by Vivien Vale
“I hope you don’t mind,” she says, tugging at the shirt.
I think I should take her into the bedroom and fuck her brains out, but I don’t. I shake my head and walk through to the kitchen. “Help yourself,” I say. Kylie follows me.
I start unpacking the food, putting it on plates.
“Oh, a French breakfast,” Kylie says behind me. I don’t respond. After a while, she asks, “is something wrong?”
I sigh and turn away from the food that I started putting on plates.
“I ran into Leon in the bakery,” I say.
Kylie’s face falls right away. She might not know what I’m going to say, but I know she has an idea.
“And?” she asks.
I take a deep breath and tell her what Leon said. She listens before she closes her eyes and blows out a long breath.
“Tell me you weren’t with one of your friends last night before you came here,” I say.
Kylie opens her eyes again. “I wish I could. I was with Paris. We went to a bar, and she met a guy named Brad. I did tell her.”
She swallows hard and looks apologetic. I’m suddenly angry.
“I told you I wouldn’t tell anyone,” I say. “I thought you would keep it a secret, too.”
“I tell Paris everything. She’s my best friend, and she would never do anything to harm me,” she says. She sounds apologetic. I squeeze my eyes shut and count to ten in my head. When I open them again, Kylie is chewing her bottom lip, and it makes her look extremely young. I am angry with her for talking about it, but fighting with her now will be pointless. Yes, she fucked up, but now we need to get ourselves out of this mess. But first, something that has nagged at the back of my brain refuses to be ignored any longer. I have to know.
“Kylie, I have to ask you something. And I want you to be completely honest with me.”
I can almost see the shields go up. “What is it, Wes?” she asks carefully.
I drag my hand through my hair and huff out a breath. “I know your plan.”
She freezes. “Plan?”
I almost feel bad bringing it up. But I can’t deny any longer how much I crave her. I don’t want to give her up. And if we’re going to risk breaking the no fraternizing rule, I have to be completely sure about her.
“Are you only fucking me to try to take me down? As part of your plan to fuck over RidgeCo?”
Kylie gasps. She looks stricken. “What? How? Who?” She stops and draws a deep breath. “I mean, where did you hear about this?”
I walk toward her and grab her hands. “It doesn’t matter, babe. I just need to know the truth.”
She shakes her head, but that doesn’t tell me anything.
“Look, I know I should be mad that you’ve had this plan all along. But I just can’t. Partially because I had my own plan to take you down first.”
“You what?” she interrupts, her agitation turning toward anger.
I hold up my palms. “Hang on. Hear me out. I never got around to that. Because the minute you started working for you, you consumed every thought I had. Yeah, I originally wanted to get the upper hand and have the luxury of firing you and making sure you never worked in the tech industry again—”
“If this is your way of explaining what’s going on,” she says, shaking, “you’re doing a really shitty job.”
She’s right. I’m massively failing at this. I run my hand over my jaw and try again. “Look, Kylie. None of that matters. That’s not what I’m about anymore. All the time we’ve spent together has shown me that if you were planning on doing something, you must have had a good reason. But I also don’t believe you’re going to go through with it. And I have no desire to go through with my plans. I just want to be with you. However that has to happen.”
Her eyes soften. “Really?” She sounds like it’s too good to be true.
“Really. But please tell me the truth. Is sleeping with me all part of your plan to make me lose my job and take RidgeCo away from me?”
She shakes her head emphatically, and I believe her just like that. “It was never part of my plan. And you’re right, Wes. I don’t care about any of that anymore. Things have changed for me.” She looks down shyly, not meeting my eyes. “Because of you.”
I smile and reach out to tilt her head up so she has to look at me. “Good. That’s all I needed to hear. So now we have to figure out a way to fix this problem with Leon.”
“What are we going to do?” she asks.
I shake my head. “There’s nothing we can do about Leon knowing what he knows. Brad is his son, and that’s not something we can change. But he has no proof. It’s gossip and rumors, and that will never hold up if we keep our slates clean. We’ll just have to be more careful. Even more so than we already are.”
“You’re not mad?” she asks. Her arms are folded over her chest, outlining her naked breasts through the thin material of the t-shirt. She leans against a counter with her ass.
“I won’t lie. I was furious,” I admit, and she flinches. “But I don’t need to tell you that you made a mistake and we can’t change what happened. So instead of losing my temper like Leon does, we’ll just have to figure it out.”
She swallows and nods.
“I’m sorry,” she says softly.
I shake my head, but I don’t tell her not to be, or that it’s okay because it’s not. We may have removed the obstacle of her potential subterfuge, but Leon is still a very real threat to both of our futures at the company.
“We need to be more careful at work.”
“Like not talk at all?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No, that would be weird. We’re working together. If you’re going out of your way to avoid me that might look just as suspicious.”
Kylie nods. “That makes sense.”
“So, we’re going to talk about work and work-related things only, and not speak otherwise unless the situation demands it. And we can’t be alone. Ever.”
“Not even for meetings?”
I shake my head. “No, not even for meetings. Or mentoring.”
She nods. “You don’t just want to end this?”
I walk to her. When I’m in front of her, she looks up at me. Her hair hangs in her face, and I push it out of the way before I cup her cheek.
“No, Kylie. I don’t want to end this. I still want you. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever been with. I don’t want to stop any of this.”
Her lips curl into a smile.
“Okay,” she says. “We’ll be super cautious. Because I don’t want this to end, either.”
I don’t want a relationship, and I don’t think that it came across that way. But I want to keep seeing her. When I’m with her, I feel like a real man. When I’m with her, everything feels different. Not to mention, sex with her is the best sex I’ve had in my life.
We have breakfast together before Kylie gets dressed to leave. She’s wearing the little black dress she was wearing last night. I kiss her at the door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say.
“Seeing you and pretending like there’s nothing between us is going to be torture,” she says.
I nod. “It will be. But just imagine how much better it will be when we get to see each other again.”
She smiles and nods before she turns away, and I close the door behind her.
Kylie
When Monday morning rolls around, and I’m back in the office, everything goes back to normal. Mostly.
I still can’t get Wes out of my mind, and I swear I can still feel him between my legs, all over my body, in my mouth. I do my best to push away the thoughts. I have a meeting with Leon, Clive and the rest of the team and I must be on top of my game. Leon is looking for any reason to make trouble, and I can’t afford to give him any ammo.
I can’t believe Wes knew about my plans all along. And that he was gunning for me too in the beginning. But I’m so relieved that my secret’s out. It was starting to weigh on me. And now I know th
at everything that’s happened between us has been real. No games or false pretenses. It’s a relief. If only we can find a way to continue without putting our jobs at risk because I’m really loving this new job, way more than I ever expected.
When I walk into the meeting room, most of my team has already arrived. Tanya nods encouragingly at me, even though I’m a lot more comfortable now that I’m a bit more settled in my new position. I think she will always be the mothering type.
Leon comes in last and glowers at me. I try to ignore him, but it makes me stressed all the same.
He joins me in the front of the room and then my presentation starts. I run through a summary of what we’ve managed so far and then I put my ideas on display. I am proud of what I’ve done. Being a project manager allows me so much freedom, and I get to use my creative side, which I love. Being a receptionist was a complete snore in comparison. Everyone seems enthusiastic about it except Leon.
Surprise, surprise.
He stands next to me biting his tongue, looking sour.
“That’s pretty much what we have so far,” I say when I wrap up. “Any questions or something you would like to add?” I ask and look around the room. They all shake their heads. My team seems happy.
“Well, that’s it, then,” I say. “Thanks, everyone.”
They get up and start filing out. The meeting room clears bit by bit. I stack my papers and files and pick them up, ready to return to my own desk.
“Miss Jordan,” Leon says. “Stay behind, please.”
I don’t like when he talks to me like that. He’s ordering me to stay when he could have asked, and I would have said yes. But I do as he asks. I put down my papers and files again and turn to look at him.
Leon waits until everyone else has left the meeting room. I don’t like being alone in a room with him – he doesn’t like me, and I feel uncomfortable around him.
“That was quite a performance today,” Leon says.
“Thank you.” I’m not sure if it’s a compliment, but I’ll treat it as one.
“It seems like a lot of work for a career that’s going down the drain, anyway.”
I frown. “That’s a very pessimistic outlook,” I say. I don’t want to respect him after how he’s been treating me, but I must. I don’t like the way he talks to me, I don’t like the way he acts like I can’t do anything for myself.
“I’ve been around for a while,” Leon says. “I can see when people aren’t going places, and you’re not going anywhere.”
I’m getting angry. “What is your problem with me?” I ask. “I have done nothing to you.”
Leon laughs. “Of course, you have.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shakes his head, a smile still on his face but it’s not a friendly one.
“I know women like you,” he says. “All too well. You use your looks to get where you want to be in life. You don’t need to do anything other than look pretty and the world fawns at your feet when people like me have to work every day of our life. And then you come in and use sex and end up ruining lives.”
What the fuck? Leon has seriously lost it.
“I’ve been working hard,” I say. If this is some sexist bullshit, I’m not going to stand here listening to this.
“Yeah, you have. Working real hard on sleeping with Wes Wagner.”
My blood runs cold, but I don’t show the shock on my face. I have a damn good poker face. I just blink at Leon.
“I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from,” I say when he just stands there, grinning at me like a fool. “But I can assure you it’s wrong.”
“Really? Does the word Paris mean anything to you?”
My stomach turns to stone. If she said something to Leon – how on earth would she do that – then I’m fucked.
“The city?” I ask, playing dumb.
Leon rolls his eyes, irritated.
“Don’t be a little snip,” he sneers at me. “I mean the person. Your friend? She bragged to Bradley all night long about how her best friend is fucking her boss.”
“Who’s Bradley?” I ask.
Leon scowls. “Your dumb-blonde routine isn’t going to get you out of this,” he says. I don’t bother correcting him that my hair is light brown, not blonde. “He’s my son.”
It still doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know why someone would talk to their dad about who they’re sleeping with, but to each his own, I guess. He knows enough that his facts are accurate if he knows Paris’s name. But I’m not going to let him know that.
“Well, maybe she was talking about another friend. Did she give him a name?”
Leon doesn’t respond, which is a no.
“Paris has a lot of friends, not just me,” I continue. “I’m pretty sure all of her friends have bosses.”
Leon pulls back his lips, baring his teeth in a weirdly animalistic gesture.
“You’re lying,” he snarls at me.
“It’s your word against mine, at this point.”
“Wes ran away when I asked him about it.”
I know what he’s talking about, but I’m not going to let on to that, either.
“How Wes responds to accusations really has nothing to do with me, does it?” I ask. Leon is stumped again, unable to answer me. I keep going. If I can shut him up, I can get out of here with my job and my dignity intact. “Do you have any proof of this alleged affair?”
“Of course,” he says.
I bark a laugh. “I’m sure you do,” I say. “I’m sure you have all the evidence you need to prove something that isn’t happening.”
I’m calling his bluff. I hope to God that’s what it is. I’m acting confident, but I don’t know for a fact that he doesn’t have evidence.
“What I have can screw you over, both of you,” Leon threatens.
“Fine,” I say. If I’m going to call his bluff, I’m going to do it properly. I know he can’t have any footage of what happened at Wes’s place – that would be a crime – and Wes would have known if he had cameras in his office. Leon is a pain, but he’s not that crafty. I’m willing to take a gamble. “Why don’t you call the board members together? We’ll sort this out.”
Leon narrows his eyes at me. For the first time, I see uncertainty in his eyes, but it’s gone almost immediately.
“That’s a ballsy move,” he says.
I shrug. “Maybe that shows you that you’re wrong.”
Leon shakes his head. “I know I’m right. You’ll be notified.”
I shake my head.
“This is all good and well, Leon, but what the hell is your problem with me? Surely, you don’t think I’m sleeping with someone to get where I want to be in life?”
Leon is angry now, and I’m not sure why. This whole situation with him is so irrational. I don’t understand it.
“I don’t get to coast through life based on my looks. Bringing women into the workplace was the biggest mistake anyone could have made. Give any man a pretty face and open legs and women make fools of them. This is no different and don’t think for one second I don’t see right through you.”
I can’t understand what he’s so angry about. It’s not like I took his job when I got promoted or anything. I’m not only confused, but I’m also furious. I hate it when people assume I would do something so underhanded to get what I want in life.
“You know what, Leon?” I say. “Shove it up your ass.”
I walk out of the meeting room with my files, not looking back. I’m not sure if I’ll get in trouble for talking to my superior that way, but I’m furious. My blood boils beneath my skin. Where the hell is he coming from? I know he’s older than I am, obviously from a generation that has different views about gender equality than I do, but that gives him no right to treat me like the enemy. It’s not my fault I’m a woman and I sure as shit worked my ass off to get where I am now and not end up like my mother, dependent on someone else.
The nerve!
It takes me most of the day to calm down after what he said to me. I’m furious most of the time. When I finally manage to calm enough to think about the rest of the conversation, nerves bunch in my stomach. I challenged Leon, told him to tell the board. But what if his evidence is real, and I lose my job?
What will I do then? I was so focused on taking down RidgeCo in the beginning, but now all I can think about is losing my job. Who would have thought things would have flipped like this?
I take out my phone and text Wes. I explain myself briefly to give him a heads up. When he replies it’s only to say thank you for the heads up. I don’t know how he feels about it. I don’t know what’s going to happen.
What I do know is that I’m going to have to go ahead with this and see the board because I’m the one that suggested it. I’m going to go in there – whenever it is – and I’m going to stand my ground. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t know to what lengths Leon will go. All I know is that I must go down fighting this because I can’t admit that Leon is right.
Yes, the guy hates me because I’m a woman in a good position, and that’s unfair. Yes, he’s a dick. But his hunch is right. His guess about me fucking Wes is correct. He might be going about it wrong, but he’s right. That scares the shit out of me. I’m fighting him on a lie. Wes is fighting him on a lie. Everything in this career seems to be based on a lie.
Even if I didn’t use sex to get where I wanted. Does it make me any better if I’m breaking the rules for other personal benefits than a promotion? I try not to think about it too hard. I’m scared about the conclusions I might come to.
Why does sex make things so complicated?
Wes
On Wednesday morning, I’m on my way to the dreaded board meeting. I’m not happy that we must meet with the board – I would have preferred that Kylie say something else to Leon about it than calling in the big boys. She called his bluff and told him he could go to the board about his accusations, but we don’t know if it’s a bluff. Leon apparently has proof that we’re having an affair.
