Virgin's Passion

by Kayla C. Oliver

  By one fifteen, I was knocking on Potter’s open office door.

  “Got a minute for me?” I whispered, as Larry was on the phone when I peeked in. He waved me in without smiling and pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

  I put my hands on the armrests, crossed my legs, and waited patiently. I listened to Potter talk and wondered if there even was a person on the other end. Potter yapped a couple of “yups” and “sures” before telling whoever was on the other end he’d have to call back. He ended the phone call by saying “Ciao.” It took everything I had to keep that burrito from come up.

  “Candace, I’m glad you had a moment.” His voice wasn’t the cocky, snobbish brute from last night. Instead, he awkwardly spoke like he’d never talked to a girl before. Had I not seen the fury in his eyes that morning, I might have fallen for this act. But I had to pretend I trusted him.

  “Me, too.” I looked toward the open door then back at Potter. “About what you offered last night,” my voice barely whispered. “I’m in if you are.”

  “Really?” He looked skeptical.

  I took a deep breath to bring my breasts up for a second.

  “Why shouldn’t I look for opportunities to make a little extra? I did at my last job. I’m not hurting anyone. But if you’ve changed your mind, I understand. Maybe another time?”

  I leaned forward in my chair and felt total disgust creep over my skin as Potter smirked.

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  “It has to be discreet.” I batted my eyes at him like I was a little girl. “Can you be discreet, Daddy?”

  I saw his breath hitch in his throat. Again, he started to sweat.

  “I can.” It was like watching a turtle slowly stick its head out of a shell as Potter looked at me. And I knew there was something truly disgusting going on behind his desk from the waist down. I didn’t dare think about it.

  “Great. We’ll talk later.” I pushed myself out of the chair and slowly stood up, letting him get an eyeful. Then I walked out of his office. I couldn’t stop myself from shivering as if I’d just seen a nest of tarantulas.

  Chapter Fourteen

  James

  “You did?” I stared at Candace. “Are you sure about this? I’m okay with you not being involved. In fact, this morning I got very used to the idea of keeping you out of it completely.”

  “No. I want to help,” she said as we talked at the elevator bank together. “Besides, you need me.”

  “That’s the truth.”

  “Stop flirting over there you two,” Patty teased from the reception desk. “You know, you guys make a cute couple.”

  “You know, Patty, I was thinking the same thing. James is the brains and I’m the brawn.” Candace flexed her arms like a bodybuilder.

  Patty laughed out loud and waved at us like we were just two crazy kids.

  We stepped into the elevator. Once the doors were closed, I turned to face Candace and slipped my arms around her waist.

  “I’ll need to bring you up to speed on what Rodriguez and I are doing here. I don’t want you to put yourself in any unnecessary danger. Do you understand?”

  She nodded.

  I kissed her fast and let her go just as the elevator came to a stop and two other people stepped inside with us.

  “Can you come outside for a minute?” I asked.

  “Sure. I could use a little fresh air.”

  It was a cloudy day and it smelled like rain was on its way.

  “I love rainy days,” Candace said. “They’re perfect days to watch old black and white movies, stay in pajamas, and eat junk food. It’s even better when there are thunderstorms.”

  “Well, it’s going to get pretty stormy around here for the next couple of weeks. So, I want you to be sure you’re ready for this. It’s not just playing a role. I don’t mean to be crass, but you’ve literally become the bait. It isn’t what I’d choose for you. But your background has made you smarter than you know.”

  Candace pulled her hair back from her face. She had no expression. But I could see she understood what I meant. It showed in the way her shoulders were back and her spine was straight.

  “I’m ready.”

  “Can I ask what made you change your mind?”

  I watched Candace’s expression. Something happened that had made her mad, but she wasn’t ready to share. I could imagine what it was. Having beauty and brains was as much a curse as it was a blessing.

  “I’ve got my reasons, James. Let me just say this. It isn’t because of you. I hope you understand and see that I don’t mean that to be insulting.”

  “I’m not insulted. In fact, I think you independence is crazy hot,” I admitted.

  “Well, a girl should have a few secrets of her own.”

  “How about you share them with me over dinner once this is all over?”

  “That sounds good.” She winked at me and I almost melted.

  Just then my phone went off. It was Jenny.

  “I’ve got to take this.”

  She nodded and began to stroll down the street with her arms wrapped around herself. She walked like a woman who was plotting, planning something. For a moment, I felt pity for Larry Potter. He had no idea what kind of woman he had run up against.

  “So, I hear that you’ve got an insider helping out. Is that true?” The chief asked. He was calmer than usual. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

  “Yes. I found a dress that might fit.”

  “I don’t think you’ll have an opportunity to use it.”

  “What?” I was floored. “Why not?”

  “This has already become a formal event that has attracted too many attendees already.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.” I clenched my fists.

  “Just be ready to change your plans.”

  I snapped my phone shut and looked across the street. I saw Rodriguez parked in his car. There were an Uber and Lyft sticker displayed on the back window. Rodriguez was a clean-cut guy that some women might find handsome in a nerdy kind of way. At least that was my opinion. I dialed his number.

  “Is that our date for the dance?”

  “Let’s keep it professional,” I grumbled. It was going to take some getting used to if Candace was going to be my partner in crime. Even with her being as lovely as she was, built like the most exquisitely chiseled sculpture of Venus or Aphrodite, I trusted her. I trusted her even more than Rodriguez, who I had known for over two years.

  “Of course. I’m just saying.”

  “We need to decide on a playlist.” What I meant was that Rodriguez and I were going to have to come up with a plan to implement after Candace played her hand with Potter.

  “Sure,” Rodriguez said.

  “I don’t want to stay out too late.” That meant I didn’t want Candace left alone with Potter for very long. There would have to be a plan in place that she was watched and I was still undercover. There were still light bulbs to change and toilets to unclog if I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

  “Got it. Why don’t you see if you can get that old turntable working? That way you’d be in one place for the duration.”

  I hated to admit it but Rodriguez had just made such an obvious suggestion that I was ashamed I hadn’t thought of it myself. His code meant that I should set up a dummy project that was a complete mystery on how to fix and would require an indeterminate amount of time to correct.

  “You’ve got brains you haven’t even used yet, Rod.” I chuckled.

  “That’s what I’m here for, buddy.”

  “Okay. Can we refrain from using the ‘buddy’ stuff?”

  “Sure. I just got carried away.” Rod cleared his throat. “I’m out.”

  Once we hung up I began to invent an issue in the ABF office that would require I be close to Candace more often than not. After hours didn’t matter. I could roam the halls like a cat slunk around the alleys, uninhibited. But I wanted to make sure that nothing was happening during the d
ay that might make her change her mind. It was imperative she knew she was safe, even if that meant blowing my cover.

  I went back into the building but before I could turn into the maintenance office Bob cut me off.

  “Hey, Jimmy.” He had a serious look on his face. “You got a minute?”

  “Sure, Bob. What’s the matter?”

  “I need to talk to you in my office.”

  This wasn’t good. Even if I was undercover and this wasn’t my real job, nothing ever good came from a boss who said they needed to speak to you in their office.

  Bob’s office smelled like windshield washer fluid. He had an old-fashioned metal desk and ugly green file cabinets that were popular in the 1970s. There was a laptop on his desk but it was covered my receipts, handwritten daily logs, and Post-it notes with scribbles only Bob could read. Today’s newspaper was spread open on the desk. There were a variety of pens and pencils scattered on the desktop. There were also bundles of toilet paper, stacks of paper towels, a handful of spray bottles and bankers’ boxes packed with documents that probably dated back to the Carter Era.

  “This kind of thing rubs me raw, Jimmy. It isn’t even worth my breath but I gotta mention it.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, someone upstairs said that they thought you were paying too much attention to one of their employees.”

  I sat there, dumbstruck. My throat tightened. If there was going to be anything that screwed up the works, this was going to be it. A female jealous of Candace? That had to be as easy to find as sand at the beach.

  “Who would say that?”

  “Mimi von Lyon. I know I’m not supposed to reveal the source of any complaint but this was too ridiculous to take very seriously.” Bob shook his head.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “She says that every other week or so you’re up there cleaning toner from the floor, spending a lot of time talking with the secretaries.”

  “Did she mention which secretary?” I was perplexed. “I don’t really talk to anyone when I’m up there.”

  “No. They didn’t name any secretary in particular. Only Miss Mimi was the one who had a problem. If you ask me, she’s got her panties in a wad because she hasn’t had her panties in a wad for some time. If you catch my meaning.”

  I sighed and chuckled. “Bob, what do think I should do about this?”

  “I’m not going to do anything but inform Miss Mimi that you’ve been told. I’m also going to let her know that you’re one of the hardest working guys I’ve ever had on staff. If she decides to complain, she better have something more solid than this.”

  “I’d appreciate that, Bob.”

  That was a close one. My first thoughts had been that someone had seen Candace and me together.

  “There were never any problems like this when women were at home taking care of the household and the kids. Men don’t give a shit about this kind of stuff. Only women act this way. It’s ridiculous.”

  I chuckled at his old-fashioned comments.

  When I left Bob’s office, I avoided ABF for the remainder of the day. Once everything was locked up after five o’clock, I went upstairs and found an opportunity to give me several hours on the floor working on a problem.

  But even with all of the planning, things changed. As soon as I walked in the following day, Bob had an assignment for me on the twenty-ninth floor and the report of the leak flooding the men’s room on eighty-two was going to be taken care of later in the morning.

  It would be a couple hours before I’d get a chance to talk to Candace. We had to make something happen soon. My gut was telling me that time was running out on this sting.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Candace

  It had been a week since I’d had my “meeting” with Larry Potter. It had changed the entire dynamic of the office. Potter was no longer skulking around like a teenager desperate to catch a glimpse of cleavage or to accidentally brush up against a plump female behind. He acted cheery and every time he saw me, he went out of his way to say something nice. Not provocative. Not seedy. But something nice like “you’re really finding your way around, Candace” or “thanks for getting that report done so quickly” even though the reports I generated rarely went to Potter.

  But I played along. I had to keep him calm and convinced that everything was going to happen the way we had discussed.

  However, I was going to have to put up or shut up, and soon. James had told me about his problem with Mimi von Lyon. It was scary not having him cruising the floor at random times of the day.

  As a dancer, I’d had bouncers. Big ones. Here at ABF, I was exposed.

  “You agreed to do this, sweetie,” I scolded myself. “Now put on your big girl panties and let’s get this ship sailing.”

  “This isn’t the greatest plan but it’s what we’ve got to work with,” James said when we met in the storage room on the ABF’s third floor.

  “So, tell me again how this is going to work?”

  “You’re going to let Potter know you’d like to meet up on Thursday night,” James instructed carefully. “The after-hours logs are lightest that day. The chances of you being alone in the office are very high.”

  “You’ll be around?” I just wanted to hear him say he was.

  “Absolutely. Now, I’ll have you wired up. Rodriguez will be listening downstairs. I’ll be on the floor but out of sight. What you’ll need to do is get him to offer you money. Make it obvious to him that you’re interested in extra cash. A lot of it. Can you do that?”

  “Sure. I’ll just repeat the lines I used to get at the club,” I said.

  “Someday, I’d love to hear you tell me all about it.”

  “Yeah, one seedy experience at a time please.” I snorted.

  “Of course. I’ll interrupt before anything get out of hand, but it’s going to be down to the wire. Just don’t be scared. I’m not going to leave you alone. But we’ve got to make sure his guard is down.”

  “I understand.” I let out a deep breath. “I may have a trick or two up my sleeve. Trust me. I’ve dealt with guys like this before.

  ***

  It felt like the week skipped two days and went from Monday to Thursday in one jump.

  I pulled courage all the way up from my heels and, in as casual a manner as possible, I asked Potter if he had a minute to stop by my cubicle. It didn’t take long before he was darkening my door.

  “Hi,” he beamed. Like a guy who’d just found out he won some money or had bought a new sports car.

  “Hello.” I spun around in my chair. “Could you look this report over for me? I don’t want to hand it to Etta with any mistakes.” I handed him a folder with a couple random pieces of paper in it.

  “I can do that.”

  “If there are any mistakes, could you let me know? I was thinking of staying a little later tonight to get some other things done. I can make any changes you suggest then.”

  He started to sweat. His thick pink tongue darted out of his mouth and his eyes became feverish with a lustful gaze. I was shocked at how quickly the transformation had taken place. It was like he’d swallowed a handful of Viagra and it had just kicked in.

  “I’d do that. Absolutely.” He opened the folder and looked but didn’t see the random papers inside. He saw whatever sick movie was already unfolding in his mind. I knew that look. I’d seen it a million times at Lacey’s. Some of the guys who watched us girls on stage had that same look. The bouncers kept a close eye on those fellows. They were unpredictable, especially when alcohol was involved. They were unpredictable.

  Stripping was not brain surgery. But I always thought common sense was a little more important than knowing how to operate on a brain. If I somehow got locked in Potter’s office, I would be in trouble. I had to make sure that didn’t happen.

  “Great. Thanks.” I batted my eyes and spun around to face my computer. Without another word, Potter left.

  I didn’t see him the rest of the day. />
  But when five o’clock rolled around I could hear him laughing, chatting up the other bosses boisterously.

  When I was confident that everyone was gone from the office, I packed up my courage and headed over to Potter’s office. The door was open.

  It surprised me when I peeked in to see Potter at his desk doing some kind of work on his computer. I was sure I was going to find him sprawled out on the loveseat by the window with no pants on and some kind of jungle music playing on his iPod.

  I took a deep breath and knocked.

  “Hi,” I purred as I peeked in. “Are you busy?”

  “Just wrapping things up.” He flashed a smile that quickly disappeared as he focused on his monitor. “Come on in. Close the door and have a seat.”

  I stepped inside and shut the door but not all the way. There was about a two-inch gap left open. I slung my purse onto one of the chairs opposite his desk and eased down into the other.

  “I know this was kind of last minute but I appreciate your helping me out.” I tried to sound casual while speaking in code.

  “Of course,” he replied while tapping on his computer. “Tell me. What made you change your mind?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You changed your mind, right?” He didn’t look at me. He was fishing for something. Consent. He wanted an admission that I was a willing participant and wasn’t forced or coerced into anything. I wondered if he was recording this somehow. I wouldn’t put it past him.

  “I did, Larry.” I had to be very careful what I said. “I made a lot of money at my job before this.”

  “I’ll bet you did.” He smirked.

  “It’s not as easy getting off that high as I thought it would be. There are things I want that I can’t just go and buy.”

  “Yeah? Like what?”

  “Shoes.” I tittered as if I had just told him a nasty secret.