by Tara Brent
She didn’t want to think about who he was, or how much money he had. She looked around for her clothes. They were all piled up over her shoes, the toes of which poked out beneath her dress.
Catalina remained where she was. She enjoyed the feeling of being controlled by him, of having her every action determined by him in advance. She enjoyed it, more than she thought she would.
There was that grin again. He put a finger to her lips. He said, “You may dress now.”
She did so without saying anything. He helped her with the zipper on her dress without being asked. She slipped her shoes on, one after the other. Then she remembered to hike up her pantyhose again. She saw that neither leg had a run in it.
She asked him, “Did this interview satisfy you?”
He said, “Oh yes, it was very satisfying. You did very well today. May I say, I’d like to call you in for another interview again. Soon, I hope. Now, I’m going to show you around. Have you seen the executive restroom? It’s like a palace in there. You can use it now if you want.”
“I don’t have to go. Though I could go for a cigarette. I haven’t smoked in years, but I really want one now.”
His hand brushed her cheek. He looked deep into her eyes, one last time that day. He said, “This is a no-smoking floor.” Then he held the silk scarf up for her to see. He went on, “Though I could put this in your mouth if you like.”
She grinned at him, feeling goofy. She felt like a high-schooler that found her very first crush. She had the sense that she was walking on air. She took the scarf herself and put it between her teeth.
He said, “You really will do anything, won’t you?”
She took the scarf out and handed it back to him. She said, “With you, I probably will. Let’s go see the bathroom. Do they have golden toilets? I’ve always wanted to do my business in a golden toilet.”
“You’re not going to say anything about your underwear? Most women would have asked to go home and change by now. Unless you keep your underwear with you when you go to work for a new boss on your first day? If so, kudos to you.”
She said, “I probably do need to change. I think I’ll do that. Do you mind if I leave and come back?”
He walked away from her, towards the door. He held it open for her, then said, “Yes, leave and come back. And bring yourself a pair of more comfortable shoes. I don’t want you walking around the office barefoot all day because your heels are too painful.”
She held her tongue, choosing to say nothing. The words, Yes, Master, came to mind. She didn’t dare to say them, even though they felt like the right words to say. She walked out of the office feeling good about herself. She didn’t have any regrets for what she had done or what had happened. If anything, she found herself wishing that more had happened. The time had passed by so quickly. Everything had happened so fast. Now she had to go back to work- work that suddenly seemed so dull, so impossibly boring.
She said, “That suits me just fine.”
Chapter 5
Catalina returned shortly after lunchtime. To her relief, Kurt Myers didn’t think anything of it. She could tell that people were looking at her differently. She found that she didn’t care very much at all. There wasn’t anything to do on her first day except spend hours familiarizing herself with the company’s various liabilities. After signing a lengthy and binding non-disclosure agreement, she went through ream after ream of paper, each full of complicated legalese that made her head spin. She had once heard that the company was trying to go paperless; her afternoon working for the company CFO gave her the impression that there would always be printouts of every size, shape, and color that could possibly be imagined.
She went home to her apartment, for the first time not caring about the long traffic backups that always occurred every day between 4:30 and 6: PM. She turned on the radio, not caring what song was playing. A woman sang about something light-hearted, possibly a relationship. She rolled down her window, letting the breeze caress her face.
When she got stuck at a long traffic light, she closed her eyes. She could still feel the silk knotted at the back of her head. The memory of his touch, of his lithe fingers on her ribs, moving up and down, sensuously, excited her. She opened her eyes when the light changed, she smiled into the rear view mirror, not caring if the driver behind her could see.
Parts of her body still throbbed, though not as badly as they had when she went back home before lunch. She was glad of the pain. The pain reminded her of what had happened, what she had done. No- what he had done. She had done little else except sit back and let it happen.
She came home to find her roommate, Amelia Graves, watching television. Amelia pushed her red hair out of her face when the front door opened. She said, “Oh my god, you won’t believe the day I just had!”
Catalina put down her purse, kicked off her heels, and said, “I was just going to say that very same thing myself. Phew, I’m going to have a yogurt. Do you have any of those cigars you were smoking the other week? I sure could use one.”
Amelia’s eyebrows went up. She looked genuinely interested. “A cigar? You don’t smoke though.”
“I haven’t for years. But goodness, I’d like to today.”
“Well, you’re out of luck. I used them up. Smoked most of them, gave a few away. You might remember that I put a plant in my room recently? That was because I sat in bed and smoked all those cigars. Had to wash my sheets too. I never thought you would need them, else I would have saved them for you. Do you mind me asking, what happened to you today? You look different. You’ve got this, I don’t know, rosy glow about you.”
Catalina sat down on the chair. She looked at the television long enough to see a show about a court proceeding in Australia. She said, “Oh boy, where do I start?”
“Well, I suppose you could start at the beginning I suppose. That’s how these things usually go.”
Catalina unhooked her bra from her back, then pulled it out from beneath her dress. She put it in her lap, exhaling a breath. She said, “I- uh, well, this is a little embarrassing to say.”
“Embarrassing? Now I’m really curious. You told me the other time that today was the day when you started your new job for the CFO, mister uh...what’s his name.”
“Kurt Myers. Yeah, I did start for him. The work is rather tedious. It pays better, though. They just have me reading through contracts that they’ve already confirmed so I can get used to how things work. It was rather dull.”
Amelia pushed her on the shoulder. She said, “Come on then! Come out with it already. What’s got you craving nicotine?”
Catalina saw no other way except to just come out with it. That was the easiest way that she could think of. She had to get what had happened off her chest somehow. The secret was just too good for her to keep it to herself.
She prefaced her remarks by saying, “You understand that what I’m about to say should be kept in the strictest confidence. There’s...well, once I tell you, you’ll understand.”
“The suspense is building! The tension is rising! Oh, I can’t wait to hear what revelatory revelation you’re going to reveal.”
Catalina couldn’t figure out what was going on with the show that Amelia was watching. The lawyers wore fake white wigs and real black robes. They were arguing an obscure point of law that she wouldn’t have been able to follow at all if not for the subtitles appearing on the screen. She said, “Well, the truth is, I had sex with Daniel Myers.”
Amelia’s mouth flew wide open. Her eyes went wide. She said, “Daniel Myers? The Daniel Myers? Billionaire owner of just about everything in New England? A political donor that makes everyone envy and hate him all at once? A guy who says he might run for mayor of New York one day? And you...you had sex with him? How did you do that?”
Catalina recounted in detail how it all had come about. She left out the details of what exactly had happened in Daniel’s personal office. She knew that if she started talking about that, she would eventually have
to end by saying how she put Daniel’s scarf between her teeth. She would have to, and she didn’t want to. She left the scene to Amelia’s imagination- which, if she was any judge of character, was fertile and active.
When she was done, Amelia shook her head. She said, “Holy cactus, girl! I didn’t know you had it in you. You went into his office, and you took his pants off and had sex with him. My goodness. I hope you have a job to come back to the next day.”
Catalina said, “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m sure my position there is quite secure. I don’t know what I’ll actually be doing or anything, mind you. They’ve put me outside my area of expertise. In fact, I’m pretty sure I was chosen specifically for how I look.”
Amelia said, “You can’t be the first. You can’t be the first woman he’s done this with, or to, or whatever. How many promotions do you suppose he approves just so he can take someone on one of those private interviews?”
“A lot. I’m not a fool. I know that some people sleep their way to the top. I’ve never done it myself before but, you know, now that I’ve actually done it, it’s not so bad you know? It’s actually quite pleasant. I don’t mind telling you that I’d do it again.”
“You’d do it again? What, are you hoping for a lucrative book deal to come out of this? A Netflix original movie or reality show about what happened?”
Catalina hadn’t considered the fact that she might be infamous for what she had done. But then, she didn’t have any intention of telling anyone other than Amelia about the sex. She liked Daniel for reasons she did not understand. She found herself drawn to him. She saw his face in her mind; he kept appearing there as if of his own will. In fact, she could hardly think about anything else.
She said, “That wasn’t in my mind when I did it. I just thought he looked really attractive, and he had this commanding presence. His clothes must have cost more than my yearly salary. Besides which, he was really good. I mean, he was really good. He knew exactly what to do. It was like he read my mind before I even started. He knew everything I wanted. He even knew some things that I didn’t know myself.”
“Man, I can’t even imagine. Daniel Myers, of all people. And on the first day you see him. He really must be something special. Did he at least use a condom?”
Catalina had been easily able to determine that. For all the charm that Daniel had, for everything that he made her feel, she wouldn’t have done anything with him if he refused to use a condom. She felt at the underside of her left arm where a birth control chip had been inserted. She couldn’t get pregnant- she wouldn’t get pregnant, no matter what happened. She was too young. She thought that she had at least ten to fifteen good years of her career left. For all she knew, Daniel could be grooming her to take over the position of CFO from his brother whenever he went off and did whatever it was he wanted to do with his life. Pregnancy would just bring too many complications, none of which could be solved easily.
She replied, “Yes, he did. He also asked me for a safe word. I told him I didn’t need one.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there. Daniel Myers, the billionaire, asked you for a safe word? And you said no? What exactly - what were you doing? Don’t tell me he’s got a private dungeon in there. He doesn’t…does he?”
“Uh, probably not. He’d have to let the cleaning staff go through it. Although, if he did, I wouldn’t be opposed to that. Gosh, is that what a secretary feels like?”
“I can’t believe that. This is like something out of a cheesy romance novel. Next thing you’ll be telling me is your heaving bosom sighed heavily with the weight of ten thousand oceans of passion- or some fool thing. Did his meaty hot dog thrust itself willingly into your doughy buns?”
Catalina laughed. She waved her hands back and forth in front of her face. She said, “No details, no details! Gosh, it’s embarrassing to talk about.”
Amelia prodded, “Come on, this is too tantalizing. I’d really like details from you. Tell me all the juicy stuff that happened. Spare nothing, leave nothing out! This is just too good!”
“Sorry, I don’t want to. I mean, gosh, I feel so good right now. I don’t want anything to ruin this amazing, perfect day. Why don’t you tell me about yours? You said you had something interesting or whatever happen, didn’t you?”
“I said, you wouldn’t believe the day I had. And no, you’re not getting off that easy. If you’re not going to give me details, then tell me why you did it. Why do you go in there on your first day of being promoted and do the dirty with the CEO of the company? I mean, jeepers, the balls on you.”
Catalina shrugged. She said, “It just felt right at the time. I’m not sure how to explain it. I mean, it was kinda obvious what he was planning. I was nervous at first.”
Amelia leaned back on the couch, ignoring the television show. The lawyers were now in a private office discussing something else. She looked up at the ceiling and said, “Nervous. Who wouldn’t be? With him, geez. But now, now you look like you’ve found your calling in life. Or something. I don’t know.”
“You mean going into the offices of billionaires and having sex with them on a regular basis? Sure, I could get used to that. But you know the funniest part about all of it?”
Amelia sat up, her attention focused. She said, “What’s that?”
“I was on the clock the whole time. I got paid for every minute of it.”
Chapter 6
Catalina woke up happy the next morning, so she reported to work a half hour early. She let the radio stay off, as there wasn’t anything to listen to except for talk shows. She found a better parking space this time around, owing to the fact that not everyone else had shown up to work yet. She hummed to herself as she walked across the parking lot. She kept humming as she rode the elevator up to the thirtieth floor. The elevator stopped here and there as different people left at different times. When the digital red numbers inside the elevator passed the number twenty-seven, she was by herself.
She went to her workstation, gratified to find that a computer, chair, and some cubicle walls had been set up for her. There was now a surge bar under her desk, together with a print-out on top of it. She read the paper carefully. It had a list of instructions on what to do in order to set up her password. She would just have to wait until the technicians came on duty so she could get her initial log-in. Until then, there was nothing to do.
She went into the executive bathroom again, just to remind herself that it was real. Fresh hand towels had been set up next to sinks that were big enough for three people to use at a time. The toilets were not made of gold, though they were made of stainless steel. She detected a lemony scent that she thought to be the residue of cleaning material. She breathed it in, letting herself savor her new position, reminding herself that she had made it. Whatever the reason, whether it was because she deserved it or not, she had made it to the thirtieth floor.
Catalina stood still for so long that the lights in the bathroom automatically turned off. Her chest seized up with fear for a moment. Then she flailed around, making the lights come back on. After they did, she chided herself for being foolish. Not being able to see wasn’t so much of a hardship. Indeed, there were times when it added to the experience.
She walked out of the bathroom, not sure where she should go next. She ended up in the kitchen with its several microwaves. Then, before too long, an alarm went off on her phone. The device buzzed in her purse- one that she had kept with her out of habit. She pulled it out to see that her shift started in five minutes. She knew that she didn’t have to be precisely on time, as she had no way to log into the computer ever since it was decided- by Daniel, she guessed- that she ought to have a different, assigned password. She couldn’t blame him for that, given the sensitive material she would have access to.
Catalina found Kurt Myers strolling about, having come in shortly after she had. He hadn’t bothered to put on shoes that day. He had, however, put on a pair of plaid sweatpants, a loose white shirt with a pair of rainbow s
uspenders. He hadn’t bothered shaving.
She was glad that she hadn’t bothered to spend extra time during her makeup or putting on high heels. She had opted for a more casual look- which included slacks that barely had pockets in them. She had a pair of comfortable flats without any nylons. Her shins itched just a little bit; she had forgotten to shave them before going to bed. She wondered if Daniel would mind, or prefer it.
Kurt Myers raised a hand in greeting. For a moment, he looked like a hippie or a hobo. He didn’t look like the chief financial officer of a big company. How a board of investors had ever approved his accession to the position was beyond her.
He said, “Miss Price, good to see you again. I see you’re early this morning. Are you finding everything all right?”
Catalina almost made a joke in bad taste then. She had it in mind to say with a sultry voice, I found everything just fine. Except, she wasn’t attracted to Kurt and he wasn’t attracted to her. For all she knew, he was well aware of his brother’s habits. She reminded herself to tread carefully when she spoke to other people in the office.
She said, “Yes, I’m doing all right. Just waiting to get my new password.”
Kurt shrugged expansively. He said, “You’ll be waiting for a while, I’m afraid. The IT guys usually don’t come around for that sort of stuff until eleven. Why don’t you pay a visit to human resources in the meantime? I got an email yesterday afternoon that they might be looking for you.”
Catalina frowned. In all the time she had been working for Xsa Tech, nothing good had ever come from human resources. That was odd, considering how friendly everyone seemed there. She said, “An email? Did they tell you what it was about?”
“They didn’t specify, just that you should come down at your earliest convenience. Didn’t seem like it was anything serious. They’ve probably got some paperwork for you to sign or something.”
“Okay, guess I’ll do that then.”
