“Why?” Sophie asked distractedly. Cole started stroking her legs again while he was talking. She tried to focus on what he was saying, since it was important, but his hands and the throbbing at her core made it difficult.
“He hates me. We’re involved in a complex political tango. My arguments made him aware of my wholly inappropriate interest in you.”
“Interest?” Sophie was having trouble concentrating. The most she could manage was one word questions. She spread her knees wider apart. Sophie scooted her chair closer to his. Cole’s hand had breached the hem of her short skirt. She was aching to feel it on her pussy, cupping it like in her fantasy.
“Wider.”
He nudged her knees.
Sophie complied without a second thought. She spread her knees wide, giving Cole an unimpeded view of her lace covered sex. He responded by moving closer to her, intertwining their legs. Sophie held her breath, anticipating his next move. She didn’t have to wait long. Cole looked her straight in the eyes before running two fingers down the wet center of her panties. She moaned and undulated against his fingers, trying to position them against the spot she needed them the most.
In a heartbeat, Cole and Sophie came together in a clash of lips, teeth, tongue and hands. Sophie climbed on his chair, straddling Cole and rubbing her aching pussy against his fingers. She felt drunk with arousal and his masculine scent. Sophie moved her mouth to the side of his neck and licked and bit it while she rode his hand.
Cole roughly pushed up Sophie’s tank top and bra. He unknowingly reenacted a scene from her fantasy again, bringing his mouth to her breasts and sucking and tonguing her nipples firmly. The pleasure pain sent a stab of arousal through Sophie. She moaned in frustration when he moved his fingers from her core, but when Cole moved aside the soaking crotch of her panties and plunged two fingers inside of her Sophie moaned again in ecstasy. She ground against them as Cole firmly kneaded one of her breasts while leaving a series of dark red suck marks across the other.
She moved against him urgently, pushing herself against his fingers. He managed to squeeze a third finger inside of her. Sophie was overcome by the sense of fullness. It was better than she even dreamed. Sophie rode his fingers, feeling the tension inside of her build higher and higher. She strained, trying to reach the pinnacle. Finally, the tension shattered. Waves of pleasure gripped Sophie, causing her to clench around Cole’s fingers. When she was spent, Cole gently lowered her back into her chair. He pulled out of her, causing Sophie to moan and ripple internally.
When Sophie was aware of her surroundings again, she opened her eyes and looked at Cole. She was stunned. He was back in his chair with his tumbler of scotch clenched in one hand. He was flushed with arousal, his eyes glittering hungrily. Sophie looked down, and noticed the raging erection tenting his dark slacks. She belatedly realized she never even touched his cock.
“As I said, he noticed my interest in you.”
Chapter Five
Crystal Bridges sat in her plush University of Seattle Medical Complex office and smiled smugly at her computer screen:
TO: Crystal Bridges
FROM: Bruce Mapleton
Termination papers sent today to Sophie Benedict. Losing another resident will reflect poorly on Cole Armstrong. Can’t wait to mention it at the next faculty council meeting. Drink later?
Crystal unwound the tight bun she usually wore and let her long hair free to spill down her back. She undid the buttons of her impeccably neat designer power suit and breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Finally,” she thought to herself, “That meddling Dean Armstrong will get what he deserves.” How dare he come in to this university and start making big changes without consulting her? Everyone knew Crystal Bridges was the most powerful person in the entire school.
In her position as Director of Human Resources for the University of Seattle Medical School, Crystal saw herself as the “axe.” In her mind, the Dean’s signature on appointment and termination paperwork was a mere formality. Crystal was the person who decided who was hired and fired. She saw herself as having total power and control over everyone’s lives, and she relished that power.
When Cole Armstrong emerged as the strongest candidate for the Dean position, Crystal knew he’d be trouble. He was too sure of himself for someone so young. Cole was full of dangerous ideas; ideas which would lead to change. Crystal liked everything the way it was, under her control. She tried to block the hiring committee’s decision, but it was too difficult. Cole was smart, likeable, and charming. He won over the committee with ease. None of the other candidates came close. Crystal knew she had to play things smart. Even though her position as HR director gave her a lot of power and influence in making the final decision, she knew she couldn’t afford to alienate the council members. Those department chairs and associate deans were too important to piss off in such large numbers. In the back scratching world of academia, you never knew when you were going to need someone’s proverbial long fingernails.
Crystal hated Cole Armstrong to begin with, but her inability to stop his appointment caused her to hate him even more. She knew the only way to deal with him was to take him down from within. She’d just have to help everyone else at the hospital see what a mistake hiring him was. The sooner his firing could be arranged, the better.
Luckily, she knew just how to poison the well. Dr. Bruce Mapleton. Crystal was aware Bruce wanted the Dean job. The man might be diminutive in stature, but there was nothing diminutive about his ambition. Crystal knew that Bruce was just the internal faculty member to start causing Cole Armstrong trouble. And as the Residency Director for Internal Medicine, he was in the perfect position to create the most problems. The residency program was the major reason a new Dean was hired in the first place. After five turbulent years under the previous leadership, its national reputation was declining. If they couldn’t keep attracting top candidates from the best medical schools, the program and university would lose money and prestige.
When the previous Dean was ousted, Bruce thought he was a shoe-in. During his tenure as the Rehabilitation Medicine Residency Director, he raised their national rank from number thirty-three in the country to number four. The faculty council recognized Bruce’s success by recently appointing him the Director of the Internal Medicine program, a more visible and potentially prestigious position. He was sure he was the Medical Complex’s rock star.
But then along came Cole Armstrong. Even Crystal couldn’t blame the hiring committee for selecting Cole. He had a charisma that everyone responded to. Men wanted to be his friend, and women wanted...well, they wanted what was under his white coat. Crystal saw the hot looks the female faculty tried to hide. Their nervous giggles and schoolgirl pie eyes. Even Dr. Evelyn Feldstein, fifty years old and a grizzled veteran of Emergency Medicine, blushed and stuttered after shaking his hand.
Crystal rolled her eyes at the memory. Most women were so stupid when it came to men. Men were only good for one thing: using them to get ahead in life.
Bruce had been making passes at her for years. Crystal ignored them and played professional. If there was no career advantage, Crystal wasn’t interested. But she knew all those glances down her shirt and questions about her weekends were because Bruce wanted her. He wanted her bad. He couldn't take his eyes off her legs when they were in the monthly Faculty Council meetings. Sometimes Crystal would cross and uncross her legs just because she knew he was watching and because she could.
She’d never seriously considered starting something up with Bruce. She enjoyed the game of toying with him too much. But the minute she knew Cole Armstrong was taking the Dean position, she knew seducing Bruce was the easiest way to make sure he was on her side. They would take him down together.
The previous evening, after regular work hours, Crystal walked down the long corridor to his office. She knew Bruce would be working late, he always did. She tapped on his door and walked in. Dr. Mapleton was at his desk going over patient files. The lights were dimmed an
d the screen of his computer illuminated his lustrous chestnut colored mustache. He looked up in surprise. “Crystal, to what do I owe this pleasure?” His eyes immediately went from her face to up and down her body. They rested on her chest.
“Bruce,” she began, “You know how you always try to look down my shirts?”
Bruce started to stammer a denial.
“Well, tonight, I want to show you what’s under here.” Crystal started slowly unbuttoning her blouse. Bruce gaped in surprise. She finished unbuttoning and worked the sleeves down her arms. Crystal’s shirt dropped to the floor, leaving her bare.
“You have a tit tat.” Bruce’s voice was a husky whisper. “It’s so sexy. You are full of surprises, baby”.
Crystal had revealed one of her secrets. Along the side of her left breast and reaching upwards and around her shoulder was an elaborate tattoo of a thorn bush. Some of the thorns had bright red blood dripping off.
Bruce couldn’t contain himself after finally seeing Crystal’s flesh and the surprise of her erotic tattoo. He leapt up from his desk and ran to shut and lock his door. Bruce walked back to Crystal and pressed his body next to hers, grinding his hard-on onto her lower thigh. She was about four inches taller than Bruce, but she didn’t mind. She liked being the one with the upper hand, at work and when it came to sex. Crystal ruffled his perfectly styled, side-parted hair, and stroked his mustache, which was Bruce’s signature feature. She knew he was vain about it. Bruce groomed it constantly. He moaned as she stroked it.
Crystal smiled down at Bruce before boosting herself up onto his desk. “Now get that mustache down here,” she commanded as she opened her legs. Bruce was only too happy to comply.
He’d been putty in her hands ever since.
Crystal smiled at the memory and decided she would meet Bruce for a drink tonight. “Might as well enjoy the perks of this situation,” she thought. “Nothing like plotting the downfall of Cole Armstrong while indulging in a gratis beverage. Maybe I’ll let Bruce give me a mustache ride later.”
Chapter Six
The following morning Sophie was a bundle of nerves. She had an appointment with Crystal Bridges in her office in ten minutes, and she was already behind on her patient schedule. Mrs. Morrison’s gallbladder consult would have to wait until after the meeting. “If I still have a job,” she thought to herself.
Sophie checked her appearance in the small mirror on the inside door of her locker. The dark circles under her eyes were still there, and more apparent than ever. Sophie had hardly slept last night. The stress of losing her residency position was enough to keep her up, but adding the unresolved sexual tension between her and Cole kept Sophie’s brain in overdrive all night long.
The way he had touched her! Sophie’s muscles clenched at the memory of Cole’s hands on her body. She felt herself blush and her breath hitch thinking about the way he glided his hands up her legs before pressing his fingers inside of her. No one had made her body respond that way before. She’d lost control.
As Sophie walked through the hallways of the medical complex she forced herself to focus. Now was not the time to indulge in sexual daydreams about Cole Armstrong. She was going into the lion’s den. Sophie needed all her wits about her.
****
Crystal Bridges sat at her gleaming wood desk and waited for Sophie, her stack of bureaucratic paperwork at the ready. She made sure her tight bun was in place and her suit jacket neatly buttoned. You had to put people on defense right away. Crystal knew all the subtle ways of using body language and unspoken communications to get the upperhand in a conversation.
At last she heard the knock on her door.
“Your 9:00 a.m. appointment is here, Ms. Bridges,” her secretary, Samantha peeked her head through the doorway. “Should I let her in?”
“Make her wait five minutes first.”
Samantha rolled her eyes and walked out to the Human Resources waiting area. She knew Crystal Bridges was a big shot at the hospital, but didn’t like the games and mean-spiritedness she saw from her boss. Sam was often Crystal’s whipping boy. “I have to get into a different department,” she thought for the thousandth time that morning.
She saw Dr. Benedict sitting in the waiting room area, tapping her foot. “It’ll be a few minutes, Doctor,” Sam said. “Ms. Bridges is very busy this morning.”
Sophie thanked her and checked her watch. She had patients to get to and hated waiting. Sophie felt her stress bubbling up inside of her, threatening to overflow.
“You look tense, dear.” Samantha said kindly. “How about some chocolate to keep the edge off?” She held up a large glass bowl filled to the brim with several different types of chocolate candies.
“Oh, thank you.” Sophie eagerly grabbed a handful. “You’re a life saver.” She peeled off the first wrapper and immediately felt better. After three more pieces, she knew she had to slow it down.
“Sam, I’d eat that entire bowl if I worked near you,” Sophie said with a laugh.
Sam smiled. She loved feeding people and chocolate made everyone feel better. “Well, if you need more after your meeting stop by my desk.” Sam’s phone made a loud buzzing sound. “That means Ms. Bridges is ready for you. Good luck.”
Sophie got up and walked to Crystal’s door. She tapped softly and stepped through. The last time she’d been in the HR suite was when she started at the hospital, but then she’d been down the hall in a mid-level manager’s office filling out credentialing paperwork. The manager had a standard concrete box shaped office.
“Holy cow,” Sophie thought, looking around the palatial office. “This place is plush.”
Crystal’s office was all gleaming wood and chrome furniture. Expensively framed abstract artwork adorned the walls. There was an unobstructed view of Lake Union through the picture windows.
“Hello Dr. Benedict, please sit down.” Crystal waved to one of the white leather seats across from her massive desk. She picked up the imposing stack of paperwork and leafed through. “Let’s see, where shall we begin? Ah, I know.” She pulled out a sheet of paper and slid it across the desk sharply. “Do you recognize this document?”
Sophie glanced down at it. “This is my appointment letter,” she replied.
“Correct. And in this letter it clearly states the University of Seattle Medical Complex residency program has a strict policy against moonlighting. Does it not?”
“Yes, but...” Sophie started.
“And this is your signature on this letter, correct? You did agree to be bound by its terms and conditions?” Crystal’s voice rose an octave as she cut Sophie off mid-sentence. “It seems perfectly clear that if you did not uphold your end of the terms, then the University is under no obligation to keep you here.”
“My record is exemplary.” Sophie was starting to get mad. “It’s well known amongst the residents that if you can handle the scheduling and keep up with patient care here, you can get away with side hours at another hospital. This policy is outdated and unfair. No one can afford to live in this city on a resident’s low salary.”
Crystal began a long speech about HR policies and medical center history. It was full of corporate double speak and euphemisms.
Sophie watched Crystal’s nostrils flare and her eyes gleam during the lecture. “She’s enjoying this,” Sophie realized. “She’s never going to listen to my side or be reasonable. She already had her mind made up.”
Crystal flipped through the paperwork and pulled out something else. She slapped it down on the desk, causing Sophie to jump. “Dr. Mapleton already signed your termination papers this morning. You were on probation for three months and were found to be unfit by the program director. This is your official notice. Your termination is effective immediately.”
Sophie’s stomach dropped. Her face felt hot and cold at the same time. “This can’t be happening,” she whispered. “I’ve worked so hard.” Everything she’d sacrificed for and accomplished was crumbling away before her eyes. And for somethin
g that people did all the time. It wasn’t fair.
Crystal smiled in a way that made Sophie’s stomach hurt even worse. The chocolate that had just made her feel so much better was now threatening to come back up. “The university feels strongly about the health of its employees.” Crystal reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a brochure. “You’re still covered by your medical insurance through the end of the month. I suggest you give this organization a call. They provide assistance to people who can’t manage their lives well.” She slid the brochure over to Sophie.
“US Sharelink, counseling services for the helpless and hopeless,” it read. “University of Seattle mental health awareness.” There was a cartoon drawing of a despondent looking malamute, the school’s mascot on the front.
The Pleasure of the Dean Page 3
