by Vivien Vale
“You’re fantastic,” I say to her.
She smiles and kisses me on the cheek.
“You’re pretty good yourself.”
We lie together in silence. I’m still buzzing after my orgasm, after the mind-blowing sex we had. She’s quiet next to me except for a contented sigh.
This feels right, having her next to me in my bed.
When I turn my head a little and glance at her, she has a frown on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She shakes her head on my shoulder.
“Come on, tell me,” I say. “We just had the best sex ever. You should be basking in the afterglow.”
She rolls onto her back. Her head is still on my arm, her side pressed tightly against mine, but I’ve lost a little bit of her. I’m fairly certain she’s questioning what’s going on. That was fucking amazing. There’s no way she didn’t feel it too. And for her to be keeping the kind of secret she is from me, even if I don’t fully understand it? Well, it can’t be easy.
“I’m worried about this,” she says. “I’m scared this will come out at work.” So she decides to fall back on that?
I sigh. “I hoped that if we bring it here, to my place, you won’t worry about it anymore. We both want each other, sex is natural. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do this.”
She shakes her head. “That’s fine logic, Wes, except there is a rule at RidgeCo about not fraternizing with your co-worker. And no matter where we do it, how far away we get from the office, as long as we work there the rule applies.”
I nod. I know she’s right.
“Look, sweetheart, I’m not going to tell anyone. You know that, right?”
She nods. “I’m not worried about you telling anyone,” she says. “But someone like Leon might say something.”
Just the mention of him sets me on edge. I turn my face to her. “Did he say something to you?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I overheard your conversation with him the other day, though. He’s not very happy.”
“He doesn’t know. You know that, right?”
She nods. “I figured he can’t know anything, but he hates me as it is, and it can still turn ugly if he spreads rumors that turn out to be true. I don’t know what it is, but I get a funny feeling about that guy. Something isn’t right.”
I nod. I understand what she’s saying. I’m unhappy that it’s an issue so soon after we have sex, that I can’t relish in the pleasure of it, but she’s right. It can get ugly. Especially when I suspect she’s right about Leon—there’s more to his story.
“Well, then we just make sure there’s nothing for him to point to about our behavior. Let’s lay down some ground rules.”
She smiles. “You’re making rules?”
I nod. “So, we both know where we stand. And you said so yourself. You want to fuck me. I want to fuck you, too. I’m sure you’ve noticed. So instead of putting ourselves in a difficult place by denying what we both want, we’ll do it where it won’t hurt us.”
“Nothing at the office,” she says. “Not even casual friendship. Strictly business.”
“Right,” I say. “And nothing in public, either. Even if we’re away from the office. We’ll meet up only at my place. No one will know. No one will be able to guess because there will be nothing.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
“Does that help?” I ask. I can tell how tense she is about this. I know she’s worried about losing her job after she told me a bit of what her life was life. I have never known a life without security and money. Even my job was certain from the start because of who my dad is and what kind of influence he has over the company. He’s good friends with the owner. I was going to get this job from the start.
I pull Kylie back onto my chest and kiss her forehead. I want to lie with her a little bit and not think about anything important. I want to relish in the sex we’ve had.
“Can I ask you something?” she asks.
I close my eyes for a moment. She thinks a lot. I don’t want to discuss everything, but I will indulge her because she is a woman and women need to talk. And I don’t want her to think that only her body matters to me and not what’s on her mind.
“Of course,” I say.
“Why did you hire me?”
Right. The other thing Leon mentioned.
I open my eyes again and look at her. Her eyes are impossibly big when she looks up at me, and I see more worry on her face.
“I hired you because you have an MBA, a qualification that means you’re great in this position. You’re intelligent, hard-working and willing to learn.”
She hesitates, and for the briefest of moments I wonder if she’s aware that I know what she’s up to. Or what she was up to because I’m not so sure she is anymore. Not after everything we just shared. That’s what I’m hoping, anyway.
“Look, Kylie, you’re beautiful. There’s no doubt about that. You’re sexy even when you’re not trying to be. But I needed someone who could do the job when I looked for someone to hire, and you fit the bill because your skillset is what I need. I didn’t hire you because you’re a pretty face.” I kiss her on the lips. “Your beautiful face is a total bonus of course, and the fact that you’re great in bed. But for my company, that wasn’t what it was about.”
She nods, slowly. “Leon just gets to me, sometimes,” she says. “He’s difficult to handle.”
I nod. “He is. He’s a difficult character to start off with, but he’s struggling with some personal things, and it makes him worse.”
She sighs. I know that I shouldn’t allow it to affect everyone the way it does but my conscience rides me about this one. Not everyone has as much money as I do, and I know Leon has a long road of bills ahead when they start chemo.
Kylie kisses me, and she pushes every thought out of my mind. She meets my tongue with her own, and for a moment we’re pressed together, making out. When she breaks the kiss, she touches my cheek.
“I have to get going,” she says.
She doesn’t offer to stay the night. She doesn’t ask if she can. She gets off the bed and starts getting dressed. It doesn’t take her long to pull on her clothes – with no underwear and only a t-shirt and slacks she’s done in no time.
I walk her to the door. She gives me a chaste kiss on the lips before she walks out.
“I’ll see you at the office,” she says over her shoulder before she disappears into the night.
Kylie
On Thursday, I’m in the meeting room with Leon and Clive. Clive is on my team, another manager of sorts. His hair is so dark it looks black, and he has tanned skin from spending a lot of time in the sun. His shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows; he’s lost his tie, and the top button of his shirt is undone. Clive’s arms are folded across his chest, and he looks bored or irritated. Or both.
Leon is bent over my files. He braces himself on the table, and he has a permanent scowl on his face. He frowns a lot, I realize. Deep frown marks are imbedded between his brows.
“I don’t like it,” Leon says. “This is not going to work.”
I am about ready to give up. Really, I just want to scream. Leon doesn’t like anything I do, no matter what it is. I’ve redone the plans for him twice.
“What is it that you don’t like?” I ask. “Maybe if you show me exactly, I can only fix that part instead of doing the whole thing again another time.”
Leon shakes his head. “You can’t take shortcuts in this job, Jordan.”
He always refers to me by my last name, like I’m some dude he can’t stand. I sigh.
“I’m not taking shortcuts. I’m trying to jump through hoops to make you happy, but that’s damn near impossible.”
He looks up at me. I can only hold back for so long. Leon is a pain in my ass, and he’s out to make life difficult for me. We’ve been arguing about these plans for the past two hours, now, and that’s after I’ve redone them for him. Again.
> “You better watch yourself, missy,” he says. “I’ve been here a lot longer than you. If I tell you it’s not working, you better believe I know what I’m talking about.”
I glance at Clive. He shrugs at me and shakes his head. I’m a little irritated with him that he won’t step in and say something to defend me, but a part of me doesn’t blame him. If I had a choice to stay out of Leon’s way, I would do the same.
“So, what now?” I ask Leon. “What is it that you want me to do?”
Leon sighs, exasperated. “Well, telling you again is pointless, isn’t it? I’ve already tried twice, and you don’t seem to get what it is I’m saying.”
He’s making me sound like I’m stupid. I’m getting angry. My throat is tight, and my eyes sting, and I realize I want to cry.
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry I will myself. That’s the last thing on earth that I want to do. I’m not going to give Leon the satisfaction.
“Your ideas aren’t what I’m looking for at all. They were incorrect from the start,” Leon says. “I don’t know how you’re planning on moving forward with this project when the basics are all wrong. I asked for a project manager. I was expecting someone who knew how to do the job, not some incompetent receptionist who’s more concerned with looking good for her boss than doing her job.”
Every insult hits me like a physical punch. He’s breaking me down as a person, and I don’t appreciate it. I don’t know what to do. I want to fight with him but I’m new, and he’s my superior. Clive stands on the other side of the table, not saying anything, and I wish he would stick up for me for once.
“I’m going to step outside for some air,” I say. “We can continue this in fifteen minutes.”
Leon shakes his head. “No, you can go back to your desk and find something else to do. I’ll sort out this mess and do your job. Don’t bother coming back to sort this out. I’ve got it.”
I swallow hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat. I’m not going to cry. I won’t.
I leave the meeting room and walk toward the sliding door that opens onto the smoker’s area. I don’t smoke, but I need to get some air to breathe. I feel like the walls are closing in on me, squashing me out of existence.
When I’m outside the chilly breeze is sobering, and I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to deal with Leon. I work hard, and I put everything I have into this.
I don’t know how long I’m outside. I don’t want to go back inside if I’m honest. Maybe I wasn’t the best candidate for the job. Leon makes it so clear that I don’t know what I’m doing and I am in over my head. It’s only been two weeks since I started, but I can’t seem to find the right stride, and I’m starting to doubt myself.
It’s just because of what Leon said, I tell myself. He was rude and mean. When I have to interact with him, I feel despondent about my job. I feel like all my hard work means nothing. It’s funny, when I first got the promotion, all I could think about was how this put me one step closer to finding a way to bring RidgeCo down, to get back at the owner for ruining my family. But somewhere along the way I really started caring about the job and the projects. They mean something to me. With everything going on with Wes, part of me just wants to throw my whole plan out the window and be exactly the woman he thinks I am.
But I can’t run away from this. I must keep pushing through. I take a deep breath and hold it for three seconds. I need to get through this. I only allow myself a little bit of time to fall apart, and then I pull myself together and walk back inside.
When I walk in through the sliding doors, Wes comes from somewhere down the corridor. He glances at me. I look away. We said we would be strictly professional in public, and I’m not in a professional mood. I’m upset. I’m angry.
“Kylie,” Wes calls when I turn to walk to my desk.
I stop and turn around, waiting for him to come to me.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I nod. “Perfectly fine.”
He narrows his eyes at me.
“You’re not being honest with me,” he says.
I take a deep breath. “It’s nothing, Wes. Really.”
He shakes his head. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he says. “Is it Leon?”
I don’t know how he knows, but I nod. I’m not going to lie to his face. “I don’t know what to do anymore,” I say. “There’s just no way for me to please the guy.”
I want to cry again, and I swallow hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat. I don’t want to look pathetic and cry in front of Wes about something like me not getting along with my boss. But it’s starting to get to me.
“Tell me what happened,” Wes says.
I shake my head. I don’t want to be the one to run around talking behind his back.
“Kylie, we have to sort this out. As your boss, I want to make sure it’s all cleared up. I can’t have my employees fighting.”
I guess he’s right.
“He’s not happy with my plans no matter what I do. I’ve redone them twice now. He seems to be sure of himself that I’m unfit for this job, and he’s not scared to tell me so, repeatedly.”
“What did you say to him?”
“I offered to redo it again, if he’ll just tell me where I went wrong, but he won’t do that. He said he’ll just do it himself so it gets done right. I was told not to go back into the meeting.”
Wes nods, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking. He’s got his poker face on, carefully expressionless. If he’s angry, it doesn’t show.
“Alright,” he says. “Let’s go back in there and sort this out.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to look for trouble.”
Wes looks at me. “You’re not looking for trouble. You’re doing as I ask. I’m going in there to help sort this out because I’m higher up than he is, and he has to listen to me.
“Alright,” I say. “But I don’t want it to look like I came running to you with this.”
Wes nods. “I know what to do. Come with me.”
My stomach turns when I follow Wes back to the meeting room. I don’t want him to fight my battles for me – I’ve never been that kind of woman – and I don’t want Leon to think I’ve been tattling behind his back like a child. But I can’t very well tell Wes no, not if we’re going to be strictly business with each other and he’s my boss. I just don’t want to do this.
Wes allows me to walk into the meeting room, first. Leon looks up and scowls when he sees me.
“I thought I asked you to stay away,” he says.
“And I asked her to come back,” Wes says, coming in after me. Clive steps away from the wall he was leaning against, and Leon looks pissed.
“So, what, she ran to you?” Leon asks. “This is the grown-up world, Jordan.”
“That’s enough, Leon,” Wes says. His voice is firm but calm. “I caught her outside, and I asked her why she’s not in a compulsory meeting, only to learn that you asked her to leave.”
Leon nods, glaring at me. I’m grateful Wes made it sound like he was reprimanding me for not doing my job instead of making it look like I leaned on him for help.
“I’m not going to work with people who don’t know what they’re talking about, no matter who hired them,” Leon says. “If we’re going to produce something – anything – by this time next year, it will be a miracle at the rate we’re going, now.”
Wes shakes his head. “What’s the problem?” he asks.
Leon waves his hand at my files. “Her work is useless.”
Wes walks toward the table. I’m rooted to the spot, unsure. I want to run away if I’m honest.
“Let’s see this,” Wes says, and he picks up my files, looking through what I’ve come up with to see for himself. He frowns and we’re all waiting in quiet anticipation while Wes reads through everything. After what feels like forever, he looks up at me with a frown.
Oh, God. I’ve blown it, haven’t I?
&
nbsp; “This is good, Kylie,” Wes says. I blink at him. Say what now? “I like this.” Wes turns to Leon. “What was your problem with it?”
Leon is getting angry. His face is turning red, his eyes are narrowed, and his jaw is tightening as he grinds his teeth.
“Most of it is rubbish. I can’t work like this.”
Wes frowns at the file before he looks at Clive.
“What do you think?” he asks.
Clive didn’t say much once Leon started going on negatively about my work. Now, finally able to speak, he nods. “I think it’s excellent,” he says. “I like it, too.”
Leon snorts. “Are you going to kiss ass just because the CEO is here?” he sneers at Clive.
“Leon,” Wes says in a reprimanding voice.
“What?” Leon asks as if he doesn’t know what he’s doing. “Are you going to stick up for her? It’s sad how much you’ll overlook for her. What, is it because she’s so good, as you said? Or is it because of her uncanny ability to spread her legs?”
Blood drains from my face, and the room sways for a moment. I feel like I’m going to faint. Leon can’t know. We have done nothing after that night at Wes’s place, and we’ve seen so little of each other at the office it can’t be possible.
I glance at Wes. He doesn’t seem faint the way I feel. He looks pissed off.
“Don’t be a dick, Leon,” he says, which is not a not very professional response, but his anger reverberates in the room. “That’s completely unacceptable.”
“Come on! Why can no one see that she’s an imposter! She’s just a slut trying to sleep her way to the top,” he sneers. “Runs in the family, I guess.”
Oh my God. I feel like I’ve just been punched in the gut. How could Leon possibly know that history? Was he around when my mother worked for the company? Is that why he’s so vindictive toward me? But it doesn’t make sense. Why would he care? Why would he be angry with me?
Wes shakes his head, his body visibly radiating with anger. He’s so upset he looks like he’s on the verge of exploding at Leon, but he manages to practice extraordinary self-control.
