Train Me

by Mia Ford

  “Good. They work hard,” I said, just as a guy who I hadn’t met before, emerged from one of the rooms.

  “You must be John,” I said to him and extended my hand to him.

  “Yes, I am. And you are Grant Jennings,” he said with the usual starstruck expression I saw on so many faces. Sasha was quick to come into the reception room as well, and I shook his hand too.

  “Bev isn’t here,” Sasha said and I nodded.

  “I’m aware, Susan told me already,” I said.

  “She usually comes in by nine, but she hasn’t been in the best mood lately,” Susan cut in and I nodded and smiled at her again.

  “I’m not here for her actually. I was hoping to catch all of you together,” I told them and Susan sat back down slowly on her chair.

  “How can we help you Mr Jennings?” John said.

  “Please, call me Grant,” I said to him, and without invitation, I took the chair across from Susan’s desk and sat down.

  “I wanted to get to know you all and give you a brief introduction on how Lonex works,” I said to them and I watched as Sasha and John’s eyes widened.

  “So, you mean you’re keeping us on?” Sasha asked and I smiled.

  “Of course I am. You are the people who know the product best. It would be a shame to lose any of you,” I told him and they exchanged looks.

  “And what about…Bev? Beverley,” Sasha added and I took in a sharp breath.

  “It appears as though Beverley has other plans,” I said and a nervous look took over all their faces. I could see where their loyalties lay. “But I don’t want you to worry. You will all be well taken care of and I want you to slowly naturalize to Lonex’s surroundings,” I informed them and made myself comfortable on the chair.

  When nobody had said a word for some time, I decided to break the silence.

  “First of all, I would like all of you to start working out of the Lonex office building. I will have space made for you with your own private offices so that you can continue your work seamlessly,” I said and that seemed to please Sasha and John a little.

  “What about me? I’m just a receptionist here…but what role will I have at Lonex? Will I have a role at Lonex at all?” Susan was speaking too quick and I could see that she was beginning to panic.

  “Yes, of course you will have a role with us. I want you to work with the HR team and they will find a position for you there. I’m certain you’ve amassed enough experience here to be useful to us at Lonex,” I told her and the firmness and kindness of my voice seemed to put her at ease. She had started to relax a little.

  “Has Bev told you anything about her plans? We know nothing. She’s rarely at the office any more and if she is, she refuses to talk to us or disclose anything,” Sasha said and I clenched my jaw.

  “I know just about as much as you do. We aren’t exactly friends,” I said, trying to sound casual but the others were exchanging looks again. I could see that they didn’t exactly buy my explanation. And also, the mention of Beverley’s name made me uncomfortable again. As much as I was trying to act normal, I was aware that these were her surroundings. That I was intruding on her space. I didn’t know what I would have done or even if I would have had this conversation if she was in the office. I would have probably just turned around and walked out of the building if she was in.

  “We’re just a little concerned for her. This company is like her baby,” Susan added and I turned to her and nodded my head.

  “I know, and I understand, but she has made her decision to not accept a position at Lonex. So there is nothing more I can do about it,” I said and Susan licked her lips nervously. I cold see that they were all concerned, it wasn’t just Susan. Besides Beverley’s achievements at creating brilliant technology, she had also been able to connect on a personal level with her employees. They trusted and believed in her and I felt a pang of regret for buying her company. But what else could I do? She had to sell it to somebody, better me than someone else who didn’t have her best interests at heart.

  Chapter 19

  Beverley

  I had a skip in my step when I walked to the office that day, I’d even spent some extra time getting dressed. I’d picked out my most fashionable chiffon blouse and a pair of grey pants with matching grey stilettos. My plan was to drop into the office and then call Grant and ask him out to lunch. I hadn’t exactly prepared the speech I would give him over our meal, but I was prepared to lay some of my cards on the table. I was willing to work with him and I was willing to start over. He didn’t need to know about the deep set feelings I had for him, but maybe we could start by being friends. Firstly, an apology was in order. He was trying to do a good thing and I had consistently been shooting him down.

  Not to mention that I was desperate to see him again.

  I walked up the stairs and pushed the office door open, not bothering to conceal the wide smile I had on my face. But my jaw fell open when the door swung into place and I stepped in.

  Grant was sitting at Susan’s table, using her laptop to show something to the others. Susan, John and Sasha were crowded around him, looking at the screen over his shoulders. I had intruded on a happy comfortable scene. They were in discussion over something, and nobody seemed out of place.

  When I walked in, they all looked up at me and their expressions changed because they would have noticed the look of betrayal on my face. Everyone except Grant, because his smile only grew. He looked ridiculously handsome, in a close fitting sky-blue shirt with his sleeves rolled up. His beard was thick but neatly trimmed and his blue eyes were sparkling.

  “Oh, good, Beverley, you’re here,” he said, and I noticed the twinkle in his eyes.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded, slamming the door shut behind me.

  “Just showing them Lonex’s software. I figured that I might as well start now,” he said and folded his arms on his chest. Susan had scrambled away, and John and Sasha stood idly by with guilty expressions on their faces.

  “You’re showing them your software? I still own this company, they still work for me,” I spat the words out. I could feel the back of my neck burning up and my nostrils flaring. I couldn’t believe the freedom Grant had taken without my permission.

  He seemed unaffected by the tone of my voice and instead, stood up casually from his chair.

  “You signed the papers, Beverley. There’s no turning back now,” he said in the coldest voice I had ever heard him use. I was mad enough to throw something at him, and instead I only glared at him with my palms fisted.

  “They still work here. And you had no right to come in here and distract them from their jobs,” I snarled and Grant arched an eyebrow.

  “I was doing them the courtesy of a personal visit, acquainting them with my company,” he said and I licked my lips in anger.

  “Don’t you have someone else in your company who can do that for you? You’re here only to rub my nose in it,” I said and Grant walked around Susan’s desk and stepped towards me. I took a few steps back, aware that there were three other pairs of eyes on us. On me. They had never seen me in a fit like this before.

  “Okay, Beverley, you just need to calm down. The reality is that you’ve signed the company over to me, and I just came here to have a friendly chat with my future employees,” he said and it looked like he was having fun. I felt so foolish for letting my defenses down, for even entertaining the idea that he might have genuinely wanted the best for my company. When the reality was that it was still a competition for him. The sex was another one of his victory points.

  “You don’t need to tell me what to do, and you need to leave my office now. I’m still the proprietor of this office space and I’m asking you to go,” I said, trying to sound calmer. I didn’t want to give everyone the impression that I was losing my mind.

  “I think we should give you guys some privacy,” Sasha spoke up, while Grant and I continued to stare at each other.

  “We don’t need any privacy, Sasha.
Mr Jennings is just leaving,” I said and crossed my arms over my chest.

  Sasha, John and Susan filed out nonetheless. They didn’t just go into one of the other rooms; they left the office. Grant was still looking at me, while I stood with my back straight and my chin jutting out. I was ashamed at myself for waking up this morning and trusting him and I was angry with him at the same time. I wasn’t exactly sure what he had done wrong, but I knew he had pissed me off.

  When the office door closed, Grant let out a sigh.

  “You have to leave,” I said, gritting my teeth and he shook his head.

  “I don’t have to do anything. I did nothing wrong. You’ve signed over your company, your product and your employees to me, Beverley,” he said and I rolled my eyes.

  “And you’re enjoying it aren’t you?” I snapped and Grant got closer to me, quickly, and I took in a sharp breath. Having him close to me again was a mistake. My body reacted very differently to him than my mind did.

  “I have not enjoyed a single moment of it, except when we’re both naked,” he said and a smile was forming on his face.

  Chapter 20

  Grant

  I was standing very close to her, close enough to make the loose strands of golden hair on her face blow with my breath. She looked like she couldn’t believe what I had just said to her.

  “I don’t know what you’re trying to say to me,” she said, looking offended. I smiled at her, and her eyes only grew wider.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said and she rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, the sex is good. What has that got to do with anything else?” she snapped and I took in a deep breath. I wanted to kiss her again. I couldn’t bear to see her so mad at me again.

  “That has everything to do with this,” I said.

  “Why you’re buying my company?” she asked, looking confused and I nearly laughed. Was it so unbelievable to her that I might want to be with her?

  “Yeah, why I’m buying your company and why I’m here,” I told her and she licked her lips.

  “You’re buying my company because you wanted to have sex with me? Wow. You’ve got a lot of money to spare, Grant,” she said and this time I really did laugh.

  “No, that’s only partially true. I do believe you have a brilliant product and I also didn’t want some other company to buy you out, who wouldn’t keep your work alive,” I explained and Beverley fell silent. She had her nose crinkled and her eyes narrowed. She was thinking about what I’d said and it appeared that she was still in disbelief.

  “You’ve said all this before, and yet you turned up here today trying to prove your authority over my employees,” she said and I noticed that her voice had become a little quiet. I took in a deep breath and nodded my head.

  “You’re right. I was being malicious. Coming her and inducting your employees was overstepping on my part. I suppose I wanted to assert some of my authority,” I told her and Beverly clenched her jaw.

  “Why?” she asked and I shook my head. I didn’t know how to explain it to her, without also confessing everything.

  “Because I was trying to pin you down. I want you to come and work with me, and you somehow keep slipping away,” I said in a calm voice. Her eyes still looked too large for her face, she couldn’t quite put two and two together yet.

  “Pin me down? Why? I don’t understand what you have to gain from all this,” she said and I shrugged my shoulders.

  “I told you I care for your company and your work. I would benefit from your expertise at my company,” I said and she glared at me with her squinted eyes.

  “That’s it? You want my expertise so you come here trying to strong-arm me into submission?” she said and I remained silent. I wanted her to do the math but it was looking like I would have to spell it out for her after all. She still had no idea how I felt about her.

  “Yeah, that and also because I wanted to keep seeing you. I suppose after our little rendezvous at the bar, I figured there would be no other way to get your attention other than to piss you off,” I said and Beverley gulped.

  The expression on her face was changing now, her shoulders were relaxing.

  “You wanted to keep seeing me?” she said, repeating my words and I cleared my throat nervously. I couldn’t remember the last time I had said those words to a girl before. I wasn’t sure what the consequences of that would be, especially with Beverley Wade.

  “So, it is just about the sex,” she said and I clenched my jaw.

  “It’s more than just about the sex,” I blurted out and her eyes widened again.

  We were looking at each other silently. Maybe it was starting to make sense to her now, or maybe it wasn’t; but I didn’t want to take a chance.

  “Since college I’ve wanted us to be friends, to get to know each other,” I told her and she took in a deep breath.

  “We were competitors in college,” she said and I shook my head.

  “You competed with me. I didn’t want that,” I told her and Beverley stepped towards me. Our faces were now only inches away, and if I wanted; I could have just leaned in and kissed her.

  “So, what did you want? Your friends made fun of me, you kept your distance…how did you even dream of being my friend?” she asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

  “The heart wants what the heart wants,” I said and there was deathly silence again. She was weighing out those words. I had got the heart involved in our midst now and I knew that was a heavy word. Beverley gulped as she stared up at me. Her face was ruddy, her cheeks were flushed and I was so close to simply pulling her into my arms and pressing our bodies together.

  “I…I didn’t want to compete with you, Grant,” she said and those words came as a relief to me. I never doubted that she thrived on that competition. I had been so convinced that she despised me that I hadn’t thought about whether she was hiding her true feelings from me as well.

  “I wanted us to get to know each other as well,” she said with fumbling words.

  Despite myself, I smiled and Beverley bit down on her lip. We were standing close together, her back to the wall, studying each others faces.

  “We can start now,” I said and lowered my face towards her, bringing my lips close to hers. In a flash, she had thrown her arms around my neck and drawn me close to her.

  “You’re right, being naked together is a lot of fun,” she said and we were kissing.

  Chapter 21

  Beverley

  This time when we kissed it was a hungry one. With our lips pressed together, I had already started unbuttoning his shirt. I had been angry with me, absolutely enraged only a few minutes ago and now I was ripping his shirt off his chest.

  Grant’s hands reached for my blouse and he had started untucking the blouse out of my pants. I gasped and he grunted as his hands reached beneath my blouse, up my belly and to my breasts.

  I pushed him away from me and Grant stumbled back. It was unreal. We were in my office. In the reception room where anyone could walk in, and we glared at each other silently for a few more seconds. I didn’t know if I forgave him yet, if I believed the things he had said to me. But in that moment, I didn’t care any more. I wanted his body.

  I slid my blouse off and flung it to the floor and Grant followed suit. He took off his shirt and we lunged at each other again. His mouth was on my neck, tracing a wet line with his tongue while I dug my nails into his back. I had to keep my eyes pressed shut while I enjoyed the sensation of his mouth on my skin.

  He had found the space between my breasts, and with his teeth he tugged at the lace of my bra. I gasped again, when he pulled my bra down and my breasts were exposed to the cool air of the room. Grant was staring at me, at my stiff pink nipples and slowly he lowered his head again.

  I didn’t think it would be that explosive, but Grant’s mouth on my nipple made me weak in the knees. I was clinging on to him, clutching his arms while he sucked. My fingers weaved through his dark hair as I bit down on my li
p. His rough beard was scratching against the tender skin of my breasts and I could feel myself getting wet.

  I pressed my legs together, to control the sensation he had started but soon enough with his mouth still on my nipple, Grant’s hand made its way between my thighs. Through the fabric of my pants he had started stroking me. He knew I was wet already and he suddenly broke away from my breast.

  “I’ve wanted you for so long, Beverley,” he said in a gruff voice. Grant’s eyes had glazed over and he didn’t stop stroking me. I was afraid of coming too soon but he had made me feel things I had never felt before, not even with him.

  “I’ve wanted you all my life,” I murmured and he suddenly straightened up. With his hands on my hips he pulled down my pants so that now only his own pants and my lace underwear parted us. Gently, with his hand on my waist, he led me towards the red couch in the corner of the reception room.

  I did as he asked and when he reached the couch, he whipped me around. I had to bite down on my lip again to stop myself from crying out.

  Grant was behind me and I could hear his belt coming off. Then he slid down his pants and his boxers and he did the same with my underwear.

  “Beverley, you’re going to be mine today,” he said and I felt his arm wind around me, across my breasts while he pulled me closer to him. My thighs were quivering, I was desperate for his cock which I could now feel against my butt.

  Keeping me in position, pressed up against his chest, Grant bent me forward. I reached out my hands and held on to the arms of the couch for support while Grant adjusted himself behind me. His arms had wound around my belly now and I felt the pressure of his cock against my wet throbbing core.

  “Grant please, don’t make me beg,” I cried and he thrust himself in. I wasn’t expecting it and I gasped when I felt his cock slide into me with one quick push. Grant was inside me again and I moaned. He wasn’t going to give me time to recuperate, instead he started pumping into me.

  I held on to the couch while he held on to me, riding into me from behind. I could feel his bigness inside me, stretching me tightly as he stroked me there. Over and over again till I felt weak in my knees again. I cried out his name as he pushed me closer to the edge.