by Amy Brent
I shake my head.
“People are the most complicated thing to study. I know that.”
Chapter 8
I open the doors of Ryan’s law firm and make my way to my desk. It’s officially my third day of being a secretary, and I love every second of it. I pull out the leather chair and slide into. I reach under the drawer and pull a mirror out from the desk and check my makeup. I put a little extra time into doing a light smokey eye and dark red lipstick. My long hair is pulled up into a high ponytail accentuating my long neck. The dark black dress I wear cuts low into a deep V. I pull it down and sit up straight, glancing at the clock. Ryan should be walking through the door any second from now.
This isn’t a particularly easy job. But he old secretary had left everything in order, so I have figured it all out. A big part of it is just managing Ryan’s files and old records of all of his clients. Otherwise, I just answer the phone and schedule events for the firm.
Sure enough, the door open,s and Ryan briskly walks by. His dark eyes glance at mine and he flashes a quick smile.
“Jasmina.”
“Good morning, Mr. Vallor.”
“Be in my office in five minutes, please.”
“Alright.”
He raises his hand behind his head and then enters his office. I sit back and check my email. An email about applying to art school pops up. A piece of my heart drops. I wish I was in art school right now. I open it and see what their program is all about. Robin Art University. Where is that? I google it. Its close by here. It's a private liberal arts school with a small population of students. I look at the graduating class, all of the artists who studied there I have heard of. Wow. I can't even imagine having an opportunity like this. They even have a scholarship for getting your masters.
It's been five minutes. I quickly close out of the website, promising myself that I will check it out later tonight.
I push my chair and scurry into Ryan’s office.
He leans on the front of his desk looking absolutely sexy. His suit is a navy blue and tailored to fit perfectly. I sigh audibly just from looking at him. He glances up from his phones screen.
“Hey, Jaz. What’s going on today?”
“Well...Let me see here.” I start to flip through the clipboard I stuck today’s list of clients on. As I page through it, I purposely drop my pen. The silver pen drops onto the black carpet. It lands behind me.
“Oh, oops.” I turn around and slowly bend forward without bending my knees. I know the dress I am wearing is very see through when the taught fabric is stretched and that Ryan can see straight through it to my ass. I grab the pen and then stand back up turning around. Ryan clears his throat. His eyes are on mine, but I cannot help but notice his face is slightly red. I flick my hair over my shoulder.
“Your first appointment is at eleven, with Judith Merries and then after that a meeting with everyone in the conference room to discuss the upcoming case assignments. That is planned for one-” I continue reading through the notes for the day. When I finish, Ryan stares at me for a long moment.
“Is that all then?”
“Yes. I will let you know of course if anything does change.”
“Excellent.”
I start to walk out of the office.
“Jasmina-”
I love the way he says my name.
“Yeah?” I stop, with my hand on the door.
“Who is the first meeting with?”
“Were you even listening to me?”
“No, I was, just -”
“Just what?” I raise an eyebrow.
“You, uh...who is it with?”
“Ms Merries,” I say slowly.
“Okay,” he shakes his head, walking over to the office chair and sitting down in it. “Will you send Kevin in for me?”
“Of course. Anything else I can do for you, Mr. Vallor?” I say his name with a hint of yearning. It turns me on calling him that.
“Just know that you look absolutely beautiful today.”
Aw, thank you. Do you think you could show me how to send a fax on the printer one more time?”
He raises his eyebrows.
“You still can’t figure it out?”
“No, no one does that anymore.”
He rolls his eyes and smiles.
“Okay, fine. Come with me.”
I follow him through the office, and we head over to the printer which is tucked out of view in the corner.
“What do you need faxed?” he asks.
I hold up the paper and he takes it out my hands.
“Press this button here.”
“Which one?”
I lean forward close to his hand and squint, so my body is right in front of his. I can feel his presence lingering on my back side. I gently back up, pushing my ass into his crouch. He freezes and then quickly backs up.
“Sorry,” I say breathily.
“And then just hit fax, here, after you put in how many copies you want.”
“Right, okay, that’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Thanks, Ryan. I don’t know why I can’t remember.”
“No problem, Jaz.”
I notice him adjusting his pants as he quickly returns to his office.
I walk over to Kevin. Kevin is handsome, but rather lanky and he looks like a child when compared to Christian or Ryan.
“Hey, Kevin,” I say leaning against the edge of his desk.
The young paralegal scoots back in his chair and stares at me.
“Woah, you look amazing.”
I blush.
“Oh, thank you.”
“She always does.”
“One of the other attorneys, Staci, chimes in glancing up at me.
“What’s up?” Kevin asks, flicking his pencil back and forth in his hands.
“Ryan wants to see you in his office.”
“Jesus,” Kevin groans, slowly getting up. “Did he say what it was for?”
“Nope,” I smile.
“Probably about that contract. I just want it to be over with.”
“Probably.”
Kevin gets up and heads to the office, and I go back to my desk. I start to do work, but I keep wanting to check the art school email. I go back and read into it more. I fit all the criteria. Should I apply? I mean what could the harm be? I start the process. I feel so happy. I start thinking about all the projects and classes I will be able to take. Some of the students are even selected to teach the undergraduate class. That would be absolutely amazing. I should probably get back to work. After I finish the application, I return to sorting the files for Ryan. There are just so many. I sigh and my eyes find their way to Ryan’s door.
He sits with his sleeves rolled up, holding a pen and paper writing. His hair which is usually tucked back slightly falls forward over his forehead as he runs his hands through it to push it back.
The rest of the days drags on more than usual. Usually, Ryan is out and about talking with the others, but since they have that conference today, everyone is tucked inside of the room. I keep watching the door to see when they will come out.
Finally, right before the end of the work day, they all shuffle out of the room looking tired. Ryan is the last one out. He looks flustered and rushes back to his office. I am so focused on watching Ryan that I don’t even notice that Kevin has walked up to the side of the desk.
“Hey, Jasmina,” he says softly, leaning over the edge of the desk. The other workers gather their things and start to head out of the office, talking to one another.
“Hey, Kevin, what’s up.”
He gives me a charming smile.
“Well, we got off work early today because of how long the meeting went, and I was just wondering if you wanted to go grab some drinks?”
His hand lands on my arm. My eyes quickly dart up and to Ryan. He is starting intensely at us. I look back at Kevin and smile.
“That sounds lovely Kevin, but I don’t think I will be able to tonight?”
“And why is that? He asks trying to woo me. I giggle at the attempt. He has no idea who he is competing with. And perhaps if Ryan and Christian never love me back then maybe I will be more apt to accept these forward advancements.
“I’m an artist, and I have some paintings I need to do.”
“You are an artist?” His eyes were wide with amazement, like I was some rare unicorn hat just happened to prance right in front of him.
“I am…” I trail off. Ryan is still staring at us. I want him to watch. I scoot closer to Kevin.
“Well, what kind? You have to show me some of your work.”
“Alright.” I reach down and open the images of some of my paintings I have saved onto my phone. I stand up and lean over the desk next to Kevin so our bodies our gently touching. His eyes look over me, and I start to swipe through.
“These are amazing,” he gasps, clutching my phone and staring intently at my phone.
“What are these oil?”
“How’d you know?” I ask shocked.
“My Aunt used to paint oil a lot, and my mom has them hanging all over the house.”
“That’s lovely. You’ll have to show me some.”
“I don’t have any saved on my phone.”
“That’s alright. Next time, take a picture for me.”
I turn my phone off and rest my hand on Kevin's arm; our eyes lock into one another's. He smiles shyly.
“Well, I guess I will go grab that drink by myself then.”
“I guess so.”
He bows a little.
“See you later.”
“See you.”
He quickly walks out of the office through the doors. I sigh and start to gather my things. As soon as the elevator doors close and Kevin has disappeared from the office, Ryan flings his office door open.
“Jasmina!” he shouts almost angrily but not quite there, like he is extremely irritated. I stop what I am doing and look up, completely startled by the aggression. He walks forward to the desk; his eyes are like lasers on me.
“Come into my office right now,” he barks.
I see that no one is in the office with us. Why was he acting like this? I don’t wait though and scurry behind him, almost tripping in my heels. My heart is racing a thousand miles per minute. Ryan never got mad at me. I can’t even remember once when he shouted at me like that.
Inside of his office, he stands behind the door. As soon as I walk in, he shuts the it fast and hard.
“Sit down,” he says. I do. He briskly walks in front of me and takes his suit jacket off. He looks completely irrational like he is fighting with himself. He paces back in forth in the office like a caged animal trying to desperately escape. I watch him for a few minutes, unsure of exactly what to say or do. The tension in the room is heavy and thick and I feel it pressing down on top of us, pushing the air out my lungs and making my mouth dry. Finally, I can't take it anymore and I clear my throat before I speak.
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask gently, trying to not add any fuel to the fire. Obviously I had upset him, but I thought it best just to play dumb and not rattle the cage anymore. I rack my brain of today’s events and nothing sticks out. They were in the conference room all day.
He freezes in his tracks and slowly faces me.
“No - well, yes -” He stutters, stroking his short beard.
“What is it?” I ask desperately. “I don’t understand.”
He shakes his head.
“This behavior out there with Kevin, it is not appropriate for the office.”
“What are you talking about? We were just talking. He asked if I wanted to get some drinks and then I started showing him photos of my art?” My voice is high. That is absurd for him to talk to me like that for no reason.
He sits down his chair and begins rubbing his face and looking away from me and out the window. The evening sun is high in the summer blue sky, turning it slightly orange.
“You were very close to him.”
I smile softly. So it worked then. He is not mad, but he is raging with jealousy.
“I mean...I’ve been close to you before,” I murmur, flipping my hair over my shoulder.
“No, Jasmina. Not like that. You’ve bumped into me.” He focuses on me finally.
“So? You still were touching me,” I say it slowly and let every word drip out of my mouth, forcing him to take it all in.
“Come on, Jasmina - what do you mean by that?” he stammers. “You can’t say things like that it's not appropriate.”
“What do you mean?” I cock my head innocently. “How is not inappropriate? I don’t understand?”
“It’s inappropriate saying that I am touching you.”
“You brought it up first!”
“Well, you are making it sound sexual.”
I smile.
“No I am not. Why do you mean I making it sexual?”
He is a lost for a words. There is no way for him to talk about it without addressing his attraction.
“Fine, what’s appropriate touching?” I ask, raising my eyebrows and standing up. I walk over to him behind the desk. “Show me.”
“No, Jasmina,” he says softly.
“Well, how am I supposed to know what’s okay if you don’t show me?”
“Because it’s common sense - that’s why.”
“Well, maybe what I think is appropriate is different than what you think?”
We stare at one another. I lean forward and get close, so my breasts are at his eye level. He dares not look at them, hanging in the deep v of the dress. It would be a mistake for him to look, but I am teasing him.
“Is this okay? Or is this too close.”
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“This is fine,” he says flatly with no emotion.
“Okay, good, what about this?” I whisper, getting closer. My heart is racing in my chest, and my blood is pumping. I move in even closer now, so our lips are not even inches apart, and I can feel his warm breath on mine. My hand slowly reaches down onto his muscular thigh. It gently makes it way up too between his legs.
“Jasmina-” he gasps, taking a deep breath.
“What?” I murmur, pushing my body onto his. The feeling of his large hard cock in my palm pulsing arouses me. My hand is shaking and my breath shallow. He lets out a groans shuts his eyes and tilts his head.
“Sto-”
Before, he finishes what he is about to say our mouths meet instantly. I am not sure who kissed who, but our mouths come together. Maybe I kissed him or he kissed me, but now it doesn’t matter. The sensation of our mouths sends my body into a whirl of passion. Our lips lock and our tongues touch one another. I shudder and push even harder, reaching. I have been waiting for this moment my whole entire life. His legs slowly relax and his hands fall down on the small of my back. With one quick push, he lifts me onto his lap. I can feel his bulge between his pants and my underwear, for my dress had risen up over my ass.
We continue kissing frantically, passionately like a intense release of long a waited moment finally finding its way to one another. I instinctively rock my hips back and forth with yearning. I know now I am addicted to the way he tastes and there is nothing that will replace it.
His hands continue moving up and down my back hungrily. I sigh and shudder in between breaths before our lips meet. I want him completely and wholly right now.
But then there is the sound of the main door handle jiggling. Ryan freezes and pulls himself away from me. I turn and look. The door slowly opens, but before anyone enters, Ryan tilts his head back.
“We are still working!” he shouts.
The door shuts then.
“Who was that?” I ask breathily.
“The cleaning people.”
“They come as soon as the days over?”
“Sometimes…”he stares at me for a long moment. The
low hum of the office buzzes around us.
“Oh, Jasmina,” he sighs, looking at me full on longing.
“Oh, Ryan,” I mimic. He pulls his hands away, and we still in stillness for a moment. His hands reach around and interlock on the small of back like he is helping balance me as I straddle him.
“You know this isn’t right.”
“Why isn’t it right?” I feel fear of rejection start to bubble in the back of my throat. There could be no way he is going to turn me away; not like this. Not now. Not after all of everything.
“You are Mark’s daughter.”
“And you are Cindy’s son. Tell me a real reason.”
He bites on his bottom lip.
“You should be a lawyer.”
“And you should be open to the truth.”
“What’s the truth, Jasmina?”
“That you want me. And that I want you.”
“Oh, man. Look. Okay. I don’t know what came over me, but this cannot happen again.”
“Why?”
“I am twice your age!” he shouts. I take a deep breath and slowly pull myself back. I yank the bottom of my dress down. His eyes can’t help but see my lacy underwear. But they shoot away.
