by A. J. Wynter
“Don’t get too comfy.” a voice whispered in her ear.
Sienna screamed and nearly jumped out of her skin.
“You’re sitting in my chair.” the voice hissed again.
Sienna turned to look into the coldest, meanest, and most gorgeous blue eyes that she had ever seen. She dug her fingers into the arm of the chair and began to slide out when Peter and her mom came back into the room.
“I see you two have met!” Peter quipped enthusiastically.
“Yeah, I was just making sure she was comfortable here” the young man, whom Sienna deduced was Jonathan, responded. He smiled at his Dad and then turned and smirked at Sienna.
Sienna got a horrible feeling deep in the pit of her stomach.
“I’m just going to go and lie down for a bit, is that ok Mom?”
“Sure honey, the bedroom at the end of the hallway is all made up and ready for you.
“Dad?” Jonathan looked at his father questioningly. “Isn’t that my computer room?”
“We’ve moved all of your tech stuff to the basement. We have to make some room for our new family members. You have a bedroom and all of your new computer gear at college. You don’t need two rooms here. Why don’t you go show Sienna her new room, and the trick for opening that sticky closet door.”
“Sure Dad, no problem.”
Sienna was puzzled by the Jekyll and Hyde game Jonathan was playing, but she followed him to the end of the hallway.
“Listen you little shit. You and your slutty Mom are going to be out of here as soon as my Dad realizes what pieces of trash he’s invited to live in our house. So, what I’m trying to say is, don’t get too comfortable.”
He tossed her suitcase onto the bed with attitude and turned and walked away. Sienna stood in the middle of the room, dumbstruck, her eyes welling up with tears.
And it didn’t get any better than that. Whenever he was home, her step-brother would smirk and snarl at her, yet be such an angel when others were around. There was no way that Sienna could tell her mom about the verbal abuse; the horrible names he called her, like pus-face. Nobody would believe her.
So, she suffered in silence, growing to hate every moment that Jonathan was home from school. And she always breathed a huge sigh of relief every time he picked up his giant duffel bag and headed out the door.
The Tuesday after thanksgiving, Sienna sat at school with her best friend Lindsay complaining about him.
“Why don’t you just tell him to fuck off?”
“I’m scared of him. He slams the doors in my face. He calls me names like ‘brace-faced little whore’.”
“That’s not cool, Sienna. You have to tell your Mom”
Sienna sighed and bit into her bagel. She knew that something had to change, but her mom was so happy, she didn’t want to screw things up for her.
After school Sienna walked home, thinking about what Lindsey had said and contemplating whether or not she should say something to her mom. When Jonathan was gone to school everything was so good. Maybe she should just suck it up and keep quiet when he was home?
She opened the door and her heart sank as she saw his duffel bag in the hallway. Why was he home? Her shoulders rounded forward and she kept her eyes low hoping to avoid him and get to the safety of her room.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached her room and closed the door. There was no sign of him. She sat down on the bed and grabbed her cookies from her backpack.
“No wonder you’re so fucking fat.”
The voice no longer shocked her.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to tell me why it was so important for me to come home today.”
“I dunno.”
“Of course you don’t know. You’re a total waste of space.” He said as he flicked a cracker at her. “Here, have this, you have to keep that penguin-like figure somehow.”
That was the last straw. She decided she had to tell her Mom what was going on. She tossed the cracker onto the floor and she marched out into the living room. Her determined march was halted when she saw the serious look on both her Mom and Peter’s faces. They were sitting on the couch together holding hands.
Johnny glanced at the two of them and then looked over to Sienna. Both of them knew that something wasn’t right. This wasn’t a cozy, let’s talk about a happy event, like an engagement.
“Sit down kids.” Janice said quietly.
Johnny slunk into the recliner and Sienna sat cross-legged on the floor behind the coffee table.
“I’m sick.”
There were more words that followed that two-word sentence, but Sienna couldn’t hear them. There was a whooshing sound in her head and she felt herself get dizzy.
Her Mom passed away about two months after that conversation on the couch. Johnny hadn’t come home from school, not even for Janice’s funeral. So, Sienna had some peace and quiet to spend with her mother during her last days.
Peter wanted her to stay at the house, but she knew that without her Mom there, things might get really bad. So, she packed up her things and went to live with her Dad. That cracker flick was the last time she saw Jonathan: until today, thirteen years later.
Chapter 4
Now, here she was, hand on the door handle, debating whether to walk away, or turn and face the boy that had been so mean to her. She inhaled, forced her shoulders back and turned to face the familiar icy blue eyes from a time in her life that she would rather just forget.
Jonathan’s soft boyish face was now the chiseled face of a man. He had a strong angular jaw and his icy blue eyes were surrounded by dark lashes. She hated to admit to herself that he looked handsome, no longer a lanky IT nerd with a peach fuzz moustache. She boldly walked forward and outstretched her hand to meet his.
“Hello, Mr. Wise” she said, her voice cracking slightly.
“Hello, Miss…Miss Smythe” he responded, double checking his notes.
She waited for him to show any sign of recognition that the young girl from his past was standing in front of him, but, there was none. She walked over and set her file on his desk and sat in the chair.
When she was eye level with his belt she saw that it was still undone and he had smears of red lipstick on the bottom of his shirt. Blushing, she tried not to imagine what that woman had been doing in here. However, she found herself wondering if he was well endowed and tried to shake the inappropriate thoughts from her head. Chastising herself mentally for the thoughts, she endeavored to look at his face and not his crotch.
“Well, Miss. Smythe, looks like you were the only person who could get here on time today. Those boots are certainly made for walking in deep snow, aren’t they?”
He’s trying to lighten the mood, she thought, slightly amused.
She was about to retort with a comment about his choice in lipstick shade, but caught herself; this was a job interview.
"You’re overqualified. Why do you want this job?" Jonathan asked, sitting down in his chair. He looked at her, not bothering to correct his clothes.
"My Father is sick and his insurance won't cover all of his medical bills. I feel obligated to help since he paid for me to get through college so I'd have no debt. It's the least I can do." Sienna said. "And clearly, you need a competent assistant. While I won't pretend I'm not mildly offended by the obvious lack of protocol in your work place, I can look past that for the job."
Jonathan stared at her for a few minutes and then wrote something down on the pad in front of him. He slid it across the desk for her to review.
"What is this?" She said, blinking at the series of numbers on the paper.
"The salary I will pay you to be available to me at all times. And to do any job I need you to do, which could be anything from picking up my laundry, to taking my date home." Jonathan told her.
"I thought you needed a business assistant?" Sienna said looking confused.
"I do, but sometimes that includes personal business. I need to get to meetings
on time without worrying about a woman, or clean clothes." He motioned to his current state of dishevelment. "I don't pretend to be something I'm not. The work environment here is something I created because it makes me happy. I have no desire to change it."
"But you need someone who is actually capable of doing a real job, if I’m not mistaken." Sienna pointed out, getting a quick read on the situation.
"You’re good." He said sitting back. “Do you have any questions for me?”
“Well, actually I do. When I was researching your background to prepare myself for this interview, I couldn’t find anything about your history prior to founding this company. Why is that?”
Johnathan’s brow furrowed and he looked a little closer at Sienna.
“I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve met.”
“Are you evading my question?” she replied, avoiding his question.
“There’s nothing to hide. My last name used to be Dinkelhoffmann. The name Wise just fits a lot better on the top of this office tower.”
He leaned forward on his desk, and stared her down with his icy eyes.
“I appreciate the fact that you did your research. I could definitely use someone around here who knows how to dig up dirt. But, I did not have time to do any research on potential hires and clearly my HR girls need a little improvement in that department. Why don’t you fill me in on a little more about yourself.”
“Well, as you can see on my resume, I went to University in Carlstown and majored in communications.
“Carlstown,” he mused. “Continue, Miss Smythe.”
“I finished top of my class, and moved to the city to find work. I had a great job, my career was on track, but then my Dad got sick and I had to go home to take care of him. This was right before the housing market collapse in 2008. As a result, I’ve been working temporary jobs ever since to make ends meet.”
“Your Dad, what does he have and how bad does he have it?”
“That’s a bit of a personal question, but if you must know, it’s prostate cancer”.
“Fucking cancer!" he flared. "I’m sorry to hear that Sienna. My Mom died of cancer when I was young and I don’t think that I ever quite recovered from it.”
Why was he being so empathetic? Was this the same asshole whose verbal assaults she had hidden from? And precisely what kind of job interview was this, anyway?
As if reading her mind Johnathan said, “Shit, I’m sorry. As you can tell, I’ve never had to do a proper job interview. I usually just call up the modeling agency and have them send over a bunch of girls and see who flirts the best.”
"Mr. Wise, or should I call you Johnny?" Sienna said, watching his eyes narrow with the use of this very informal name."Do I have the job or not? I don't want to waste any more of your time. I can live with your, so called, office environment, if you will promise to communicate effectively with me.” She paused and then continued, “and not yell at me, and promise not to call me fatty fatty four eyes."
He almost spat out his coffee. "Ha. Holy Shit. I knew it! Do you still wear glasses?" He asked her, looking down and rubbing his hands on his pants.
"Contacts." Sienna responded automatically. "I want to get laser surgery in a few years, but I can't afford it right now."
“When did you change your last name from Turner?”
“It’s always been Smythe, like my dad. My Mom went by her maiden name, Turner.”
“I guess I didn’t really know that much about you.”
Was that remorse in his voice? She couldn’t tell.
"Our health insurance plan should cover laser eye surgery once you've worked here for six months. The job is yours if you want it, but, like I said, I expect you to be able to handle whatever I throw at you. Can you start tomorrow?"
“Yes, providing you don’t have an issue with our past.”
“I don’t if you don’t. Check in with one of the reception girls tomorrow morning and they will show you to your office.”
“I will be here, thank you for the opportunity Mr. Wise.”
“Sienna.” He said, his voice turning very somber.
She was sure that he was going to apologize for being such an asshole to her as a kid.
“Do you need money for shoes?”
She felt her face flush. “No, I have a selection of practical footwear at home.”
“I thought as much.” Johnathan said and smiled to himself as if laughing at an inside joke.
Sienna shook his hand and realized how much larger it was than hers. It engulfed hers, and though he was a geek, his fingers were rough like he just came in from chopping firewood.
She marched out of the 20th floor, past all of the bimbos, and held her head high until the elevator doors closed. It was there that she lost her composure. The insecure teenager inside her was making her presence felt for the first time in years. She squeezed her eyes shut, thought of her Dad, and knew that whatever happened here, she could handle it.
When the doors opened into the lobby she realized that she had forgotten her down bomber jacket upstairs, but there was no way in hell she was going back up there today. She pulled her hat and mitts out of her messenger bag and headed for the doors.
“Miss Smythe?” the doorman said as she approached.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Wise called down and asked me to give you one of his extra jackets.”
Sienna stopped in her tracks. Was he being kind, or mocking her?
“I’m fine, thank you.” She said as she tried to side-step him.
“I’m afraid I have to insist Miss.”
A gust of wind blustered into the lobby every time the door opened. She shivered, then reached for the jacket. Practicality won over stubbornness. The door man shuffled around her to ensure he could help her into the jacket properly.
“Thank you…what is your name?”
“Benjamin, Miss.”
“Thank you Benjamin, I will see you tomorrow”
He smiled brightly at her and opened the door into the whirling snowglobe wonderland.
“See you tomorrow, Miss Smythe”.
Sienna walked out into the cold, her boots crunching in the snow. She could smell that bastard on his jacket, a combination of leather and musk. She should feel elated about her new job and decent salary, but there was something not quite right. However, she decided that, for now, she just had to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Chapter 5
Sienna followed the miniskirt clad supermodel named Madison down the hallway to a large room full of filing cabinets. For a tech company, they sure had a lot of paper…
"What do you want me to do first?"
"Re-file everything in the file cabinets by date. After that, Mr. Wise wants to start doing something called ‘digitalizing’ to the files and making everything in an online ‘stormcloud’ drive or something like that." Madison raised her voice at the end of every sentence, like it was a question; and clearly didn’t care about getting small details, like words, correct. “I'm going out for lunch with Mr. Wise at noon today, so you have until I get back at three to have them organized."
“That’s quite the lunch break” Sienna said sarcastically, before she could help it.
“It’s pretty standard” Madison replied, not picking up on Sienna’s jab at all.
Sienna just sighed and dug into the files. The blonde was supposed to be helping her, but she just sat around checking her phone every 30 seconds. She would occasionally take a file from one cabinet and shove it into another. Finally, when noon rolled around, Madison applied some fresh lipstick and strutted out of the room.
Sienna watched Madison leave with Johnathan, feeling her pulse race as he walked by with his arm around her shoulders. He nodded at Sienna and tipped his hat like he was a 1920s gangster. Sienna felt her heart pound against her chest. Why was she still intimidated by him?
Her mind ran rampant while she was doing the mindless filing. Was he technically still her step brother? Sh
e didn’t think so, especially since the only person that had tied them together, her mother, was gone. Could she forget about how he treated her? Was it realistic to think that she could work with someone who treated women like commodities? Could they just start a business relationship without acknowledging their past dysfunctional relationship?
If she hadn’t known the twenty-year-old Johnny, she would have found the thirty-three-year-old Johnathan extremely attractive. Unfortunately, she conceded, he was a man who liked skinny models and she would never be either of those things.
Wait! Why was she even thinking like this? She chastised herself. She didn't want to seduce him. He was going to be her boss, and besides, she didn't want to be just another notch on his bedpost. Not that she could be a notch, even if she wanted it. How could her compact, pasta loving body compare to these tall, leggy blondes. She pulled her mousy brown hair into a crumpled bun on the top of her head, pushed all of her crazy thoughts out of her mind, and focused on the task at hand. Making money to save her Dad.
Chapter 6
Jonathan was out for lunch with two of his favorite office girls, Jessica and Madison. He watched them both push the kale around on their plates and realized that both of these girls probably had an eating disorder of some description. How did he never notice this before?
What was the point in taking these girls out to eat? They could just fuck in the comfort of his office. Or, he rationalized, they could both sit under his desk, taking turns sucking his cock while he placed business calls. He had even mastered the art of cumming mid-phone conversation. He prided himself on his skill at filling up a girl’s mouth while closing a deal.
However, he couldn't stop thinking about Sienna. He found it hard to believe that she would come to work for him after the way that he treated her as a kid. She sure had changed. The 15-year-old Sienna that he remembered had been built like a mini linebacker and had acne on her acne. He remembered how big her eyes had looked, and he always figured it was the thick lensed nerdy glasses that she had to wear. Yesterday he saw a poised and intelligent woman, with a cute hourglass figure and huge sad brown eyes. He was confused at the remorse he was feeling about the way he had treated her. He hadn’t had any sort of real feelings for years. What was it about her that was bringing all of these turbulent thoughts and memories to the surface?
