“Want to join me in the lunch room? I usually leave during my lunch break to run errands or check on my grandkids during the summer, but I don’t have to do that today. Tobias, our intern, usually fills in for me. Once in a while, you will be asked as well, but when the time comes, I’ll train you.” Marta explained and then whispered, “It’s really easy.”
“Sure, I’d love to.” Jamie smiled.
Jamie liked Marta and warmed up to her quickly. Marta was a bubbly middle-aged woman who reminded her of a stereotypical PTA mom. Her desk was made of cherry colored wood and filled with pictures of her kids and grandkids. She had pastel-colored pens and knick-knacks everywhere. She seemed like the kind of woman that was always happy and cheery as apple pie.
“Where are you from?” Marta suddenly asked her as she dived into her chicken Caesar salad.
“I live in Cottonwood Beach. I’ve lived there for the past several years.”
“How do you like it there?”
“Oh, it’s great, but it’s nothing like Sutton Hill. I just love it here.” Jamie gushed.
“Me too. It’s a quaint little community. There are some really nice pockets with charming, Victorian and Spanish style homes. Pleasant neighborhoods and homes are hard to come by here.”
“What do you mean?” Jamie asked curiously as she bit into her ham and cheese sandwich.
“How shall I say it? Sutton Hill is definitely beautiful and charming, but sometimes people make it hard for you to see the gem for what it is. Know what I mean?”
“I know what you mean. Small town means it's hard to get away from any sort of difficulty or people.”
“You got that right!” Marta laughed.
Time had passed even faster after lunch, and before she knew it, it was almost time for her meeting with Amy and Sam. She hadn’t seen Sam all day which was weird because she hadn’t seen him walk in at all. She was eventually called into the conference room where she had her panel interview, and as she walked into the room, Amy was the only one seated. Where was Sam? Was he avoiding her? Everyone said he would be in the office in the afternoon.
An hour later, the meeting was over. It was brutal being alone with Amy. Sam never showed up nor did Amy give her an explanation as to his whereabouts. She did not even seem worried that he was not in the meeting. Jamie guessed that Amy knew where he was and purposely did not provide any explanations. Not that she was owed any. Amy spent the hour tact and with a threatening disposition. It was the most uncomfortable moment of Jamie’s life.
By the time the work day was over, Jamie couldn’t help but be disappointed by the lack of Sam’s presence. Although she was nervous to see how his interaction with her would go, she couldn’t wait to break the ice. It was already a little past five in the evening, and most of the administrative support staff had already left and congratulated her on her getting through the first day successfully.
In her disappointment, Jamie had waited a long time to get some answers, and she was looking forward to finding out once and for all so that she could potential make the first steps in legitimately moving on if she had to, but she was denied that privilege. How many more days would she have to endure before she got answers?
As Jamie started loading up her car to make the commute home, she heard footsteps behind her and turned around. It was Sam. He certainly was making this creeping up behind her thing a habit.
“Jamie Winters…” Sam said and smiled coyly. “How was your first day?”
“Hi, Sam. Oh wait, should I start saying, Mr. Ellis?” Jamie asked.
“Sam is fine. So how have you been?”
“I’ve been good. Your staff has been very helpful for me today. With the staff’s help, I’ll be able to catch up.”
“That’s great. We have a great team here. Look, I wanted to apologize for not being at the meeting today or here on your first day to help you adjust. I’ve been swamped with partnership meetings at our research center up north all day. I just got back a few minutes ago.”
“You came back here? We just closed up!” Jamie laughed.
“I left some files here that I wanted to take home and review. I’m glad you had a good day, I hope you end up liking it here.”
“Yeah, I had a great day. Everyone is really nice. Marta especially, she is very sweet.”
“She’s such a gem. I am glad everyone’s treated you well. I have got to get going, but I’ll definitely see you tomorrow.” Sam said as he slightly touched her arm before he headed back into the office building.
“See you tomorrow.” Jamie waved goodbye and then rubbing her hand over the spot on her arm he touched, before getting into her car to head home.
“Thought you’d have come back sooner.” Amy chided Sam when he walked into the front door. “I’m starving and had planned on us going out to eat tonight.”
“Sorry, I don’t think I’m in the mood to eat this evening.” Sam sighed putting down his leather bag and jacket onto his dining room table.
Sam had been dating Amy for the past couple of years. He wouldn’t actually call it dating exactly, they had been more off than on. Despite her having a key to his house, it was a casual arrangement that Amy hoped it was something more, but Sam didn’t have the heart nor energy to put in more effort than that. He led a busy life running the Foundation, his way of showing honor to his father. Life's work that Sam would continue doing for as long as he was able and did not see a future beyond that, so his dealings with Amy was convenient for his current lifestyle. She hinted now and then that she wanted more, but he couldn’t imagine it.
Sure she matched the Sutton Hill lifestyle and had a huge network that held a lot of power in the city, a skill that provided useful for the Foundation. As far as his personal life was concerned, she looked the part and talked the part and had on the surface won over his mother and the rest of his family but convenient was all it was.
“Why, what happened?” Amy asked as she walked over to caress his jaw with her lips.
“Nothing happened. I’m just tired, and I’m just sore all over, this jet-setting is getting to me.” Sam answered as he stepped away from her grasp. “I think I’m going to head to bed early, I’ll take you out tomorrow.”
“Sure, I can give you a gentle massage. It will work wonders for you.” She winked at Sam as Amy ran her hand over the bulge in his pants and playfully kissed him on the lips.
For the first time he had noticed what she was wearing; under her blazer, she wore a button down shirt that was tight enough to promise a lot of inappropriate things. She had previously unbuttoned the top and exposed more of her neckline and cleavage and untucked from her skirt. It was enough for him to feel the stirrings of arousal, he was human after all. Amy started something he had no intention of getting into, but it was a little too late for that now. The thought of getting a good night’s rest went out the window.
Without thinking, his hand slowly crept up and caressed Amy’s skin to see if she was still wore anything underneath. He then picked her up and carried her to his bed for something more carnal. He laid down next to her on his king size bed and proceeded to move his hand down her leg to see if she wore anything underneath her skirt either. As he reached the hem of her skirt, Amy place her hand on top of his and leaves it there resting lightly until she pulled their hands up her leg slowly.
She pulled his hand up his leg higher and higher until they reached in between her thighs, and then she let his hand go. Sam felt her stiffen a little as he moved his hand down back towards her knee. By this time, all logic was pretty much gone and was now thinking with his other head. As Sam propped himself up trying to shove off his suit jacket and shirt.
“Looks like you need more help,” Amy said suggestively as she rolled him over and pushed him down on his back. She straddled his waist and places his hands on either side of hers. Sam moved her lower on his body and repositioned her to just the right spot, and she starts to sway her hips to elicit excitement out of him.
As she taki
ng off the remainder of the clothes that covered his upper body and Amy moved her hands up across his stomach and up to his chest and kissed him there. He too moved his hands up her body underneath her top and caressed her breasts, pausing to give them a gentle squeeze before tossing the lacy bra to the floor that covered them.
As she moved slightly lower on his body, her hand lingered over his bugle and then moved up to undo his belt, button and then pulled his zipper down slowly. The outline he made was visible through his briefs, and after he had moved his hips up, Amy took off his pants completely and before tossing them on the floor as well.
Amy had wasted no time before she pulled his briefs down quickly. With her right hand, Amy started to stroke him in long, swift motions while her left hand teased him elsewhere. After she had repeated this a few times, eliciting loud moans from Sam, Amy circled her tongue for a few seconds before taking him in her mouth.
Sam gently takes her head in both of her hands, pulling her off of him and rolls her onto her back. With fluidity, he pulls off her skirt and matching lacy panties before joining the others on the floor. Sam pulled away slightly and kissed the side of her neck, shoulder and down her chest towards her nipple and all the way to her stomach. His hands followed tracing the same pathway his lips took.
Sam positioning himself above her, he slides himself into her until he’s completely inside and then thrust into her slowly at first and eventually with increased intensity and speed. Crying out with a passion she called his name while he groaned to himself muttering unexplainable words. Several minutes later he felt himself starting to come closer to climax and set the furious pace he had thrust into her over and over again. Grunting with raw lust, he pumped into her fast and hard. Sam knew he wouldn’t last much longer at the pace he went in but that wasn’t on his mind right now, he wanted a quick release.
It didn’t take Amy long after he climaxed before she called out his name in one of her own. He felt her shudder beneath him before getting off of her to catch his breath.
“Ah, that was incredible.” Amy exhaled out loud before looking at him.
“Yeah.” Sam managed to muster. Every single time he hardly said a word. He felt that all too familiar guilt whenever they finished. He wasn’t sure what the source of his guilt was, but it came like clockwork, every single time. He was determined to find out what it was about.
****
It had been several weeks since Jamie started working at the Ellis Foundation and her primary responsibility in the office was as advertised; providing support to both Amy and Sam. She still had not worked up the courage to confront Sam about his intentions and had been going back in forth in her mind if it was even a big deal to do so but she just had to know. This obsession wasn’t healthy for her. Her common sense kept telling her to stop wasting time on a silly man and just focus on developing her career, but she couldn’t help but think what life would be if she didn’t make it enjoyable.
She was having fun working there, and her working relationship with Sam was improving, and she started to learn more about him. He was ambitious, hardworking and he did everything with a purpose. It was that purpose that was the driving factor to his ambition and motivation. It was admirable.
There was also a lot of positive signs that she was in his good graces; little things she discovered over time. The quick, corny joke he’d tell her every morning at the kitchen coffee station, the way he agreed with her opinions in staff meetings, and the way Sam always told her he liked the blueberry flavor whenever he pulled a lollipop from the jar of candy atop her desk. They got along well, and they even had inside jokes between them that they secretly laughed at as the other staff members responded with weird looks that she wished happened more as it was a rare occasion to happen as she hardly saw him around. That was the one thing that she would have changed about the situation, he was always out in meetings, traveling or shut his door when he was in his office. Sam typically went through Amy to delegate work to Jamie, and if he did give her work directly, he did it in a professional manner.
It did not matter, Jamie was at a good place in her life, and she was enjoying it. Granted it wasn’t what she ideally wanted, but she couldn’t ask for anything more. The only cause for concern that she had, which she figured it wasn’t anything major was the odd looks and slight attitude Amy gave her. Jamie got the impression that Amy didn’t like her from the get-go and had some bias towards her. She couldn’t imagine why and would quickly apologize if she knew what it was but Jamie didn’t like confrontation, so she ignored it whenever she sensed the dislike. It must have really angered Amy when Sam blew off a planning meeting with her and asked me to lunch instead.
“Do you want to go or did you already bring a lunch?” he asked.
“Unfortunately, I did. I’d love to join you anyway, it was just a sandwich and an apple.” Jamie said.
“Are you sure?” Sam asked.
“Definitely. When would you like to go?”
“How about right now?”
“Now? It’s not even noon yet.” Jamie remarked.
“That’s alright. Unless you are not an early eater, we can go later if you want.”
“No, we can go now. I was just kind of surprised it was so soon.”
“I could use a break.” Sam shrugged.
“Alright, I just need to grab my jacket and purse,” Jamie said as she stood up to collect her belongings until Amy joined the conversation in protest.
“Sam, you’re heading out? We were going to go over the strategic plan.” Amy subtly pouted.
“It can wait.”
“But Sam...” Amy protested before eyeing Jamie.
“We have time. Don’t worry. The Foundation won’t fall apart because I went to lunch a couple of hours earlier than normal.” Sam laughed and patted Amy’s shoulder. He had incredible patience.
“Shall we go?” Sam asked before placing a hand on the small of Jamie’s back urging her forward.
“Yes, lets.” Jamie agreed nervously. She was anxious to find out what was going to happen as Sam has never made it a habit of inviting her or the staff to lunch. Granted, she hadn’t been working there long, but she has yet seen him do so. Jamie was also anxious to find out if there was a particular reason he invited her. As silly as it was, she was hoping there was.
“Do you like Café on 5?” Sam asked suddenly after they had walked quietly for several minutes down the street.
“I have never eaten there, is it good?” Jamie asked.
“It’s great. That’s where I wanted to take you.”
“Then that’s where we shall go.” Jamie laughed.
When they arrived at the café, Jamie realized that Sam apparently made reservations ahead of time. An interesting fact that Jamie found fascinating but also made her more anxious and nervous.
The host walked them to a table in the middle of the main dining area and handed over the menu in case they wanted to order promptly. After the waiter introduced himself as Dale and took their drink orders, Sam was the first to break the ice.
“How is everything going for you at the office?”
“It’s going great like I said earlier.”
“Is the work enough? I know you are way over qualified for what you are doing. In fact, I am quite surprised you even applied. Why did you?” Sam asked as the waiter brought his Belgian Ale and Jamie’s water.
“Before I answer, can I ask you a quick question?”
“Sure.” Sam agreed as he took a sip of his beer.
“If I’m ‘over qualified’ as you put it, why did you hire me?” Jamie asked curiously.
“A lot of reasons I suppose. It’s primarily the reason why I invited you today. I know we hired you for the Project Coordinator position to serve as administrative support for specific tasks but that’s not really an efficient use of your time nor what the position was hired for. The problem is both Amy and I are so swamped we know we needed help and did the right thing in hiring to get it. Yet, we don’t have the
time to give you and Tobias the instructions required to be efficient enough for us. I hope that makes sense.”
“It does. What I think you're saying is that both of you are far too busy to give us instructions on how to help you.”
“Yes exactly. Tobias is only a part-time coordinator because of his classes, but he will be graduating in a few months. What I was thinking is seeing if he would want to take a full-time Administrative Assistant role and phase out his part-time coordinator position and revise your job description to utilize you for bigger projects or divisions you can take the lead on. That’s if it is something you’d like to take on.” Sam explained.
“Sure, I’d think so. I guess it would mostly depend on what division or project you had in mind.”
“Well I still have to run it by Amy but as you know we just launched our spirits and liquor division, and I’m going to need a lot of help with it. We have our challenge competitions coming up, distributor launches, book signings, etc. and I could use a right-hand man so to speak, and since you do have small business experience, I think you could be a tremendous help. That’s why I hired you. All we need is to revise your job description as well to what it rightfully should be. What do you think?”
“Sounds great!” Jamie said excitedly.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, definitely.” Jamie smiled.
As they walked back to the office an hour later after their meal – Sam with Baked Tilapia and Jamie choosing a simple Chicken Caesar salad, she had this sudden urge to inquire about what seemed like a pointless annoyance by then, but she still had to ask.
“Hey Sam, can I ask you a question?” as they stopped short of the front entrance to the office building.
“Yeah?” Sam said as he turned around.
“Do you remember the Fourth of July Celebration last year?”
“Yeah, of course. What about it?”
“I remembered you asking me if I wanted to meet Owen and I said yes,” Jamie explained.
One Little Letter_A Bad Boy, Second Chance Romance Page 19
