Chapter Fourteen
Janene
I wasn’t sure why I told Harlyn that I couldn’t have an orgasm. I never told anyone that, because it wasn’t true. I could, I just chose not to allow it to happen by anyone else’s hand so to speak. I had been with plenty of women over the years and anytime one of them tried to reciprocate the pleasure I had bestowed upon them, I always refused. For the most part there was no argument. Every once in a while, though, I would get with someone who was offended by my refusal to let them touch me. Once I was chewed out and called a stone butch but I’d been called much worse throughout my years of service so it was easy enough to ignore.
But now, I was caught trying to substantiate my lie. Two weeks had passed since Harlyn and I had sex in my office. Whenever she was around, I just couldn’t get enough of her. It was like I was a teenager again.
“You shouldn’t tease me like this,” I said as she lay naked in my bed.
“How am I teasing you?” She leaned in closer pressing herself against my side.
“You know very well that I have to get out of bed and get ready for work.”
“I’m not stopping you,” she said.
Her coarse pubic hair rubbed against the side of my leg. I could not help the moan that escaped my throat. I flipped her onto her back and pressed my thigh into her. She gasped and threw her head back. Her nipples perked up. I took one into my mouth and then the other. Slowly teasing her nipples into hard pebbles. Just as swiftly I got out of bed and walked to the shower.
“Hey!” she called after me. “That wasn’t very nice.”
I closed the door behind me and quickly rubbed at my engorged clit to release the tension that had been building there since the night before. It didn’t take long for me to get some relief. As I leaned my head against the door trying to recover from the explosion that had taken place between my legs, Harlyn knocked on the door.
“I don’t hear the water, does that mean you’re staying home?”
I reached over and turned the shower on. I had learned not to turn the shower on until after I had taken care of myself because one morning Harlyn had decided to join me in the shower and I was nearly caught with my hand between my legs.
We had agreed not to tell anyone about our extracurricular activities, for obvious reasons, so on days when Harlyn found an excuse to stay over, we always made sure to show up to the office with plenty of time between our arrivals. I was usually in my office by seven and everyone else trickled in around eight. On this particular morning, I had a hard time removing myself from Harlyn’s warm body so by the time we showered, we were both going to arrive at eight.
I tried to tell myself over and over again that no one would know. We drove separate vehicles and parked in different parts of the parking lot. But my heart hammered when Madeline met me at the elevator and said she needed to meet with me and Harlyn before anything else was done for the day.
“Yeah, of course, boss, is everything okay?”
Madeline nodded but she didn’t say anything else. I followed her toward her office. The fact that she hadn’t even allowed me to put my things away made me think that everything was not okay.
“Do you know if Harlyn is in yet?” I asked, knowing she wasn’t because I’d left my apartment first.
“No, I don’t think so, but I wanted to talk to you first. I told Misty to have her come see me as soon as she arrives.”
Madeline pointed at the chair across from her desk and I took the seat. I tried to think of anything of importance in my office that I would need to pack up and take with me if I was getting canned. I knew Madeline had every right to ask me to leave if she knew I was sleeping with Harlyn but I still hoped for some leniency. It wasn’t like she didn’t know about my “reputation,” as Harlyn had put it, but that didn’t mean she’d be okay with this particular situation. Especially when I had brought Harlyn to the company. That made me look even more like a vulture.
“You have me worried. What’s going on?”
“I got a call yesterday. We are in the running for the new hospital. They are taking pitches from seven companies total and we made the cut.”
A wave of relief washed over me but only for a moment because there was a great deal of concern in Madeline’s features. Maybe this was a good news-bad news situation. Good news, we have a chance at the hospital, bad news, you’re fired.
“This is great, why do you look upset?”
“I didn’t realize that this hospital is a subsidiary of Mount Sinai in New York. I thought they were local like all the other hospitals around here.”
“Okay. I’m still not following.”
“If we want to present a proposal, we have to go to their headquarters, in New York.”
“You fly all the time, what’s the big deal?”
“They need us to be there a week from this coming Monday, no if, ands, or buts no option to reschedule. One shot, take it or leave it. I had some things come up, personal things, so I can’t go.”
“What personal things? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Julia?”
“Julia is fine. Since Mom’s passing, Matty and I have been very careful about getting ourselves checked out. His doctor came across something suspicious in a scan a little over a month ago. They were watching it but the most recent scan has the doctor taking extra precautions. He’s getting a biopsy done that day. I can’t not be there. He’s all I have left, Janene.”
“Absolutely. I would fault you for not going.”
Madeline and Matty had lost their mother to brain cancer just over a year before. It had taken a toll on both of them and she was just starting to get back to her old self. If anything happened to her brother, the only surviving member of her immediate family, it might very well crush her.
“So, what’s the plan? We can’t reschedule so do you want to do a conference call? I think we could put together a pretty nice online presentation. Maybe we’ll ship them the model.”
“No, I want you and Harlyn to go. Assuming she can. You both know the project inside and out. Colby has been great but he doesn’t seem as invested. Armande and I will cover whatever you have on your calendar from tomorrow through the Tuesday after next.”
“Why tomorrow? Today is only Thursday, we have an entire week plus to prepare.”
“If I get Harlyn on board, I need you all to spend as much time as possible finishing up the model and preparing your presentation. I’d like for you to do a mock presentation for me by Wednesday. That gives you today, tomorrow and two days next week to get it finalized. We are up against some pretty big companies that are New York based so we have to go in there swinging. I think we have the upper hand because we’re here and we know the area but I don’t want to take any chances. I’ll get Misty to book you all a flight for next Saturday morning, so that you have some time to get settled in and rest on Sunday, then be fresh and ready to go Monday morning. You’ll be the first presentation of the day. It’s the hardest spot to be in. I’ll fly you back on Tuesday.”
There was a knock on the door. It was Harlyn. She looked back and forth between me and Madeline. I knew she was probably thinking exactly what I had been thinking a few minutes before. I put on a big smile to ease her nerves then I drew it back. I didn’t need her to be too relaxed because she was going to need her poker face when Madeline told her she was sending us to New York together.