Some hinted that even after this problem was solved they would like to keep her. In fact, they said they could make a whole new department for her. Budget Analysis Manager. What the hell was that? If it was to catch unnecessary spending and control finances, she could spot one problem already. Stop implementing new unnecessary positions and departments.
“Meow.”
“Sorry, only room for one. Go meet me in the bedroom.”
As if Oscar actually understood her, he walked off.
For a spilt second, she wished she were talking to Adam. She would make room for him in the tub, and then they could both go to her bedroom afterwards.
Stop it! You’re letting your hormones dictate your thoughts and actions again.
Jeanette continued soaking while listening to some soft music. She couldn’t wait until Friday. Maybe over the weekend, both she and Adam could come to their senses and realize that this was just one of those crazy flukes.
***
Adam finished taking his shower. One cold one hot. Neither one of them helped.
The only way he was going to get Jeanette out of his system, was to have her twenty four seven until he tired of her. And he knew very well that would never happen.
Once out of the shower, he put on his pajama bottoms and got into bed. He stared up at the ceiling for a good five minutes. He wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight.
He sat up and turned on his lamp. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he started thinking about today’s events. He wondered if he fucked up—again.
Did he jump into things too quickly without thinking? Men were always accused of thinking with their little head and not the big one. He never wanted to be compared to the ordinary man.
Realizing that he wasn’t going to get any sleep, he decided to do something more productive, like look over his program.
He went to his desk and pulled up the program on his laptop. He went from screen to screen looking at every code, once, twice, three times. He couldn’t find anything, at least at the moment. He wasn’t concentrating hard enough anyway. How could he after he had the best sex in his life in an elevator of all places? First it was the office desk. He was living out every person’s fantasy. Having sex in the office and elevator—with a stranger. Of course there was a possibility he was never going to have it again.
“Arrgh!” He put his head in hands. Why did he have to think about that again? He could see now that this was never going to leave his mind. He could live to be a hundred, and before he closed his eyes one last time, this afternoon would be in the forefront of his mind.
Since it seemed that this was what he was going to think about for the rest of the evening, he might as well try to figure out a solution.
If Jeanette had a similar problem that he had with being interested in someone from the office, then all he had to do was convince her that it would be different with them. They can each learn from their mistakes and take the required precautions.
He really didn’t see a problem over all. People dated at work all the time. Heck, most people hooked up with co-workers. You spent most of your waking hours on the job, so it’s inevitable that the dating situation was related to ones working situation.
Maybe he was over simplifying things too much. He didn’t really know. All he knew was that he was in love with Jeanette, and no matter how she tried to act like they were just having fun, there was no denying the attraction they had for each other.
Satisfied with the approach he was going to take, he got up to check some messages on the phone. There were two. One was from Sam, the other his brother Noah.
Sam wanted to remind him that they had an early morning meeting, but she wanted to see him and Jeanette in her office first regarding any of their findings. Great. That’s all he needed. To sit in a mind numbing meeting talking about how well the company is doing and then get projects to work on. He always wondered about the effectiveness of management.
His brother mentioned that he was arriving next week on business. He only had three weeks, and wondered if they could spend some time together. Adam looked at his watch. It was almost midnight. He’ll call him in the morning before leaving for work.
He turned off his laptop and crawled back into bed. He had to get some sleep. He needed to function to figure out those purchase orders, and to make sure he stayed awake at the meeting and not like one of his IT co-workers falling asleep and start snoring.
But more importantly, he needed to have a clear head to fix his personal problem. He didn’t know if he needed a miracle or not, but he wasn’t going to rest until he had Jeanette back in his arms.
Morning came too fast. Adam felt like the walking dead as he boarded the elevator with his fellow workers.
“Hello chief,” Erick said, giving him a salute.
“Whassup.” He looked at the coffee in Erick’s hand. “I should have gotten some before getting on the elevator. I think I will anyway. Tell Sam, I’ll be right there shortly.”
“No prob.”
The elevator stopped on their floor and everyone poured out. Adam stayed on and let it go back down to the first floor. When he stepped off, he bumped into Jeanette.
“Good morning. Did you get Sam’s message. I just listened to my messages this morning before I left home. Good thing I did,” Jeanette said, taking a sip of her morning brew.
“Yeah, I got it last night. I’m about to get some of that stuff too. I’ll see you in Sam’s office.”
“Okay.”
Getting back to the office after getting his cup of Joe, Adam saw Jeanette standing in front of Sam’s office door. “I think she went to get some coffee too.”
“It seems we’re all burning the midnight oil at some point,” Adam said, joining her.
“Good morning you two, how’s it going?” Sam asked, as she walked down the hall.
“She really doesn’t need any coffee,” Jeanette whispered to Adam. “We’re doing great how about you.”
“Fine, fine. I hope you have some news for me,” she said, as she unlocked her office door. “Come in, come in.”
They did and took seats in front of her desk.
“So let’s have it, no matter how small you think it is.”
“Oh, this is big,” Adam said.
Sam’s eyes got big and round.
They told her their findings. When they finished, Sam shook her head.
“I’m so glad you got that far. So, it’s someone or something in our Paris office. And there might be a connection here.” She stood up and paced the room. She went to the window and looked out. “I’m going to make an executive decision here. It might cost some, but we can’t drop the ball at this point. I’m sending Jeanette to the Paris office Thursday.”
Adam looked over at Jeanette, who was chocking on her coffee.
“And Adam, I’m sending you too. You need to look at their system and see how it’s affecting your program here.”
Adam caught Jeanette out of the corner of his eye. If she wasn’t chocking before, she needed the Heimlich Maneuver now.
“Gee, Sam, when you said I might be going to one of your offsite offices soon, I never imagined Paris.”
“Cool huh? Too bad it isn’t under more pleasurable circumstances. But hey, it’s still Paris. And you’ll be there for a minimum of a week. Longer if necessary, but let me know so we can put in a rec to management.”
A week in Paris alone with Jeanette. Adam got his miracle.
Chapter Nine
After the meeting, Jeanette walked back to her office with a couple of the ladies from the art department. They were making a big deal of her going off to Paris, and telling her what to do, see and where to shop. She later found out they always made a made deal of someone going to the Paris office. Like one lady said: ‘It’s Paris!’ The copy department also gave her a list of things to bring back. They loved it when someone went to the Paris office, and her being new, they got a double treat in the gossip department.
Working was not
on the agenda.
Once she got into her office, she called the travel department and followed the instructions Sam gave her for making the arrangements.
While she was on hold, she heard a knock on her door. She looked up and there stood Adam. She came to the conclusion that he could be caught up in a tornado, plopped down in a muddy riverbank and still look absolutely breathtaking. It was sickening.
She waved him in and pointed to the chair in front of her desk. He sat down, never taking his eyes off of her. She turned her chair slightly to get out of his gaze.
“Travel, this is Shelia.” The person on the other end said.
“Hi Shelia, this is Jeanette Foster, from the L.A. office. I need reservations for Wednesday. I need to leave early morning; my final destination is the Paris office. I want a direct flight, if that’s possible.”
“Okay, did you fill out form 850?”
“Yes.”
“Email it to me and we’ll get the ball rolling.”
“Sending it now.” She clicked the appropriate boxes and clicked send. “There you go.”
“We have to do this just to make sure not just anybody is making travel arrangements. I need to hear a voice,” Sheila chuckled. “Someone made travel arrangements through our system to New York and stayed at the Waldorf. Didn’t even know about it.”
“Wow!”
“Okay, You’ll be getting your confirmation and itinerary by the end of the day.”
“Thanks.” She hung up the phone.
“I know you’re looking forward to this trip,” Adam said.
“In a way, yes.”
“In a way? This is Paris we’re talking about. I don’t care how many times you go there,
it’s still a different and wonderful experience.”
“This is true and it’s on the company’s dime. I take it you’ve been there many times.” Jeanette leaned back in her chair. She figured she’d keep him talking about this trip and the task at hand, that way the conversation wouldn’t stray to other areas.
“Yes, I have and it’s all been work, you know setting up systems and teaching new software hands-on. This time I plan to have a good time.”
“What do you have in mind? You know as soon as we get off the plane, we have to hit the ground running.”
“Yeah, yeah. But you also know that to prevent jet lag, we need to stay up as soon as we arrive. We’re not expected to work the first day.”
“Great.”
“You’re not looking forward to this trip are you?”
“It’s not that, it’s just that I am up to my eyeballs in purchase orders, checking and cross checking them. Then looking over the company’s books. That in itself is all time consuming. I’ve only been here for a few days, and already I’m being sent half way around the world.” She shook her head, grabbed her purse looking for her cell. “Crazy.”
“Tell you what. When we get there I’ll show you a good time. I’ll make sure you’re not overworked.”
He winked at her. Jeanette had the cell phone in hand about to call Renee, but couldn’t seem to dial a number.
She didn’t know what he had in mind when they got to Paris, but having a party everyday was not on her itinerary. Even though the girls in the office were giving her a list of all the things she should do, her main purpose for the trip was to work. Naturally, she wasn’t going to get all giddy about this trip. She was excited, but she didn’t want Adam to know.
If he knew how excited she really was, he would take advantage of that and who knows what they would be doing.
Jeanette looked into Adam’s greenish gray eyes. They were dark and dilated. She knew what they would be doing and she was trying to avoid it. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll pace myself like I do here in the states. I’ll find time to do extracurricular activities.” Oh hell, why did she say that?
“Speaking of which. I would like to show you some of my favorite spots, when you have time of course.”
“Oh, of course. I’m a foodie.” She chuckled.
“You too? Great, then we can indulge on the rich fattening delicacies of Paris.” Adam smiled at her and got up from his seat. She watched him as he walked to his office.
She let out a breath. Being in the same room with him was a challenge. Especially being in the same room they had wild sex in.
She could tell that Adam was really looking forward to this trip, and it wasn’t because of work.
When Sam mentioned that she was sending her to the Paris office, she was thrilled. She didn’t want too show it however. Didn’t want to give the impression that she’s never be anywhere before. The fact is, she’s been to France many times and she was super happy that this trip, someone else was picking up the tab.
But when Sam mentioned that Adam would be joining her, she wanted to fall out of her chair. And it wasn’t necessary a good thing.
A week alone in Paris, with a man that looked like that, and made love like a damn porn star. This was not a good combination. Especially since she wanted to cool things off between the two of them.
She resigned in the fact that she wanted to keep their relationship strictly platonic and work related. Yes, it meant sacrificing great sex. But one could not live on sex alone.
Jeanette took off her glasses and threw them down on her desk. Who was she kidding?
She could be stranded on a desert island, and live off that kind of sex for months!
***
Adam almost ran to his office. He needed to call the travel department before they sent Jeanette her confirmation and itinerary. He wanted to add a few things to it before she got it. This wouldn’t be too hard to pull off. Shelia owed him one anyway.
He walked straight to his office, barely acknowledging his co-workers, and shut the door. He immediately got on the phone.
“Travel, this Shelia.”
“Hey Shelia, it’s Adam.”
“Long time, no hear. How are you?”
“Great, couldn’t be better. I’m going to the Paris office, leaving Wednesday early morning.”
“Cool! So is the new girl. That reminds me, let me send her confir—.”
“Don’t!”
“Plans have changed? She’s not going?”
“No, she’s going. I just need to rearrange a few things.”
“Like what?”
“For one, I want first class tickets. Two, I want the same hotel, same suite. I prefer the Shangri-La Hotel Paris.”
“Adam.” Her voice was reprimanding.
“I know, I know. I’ll pick up the difference, don’t worry.”
“Not worried ‘bout that. What’s this with same hotel suite? Who is this Jeanette? You never did anything like this. She’s having your baby or something?” She giggled.
I wish. “No, but I am interested in more than a co-worker relation, but don’t let word get out. She seems to have reluctance anyway. I’m trying to move things along and get her to see things my way.”
“Be careful Adam.”
“I will.”
“Wait a minute. How am I gonna explain her itinerary? She’ll surely look this over with Sam.”
“Got that covered. Send it to me only, I’ll take it from there.”
Shelia sighed. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Me too.”
It was an hour later, when Adam’s email beeped him. It was the confirmation and itinerary. Fantastic. He looked it over making sure everything was in order. He smiled to himself when he saw where they would be staying. Yep, it was the Shangri-La Hotel Paris. How she pulled that off with such short notice was beyond him. But he wasn’t going to argue. Good job Shelia. Not too romantic to suggest anything, but elaborate enough to suggest that this was no ordinary business trip either.
Adam printed out the confirmation. He looked at it again and tried to think of his next move. He told Shelia he had a plan. In actuality, he was flying by the seat of his pants. The good thing was, Jeanette would not get anything from travel; it
was all on one ticket.
After trying to figure out his next move, there came a knock on his door.
“Come in.”
“Dude, word has it that you and the hot new lady are going to the Paris office. Wink, wink.”
Oh brother. Adam couldn’t get away from the fact that this office was a hotbed of gossips. “Wink, wink nothing. We’re there on business. We found out that the mysterious purchase orders are coming from that office.”
“Ahh. But you two will still be there together…alone.”
“Whatever, Erick. Is that what you came in here for.”
“Of course. What did you think? Something work related?” he chuckled.
Adam ran his hand through his hair. The CIA couldn’t make a move in this place without someone knowing about it.
Suddenly, Adam got an idea. “Say, did you and Jake check those motherboards that came in two weeks ago. We need to know if those are compatible with the media department’s new computers.”
“Yep, all done. Want me to get you the results?”
“Please. Go find Jake and get on it.”
Erick left the room. That gave Adam a chance to put the other part of his plan into action. He called travel again.
“Travel, this is Sheila.”
“Me again.”
“I’m not getting you guys a private limo. Use the company car.”
Adam laughed. “No, it’s nothing like that. If Jeanette calls you wondering where her confirmation is, tell her that there was a little hang-up, but you’ll have it to her late Tuesday afternoon. Sam is leaving early, so you can send her what you’ve sent me. It will be too late to say anything.”
“You’re dangerous when you put your mind to it, you know that?”
“Thanks hun.”
Satisfied with his plan, he got up to take care of someone’s laptop issue. Apparently, a porn site popped up at the most inconvenient time.
It was time to call it a day, and Adam was beat. Some maintenance people were doing things to the main fuse box and all the computers, and telephones shut down for two hours. They had their laptops, but some were not powerful enough for some of the heavy graphic stuff. He had to laugh to himself. If he knew that was going to happen, he wouldn’t have put Shelia in such a precarious position with the travel arrangement issue.
Office Play: Freaky Geek Series Page 8
