my hand.

  “Hey!”

  “I promise, it’ll be worth it,” Liam says with a wink. “We could put it to a vote.”

  “Yes, I think that’s only fair.”

  “All in favor of forcing Mandy to watch a horror, raise your hand,” Liam says.

  Dan, Liam, and Fitz all raise their hands.

  “Even you?” I ask Fitz with mock betrayal.

  “You’ve gotten yourself into this,” says Fitz. “You have to accept the consequences.”

  Liam selects a show and then pulls me onto his chest. I can hear his heart beating through his shirt and mine beats harder still. I push myself off of him and sit up, propping my back against the couch. Liam rolls over onto his stomach and faces the TV, his head now at my feet. Dan drapes an arm around my shoulders and Fitz lays down on the couch behind us, his hand gently twisting a loose strand of my hair.