by Jamie Knight
Another thought strikes me. “Wasn’t it Susan’s job to corral the clients as they came in for appointments?”
“Ah…yes, it was.”
“Was? What the hell happened to Susan?” I fix my gaze on Matthews, actually a bit angry now in earnest.
“She quit. Went off to pursue her passion… dental school or something like that.”
“Dental school. Well. Best of luck to her, then. Matthews, get out.”
“Sir, I-”
I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “Matthews, after this stunt you’re lucky I don’t send you out to the curb with a cardboard box. Go back to your office - and on the way there, tell the receptionist to wear professional clothes tomorrow instead of your idiot uniform, would you?”
Matthews nods. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now you go, and you - Mariah - stay a minute, okay?”
I wait until the door closes behind him and then turn to Mariah, dropping the stern look. “I’ve always loved doing that. The hand-wavey-thing? It’s fun. Perks of being the company president.”
Mariah nods, but that’s about it. She’s still admirably holding it together, but it’s pretty clear that the shift in tone hasn’t gotten through to her yet. She mostly just looks confused and a bit anxious- not that I can blame her.
“Mariah, have a seat, okay? Let’s talk for a minute.”
She sits. That’s when she finally gets up the courage to open her mouth - and the only person more surprised than me at what comes out is her, I think.
“Sir, I’m so sorry about all of this. I’m sorry I didn’t know who you were, and that I made you wait…and most of all about this stupid uniform he made me wear. But I deserve this job. I can do it well, and I don’t think that I should be fired. I want to work here. I really, really do. Real estate is what I love doing. I grew up loving it and I still do, and it makes me excited to come to work in the mornings. I have experience with a different company already. Plus, I’m good at it. Sir.”
The look on her face is halfway between defiance and apprehension. But she doesn’t budge, and that’s when I decide exactly what I’m going to do with her.
“Mariah,” I say. “You’re right.”
She blinks. “I’m sorry?”
I lean forward onto my desk, letting the smile I’ve been holding back spread across my face now. It feels good.
“Listen, Matthews is an arrogant man child more often than not. But he made the right decision hiring you, I can tell. I see your determination and your passion. Not many people in this building would stand up to me the way you just did. And even less of them would display the same level of professionalism that you did out in the lobby. Fetching coffee is a thankless job, and most people treat it that way, because that’s all it is to them - a meaningless gig that’s no different from being a barista at Starbucks. But you just proved that it’s something more to you. I admire that.”
Finally, Mariah smiles. It’s hesitant, but beautiful. “Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome. Now come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”
I can tell she’s surprised and a bit apprehensive, but she does her best to not let that show. Not that she has anything to worry about. We head down the hall until we reach the only door without a nameplate on it. I open the door, revealing the cramped office beyond.
“Go ahead,” I say, gesturing to Mariah to step inside. “It’s yours.”
She turns to me, eyes wide. “Mine?”
“Well, yes. Since Susan’s run off, it’s empty. Besides, Junior Realtors all get their own offices.”
“But I’m not a - ”
“Mariah, do you know the old saying ‘never question your new boss when he’s promoting you and giving you your own office because you’ve impressed him?’”
She nods vigorously, keeping her mouth shut. “Right. You’ll still need to split your time between your own clients and handling some of the lobby work to help things run smoothly, but I have no doubt you can handle that. Right?”
“Yes, sir. Of course.”
“Good. Welcome to the team. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go figure out what else my employees have snuck in here behind my back in the last week.”
“You mean besides the margarita machine in the kitchen?” Mariah says.
It takes a second before I realize she’s joking, and I burst out laughing.
“If that’s true, I’m just going to go down there and pour myself a drink or three. None for you though - you’ve got work to do. I’ll be seeing you, Mariah.”
With that, I leave her standing in the doorway of her new office, still looking a bit dumfounded. Yet, absolutely stunning, still.
Chapter 15
Wesley
Back behind closed doors in my office, I finally take a breath. I hadn’t expected to need to jump back in with both feet so quickly upon entering the office again, but that’s the way it goes when you’re the boss.
Deciding to promote Mariah was an easy choice. She had been sharp and professional with me when I was a ‘client,’ and respectful but assertive with me once she found out who I actually am. Not to mention, her determination and clear love for the job…
Okay, Wesley, that’s enough. We get it; you didn’t hire her just because she’s gorgeous. That, of course, is exactly what I’m worried about. I don’t think I’ve misjudged her, but I’ve been wrong about women before, and letting my immediate attraction to her get in the way of my business sense would not be a proud moment. But behind closed doors…
Behind closed doors, I can admit to myself that she’s exactly the type of woman that I’ve been searching for. The kind of woman I went off on vacation to try and find, and the kind that until today, had been nowhere to be found.
A big part of me wonders what might have happened if I had met Mariah outside the office. Say, while at dinner one night in the city…
I’d be wearing a nice suit, as usual, sipping a red wine at an outdoor table, enjoying the warm night air and watching the city pass me by…
There are lots of beautiful people out and about tonight – in my fantasy - but none quite so eye-catching as the young blonde woman in the white dress with gold trimmings. At first, she pays me no attention. And why should she? She’s clearly waiting for someone else.
Leaning against the railing that surrounds the front patio of the restaurant, she checks her phone every few minutes and scrutinizes the faces of the men walking by. Plenty of them slow down to look back at her, but none of them is the one she’s waiting for. She stands there long enough that I finish my first glass of wine at a leisurely pace.
The waiter comes by my table to offer a fresh glass, and on impulse, I tell him to bring me two glasses instead of just one. Once he does that, I catch the woman’s eye the next time she looks around.
“Whoever left you standing here by yourself is going to be miserable when they figure out what they’re missing.”
“What?” She turns fully towards me, leaning over the rail.
“You heard me.” I say, proffering the second glass. “Why don’t you come sit down, share a drink with me instead?”
She flushes a bit, looks up and down the street one more time, and then says, “You know what? Sure.”
She sits with me. We drink, we talk, we hit it off… and before too long, she says, “I need to go freshen up.” Standing, she leans down to my ear and adds, “Why don’t you join me in a few minutes?”
I down the rest of my wine in an undignified gulp, and stare at my watch for a grand total of about thirty-seven seconds before I head towards the restrooms myself. She’s waiting for me in the dimly lit hallway, and wraps her arms around me before kissing me deeply. I kiss her back unhesitatingly, and she wraps her arms around my neck and shoulders. I lift her up by her thighs, and she wraps her legs around my waist too.
Pushing through the door into the women’s room, she releases her hold, dropping to her knees and backing me against the door to ho
ld it closed before undoing my belt. I’m already getting hard before she wraps her hand around me and presses her lips against my head… I intertwine my hands in her hair as she begins to suck, taking me deep right away. She releases control and lets me move her head, looking up at me through her hair as she takes my cock.
I feel myself getting close already, and pull her up from the floor. I kneel down in front of her, reaching up under her dress and pulling down her panties, which are already soaked in her juices. She holds her dress above her waist as I press my face between her legs, kissing and caressing my way up her thighs.
She gasps as my tongue reaches her slit, flicking ever so gently, teasing, and my hands grip her hips.
An “Oh, fuck…” escapes her lips, and it only encourages me.
She tastes like sweet butter, and I press my face deep into her pussy, breathing in her scent and lapping up her juices. My tongue flicks against her clit, and I suck the nub in between my lips, letting my teeth graze it. Her legs buckle - but I steady her, climbing back to my feet.
She leans forward, bracing herself on the sink, as I stand behind her, spread her legs, and push inside her. “Yes. Take me. Please, please…yes.”
I measure my thrusts, wanting this to last. She feels amazing wrapped around me… soft and tight and smooth. I wrap my hand around her throat, pressing just slightly, and we both stare into the mirror, watching ourselves fuck. Her mouth opens and closes with each thrust, low, steady moans escaping each time I press fully inside her. Cupping her breasts in my hands, I feel myself reaching the edge of orgasm along with her -
Beeeoooop. The buzz of my office intercom rips me out of the fantasy, and my moan is nowhere near as sexy as Mariah’s had been within it. I bite off a “Fuck,” take a deep breath, and answer the phone.
“Yes?”
“Sorry to disturb you, sir, but a woman named Shelly Powers is here to see you? She doesn’t have an appointment,” and then more quietly, “and she’s quite offended that I even asked.”
I recognize the voice of the new front office assistant…who’s never met my Aunt Shelly before.
I can’t help but laugh. Leave it to my Great-Aunt Shelly to ruin my dreams.
Sighing, I press the intercom button again. “Go ahead and send her back. She’s right, she doesn’t need an appointment.”
Chapter 16
Wesley
“Wesley, dear, it’s so good to see you!” My great-aunt Shelly bursts through my door in her usual array of violently-bright clothing, with a wide smile on her face. For a woman in her early eighties, she’s still surprisingly energetic.
Shelly is the one member of my extended family that I’ve ever really been close to. Ever since I was a kid, she’s been around, hovering on the outskirts of the fancy family upbringing I was accustomed to. Everyone else was a businessman, a CEO, an entrepreneur… but Shelly was always just herself.
No one is quite sure how she ended up the way she is. Rumor has it that she left the state for about a decade after she dropped out of an unnamed Ivy League school and gallivanted all around the country doing God-knows-what - but then again, it’s totally possible she just lived quietly. Either way, she popped up in the family’s orbit not long after I was born, and never left again.
“What’re you doing here, Auntie?” I still call her that, even after all these years. Anything else would just sound strange. “I told you I was going to be on vacation all week - how did you know I was back?”
“I know lots of things, honey. Don’t need your receptionist to tell me any of them, either.” Shelly perches on the edge of my desk, her rainbow poncho (which she proudly sewed and dyed herself), pooling around her. “Besides, it’s Monday, and the only way to beat the Monday blues…”
“…is to have lunch in twos.” I finish the old, silly limerick that she and I have been trading back and forth for years, with a smile.
Back when I was a sullen teenager and didn’t have any friends at school, I’d sneak off campus and meet Shelly at the diner around the corner. I think that’s where the saying started, as her way of trying to cheer me up on one particularly messy Monday, during which I was fretting about failing an exam or being turned down for a date, or something. There were a lot of those kind of Mondays though, so who knows.
“I’d love to, but honestly I really am swamped today,” I tell her. “Apparently I can’t leave the office for more than a few hours, let alone a week, without someone losing their mind and pulling some ridiculous stunt - ”
“- You mean like hiring that new coffee girl as a Junior Realtor?” Aunt Shelly’s quirky smile grows.
“Seriously, how do you know all these things? Maybe I should just go on vacation after all and leave you in charge.”
“I know because I ran into her in the hallway, and your energy was all over her… and now I come in here, and her energy is all over you too.”
Shelly has always been what my dad derisively referred to as “hippie-dippy”, and this kind of talk is nothing new from her. The way she sees it, life is all about connection and energy and the bonds we make with one another - ironic, considering what a black sheep she is to the rest of my idiot family.
“Energy, huh?” I push back in my chair and raise an eyebrow.
“Don’t you mock me, Wesley. I felt it as soon as I saw her, and then again as soon as I walked into this room. You two have something brewing between you.”
“She’s only been here for two days! Besides, even if I did ‘have a thing’ for her, there wouldn’t be anything to do about it. I’m her boss, she’s my employee. And she’s so much younger than me. I couldn’t - ”
“Oh yes you could. Wesley, you always let yourself get too caught up in the rules of the business world. You think everything has to be neat and by the numbers for you. Just because she’s younger than you doesn’t mean there can’t be anything there. And consent trumps a business arrangement any day. She’s of age, she’s mature and smart - and you’re already falling for her, aren’t you? You can tell me. I’m not your father.”
I let out a long breath, feeling somewhere between frustrated and bemused. She’s not wrong… and I did see something in Mariah’s eyes when she looked at me in the lobby. Right?
Truth is, I have no idea, so I decide now’s the time to change the subject. “Speaking of Dad, why weren’t you at the country house for dinner the week before my vacation? We missed you.”
Shelly snorts a laugh.
“Okay, I missed you. How’s that?”
“More like the truth.” We both know my parents, especially my father, haven’t got any use for someone as flamboyant and esoteric as Shelly. She pops in and out as she pleases, but that’s almost entirely due to the fact that my father just can’t be bothered trying to swat her away anymore.
“I missed your father’s stuffy dinner because I was in the hills with a farmer friend of mine. He’s starting a few new plots, and I told him I’d help him out in exchange for a share of the bounty of one in particular…” She mimes puffing on a joint, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Really?”
“It helps with my arthritis.” She winks. “Besides, I bet I didn’t miss anything unusual.”
“Nope, just the same old stuff. Dad wondering why I’m not just bringing him piles of money in a wheelbarrow, and Mom sitting there cutting her food into tiny pieces and lamenting her lack of grandchildren.”
“Those two really do have a serious lack of imagination, don’t they? If I had that house to myself I’d never run out of things to do and enjoy.”
“And you’d turn the backyard into a hemp field.”
“Probably. Why not? It’s a lucrative business.”
Mentioning it again, all those old frustrations start welling up in my head. “I’m just sick of it, you know? I’m never going to be good enough for them. I took my vacation just to get away from the whole thing, and it didn’t help one bit.”
Shelly hops off the desk and peers out my window. “
Listen, Wesley, your father’s been a blowhard businessman for the last 50 years. It’s probably too late for him to change that, mostly because he doesn't want to. But you…”
“What about me? I’m just like him.”
Shelly turns towards me, and her expression is suddenly serious. “Don’t you talk like that. You’re not like him. Want to know the first clue as to why? It’s because you have enough self-awareness to be concerned about it. What you’re doing, and how you’re doing it? It’s admirable. And it makes you happy. You didn’t promote the new woman because she’s hot - even though she is, and I’d kill for that figure – you promoted her because you saw a spark that reminded you of yourself. I saw it too.”
I fiddle with a pen, not sure what to say.
“No need to thank me. That’s your Monday pick-me-up, free of charge.” She winks, and the smile comes back to her face. “All right, if you really do need to catch up on work, I’ll leave you to it. But next week, no excuses. You owe me a lunch. Somewhere fancy.”
“You got it, Auntie.” With that, she’s out the door…and I’m left contemplating just how right she is about all of this. My first instinct is to try and reject what she said, but I can’t, really. She’s not wrong, and she knows it as well as I do.
I’m probably so dumb for falling for this new girl. But I can’t seem to help it. And my wise old Aunt Shelly is encouraging me to go for it – so, it looks like that’s exactly what I’m going to have to do.
Chapter 17
Mariah
The office is small and cramped, but I don’t care. It’s mine. A few hours of cleaning and reorganizing have made it look halfway decent - not to mention the activity has helped me not lose my mind and run screaming through the hallways with excitement. Being professional is what got me this job to begin with, it’s what got me promoted, and it’s what’s going to keep me going around here until I make that million-dollar sale.
