A steady beat of rain hits the large glass windows and my gaze strays away from my cubicle. The dark sky heralds the coming cold snowy days of Michigan's winter. It's only the end of September. We won't have any proper snow until December or later, but the flurries can appear at any point from here on out. By Halloween we'll be knee deep in dead leaves, freezing temperatures, and a rainy winter mix.Once the beautiful part of fall ends and the dredges of winter begin, I always curse my misfortune of living in Michigan. Every year at this time, my dream of moving to Florida is revisited. Today as I watch the rain lazily slide down the windows after hitting with such force the thought of my beach escape doesn't come.I would leave too much—Vincent, this job, and the future that's available to us. Florida no longer holds the appeal she has for the most of my life the last ten years. A Michigan winter didn't seem so depressive when I'll have Vincent by my side as we power to through it
"Okay." I catch a glimpse outside to see the rain growing steadier. I would never expect Ashley to do anything to hurt me, but I made a promise to Vincent I wouldn't leave the building unless I had him by my side or Davis. At least until he's able to hire me a bodyguard. If I expect him to keep his promises, I suppose I need to keep mine. But I don't know how I could explain that to Ashley, or if I even want to expend the energy.The time in my life when I share everything with this woman has ended. Now we've come out on the other side, but our friendship will never be the same if we ever have one again. I'm not ready for that now, but the thought of never speaking to her again also hurts."Kens," Ashley says, letting her body fall to the closest chair. "I don't even know how to say I'm sorry. I did a horrible thing to you, and the worst part was that I pretended to be your friend. We were friends. I was just a crappy one. I know you will never forgive me because I would never forg
I drum my nails on the desk again. The steady click clack keeps me from going insane, or maybe it ushers me along. Either way analyzing marketing reports has to be one of the most boring jobs on the planet. Why hasn't someone invented a computer to do this for humans yet?The numbers run together as my tedious calculations come from muscle memory. I'll be calculating these statistics in my dreams soon. The only thing that keeps me going through the boring days is daydreaming about what the man upstairs is doing. Hopefully not yelling at Amy, his assistant. Although I wouldn't put it past him. She can tolerate Vincent's work demands a hundred times better than I ever did as his assistant.Not being able to see him whenever I want during the day is a drag, though. I'd gotten used to working with him, and now that I find him slightly less annoying, I actually liked a few of the perks of being his assistant. Like getting to stare at him all day. Amy is married and has a new baby with h
She laughs and I follow the action. It's nice to talk to another employee even if we're bonding over jerky Levi. I haven't had much time to get to know the other workers on this floor since we're only together once a week in meetings. I'm still a lowly grunt worker and that's where I'll stay until I can prove myself. But that doesn't mean I can't make friends along the way.I feel better learning Levi is bitchy to everyone, and it isn't something he singled me out for alone. There is nothing special about me and that makes me the happiest I've been this morning."Last one," Melissa says, picking up her giant stack of papers once the final piece lands on top. "I'm off to empty a few highlighters on this beast.""Good luck," I say as I grab another ream of paper from the shelf beside the printer and load it in the bottom so it doesn't run out.Melissa stops at the edge of the printer area and turns back to me. "You never come to lunch with us. You should.""Um…" I look to the f
An entire week later, I wait until ten minutes after five before closing my laptop for the end of the work week. Most of the floor is empty since Friday is the one evening you can guarantee everyone wants to get home on time. Levi's is the only other cubical with movement in it and I consider stopping to talk to him as he works, but dealing with our issues would have to wait.He'd obviously been even more angered by Vincent's email, but there is no longer time in my life to worry what other people think of me. Between Vincent's exes, my screwed-up relationships, and the life I'm growing, I don't have any extra time or patience to find worry for Levi. He'll come around or he won't, but right now the ball is in his court.The emotional week has worn me out and I swipe my keycard against Vincent's special access panel in the elevator and then let my arm drop heavily. The doors open two floors higher and a magnificent man in a suit with his jacket unbuttoned and his tie loosened steps
"You were planning to feed me the entire plate this way?" I thought we'd do first bites and then I'd be on my own. The complete experience happening in this fashion brings an unfamiliar edge to the meal and Vincent's hand slips up my thigh higher."Well not at this rate. I'm going to need a fuck break after the first course."My eyes flutter, but I don't open them. "How about we finish this course here and then you feed me desserts in bed?""Deal. Now open." He removes his hand, making noise against my plate. When he replaces his hand on my leg, it rest on the apex of my legs. His thumb falls to the side, but I clamp them closed.The fork finds my lips and a cool flavor of the chicken salad sandwich coats my palate. I moan immediately before I even start chewing. It's such a simple dish, but the flavors are over a perfect blend of spice with the chicken."This is the one," I say once I've swallowed and open my eyes.Vincent sits across from me with a scowl. "You peeked. Now
"I'm sorry. I'll be quick," I apologize as I hit the up button on the elevator with our special key card.Vincent leans on the side of the railing, looking at me with a smug smirk as I do my best to ignore him by pretending to pull out wrinkles on my dress. He had lied slightly when he said the racks of clothing contained items from my closet in my old apartment the day I watched movers deliver them off the walking closet in his penthouse. It also had a couple of additions he had picked out without my knowledge in typical Vincent fashion.I would've been upset except they were nice additions. I hate to admit it, but Vincent has good taste in clothing. The dress I wear tonight is long and hits right at my knee. Blue silk material shimmers in the light and the off-shoulder straps somehow magically give my boobs an amazing amount of cleavage. The kind I wanted when I spent a fortune on push-up bras but never achieved. The nude heels I wear with it make my legs look especially long.
Tiffany reaches back into the sock drawer, grabs of pair of perfectly folded socks, and then throws them at Vincent's head in anger. He bats them away before they hit him and she screams in frustration.Without making eye contact he releases my arm from his grip. "Go hit the button.""No! It's Ronald. He's been keeping me up to date on what you're doing." Tiffany sinks in at her admission. Her shoulders hunch forward, but Vincent flinches as if she struck him physically."Why?""We've been sleeping together the last two years, and you never realized. Mr. Has-control-of-all-his-employees didn't know it was happening right underneath your nose," Tiffany sneers.I can't believe she's talking about Ronald. He'd always been friendly to me in the past. As the main security team leader of the building, he always checked in visitors. He'd been the one to refuse Ashley entrance when she didn't have an actual appointment. Trying to imagine the man who always had a friendly smile on his