Office Perks

by S. L. Siwik

  “Would you mind, please?”

  She offers me a tight lipped smile. “Not at all. Be right back with it.” She turns to talk away, and I’m staring at her ass in those unfairly tight pants. I would rip those right off her body. I wonder if they could pull off with one tug, or if I’d have to cut them off. She turns back around quickly and nearly catches me eyeing her up. I glance up at her eyes. “Would it be alright if Daniel drove me back home tonight?”

  The thought of Victoria walking around the city at night looking as delicious as she does, perverts, drunks and rapists having access because she is unescorted, makes me feel sick to my stomach.

  “Of course, Miss Wright.”

  She nods. “Thank you, sir.”

  Victoria leaves then, grabbing her cellphone and purse. I was hoping she’d forget about the cellphone, so I could see who called, who she freely gives her love to. I frown, because it sure isn’t me. She tolerates me, because I sign her paycheck.

  ***

  Twenty minutes later, Miss Wright walks back in with a traveller’s mug in hand. It is one of those cheap looking ones that you find at a dollar store, a simple white container with a green band around it to make gripping it easier.

  “I made you a double espresso, heavy on the milk. Just how you like it.” She smiles, placing it down in front of me.

  Just how I like it? Is she flirting with me? When I glance up, her eyes flicker away and she looks uncomfortable. Definitely not flirting.

  “So, what do I owe you for the drink?” I ask.

  She waves her hands. “Nothing, sir. Unfortunately, all the coffee shops in a twenty block radius are closed now, so I went home and made you this myself.”

  Now I feel like a complete ass. I just had my secretary go home to her house, make me a cup of coffee, and then bring it back after work hours just so I could see her again. How many times can I screw up in one night?

  “Miss Wright, I appreciate the effort, but you could have just given the cup to Daniel, and he would have given it to me when he came back.”

  “Oh.” Her face falls for a moment, and she blinks rapidly. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t even think of that.” She smiles at me coyly. “And now we know why you’re the boss.”

  My insides bunch up at her smile. “So, what do I owe you for the coffee?” I ask again.

  Victoria looks at me puzzled. The furrow in her brows somehow makes the blue in her eyes sparkle more.

  “Like I said, I made it at home.”

  “What I heard is that you went to a faraway café to make this for me and had to buy a travel mug to bring it back in. You must be compensated for that. So, how much do I owe you?”

  She smiles slyly. “Twenty dollars, sir. What they wanted for that travel mug was ridiculous.”

  I glance down at the dollar store travel mug and the maybe five dollar espresso in it. But, if it takes a twenty to keep her talking to me, joking around, and smiling, I’ll pay it happily. I reach for my wallet and realize that the smallest bill I have is a fifty. Fuck it. She deserves it after the crap I put her through tonight just so I could watch her like a pervert.

  I hold it out for her, and Victoria steps closer to me. Some women in this city look sexy from afar, but once you step closer realize just how much work they’ve had done- make-up too heavy, face lift or botox injections making their face look unnatural. They’re a mess up close. But with Victoria, the closer she steps, the more beautiful she looks, and she’s not wearing an ounce of make-up. It’s the way she would look if she woke up in bed next to me after a night of ravaging her.

  She takes the money from me, looking down at it. “I can’t take this.”

  “Goodnight, Miss Wright, and thank you for your help.”

  “But, sir, I can’t…” Her voice drops off as she stands there flustered. She’s so sexy when she’s vulnerable. “It’s just a cup of coffee.”

  I cut her off. “Goodnight, Miss Wright.”

  Her lips press firmly in a line as she places the money into her pocketbook. “Goodnight, Mr. Townsend. See you tomorrow.” Her voice sounds sad, defeated. What in the hell did I do wrong now? Doesn’t she understand how much I appreciate her, how much I need her?

  At her backside, I call out, “Thank you again, Miss Wright. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to get this done. You are indispensable here. The fifty dollars is not an issue for me. There’s more where that came from.”

  She turns towards me with the most mischievous look on her lips, and I’m already harder than concrete. “I’ll remember that during pay raise negotiations, sir.”

  She turns, her ass sashaying out of the room. I hate to watch her go, but love to watch her leave.

  The door closes, and I take a sip of the coffee. I groan loudly as she made it perfect, just how I like. Is there anything this woman can’t do?

  I stare at the now vacant room feeling completely alone. I pick up the phone and dial.

  “Jake Jacoby, I’ve got the papers right here.”

  “94. 95. 96.” My arms reach my knees, and I lay back down, wiping the sweat from my brow. “97. 98.” I feel the pull in my abdominal muscles. “99.100.” Does she even notice my work outs? Does Victoria even know that I work out two hours a day to impress her?

  I stand up in my home gym and grab a bottle of water from my mini fridge. The phone rings.

  “Answer call,” I command to the phone on the wall.

  “Hey, asshole,” the voice on the other end answers.

  “What do you want? I have to get ready for work,” I reply curtly to my step-brother. His greeting is typical of him; he actually means it as a sign of affection.

  “I have to change the date I come by with those contracts. Something is up with your nephew,” he replies.

  “Is Ben alright?” I ask in concern. My brother might not be from blood, but he is to me, which means that his children are my nephews and nieces. No one will ever tell me differently.

  “Girl trouble,” he replies, “You think at twenty-three he’d have his shit straight.”

  I smile. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  “Very funny. So, can you change the date or not?” he snaps.

  “Fine. Just call my office and leave a message with the new time. Victoria will take care of it.”

  “Speaking of Victoria, how is your sexy secretary doing? Still havin’ wet dreams about her?”

  “Still in love with your ex-wife?” I shoot back.

  “I worry about you,” Ben says, “When’s the last time you had your cock played with?”

  “Last week, and losing my business over a sexual harassment lawsuit doesn’t seem like the way to go,” I reply.

  “You seem pissier than usual. What’s bothering you?” he asks, concerned.

  “Victoria,” I sigh, “She seems more distant than usual at work. And her eyes…something’s worrying her. Whenever I ask her if everything’s alright, she just plasters on a fake smile and says, ‘Everything is fine, Mr. Townsend.’”

  “So, she doesn’t want to share her life with you. Can you blame her? You never let her in,” my brother says.

  “I asked her several times when she first started working for me if she wanted to go on my boat with me. She declined every time without giving me a reason. After the fourth ‘no,’ I stopped asking. She’s never invited me out anywhere.”

  “Didn’t you say that you thought she had a kid?” he asks.

  “Well, according to her tax forms, she has a dependent. The birth certificate that she provided for the health insurance does not list her as the mother,” I reply, “I’m fairly certain that she’s single, though. No delivery of flowers on any major holiday, and no man showing up to take her to lunch. Also, she never chats with anyone on-line. On her lunch break, she looks at designer websites, but never buys.”

  “How do you know?” he asks.

  “I bugged her keyboard,” I reply. It’s company property and perfectly legal.

  “Then
if you want to be with Victoria that means that you’re going to have to be in this kid’s life. Are you ready for that? Don’t start fucking around with a single mom unless you plan on seeing it though.”

  “You know that I want children. It just never happened with Tanya,” I reply.

  “Then start slow with a nice gift. You already know what she likes. Buy whatever she clicks on the most. But, let me spell the situation out for you. If you’re not fucking her, someone else eventually will be. Figure out if you can deal with that. I’ll talk to you later.”

  The line goes dead, and I run my hands through my hair repeatedly, feeling uneasy. I glance at the time on the wall, and make my way for the shower. Buying her a present isn’t a horrible idea. Her raise is coming up; I could say that it is in appreciation of all her hard work. I step into the shower on edge. Who has your heart, Victoria?

  “Kendall, you’re going to do great,” I say while pouring my coffee. Blueberry waffles pop up from the broken toaster, and I hold the plate up, catching them in mid-air. “Are you listening to me?”

  I turn to find Kendall sitting at the table, tapping out some tune with her fingers, listening to a song in her ear phones. She glances up at me, yanking off one of the cords.

  “Sorry. Did you say something?”

  Smiling, I bring over the waffles, setting them down in front of her. “You’re going to do great on your History project. It’s definitely ‘A’ worthy.”

  She beams brightly. “Thanks.” When she smiles like that it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Kendall is blessed with her mother’s smile. Whenever I see it, it makes me feel as though Evalyn is still here with us. The thought comforts me greatly.

  My cell phone rings and I pick it up off the counter.

  “Hey, Dre, what’s going on?” I greet.

  “Babe, I’m sorry. My car won’t start.”

  “Are you fricken kidding me?” I snap. “How am I going to get Kendall to school now with all of these projects? There’s no way that we can take the bus!”

  “I’m sorry.” She sounds anything but. “My car doesn’t seem to like seven am like me.”

  “What am I going to do now?” I ask.

  “You only have one option. You’ll have to call Mr. Townsend.”

  “Jeezus Christ, Dre! He doesn’t even know that I have Kendall!” I shout.

  “Well, I guess he’s going to find out now. You better call him soon. It’s getting later by the minute. Bye.”

  I blink in shock as she hangs up.

  “Is everything alright?” Kendall asks nervously.

  “Everything is fine,” I quickly assure her. “Just eat your waffles. I have to make a phone call.”

  I walk into my bedroom and close the door. I sit down on the bed and stare at my cell phone. This is bad, very bad. I’m going to get fired for this if he doesn’t laugh in my face. But, it’s for Kendall. What wouldn’t I do for her? I’d do anything for her, which means I don’t have any other options.

  Dread fills my belly as I dial Mr. Townsend’s phone number.

  “Hello.”

  His voice sends a shiver down my spine. I wonder if he has any idea of how his voice alone affects me.

  “Hello, Mr. Townsend. It’s Victoria. I have a problem, and I know that this is completely unprofessional of me, but I was hoping that maybe you could help me.”

  “I’m listening…”

  “Miss Wright is still not at the bus stop,” Daniel informs me.

  I sit inside the comfort of my limousine parked outside an apartment complex across the street from the bus stop Victoria walks to every morning. I wait here every day to make sure that she arrives safely and isn’t harassed at the bus stop. She’s drop dead gorgeous. It’s not a stretch to think that men would throw themselves at her. I’m sure they do. The thought makes my fists clench.

  She has only been hit on once. I nearly jumped out of the car and pummeled the guy. But, Victoria handled it quickly. I couldn’t tell what she said, because if I had lowered my tinted window, she would have known that it was me. She also would have figured out that it was my limousine parked across the street all of these years watching her. What I do know is that his flirtation ended quickly. I shouldn’t be surprised. Victoria handles everything with efficiency. When I hired her on spot five years ago without even knowing if she could even turn on a computer, I lucked out. She’s beyond competent. Aside from her beautiful face and gorgeous body, aside from her warm heart, her mind attracts me. She always thinks outside of the box for me in a pinch. Simply put, the woman is stunning through and through; a force to be reckoned with.

  I glance at my watch again. She’s five minutes late to the bus stop. I tap my foot against the floor. Miss Victoria Wright has never been late. Not once. Did something happen to her? Is she hurt? I tap my foot again harder. I’ll call her cellphone. I’ll give it twenty more minutes before I call her. She could be hurt, though. Better make it ten. I tap my foot harder. I watch the bus pull away and my heart drops to my stomach. Where is she?

  My phone rings and I glance down at the number. It’s Victoria.

  I don’t know if I should dread this call or be relieved.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello, Mr. Townsend. It’s Victoria. I have a problem, and I know that this is completely unprofessional of me, but I was hoping that maybe you could help me.”

  Hope rises in my chest. She needs me. She called me to help her. This is turning out to be a fantastic day. I still don’t know what’s wrong, though. Is she hurt? Is she in trouble? Did some asshole harm her? I’ll kill him. He’ll wish he was never born when I’m through with him.

  “I’m listening…”

  “My daughter, Kendall, has a huge project due for school today. I was hoping that you could drive us to her school to drop them off.”

  “I didn’t know that you had a daughter.” It’s partly a lie. “Where is her father?”

  She takes a shaky breath. “Kendall isn’t actually my daughter. I am guardian to my best friend’s daughter. She and her husband died right before I started working for you. Kendall is thirteen. She has a huge history project due today. It’s too big to take on the bus. My friend was supposed to take us, but her car isn’t starting today. I’m sorry, sir. I wouldn’t have called and bothered you if I had any other option.” She takes a deep breath. “If you could, I need you to pick Kendall and I up at my apartment, and drive us and her projects to school before we went to the office. I know that you don’t have a morning appointment today, so I wouldn’t have to cancel anything for you.”

  It pains me how I’m her last resort. She wouldn’t have called me if she had another option. Maybe I can try being friendlier with her, have a more casual atmosphere at the office. It’s not completely professional, but it won’t land me with a law suit. She has been working for me five years. It would be natural that after all that time that we’d have a friendly rapport.

  “It’s not a problem at all, Miss Wright. I’ll be right there. What is your apartment number?”

  She sighs in relief as she tells me the number.

  “Thank you, sir. This means the world to me.”

  I can’t wipe the grin off my face.

  “You’re welcome, Miss Wright. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Sir?” Daniel, my driver asks.

  “We will be heading to Miss Wright’s apartment to day. Her daughter needs some help with taking a project to school. We’re going to drive her there.”

  I see Daniel’s smile in the rear view mirror. “It looks as though this morning is shaping up to be an excellent one, sir.”

  I smile. “Yes, it does.”

  I shuffle around the apartment in a vain attempt to make it look more presentable. I don’t expect him to come up to the apartment, but it’s keeping my hands busy. It is a little strange that he asked for my apartment number. Maybe he’ll send up his chauffeur? Multi-millionaires or billionaires or however stinking rich he is, don’t step out of cars to hel
p their secretaries. They don’t need to. They pay other people to do that.

  “What’s going on, Aunt?” Kendall asks as she watches me fly around the apartment.

  “I have a surprise for you.” I’m trying to sell her on this, because I know how disappointed she’ll be at not seeing Andrea. ‘My boss, Mr. Townsend, is going to drive us to school in his limousine! Isn’t that exciting?”