by J. L. Ryan
“Linda, I know you’re busy. I wanted to ask you something, your opinion really.” He walked over and sat on the corner of his desk. Linda smiled at him and sat down in the chair across from him.
“Yes Mr. Blakemore what is it, I’m happy to help however I can.” She gave him a big smile and reminded him so much of his own mother he patted her arm.
“I am thinking of promoting you, to something more detailed. The problem is you will have to spend less time working with me and more time doing paperwork and such.”
“Oh Mr. Blakemore, I know you let me stay because you’re so sweet. I couldn’t possibly get a promotion.” She waved a hand at him.
“On the contrary Linda, you would be doing me a great service being in charge of some important clients. Helping me with meetings and the like. Plus, it comes with an assistant.” He glanced down and removed an imaginary something from his pant leg.
“I've never had an assistant before." She gave him a wide smile. “Whatever you think is best Mr. Blakemore.” She made her way back out to her desk.
After she was gone, he glanced down at the files on his desk. He knew exactly the right candidate for the new open position. He smiled to himself. He did tell her he would call her directly. She more than likely found another position by now, but the banter would be fun in and of itself. He dialed and she answered on the third ring,
“Hello!” She was noticeably out of breath making him wonder what she had been doing… or better yet, who she was doing it with.
“Miss Greene, how are you?”
“I’m fine, who is this please?” She was obviously moving something around.
“This is Mr. Blakemore… we met last week.” There was a pause before she responded.
“Yes, Mr. Blakemore, how could I forget?” She said it sweetly, but he could detect a hint of sarcasm there. He smiled, he really did enjoy this.
“I was calling you about a position we have open, but if you’re busy…”
“No! No, I’m not busy at all Mr. Blakemore, please, please go on.” He felt it then, the tightness of his slacks. There was something about the way she pleaded with him that made him want her.
“I have an opening, it’s a secretarial position… decent starting pay, benefits, etc. I know you mentioned you were looking.”
“Yes, I am looking. I’d like to come in and discuss it, if that’s ok?” She did her very best to sound nonchalant about the situation.
“Great, let’s shoot for tomorrow 9 am?”
“That sounds fine with me, I don’t think I have anything going on tomorrow at all.” She did her very best to sound as though she may need to check.
She didn’t want to appear desperate. She hung up the phone and sat down in the chair, maybe this was it but then who knew? He seemed to be genuine. She looked around the room at the boxes she was currently packing. As much as she tried to deny it, there was no way she would miss that meeting. She had very little time before she was out on the street. She sorted through her things to find a dress she only wore on special occasions. It was tight and black. Perhaps if she tried really hard it would show, and he would be inclined to ask her to stay. She held it up in front of her and frowned. He had such an effect on her it would be hard to ignore him, but she would do her best. She fired up her computer again rearranging her numbers with her new projected income… yes, it would certainly be a blessing in disguise. She snapped it shut and went back to packing, there was a good chance she would say the wrong thing, he got under her skin and she was quick to snap at him. Something she rarely ever did. He had this uncanny way of bringing out the worst in her. She worked late, managing to eat a heated can of ravioli for dinner along the way.
The next morning came bright and sunny. She smiled as she remembered that today could change her life. She jumped out of bed and ran into the shower. It took her longer than usual to dress and apply some slight makeup before heading downtown. There was a hustle and bustle in the air as she rode along, mindful of the people in the crosswalks and those begging for loose change. This was home and she loved it. She pulled into the parking garage and crossed her fingers that he would validate her parking ticket. She didn’t even have enough money to get out of here if he didn’t. She took a deep breath as the elevator took her to the top floor. When the doors opened, she made her way to the front desk and waited. Soon a short smiling lady who resembled her grandmother came to get her.
“You must be Rachel, come on dear, let me show you around.” She was slightly hunched over and moving at a slow pace and Rachel loved her instantly. “Mr. Blakemore wants to meet with you for lunch, but until then I’m going to show you around a bit. He says he is “promoting” me.” She gave the bunny ears as she explained. “The truth is I am old and need to retire but I would be lost all alone at home, and he knows it. So he is hiring my replacement, with the title of being my assistant.” She gave a chuckle and they moved towards her office.
Although she had been through these rooms before, and back to his private office, she wasn’t prepared for the size of the actual space she would be working in. Directly in front of his double doors was a lounge area, for meetings and to one side a fully stocked guest kitchen, the other entire wall was made for his assistant. She hadn’t expected it to be quite so beautiful, really. She refused to get her hopes up, but she knew it would be difficult. Linda, she learned, was showing her where her desk was, as well as her private office behind it. At her confused look Linda explained.
“Sometimes, Mr. Blakemore has guests come over and they will sit out there in the lounge drinking and talking. Sometimes about the most ridiculous of things, you know how men are. This office in the back is yours for your personal use really, When you can do extra paperwork, etc., away from the hubbub.”
Linda pushed open the door to the office space and Rachel was stunned. It was bigger than her entire apartment and was complete with a small kitchen of its own, a bathroom and a small sitting area. It was decorated in hues of pink and white and had a window of its own also, floor to ceiling but not nearly as wide. The idea of not getting her hopes tossed out the window by now and she spun around to see Linda’s smiling face.
“Wow, it certainly is something Miss Linda isn’t it?” She gave her a smile.
“Yes, it is and you will enjoy it, I can assure you. Come sit down with me.” Linda walked over to the intercom system and buzzed.
“Yes, this is Linda, can you have a switchboard redirect Mr. Blakemore’s calls for the interim. I’ll let you know when I am back. “After a pause, she added.’ Thank you Mary.” She hung up and made her way back to the small sofa in the room. She settled in and Rachel was amused at the say she kicked off her shoes and leaned back to relax.
“I am most certainly getting old, my dear. Now let’s talk turkey. Off of that main kitchen across the way there is another office much like this one but a little smaller. It’s not connected to Mr. Blakemore’s office like this one.” She pointed to a seam in the door that she hadn’t seen before. “I plan on setting up myself over there. I don’t need as much space since I’ll be passing off the bigger things to you. As a matter of fact, I’ve already moved over there and have yet to tell Byron.” She gave her a smile.
“Byron?” Rachel was doing her best to follow along, but it was proving difficult.
“Mr. Blakemore, I used to call him Byron, but… well people thought since we were close he was showing favoritism, which he was, but then I’m old.” She giggled.
Suddenly the seam in the door moved open and he was there. He gave her a once over and then smiled widely at Linda.
“I trust you have shown Rachel around some?” He offered her a hand as she tried to get up from the seat.
“I did, and she and I had an opportunity to chat some. By the way I’ve decided to move into the spare office behind the kitchen.” She held up her hand at him. “Before you even start I did it because it suits me more, and its sound proof to all the man stuff going on in the lobby with your frie
nds. Besides, I am thinking of cutting it down to three days a week and I don’t need this much space.” She said it with such finality he accepted her words without a fight.
Rachel was smiling at Linda and the match up with Byron…err...Mr. Blakemore. The two of them were like family in their banter and reminded her of her own. She watched as he delicately helped her make her way out of the room and she reevaluated her opinion of him. Maybe he wasn’t a total ass after all. She waited for him to come back in and smoothed down her dress subconsciously. When she saw his shadow she stood up. He walked into the room with a smiled. He was in black today, all black and he was dashing as always. She moved her eyes back up and caught him watching her. She felt the blush rush to her face.
“Please, Miss Greene have a seat.” He gestured and she did so waiting. “I hope you like what you see… of the office of course.” He gave her a half smile and she felt her face turning red.
“It’s lovely, very nice actually.” She clasped her hands together in her lap. There was something about him that made her nervous, anxious even. Whatever it was would ultimately create a problem.
“SO you will take it, then?” He leaned forward towards her. “The job I mean.” He watched her face intently.
“Don’t I have to be interviewed or anything?” She frowned slightly.
“Miss Greene I think it’s safe to say we have been through the interview already.” He smiled at her and stood quickly, he walked over to her window.
She looked him over, him standing this way gave her a new view of him. His upper body was muscled and tight against the fabric of his suit, his body was sculpted and she knew he would be hard and muscular all over. She shook her head, trying to refocus on the task at hand.
“Then yes, I will.” She stood to go, she hesitated just a moment to see what he would say next.
“We need to talk first, come in my office and shut the door behind you.” He took the long strides to get there and she calmly walked behind him.
She shut the doors behind her and turned to face him. He was less than 6 inches from her. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her check and is eyes were an even deeper shade of blue. Her pulse was racing and she was both thrilled and terrified of what he would do next. She felt his hand tough her waist and the contact made her gasp slightly. He was watching her, waiting for her to move almost animalistic.
“I expect total honesty and realness between us at all times, do you understand? I also will not allow anything that goes on in this office, on any floor to be discussed outside of the office.” He took a step towards her and she backed up.
“What do you mean exactly Mr. Blakemore?” She whispered the words waiting for his response.
“For example, if I have a woman here, it doesn’t leave this office, if I have clients over here… nothing we talk about can be repeated. We often discuss business mergers that could make or break us.”
“I understand.” She swallowed hard. He was so close she could smell his aftershave and she was terrified to look into his face. She knew she would likely fall to the ground if she did the way her knees were shaking.
“Do you? What if I were to tell you that I want to kiss you. Would you feel like that is something you need to share?” He moved so that his lips were hovering just slightly above hers.
“No, not at all.” She smiled at him, a new sense of confidence racing through her. He wanted to sleep with her. He didn’t give one care about anything else. Just knowing it made her relax, she had dealt with co-worker issues like this before.
He watched the light flicker in her eyes and then dim. Something he said killed the kindling he was trying to ignite. He would have to figure that out, one day. “Good.” He let her go and she walked towards the front door.
“Oh, and Miss Greene… I’ll see you in the morning.” He went back to the task at hand and she sprinted from his office.
All men were dogs, she thought. It was as simple as that, everyone she had ever met anyway. So her new boss wanted to have his way with her, big deal. Nine out of ten times it was too much time on their hands and not enough sense to put it all away, and keep it to themselves. Blakemore was a jerk just like the good doctor at the hospital. This time, however, she would call his bluff. She refused to lose her job over it this time and decided that if he did make a move, she would let it go long enough to give him enough rope to hang himself. He more than likely loved the chase the most so she wouldn’t even give him one. She would be ready and willing to entertain his ideas and thoughts, but that’s as far as she would let it go before putting a stop to the whole thing.
Byron sipped at the drink in his hand. What was he thinking, talking to her like that anyway? She looked like she was going to faint, and all he could think about was pushing her back on the desk and tasting her mouth. He always had some self-control and yet when she left, he’d been panting like a teenage school boy watching her leave. What was it that had her under his skin? She was beautiful, but in a nontraditional kind of way. She hadn’t been prancing around the office in anything revealing like Alice typically did. It was her shyness, the way she turned away from him and refused to give in. Just thinking about her leaving and not giving in to him made her so much more challenging. His time with her would come, there was no doubt. She was like a little lamb though, he would have to be gentle with her… if he could only get himself under control.
The rest of the evening went by quickly for her as she prepared for her first day. She left her things packed, just in case. She would play this game with him, but she didn’t want to lose, and she wanted to keep her job. Once she had him under her thumb she would be set, at least for a while. She could maybe get a nicer place. Plus, he did something crazy to her and she wanted to know why. Whatever happened, she would be as prepared as she could be. She moved her things around and put together a few nicer outfits. One day she would be out of this mess. She sighed as she heard the knob on her apartment door turning. Someone was always thinking this was A4. She was getting to a point where she didn’t feel safe anymore. She simply had to get in good with Blakemore, then she could let him go.
The morning came and she was set to leave. She found the keys to her car and easily went out to go. In the mornings in her complex no one was awake until noon, so she was fairly safe. The evenings were something altogether different. One of her friends often told her to buy a gun, but she was absolutely against the idea. She made her way downtown and found HR, and the leggy blonde who had directed her to Blakemore’s office a couple of weeks ago.
“SO Miss Greene, you must have left quite the impression on Blakemore.” She looked her over and then shrugged. “Fill out all of this stuff, then you can go upstairs.”
There was obviously something about this situation that pushed blondie in a bad direction. Whatever it was had nothing to do with her, but still she felt like she had disliked her immediately. She made her way through the mountain of paperwork and was finally finished around lunchtime. She made her way to her new office and only managed to get lost once, which was something of a personal accomplishment. She unloaded her things in the back office and made her way up front. Linda was nowhere to be found so she waited. Finally, he came in.
“Linda is out sick, come sit with me today. I can have you take some notes.” He moved towards his office and she followed closely behind.
He turned and shed his jacket off and she watched his movements from hooded lashes. This was going to be harder than she thought. He rolled up his sleeves and finally sat down. He gathered up some paperwork and handed it to her, not really looking at her at all and she realized she may have been completely off in her assumption of what he wanted. She frowned, her plan would never work if she didn’t at least attract him at all. She went over the paperwork in hand as he started going through the merger of two small companies that was on the horizon and she listened closely, learning the lingo about how he did things. Finally an hour later he seemed to relax some.
“Sorry, I
tend to get overzealous when I’m talking shop.” He gave her a lazy smile, which she returned and batted her eyelashes at him.
He felt something deep down, jump at her actions. She was openly flirting with him, a leap from yesterday’s declaration. Perhaps she’s had a change of heart, or she was playing with him. He smiled as he thought about it. Surely she knew better than to even try, he would have her naked and on all fours in an hour if he wanted too, but she didn’t know him like that yet. He decided to test the water.
“DO you have a boyfriend, Rachel?” She watched his eyes moving over her as he talked. She took a deep breath in.
“No, do you?” She gave him a half smile and he chuckled.
“No, nor do I have a wife or a girlfriend. DO you have someone… close, someone who meets your needs?” He heard her gulp and inwardly he knew he had scored the first point.
“No, there is nothing I can’t do better and more efficiently myself.” She stared at him hard and saw his easy smile slip slightly. “What about you Mr. Blakemore?”
“Yes.” He gritted the words out. She had planted the image of herself naked and alone and it was burned into his brain. She blushed at his response, some part of her expected him to lie.
“I see, she licked her lips slightly, suddenly feeling out of control of the conversation.
“Yes, I have someone, and yes, I think I could do it more efficiently.” He watched her waiting for a reaction.
“I suppose that remains to be seen, doesn’t it.” She stood ready to make her way back out to her office. She knew he was there before she felt his hand on her arm spinning her around. He pressed her up against the wall of the office and leaned into her. She felt his mouth crush into hers in one fell swoop. It was a demanding kiss, pressing and pushing. His hands moved against her back, pulling her closer and moving upwards until his hands were in her hair cupping her head. He moved her mouth against his, nibbling and kissing until he was recklessly kissing her deeper again. Finally, they stopped and were both panting.
