Chapter 3
Chapter Three
After an early morning meeting, Jack headed for his office. He didn’t want to admit to himself how much more eager he was to get to his desk than just—Jack checked his watch—twenty-six hours ago. As he walked down the hall, he heard a soft voice singing in his outer office. A smile curved his lips. Tatiana.
“I was just coming to tell her she’s causing a disruption,” Mercedes hissed from the intersecting hallway.
“You have extraordinary hearing to have picked that up three hallways from her and past the copiers,” Jack noted.
“I was delivering a file on this side.” Mercedes covered for herself.
“Leave her alone, Mercedes. After one day, I can tell she’s the best admin I’ve had in years. I will consider any future unpleasantness as a personal attack. Perhaps it’s best to have someone else transport files to these hallways.” Jack hoped his tone conveyed his opinion that she’d already stepped way over the line.
Mercedes opened her mouth then snapped it shut. She spun on one stiletto and headed back down the hallway. Jack noted her head bobbing from side to side and knew she was bitching under her breath. Sloughing off her negativity, he thanked his lucky stars he’d picked up on her personality when she’d interviewed for Tatiana’s job. He headed into his office.
“Was she still out there?” Tatiana asked. She stood next to her desk, twisting her hands together nervously.
“She’s been there for a while?” Jack asked.
“Or has made a number of trips by the office. I keep hearing her voice as she makes comments or speaks to others.”
“That stops now. I’m glad to see you didn’t run away.” He changed the subject.
“Of course not. Um…” Tatiana looked down at the industrial carpet before meeting his eyes. “Thank you for the groceries and the meal. I’ll pay you back when I get paid.”
“You will not. Consider it a preventative measure to keep you from fainting under the extreme workload. What are you working on now?”
“There were a few responses back about budget items. I’ve organized those and now I’m working on a stack of what seems to be random requests for your attention to different projects.”
“You didn’t indicate I would work with those, did you?”
“No, Sir. They conflict with the schedule we organized yesterday. I created a blanket, I’m afraid I can’t assist in this endeavor, response. It’s in your email for your approval and then I’ll send it out,” Tatiana informed him.
“Perfect. I’ll review it. Before we send each rejection, run the project by me. Sometimes, something urgent does slip in that I need to contribute to,” Jack told her.
He looked at her face. She had more color today. He wondered how bad her situation was. “Would you order some coffee from the coffee shop for us? Whatever froufrou concoction you want as well as a large Americano for me. I have an account there and will pay for both. Do you mind running over there to pick it up?”
“I’d be glad to go get it. Could you tell me where it is?” Tatiana asked.
“I can do better than that.” Jack pulled a new smart phone from his pocket and handed it to her. “Here. I stopped and got an extra phone on my account last night. It costs me nothing and you need a phone. Now, I can message you information from meetings. I’ve listed my phone number inside. Your new number is on a sticky note in the box.”
“Captain Murphy, this is too much.” She looked at the phone and shook her head in total bewilderment.
“You can return it when you get your own. Think of it as a loaner like your computer.”
Her expression changed. His statement seemed to take the weirdness out of the gift. Jack didn’t ever plan to get that phone back. The world had become so used to being connected, he couldn’t imagine what it was like to be cut off without one. There weren’t any payphones readily available anymore. And landlines? Forget it.
He switched the subject back to the requests for his participation. “Come in at ten and let’s review those projects and your email.”
“Perfect. I’ll be ready.”
Jack walked into his office and closed the door. He had a phone call to make to HR that Tatiana didn’t need to hear. When he finished, the HR director was completely appalled and had asked him to detail both encounters in writing. Jack quickly sent a letter with the bullet points.
At five to ten, he stood and opened the door. With a smile at Tatiana when she looked up, Jack said, “I’m ready when you are.”
Tatiana immediately gathered two stacks of files and his coffee from the shop. As she walked toward him, she handed him the cup and said, “I hope this isn’t too cold. I didn’t want to interrupt you. We could heat it in the microwave.”
“It’s fine. Thank you.”
“I sent that response email to your mailbox for your approval.”
They reviewed the files. The one in Tatiana’s ‘yes’ stack matched with his assessment. The others were definitely not anything he needed to be involved in. One more positive mark in Tatiana’s favor.
“Let me read the email you created.” He pulled it up on his computer and read carefully.
“Well done. You balanced ‘don’t bother me’ with professional courtesy. Send these out to the others and schedule me into the one about base security.”
“Got it, Captain.”
“Are you sure you haven’t worked as an admin for the military in the past?” Jack checked.
“Not me. My mom worked for the admiral in Washington, DC, for most of her career. She never talked about anything classified, of course, but I got an insider view of all the politics and protocols. I’m enjoying this. It’s a challenge and extremely interesting.”
“I’m glad. You’ve definitely settled in quickly,” Jack told her before asking, “Can I ask you to look through these and see if there’s anything that jumps out at you as out of the ordinary?”
“Of course. Do I need any background information?” Tatiana asked.
“I’d prefer you read them cold.” Jack stood and lifted the heavy stack of files from their secure place behind his desk. When she reached to take them from him, he shook his head.
“Let me, little girl.”
“Why do you call me that?” she blurted.
“I’ve looked for my own Little for a very long time. I always imagined her to be just like you. If the term makes you uncomfortable, I’ll never use it again.”
“Can you tell?” she whispered.
“That you’re Little?” he asked. When she nodded, he continued, “No one else would know except for a Daddy Dom. There’s a hint of vulnerability to your reactions that’s more than just a result of a hard patch in life.”
“You’re a Daddy?” she asked.
“For as long as I can remember. I didn’t understand myself until I ended up in a BDSM dungeon when I was in my early twenties. I gravitated to one section of the floor. After asking a ton of questions and doing some research, I found my truth.”
“That’s neat. We probably shouldn’t discuss this here, right?”
“Daddies are drawn to a military lifestyle, Tatiana. You’ll find a lot of us. But, as you say, it’s best to discuss personal matters outside the office,” he agreed.
Tatiana nodded and realized he still held the folders. “Oh, gracious. I’m picking your mind and you’re holding twenty pounds of folders.”
She quickly opened the door between their offices and led the way to her desk. When he dropped the files on her desk with a loud thump, she laughed. “I almost had half of it cleared off.”
“You’re doing an amazing job, Tatiana. I’m very thankful I found you. Another few months without a schedule and I’d have stacks towering over me. An avalanche was becoming a true hazard,” he joked.
Her giggle went straight to his heart.