Cosmic Trifecta

by Anna Lewis

  “I don’t want to hurt someone just because they hurt me.”

  “Then be a better person than he is and show him the door and a little mercy.”

  “How?”

  “That’s up to you.”

  Shawna wanted to press him for more guidance, but she knew that Eric wouldn’t give it to her. This was something that she had to do, and Eric wasn’t going to tell her how to do it.

  He didn’t say a word and she quietly let herself out and went back to where Dianna was sitting.

  “Do you have an idea of who you want to put on each team?”

  “Honestly, everyone works great together, so I’m thinking that I’ll ask everyone what their first and second choices are for start time, and I’ll organize it that way. I wouldn’t want my night owls getting stuck on the first wave.”

  “Good thinking. I’m going to call Richard up here, so if you want to keep this to yourself until he leaves the room, that would be great.”

  Dianna nodded.

  “Do I have you to thank for the new job?”

  “No,” Shawna said. “You have you to thank. You were the first person I thought of because you showed that you were meant to lead long before I was in the position to give you the role.”

  “Thank you,” Dianna said, beamed as she clutched the papers in her hands.

  “You’re welcome,” Shawna said, and she watched the woman walk out of the room and toward the elevator.

  She called down to HR then sat down, waiting for Richard to show and practicing what she was going to say. She would only get one shot at this, and she wanted to make sure that it made an impact on him.

  She didn’t want him to ever treat anyone the way he had treated her again.

  ***

  “Sit down, Richard,” Shawna said, indicating the seat across from her desk.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, looking at Eric through the open office door, but Eric didn’t look up from what he was doing.

  “Sit, please,” she said, reminding herself not to let Richard get to her. She had the power, not Richard.

  Richard sat down, but he looked nervous, and a little angry.

  “Do you remember me?” she asked.

  “Of course, I do. I fired you. Why are you up here?”

  “I got a better job,” she said with a wry smile.

  “This isn’t a job,” he sneered, leaning forward and lowering his voice so that only Shawna could hear him. “You’re an office decoration, nothing more.”

  Shawna smiled, leaning forward too, and not even bothering to lower her voice in response.

  “If I’m just an office decoration, then this is going to be hard on you.”

  “What is?” he asked, his expression still arrogant.

  “Your termination.”

  Richard sat up straight, his face turning a mottled red as his anger and indignation overwhelmed him and his common sense.

  “You’re nobody. You can’t fire me!”

  “Actually, she can,” Eric said from the doorway.

  “I will fire you, or I can offer you a bit of grace that you didn’t offer me,” Shawna said coolly. “Your choice, Richard. You have power over how you choose to respond, and if you respond like a decent human being, I have an offer for you.”

  “What kind of offer?”

  “Work in the secretary pool on one of the shift teams, do a good job and when Dianna moves onto something bigger and better, you have a chance of being in the running to replace her. Since we’re hiring upper-level from within, if you work hard, the only place you can go is up.”

  He was already shaking his head vehemently.

  “Dianna is an idiot. I’m not working under her or anyone else. I’ll be the laughing stock of the entire department.”

  “Sometimes, we have to humble ourselves to grow into better versions of ourselves,” Shawna said. “It’s your choice, but if you don’t want to work here anymore, I’m sure your final paycheck will be enough to get you through while you look for another job.”

  Richard sat back, arms crossed, glaring at Shawna, then at Eric and back again. Shawna sat comfortably behind her desk, unbothered by his anger and blustering. She knew a desperate man when she saw one, and Richard was terrified of being fired, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself.

  When he was silent for more than a minute, Shawna slid a piece of paper across the desk so it was in front of him. He scanned it, then leaned forward and read it again.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s the new package for entry-level Administrative Support.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “That’s the new title for the employees providing valuable data entry, proof-reading and transcribing support for this company.”

  “That’s the same amount I’m making now.”

  “The amount you were making. If you’ll recall, you’re no longer a manager, but yes, we’ve bumped everyone up to fifty-two thousand a year after their ninety day probation period is over. So, if you want to start Monday, you’ll make eight hundred a week. Since you’re stepping down rather than being let go in this case, you will keep your medical benefits and any accrued vacation hours. But, you can be let go at any time in the first ninety days, so it would be in your best interests to be on your best behavior.”

  “Today is half over,” he said.

  “It is,” Shawna confirmed. “So, you’ll be starting next Monday when the new schedule goes into effect. Dianna will email you your schedule by Friday night.”

  “And what do I do about this week?”

  “I don’t really care what you do this week, but I would spend it taking a long hard look at myself if I were you.”

  He looked at her then, and for the first time, Shawna saw something in him besides hatred and anger. He looked lost and scared, and Shawna was glad that she had chosen mercy over firing him. She had dreamt of doing to him what he had done to her someday, but she knew that wasn’t who she was. She wouldn’t sink to his level, no matter how much he deserved it.

  “We’ll pay you for the rest of the day and you can take four of your vacation days so that you don’t lose pay. I’ll need a formal letter of acceptance of the position by Friday morning, and we’ll expect you here at your designated time on Monday if you’re going to continue to work here.”

  “I understand,” Richard said quietly. He stood, still having a hard time looking her in the eye. “Thank you,” he said just above a whisper, then quietly left the room and got onto the elevator.

  When the elevator doors closed, Shawna let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Eric, who smiled at her.

  “That was interesting,” she said.

  “You handled it well.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I did.”

  Eric was nodding and smiling, his pride evident.

  “How do you feel?”

  “I feel good. I wanted to fire him and watch him beg, but it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as being the better person. Having to work at the bottom and climb his way up is punishment enough.”

  “I agree. People like Richard punish themselves. But it’s people like you that make them change their ways and their hearts.”

  “I hope he chooses to use this as a way to change his life.”

  “I do, too. If not, then in ninety days, he’ll be gone.”

  ***

  The next few months were a blur, and Shawna found her rhythm at the office pretty quickly. Their mornings were the same every day, and Shawna loved every minute of it. They woke up in each other's arms, tangled in the sheets with the sun streaming through the bank of windows in his massive master bedroom. They ate on the balcony, Shawna in the nude and Eric in a robe. The sun felt delicious on her skin, and the tranquility of the quiet morning did her soul good. Then they got dressed in barn clothes, feeding the horses in the morning and spending some time just enjoying the quiet barn. Sometimes they had a quickie in Eric’s office, and sometimes, they went back to bed and spent the
day making love instead of going into the office. The rest of the time, they went into the office together and tackled the workload between quiet moments spent together as Eric teased her in preparation for the night ahead.

  It was one of those days, on a Wednesday six months after her first day in the office, that Shawna sat on Eric’s lap, her panties around her ankles, trying to keep her wits about her as his fingers worked her into a frenzy and they went over her investment portfolio.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Eric said after he’d brought Shawna to orgasm, then held her close as she came back to earth. “I know that’s a dangerous thing, but hear me out. I’ve been thinking that your portfolio would look a lot better if you weren’t wasting money on an apartment that you haven’t seen in five months.”

  It was true, but Shawna still balked at the idea. His words yanked her out of the haze she’d been trapped in and she shook her head.

  “I don’t know about that. I’d feel weird not having a place of my own, just in case.”

  “Not that you have anything to worry about, but even if you did, you have enough money to buy a home outright and pay all your utilities for over a year.”

  “I do?”

  “You do. You’ve invested almost all of the three-hundred-thousand you’ve made since you started, and that money has more than doubled in aggressive stocks and investments. You could liquidate it all today and walk away without issue. If you wanted to.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “So you know that holding onto the apartment as a backup plan isn’t necessary. Even if you had an emergency, the fifty thousand or so that you keep in your checking account is enough to get you through the day while you wait for your investments to liquidate.”

  Shawna looked at the computer where the information was displayed, shocked to see the number on the screen. She hadn’t been paying attention to the numbers; she had invested percentages. A certain percentage of each check went to different investments and anything she made accompanying Eric on the weekends went into her checking account. She hadn’t realized that she’d already made more than half a million dollars, and the information took her breath away.

  “This seems like a dream,” she said in awe.

  “I’ve felt that way for a long time, Eric said, smiling at her when she turned to him with a startled expression.

  “Somehow, I don’t think you’re talking about the money.”

  “I’m not,” he said. “I’m talking about you. Move in with me, Shawna. If you want your own private room for your things, I have plenty of rooms. I love waking up to you every morning, and I would love it even more if it didn’t feel temporary.”

  “I’ve been there for six months.”

  “And you still keep most of your things at your apartment. It’s not the same.”

  “Are you asking for a commitment?” she asked, surprised that he was even entertaining the idea. “I thought this was just for fun.”

  “It is, but it’s something more to me.”

  His expression was neutral, but Shawna had plenty of practice reading his eyes. Eric was waiting for her to tell him how she felt and his heart was on his sleeve.

  “Do you love me?” she asked, shakily.

  “I’ve said it enough,” he chuckled softly. “Don’t you believe me?”

  “I do,” she said, her hands beginning to tremble. She’d closed her heart off to protect herself, not even realizing what she’d done. “I guess I didn’t want to get my hopes up and let myself believe that you meant it. People say a lot of things in the heat of passion, and I didn’t know—”

  “I only say things I mean,” he said.

  “I was afraid I would get my heart broken if I read into what you were saying to me.”

  “And now?”

  She stared at him, not sure what to say that would make him understand how she felt about him. After an eternity, she finally just decided to come out and say it.

  “I love you,” she said softly. “I have loved you for a long time.”

  She was still sitting on his lap, skirt hiked around her waist, his hand resting between her legs. The moment couldn’t have been any sweeter.

  “I love you,” Eric said, kissing her gently.

  When she finally pulled away, she searched his eyes before she spoke.

  “So, what now?”

  “Honestly? I would be happy with you moving your stuff to the ranch and letting someone else live there.”

  “And what about the long-term?”

  “I didn’t want to push you too fast,” Eric said. “But if you’re talking about marriage, it’s been on my mind for a long time.”

  “I was thinking more about my dream of owning a horse ranch,” she said. “I’m not ready for marriage yet.”

  “You can still buy a horse ranch if you want. Or, you can buy a horse and keep it in the barn. I have five more stalls.”

  “But that would be on your property.”

  “If you move in, it would be our property.”

  “I would like that, but it would still feel like it belonged to you.”

  “Then buy a place and we’ll move there.”

  “Really?” she said, a bit shocked. “I can’t begin to buy anything near as big as your place.”

  “So? Who needs a sprawling property when I can’t have the woman of my dreams close. It’s way more land than I need anyway.”

  “What if you sold part of it to me?” Shawna asked, surprised by the words that tumbled out of her mouth before she could change her mind. “If I owned part of it, I think I would feel less like a visitor.”

  “I could do that, but I have a better idea,” he said, his smile wide, the pinched, stressed look gone for the first time since he had broached the subject.

  “You do? By all means, tell me what this great idea is.”

  “I do, but I’d rather show you.”

  Intrigued, she stood up, bending over to get her panties, but Eric got to them first.

  “You don’t need these,” he teased, putting them in his pocket and helping her straighten her skirt before grabbing his keys and taking her hand in his.

  She felt almost giddy as she followed him onto the elevator and into the parking garage. She got into the passenger seat of the Audi SQ5, and when his hand rested on her thigh, she opened her legs to him. She watched him smile, his eyes on the road, but his hand already roaming upward.

  ***

  Shawna got out of the car, following Eric to the low fence that surrounded the property and hiking up her skirt to step over the knee-high railings.

  “This place needs a lot of work, but it’s the right price and a decent-sized piece of land.”

  There was a For Sale sign, with a little informational pamphlet held by a push pin. Eric removed the pamphlet and handed it to Shawna as he spoke. She skimmed the listing her eyes widening when she saw all the details.

  “Eric, this place is two hundred acres,” she said. “That’s not ‘decent-sized’, that’s huge.”

  He shrugged.

  “If you like it, it’s been on the market for almost a year. I’m sure that you can talk them down.”

  “This is amazing,” she said, looking at what she could see of the property.

  “It gets better,” Eric said, pointing at a line of trees. “There’s our property line. On the other side of those trees is my house.”

  “Really?” she asked, a little too loud in her excitement. She laughed, then lowered her voice. “Who owns the little forest?”

  “That would be you,” he said, smiling.

  “Oh Eric, this place is amazing.”

  “Do you want it?” he asked.

  “I do,” she said.

  “It’s going to take a lot of work to make this place into something,” he said. “The fence is bad, the land needs work and there’s a lot to be done.”

  “I know,” she said, feeling giddy. “I can work on all that while I decide what I want to do with the land.”
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br />   “There’s no hurry,” he said, pulling her into his arms in front of him.

  She leaned into him, staring out at the land, enjoying the moment in the sun, his strong arms holding her tight.

  “I guess I’ll have to stay with you while I work on this place,” she said, teasing him. “And there’s really no reason to keep my apartment if I have a place of my own.”

  “That’s true,” he said.

  “And I’m going to need a horse to ride around the property while the work is being done. Maybe two.”

  “And a truck and trailer.”

  “Those, too,” she said. “This is perfect. Thank you for showing it to me.”

  “Do you want to call the realtor?”

  “Yes,” she said, excited.

  She took out her phone and called the number on the sign, and within thirty minutes, a woman pulled up in a nice pickup truck, clad in boots and black jeans.

  Eric kept his distance, letting Shawna haggle on her own, and after a few phone calls, her offer was accepted and the realtor left with a promise to email Shawna the paperwork by the end of the day.

  Shawna watched the woman drive away, and as soon as she was out of sight, turned and threw her arms around Eric, hugging him tightly.

  “I can’t believe this is going to be mine,” she said, peppering him with excited kisses. “We should celebrate,” she said, smiling.

  “What did you have in mind?” he asked.

  She winked at him, and she saw him take a deep breath. She knew instantly where his mind had gone, but she shook her head.

  “I don’t want to make love on this spot until it’s all mine and the deal is final,” she said. “But I do want to go to my old apartment and get my things.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to rush you.”

  She shrugged.

  “I was thinking about it long before you brought it up. I just needed a little push in the right direction.”

  “That seems to be the way things work for you,” he teased, kissing her neck and chuckling when she shivered.