by Anna Stone
It was time to take matters into her own hands.
Emma made her way to Lillian’s office and knocked on the door, her heart skittering in her chest. “Lillian?”
“Come in.” Lillian was sitting behind her laptop tapping away at the keyboard. “What is it, Emma?”
“Sheryl’s party is on. You’re not coming?”
“I have too much work to do.”
“I thought so. I brought you some champagne.” Emma held up the second glass. “Have a drink with me?”
Lillian glanced up at Emma, her face unreadable. With the way that Lillian had been acting, Emma had no idea if she’d say yes or no.
“Why not?” Lillian finally said. She got up and took the glass from Emma, then took a long drink. “Christ, I needed that.”
“Hard day?” Emma asked.
“It comes with the job,” Lillian replied.
“Why do you do it? This job, I mean?”
Emma was surprised when Lillian hesitated. She hadn’t intended for it to be a difficult question.
“I’ve been working my whole life to get here,” Lillian said. “And I’d never be content doing anything else.”
“It seems so stressful,” Emma said.
“It is sometimes. But that’s the price of success.”
Emma tucked her hair behind her ear. “Maybe it would help if you had some fun now and then. Let your hair down a bit.”
“What are you suggesting?” Lillian asked.
“That I go back out there and bring back a whole bottle of champagne.” Emma didn’t know where all this was coming from. Lillian seemed to bring out a whole new side of her.
Lillian’s lips twitched up in a slight smile. “That’s tempting. But I don’t have time. And this is already very unprofessional.”
“All we’re doing is sharing a drink,” Emma said. “Is that really so unprofessional?”
Lillian glanced toward the door. “It is when I’m your boss and we’re alone in my office.”
“It doesn’t matter if no one catches us.” Emma sat down on the top of Lillian’s desk and crossed her legs.
Sure enough, Lillian’s gaze flicked down to Emma’s thighs on her pristine desk. She looked back up at Emma, a battle raging behind her eyes. “You’ve been pushing my buttons lately,” Lillian said. “I liked you better when all you ever said was ‘Yes, Ms. White.’ Was that obedient act a trick so I’d give you the job?”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Emma smiled, her gaze fixed on Lillian. “What can I say? I really wanted to work for you.”
Lillian glanced at Emma’s glass. “How much champagne have you had to drink?”
“Only one glass. I’m not drunk if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Then why are you behaving like this?”
Emma placed her glass down on the desk. “Because I’ve finally figured out what I want.”
“And what’s that?” Lillian asked.
“You.”
With a single word, the wall of pretense that had stood between them came crashing down.
“This is dangerous territory,” Lillian warned. Nevertheless, she took a step closer to Emma.
“I don’t care,” Emma replied.
Lillian leaned down toward Emma, placing her palms on the desk on either side of her. “Emma,” Lillian said, her voice midway between a whisper and a growl. “Do you have any idea how infuriating you are?”
With Lillian so close to her, Emma found herself unable to speak, or move, or breathe. All she could do was stare into Lillian’s ice-blue eyes as they stared back at her, blazing hot and bright.
Then Lillian kissed her.
In an instant, the rest of the world fell away, and all that Emma was aware of was Lillian’s lips pressing against hers. The hungry, possessive kiss rippled through her entire body.
Lillian pulled back as if Emma’s lips had stung. Slowly, Emma leaned in and kissed Lillian again, wordlessly urging her on. Lillian grabbed Emma’s waist and moved in close to stand between her knees. She glided her hands down Emma’s sides and grabbed Emma’s hips, pulling Emma’s whole body toward her. Emma threw her arms around Lillian’s neck. The press of Lillian’s body against hers was electrifying, the taste of her lips overpowering. Something stirred deep within her…
There was a knock on the door. Lillian tore herself away from Emma, uttering a curse. Emma barely had time to get off the desk before the door swung open. A young man with messy hair stood in the doorway.
“What do you want?” Lillian asked sharply.
“I’m from IT,” the man said. “I’m here for your laptop. You sent an email saying you’ve been having problems with it.”
“Yes. Come in.” Lillian picked up her laptop and handed it to him. “Here.”
“I’ll have it back to you on Monday morning.”
“Good.” Lillian crossed her arms.
He looked from Lillian to Emma and back to Lillian, no doubt sensing the tension in the air. “I’m going to go now.” Laptop in hand, the man backed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Emma let out a sigh and glanced at Lillian. Before she could speak, Lillian cut her off.
“Go back to the party, Emma,” Lillian said.
Emma frowned. “But—”
“Emma. This was a mistake. Just go.”
Emma’s heart fell. Without another word, she turned and fled out the door.
8
Emma
Emma pulled up in front of her family’s house. She hadn’t been back home since she started at AG&W, but she was now finally getting used to her job enough that she could handle the workload without needing the entire weekend to recover. And she was feeling guilty about how long it had been since she’d checked on her family.
She got out of her car and walked down the driveway. It was good to be back. The familiar sight of the slightly overgrown lawn, strewn with bicycles, was comforting. Right now, comfort and familiarity were exactly what she needed. That kiss she’d shared with Lillian the day before, and the aftermath? It left her more confused than ever.
When Emma reached the front door, she could already hear the sounds of her brothers and sisters inside. She opened it and looked around. As usual, the house was a mess. Baskets of unfolded laundry in the hallway. Sweaters and shoes scattered about. Half-finished homework and school books stacked high on the dining table.
“Hello?” she called. “It’s Emma.”
A large, fluffy dog, some mix of half a dozen different breeds, came running out of the living room down the hall.
“Hey, Blue.” Emma crouched down and rubbed the dog under the chin. Blue was actually white with brown spots, but blue was Margo’s favorite color when they got him.
“Emma!” One of the twins barreled out in Blue’s tailwind, nearly knocking Emma over in the process.
“Hi, Jeremy.” She gave him a big hug. “Where’s Justin?” The two of them were usually joined at the hip.
Jeremy shrugged. “In the living room. He’s no fun these days. And he’s gotten really mean.”
“What did he do?” Emma asked.
“He smashed my DS yesterday. Mom made him give me his, but it’s not the same. It doesn’t have all my saved games on it.”
“I’ll have a word with him.” Again. Emma tousled his dark hair. “Where’s Mom?”
“In the kitchen.” Jeremy ran off back into the living room.
Emma made her way to the kitchen, Blue at her heels. She was Blue’s favorite. They had adopted him for the younger kids, but she had inevitably ended up looking after him. Emma was pretty sure he only liked her because he associated her with food and walks.
Emma was accosted in the hall by her sister Lisa. “Emmaaaa! Margo won’t let me use her nail polish! She keeps saying I used up all of her purple one, but it was empty when she gave it to me.”
Emma pulled Lisa in for a quick hug, which was all that she would allow at that age. “I have a stash of nail polish in my room. It’s in the
top drawer of my dresser. You can use it whenever you like.”
Lisa’s face lit up. “Thank you!”
“Just don’t tell Margo, okay?”
Lisa nodded, then ran off upstairs to Emma’s room.
Emma finally reached the kitchen where her mom stood at the stove, stirring something that smelled delicious.
Her mother turned toward her. “Emma, I didn’t hear you come in. Dinner is almost ready.” She gave Emma a one-handed hug.
“Need a hand?” Emma asked.
“Sure.” Her mom pointed toward the dishes of food on the counter next to her. “Take those out.”
“I’ll call the boys to come set the table.” Emma took the food out to the dining room, calling out to the twins on the way, and then returned to the kitchen. As she watched her mom stir the pot, Emma noticed that she had bags under her eyes.
“Are you all right?” Emma asked.
“I’m fine, honey.” Her mom waved a hand dismissively. “I’m a bit tired, that’s all.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” Emma’s mom had a habit of hiding how she was really feeling.
“Yes. Stop worrying about me.”
“Well, I’ll be around until Sunday night, so you can put your feet up a bit.”
Her mom smiled. “You’re an angel, Emma.”
“It’s no trouble.”
Eventually, her mom called everyone to dinner. They all sat down and started grabbing food and haphazardly passing dishes around. Dinner was always like this here. It helped that her mom’s food was amazing. Emma was a great cook. But no matter how hard she tried, her cooking was never as good as her mom’s, which the kids had liked to remind Emma of every time she’d cooked for them.
Once the kids had finished serving themselves, Emma filled up her plate and dug in. She had missed this—the whole family sitting around eating and chatting over the clatter of cutlery and their mom’s reminders not to talk with their mouths full. Everyone was on their best behavior for a change, even Justin. And her mom seemed happy. Maybe Emma had been worrying about her for nothing.
Half an hour later, everyone had cleaned their plates, and Emma told them to take their dishes into the kitchen. The kids did as they were told and ran off.
“Wait,” their mom yelled. “Whose turn is it to do the dishes?” But the kids had already disappeared upstairs.
“Don’t worry,” Emma said. “I’ll do them.”
Emma and her mom carried the remaining dishes to the sink. She began to wash up while her mom packed away the leftovers.
“How’s your job going?” Emma’s mom asked.
“It’s… fine,” Emma replied.
“Fine? It doesn’t sound fine. Is that boss of yours still giving you a hard time?”
Emma winced. “Something like that. I can manage though.”
Emma’s mom reached around her to grab a bowl. “I ran into Marcus out in front yesterday.”
Emma scrubbed hard at whatever was caked on the casserole dish. Her mom and Marcus’s mom were best friends. Both of them had been not so subtly pushing Emma and Marcus together since they were teenagers. Her mom had been so happy when Emma told her they were engaged. After Emma called the wedding off, all she said was that Emma had to do what was best for her. But Emma had caught her crying about it a week later.
“He asked about you,” her mom said.
Emma dropped the casserole dish into the soap-filled sink. “Why are you telling me this, Mom?” She didn’t need to be reminded of the reason she’d moved away from this place.
“I just thought you might want to know. I won’t bring him up again. Although I wish I understood why things didn’t work out between the two of you,” she added quietly.
Emma said nothing. The truth was, she had never been able to explain it because she had never understood it herself.
At least, not until Lillian.
That kiss? It had awoken something in her, and she wanted more. She had never wanted anything this much in her life. But Emma didn’t know what Lillian wanted. Lillian had kissed her, then thrown her out of her office and said it was a mistake. It was confusing, to say the least. Emma knew that she should give up on this stupid crush and move on, but she just couldn’t bring herself to. And a part of her hoped that when she went into work on Monday, Lillian would take back what she said.
Emma sighed. When did her life become so complicated?
9
Lillian
Lillian checked the time. Five minutes till 8 a.m. Emma would be here soon. And Lillian would have to tell her in no uncertain terms that what happened on Friday could never happen again. Lillian had spent the whole weekend wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Why had she acted so impulsively?
Lillian tapped her pen against her desk. She was lying to herself. It wasn’t like she’d kissed Emma out of nowhere. They’d been dancing around each other for weeks. Lillian should have put a stop to it long ago. How far would she have let things go if they hadn’t been interrupted on Friday afternoon? Was Lillian just like Gordon, unable to keep her hands off her employees?
She had to end things. It was the right thing to do. Besides, her job was at stake. After everything that had happened with Gordon, the three partners had drawn up a code of conduct. It wasn’t just for show. When everything had gone down, Gordon had essentially held the firm hostage until they agreed to give Thomas his partnership. In the aftermath, Lillian and Avery wanted to make it easier to oust a partner so that nothing like that could ever happen again.
The code of conduct covered a long list of offenses, ranging from relationships with their employees to misuse of company resources. The contract was iron clad. Any “inappropriate conduct” and the other partners could push Lillian out if they chose to. Lillian doubted that Avery would actually enforce the clause for something this harmless. But Thomas Jr. wouldn’t hesitate to boot her out the door if he was given the chance. He couldn’t do so alone. But office politics were much too complicated for Lillian to risk it.
She was not going to lose her job over a woman.
There was a knock on Lillian’s door. 8 a.m. She had been lost in thought for five whole minutes. This was getting out of hand.
“Come in, Emma,” Lillian said.
“Good morning, Lillian.” Emma’s voice had none of its usual enthusiasm, and her eyes were filled with uncertainty.
“Sit down, please.”
Emma sat down. “Is this about Friday?”
“It is.” Lillian held up her hands. “I’m going to stop you before you say anything.”
“But—”
“Stop. Listen. What happened on Friday was a mistake.”
“No,” Emma said. “It wasn’t.”
“Emma, you have to understand. The office has rules about this kind of thing. Partners aren’t allowed to have any sort of relationship with anyone in the office. And I don’t disagree with the policy.” Lillian folded her hands in front of her. “I should never have taken advantage of you like that. It was utterly unprofessional. I’m sorry.”
Emma actually laughed. “Do you seriously think that you took advantage of me?”
“Yes. I’m the one who is in a position of power here. I’m the one who kissed you.”
“Because I practically begged you to! I wanted you to kiss me. I wanted you. I still do.”
“Dammit, Emma. Listen to me. This just isn’t going to happen. I’m your boss. It’s against the rules. And even if I weren’t, this would be a bad idea. Whatever it is that you want from me, I can’t give it to you.”
“Can’t we—”
“That’s final, Emma,” Lillian said.
Emma was silent for a moment. “Okay.” Her voice was so quiet that Lillian could barely hear her.
“Are you going to be all right?”
“Yes,” Emma replied.
“If you’d prefer it, I can arrange a position for you elsewhere.” As soon as the words left Lillian’s mouth, she knew that she’d made a mistake
.
“No,” Emma said, shrinking in her chair. “I don’t want that.”
“All right. Why don’t you finish drafting those letters from yesterday? I’ll let you know what else I need you to do later.” It was clear that neither of them wanted to be in the same room.
Emma nodded. “Right away, Ms. White.” Without another word, Emma stood up and walked out the door.
Lillian rubbed at her temples with her fingertips. She did the right thing. She may have been harsh, but she needed Emma to know how serious she was.
Before Lillian had a chance to gather her thoughts, there was another knock on her door.
“Come in,” Lillian said.
A man with messy hair opened the door and inched his way toward her desk.
“What do you want?” Lillian snapped.
“Uh, your laptop? I mean, I have your laptop.” He held it up before him. “I’m Stuart? From IT?”
“Right.” The man who had almost caught her with Emma on Friday.
Stuart placed the laptop on her desk. “Actually, it’s not your old laptop. It’s a replacement. I had to hang onto yours so we can investigate. It’s company policy whenever something like this happens.”
“Something like what?” Lillian asked.
“A security breach. Well, it’s technically it’s a security breach, but I doubt it’s anything serious. I found a trojan on it. It installed a keylogger and some spyware.”
“In English, please.”
“A trojan is similar to a computer virus,” Stuart said. “It sneaks into a system like a trojan horse. Once it’s in, it can control everything. The one I found on your laptop installed programs to collect information and record your keystrokes.”
“Someone has hacked my computer?”
“Not in the way you think. This sort of thing is common and can be completely random. I have to remove a bunch of viruses from my grandma’s old desktop PC every other week.”
“Don’t we have antivirus software? Shouldn’t it pick up things like that?” If there was a chink in their security, she needed to know.
