Chapter Eleven
I recognized that look, and I didn’t appreciate it.
“Put your damn tongue back in your mouth.”
“I can’t help it, Perry. He’s bee-u-tiful.”
“You can too help it, and he’s my boss. Temporarily.” I dug my nails into his arm. “So stop gawking,” I hissed.
“I can’t help how my body reacts when I see something sexy. I can only control what I do about it. I know that better than anyone.”
“Exactly. So stop fucking gawking.”
Stu and I were sitting on a picnic bench near FiTech’s main entrance. I hadn’t expected Stephen to come walking out shortly after me. He eyed us over, then headed towards the parking lot, Stu’s plate-sized pupils following him the entire time.
“I can’t believe that’s the guy you told me about. He’s younger than I imagined.”
I waved my hand in front of his face. “Kenny, remember? And I don’t have much time, remember? That’s why you had to come here for my break instead of waiting until I could meet you somewhere else. You just couldn’t wait another second to tell me something important, but apparently, I’m still waiting.”
“Sorry, you’re right. I just got a little distracted.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Is he as awesome as he is delicious? I bet he’s awesome.”
“Maybe I’d be able to answer that better if his cockiness didn’t get in the way.”
“What’s wrong with cockiness? How can anything with the word ‘cock’ in it be a bad thing?” He waggled his eyebrows. “I bet you’d like some of his cock iness to get in your way.”
“Jesus, will you stop already. And what are you—twelve?”
I glanced around the lot but didn’t see Stephen anywhere. I was hoping to see him drive out because I was really curious what kind of car he had. If it was some pretentious thing, I could prove my point better.
“Now come on, Stu. I have to go soon. What’s the big news?”
He took my hands in his and gave me a huge smile. “You know how much I love Kenny and want us to work out.”
“Are you actually telling me this with the same mouth still covered in drool?”
“Oh please. Look me in the eye and tell me that you no longer find other men attractive just because you’re trying to be all devoted to Dre.”
“You know I do, but I’m not so obvious about it.”
“Somebody’s jealous,” he sang.
“God, I am not. It’s just uncomfortable, okay? I have to see this man five days a week now. Is it too much to ask for you not to mentally undress him?”
“Speaking of, have you seen him naked yet? Hmm… maybe an employee shower room that you just happened to stumble into while he was getting all soapy?”
I stared him down through slits. I was going to fucking knock his ass off this table soon. “Kenny?” I said, tapping my invisible watch.
“Right. Well, I’ve decided that… I’m going to ask him to move in with me!”
“What? What!” My eyes widened. “Really? Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. I’m ready, and I want to show him how serious I am.”
I squashed him into a giant hug. “Ohmigod! That’s amazing news! I’m so happy for you, Stu. When?”
“This weekend. I’m making a nice dinner and planning to romance the shit out of him.”
“Sounds perfect.” My lips smacked against his cheek loudly. “When are we gonna celebrate?”
“He has to say yes first.”
“He will. You two are meant to be.” I gave him one last hug before hopping off the table. “I really have to get back to work now.”
“Okay, sweetie. Say hi to—” I narrowed my eyes again, cutting him off. “I mean, love you,” he said.
“Love you too.” I blew him a kiss and ran to the door.
I half ran/half jogged the rest of the way, knowing I was a few minutes late. My department may have been lenient before, but rules seemed to be shifting now that Stephen was in charge. At least he was still gone for lunch, or so I’d assumed since I hadn’t seen him go back inside.
I darted to my station and was almost there when I heard, “Perry, can you come in here, please.”
Shit. I looked behind me to see Stephen’s head sticking out of the office. What the hell? I turned around and went back, stepping into the glass box.
“I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again,” I said immediately.
“What are you talking about? ”
“I’m late from my break. Um, isn’t that why you called me in here?”
“No, that’s not the reason.”
Damn, I had to stop volunteering information. “How’d you get back here before me? I saw you leave.”
“I just had to grab something. I didn’t leave.”
The way those fucking blue eyes were looking at me… argh. Okay, so obviously I didn’t see him go back into the building, and neither did Stu. I would have heard about it to the point of retching otherwise.
“Then why do you want to see me?”
He leaned against his desk and my heart went a little wonky. “I got a report back from our Northshore client. You talked them through a processing issue on Monday, and they were very pleased with the way you handled yourself. They’re one of our tougher customers to impress, so I just wanted to pass that information along. Nice job, Perry.”
“Oh, great. Thank you.” That was the last thing I was expecting, but I’d take it.
“You’re welcome.” He smiled… argh. “You look recovered from yesterday.”
“Yep. A good night’s sleep does wonders.”
“And so does a good break.” I knitted my eyebrows together. Where was he going with this? “Was that your brother out there with you?”
“Nope.”
He stood there, looking at me as if waiting for me to elaborate. I didn’t.
“I’ll let you get back to work now, Perry.”
“Okay, Mr. Davidson.” I turned towards the door.
“Stephen,” he corrected.
Right.
RE: Non-employees on Company Property
Please take a moment to revisit FiTech’s policy regarding visitors inside the workplace and outside on company grounds. No visitors are allowed unless authorized by a department manager. If request is granted, a temporary identification badge will be assigned at the front desk. All visitors must then keep their badge visible during their entire stay. Such security measures are in place to ensure the safety of the employees. Failure to uphold said policy can result in disciplinary actions up to and including employment termination.
S. Davidson
Acting Head Manager of Client Operations
The e-mail was in my interoffice inbox first thing in the morning, and I couldn’t help wondering what the hell was going on now. The timing was too coincidental.
“Hey, Kate.” She turned towards me, sipping her coffee. “Just curious. Has your husband ever met you here for lunch?”
“Sure, why?”
“Did he have to get approved first and then assigned a badge?”
“Oh, you’re talking about that e-mail we just got?”
“Yeah.”
“I showed him around inside once, and he had to get one. I think that’s what they’re mainly concerned about. ”
“But it also mentions outside.”
She made a face. “And how exactly would they enforce that? People get picked up and dropped off all the time. And John’s had lunch with me many times outside on the picnic table. They’re really only worried about non-employees coming into the building.”
“Huh. No problem just hanging out on the picnic table, then? I could have a friend meet me for lunch there, and they wouldn’t need to go through the hassle?”
“Nope, no problem.” Her phone rang, and she turned her head. “Duty calls.”
No problem. Imagine that. I glanced back at Stephen, who was focused on his computer screen. Probably hard at work typing out another company policy.
It was Friday. I just had to make it through the day, and I’d be blissfully free from Stephen’s prying eyes for the whole weekend. I still loved my job, but I was going to love it a whole lot more when all the bosses were back in their respective places.
“We missed you last night,” Kate said. “Adam did a great impression of Mrs. Winnifred in payroll. Nailed it.”
I laughed. “I can imagine.” The majority of people here were great, but Mrs. Winnifred had a huge stick up her ass and seemed to hate everyone under forty. “I missed you guys too. Maybe next week.” I started the process of bringing up all my workstation applications. “Have fun? You don’t look too hungover.”
“It ended up being an early night. I think everyone was just tired from the freaky busy afternoon. ”
“Was Stephen there?” I didn’t look at her, trying to make it sound like an afterthought. Mainly I was just curious if he also intruded on personal nights out.
“Why, would you have come then?”
Her tone sounded smirky, and I rolled my eyes. “No, it would’ve given me more incentive to stay away.”
I brought up my e-mail, noting one from Adam that was flagged extremely important. More policy shit. What now?
I opened it and…. What the fuck is that?
I jerked back in my chair and screamed. A fucking creepy-ass clown with sharp teeth holding a demonic-looking monkey had flashed full screen, scaring the shit out of me. I was suddenly aware of everyone’s eyes on me. Just how loudly had I yelled? My heart was jackhammering my ribs, and I worked to steel my breath.
“What the hell, Adam?” I could hear him laughing from the row over.
I stood up and glared at him. “April fools,” he said, trying to look all sweet and innocent. “What? It’s just some harmless fun to get your morning going.”
Yeah, harmless. I almost pissed my pants.
“Is there a problem here?”
Great, Stephen was behind me. I’d probably get an earful now about the inappropriateness of sounding like a shrieking cow in the workplace. It wasn’t like I did it on purpose. Geez.
I swiveled around. “Sorry, Mr. Davidson. I didn’t mean to be so loud. Adam just—”
“Adam, can you come to my office, please?”
“Sure thing, boss.”
I gave Adam a sympathetic look for mentioning his name without thinking first, but he just grinned at me. I shook my head and got back to work.
An hour later my chat popped up .
Adam Zepecki: Hey, sorry to scare you like that before, but you gotta admit, it was pretty damn funny.
Perry Sommers: Not to me. I hate monkeys.
Adam Zepecki: How can anyone hate monkeys?
Perry Sommers: They scare the hell out of me.
Adam Zepecki: Even the cute ones?
Perry Sommers: Especially the cute ones.
Adam Zepecki: Good thing I didn’t send you an evil clown holding a cute monkey, then.
Perry Sommers: Did you get in trouble with Stephen?
Adam Zepecki: My last day is Thursday. Are you coming to my termination party?
I instantly bolted up and peered over my monitor. Adam was covering laughter with his hand. “Dammit,” I mouthed. He shrugged and I sat back down.
Adam Zepecki: April fools.
Perry Sommers: Not funny either.
Adam Zepecki: Everything’s fine with the boss. No worries.
I’d bet anything that Stephen’s eyes were on me. Yeah, sure. No worries at all.
I can’t wait any longer. What happened with you and Kenny? Tell me everything. Has he picked out new drapes yet?
I hoped he did. Those things Stu had hanging in his front windows were butt ugly. They were left over from the previous owners and went back to the Mod Squad days.
He said no. I’ll tell you more later.
I frowned down at the text. I’d been so sure he’d say yes. I could only imagine how heartbroken Stu felt at the moment.
“How was your weekend?”
I smiled at Adam, setting my phone aside. “It was good.”
“Then why do you look so sad?”
“I’m just really bummed for a friend of mine. He’s going through a rough patch in his relationship.”
“Well, come on. Let me cheer you up.” He tugged on my arm, trying to lift me. “You were here early today, so we have time to go down and get you a chocolate donut.”
“I already had a chocolate chip bagel this morning.”
“Come down with me anyway.”
“Okay.”
Stephen wasn’t even in yet, so we passed by the empty glass office and took the stairs to the cafeteria.
“What did you do on your days off?” Adam asked.
“I hung out with my roommate on Saturday, and Sunday I saw my little niece.”
“Is she hot?”
“You’d better be talking about my roommate. My niece is one.”
He grinned. “So, about that roommate….” He nudged my side. “Is she as hot as you?”
“Hotter.”
“Impossible.”
“Maybe I can bring her out with us sometime. You can see for yourself.”
You know, that idea didn’t sound half-bad. I bet they’d really hit it off. Christa had tamed her nights out since the pregnancy scare, but I was sure it was only a matter of time before she bounced right back. I just hoped she’d be more careful from now on. God, it felt strange being the responsible one.
“Does she have a boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend? Ah, no.” I shook my head. “Doesn’t believe in them. ”
“Awesome.”
We stepped into the food line and I grabbed a Sprite. He picked up a pear and tossed it in the air, catching it behind his back.
“I hope you’re going to buy that.”
“Of course. I love pears. You know, they’re probably the most underrated fruit.”
He chucked it up again, and I ducked so it didn’t hit my head. He caught it before it reached the ground “Stop that.” I laughed. “You’re going to get us kicked out of here.”
He held the pear in his palm. “Just look at this baby. Poor little guy. Everyone reaches for the berries medley or the peaches. Even the bananas get their day. But the pears always get pushed aside for something prettier or fuzzier or longer.”
He was such a frickin’ goof. I had no idea what he was babbling on about, but he’d definitely accomplished his goal. I was laughing too hard not to be cheered up.
We stopped in front of the cashier, and she looked up through her glasses. “Are you going to be eating that, Adam, or just playing today?”
“I can do both.” He took a large bite. “Mmm… chin-dripping delicious. I just love pears. Wanna bite my pear, Perry ?” He held it up to my mouth but I batted it away.
“Are you comparing me to a pear?”
“Only on the inside, baby.” He bit down and made a loud slurping noise.
I shook my head. Dork-ass. I paid for my soda, then turned around to notice Stephen standing within earshot, pouring a cup of coffee. By his expression, I could ascertain that he’d heard everything.
Lovely.
Perry Sommers: Seriously? Are you trying to give me nightmares tonight?
Adam Zepecki: I’m trying to help you get over your fears.
Perry Sommers: I wish I had some holy water to throw on it.
Adam Zepecki: What is wrong with you, woman? He’s adorable. A baby . We’re starting off small here.
Perry Sommers: Yeah, a freaking monkey baby.
I’d come back from break to find a picture of a baby monkey wearing a blue bonnet propped up against my monitor, compliments of Adam. I immediately placed it facedown.
Stephen passed behind me just as my chat window flashed with a new message.
Adam Zepecki: You need more help than I can give.
I quickly minimized it, but knowing his eagle eyes, I was sure he saw. But since I wasn’t technically doing anything wrong, I’d probably just implied it by hiding the evidence.
Stephen picked up the picture. “What’s this?”
“It’s—” Another pop-up.
Adam Zepecki: Maybe your parents locked you in a monkey enclosure when you were a child. You should check into that.
Dammit, Adam. That time I completely exited out, which is what I should’ve done in the first place.
“It’s nothing,” I told Stephen. “Just an inside joke.”
He set the horrid thing down without commenting and went back to his office. I expected at least Adam would be summoned, but it was soon forgotten. The nonstop ringing phones seemed to take precedence .
“FiTech, this is Perry speaking.”
“Yeah, my card is stuck at the 7-Eleven over on State. I need it back.”
Great, another one . “I’m sorry, sir, but you need to contact your financial institution.”
“The lady here said to call you.”
“Then she has the incorrect information. We don’t handle—”
“Listen, bitch. Either you give me back my card or—”
I pressed Hold and glanced over at Kate, who was also on the phone. I’d never been sweared at or threatened yet, so I didn’t know if it was acceptable to just hang up. I waved my hand, but she just stuck up a finger telling me to hold on.
The button light went out. I guess it didn’t matter anyway because he was gone and another call was coming in.
“FiTech, this is Perry.”
“If you cut me off again, bitch, I swear I’ll—”
Fuck. I hung up. Kate was still involved with something, so I walked over to Adam. I waited while he finished typing up something. He looked over at me. “What’s up?”
“This guy wants me to give him back his card and he’s being an asshole. Is it okay to hang up on him? Because I kinda already did.”
“Yeah, you don’t need to take that shit. If he calls again, transfer it to me.”
“Okay, thanks.” I went back to my ringing phone.
“FiTech, this is Perry.”
“You fucking cunt—”
Holy shit. I immediately transferred it, then dashed back to Adam to see what he’d say.
“FiTech, Adam—”
I could hear the guy screaming through the line, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. Frickin’ psycho.
“I’d be more than happy to get that card back and shoved up your ass. Just give me your exact location, and I’ll be there in—”
“Adam!” I covered my mouth with my hand, first shocked and then amused as hell. I couldn’t believe he was speaking that way to a customer.
“Imagine that,” Adam said. “He hung up on me. How rude.”
I wasn’t doing too well keeping my laughter contained. “But he was a customer!”
“No, he wasn’t one of our customers. Anytime you get something like that again, transfer it right away so I can give them the full FiTech experience.”
“Thanks, Adam.” My phone was going off, and I actually hoped it was the asshat again. I went back to my station with a huge grin.
“FiTech, this is Perry.”
“Perry, please come into my office.”
I turned around to see Stephen homing in. I sighed. “Coming, Mr. Davidson.”
I went into the room, ignoring the way his forearms rested against the desk. His sleeves were rolled up and even that was too much. There should be a skin exposure policy for bosses. Nothing skimpier than a snowsuit allowed.
“Close the door, please.”
I gritted my teeth and shut the door. It annoyed me to no end how flustered I became around him. He was just a mere mortal who only happened to look like a god. He was no different than any other man I came across on a daily basis. Unbunch your freaking panties, Perry .
“Is there anything going on that I should know about?” he asked once I sat down.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning whatever commotion just occurred that caused you to leave your station twice.”
“Some jerk who wanted his card back was calling me names. I transferred him to Adam. That was the correct thing to do, right?”
“Yes, but if you’re being harassed, you should also come to me. I’ll take care of it. No operator should be subjected to that.”
“Thanks, but Adam handled it just fine.”
He looked at me so long, I grew uncomfortable. And hot. And…. I crossed my legs. He was the harasser here. No woman should feel so highly flustered in the presence of her boss.
“Can I ask you a personal question, Perry?”
“Isn’t there something in a policy somewhere about asking your subordinates personal questions?”
“Not when it affects the environment of my staff.”
I didn’t respond. Obviously asking my permission was just a useless nicety. He was going to ask the damn question anyway, so why bother? I bit the sides of my cheeks to keep from telling him exactly that in a not-so-professional manner.
“You have a boyfriend, correct?”
My eyes narrowed a bit. “Yeah.”
“So is there any reason why you insist on flirting endlessly with Adam?”
“Flirting…?” I gripped the chair arms. I wanted so badly to be back in the bar before I knew who he was. To tell him to go fuck himself without worrying about the repercussions.
“Yes, flirting. Every single day. Chatting, laughing, inside jokes . I’ll set aside the possible inappropriateness of said flirting in a work setting for a moment to say that I can understand Adam’s actions. He’s unattached. However, you are not.”
If anything was inappropriate, it was this conversation. “Adam and I are just friends. He’s like that with everyone.” And it’s none of your fucking business anyway.
“Perhaps.” He crossed his hands and I was drawn back to his forearms. Dammit . “But that doesn’t explain why you’re like that right back. ”
From the way his eyebrows raised slightly, the curve of his mouth, he was basically telling me that I wasn’t acting like a woman with a boyfriend without stating those exact words outright. Well, screw him.
“I’m sure you understand how busy it is right now and that work should come first, you know, being the boss and all. I really should get back to my station.”
“Of course.”
I left the room calmly, but I’d stormed out in my head. Slammed the door so hard it shattered all the walls. My annoyance level had jacked up something fierce.
Only now I couldn’t decide if I was more annoyed with him or myself.