Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
K ingston
My phone beeps at 10 PM and I frown when I see that it's a notification from work. Someone has entered my office. I immediately sit up and bring up the cameras. My jaw drops when I see Skye on the screen grabbing something from my desk.
"What on Earth?" I mumble to myself as I quickly dial her number. The phone rings a couple of times before she answers.
"Hello, this is Skye."
"I know it's you. I called you."
"What's going on, Kingston?" she says, sounding annoyed.
"What are you doing at the office? Are you trying to steal trade secrets or something?"
"Yeah. I am stealing all the trade secrets to sell to the Russians for millions and billions of dollars." She lets out a sigh. "You said you wanted the files taken care of, right?"
"I said you could do it tomorrow morning."
"Yeah. Well, it turns out that I had some time tonight."
"It's ten o'clock at night."
"You think I don't know it's ten o'clock at night?" she snaps.
I pause. "Hey, is everything okay? You're not mad at me because of?—"
"No, I'm not mad at you because we had sex, Kingston. I'm not mad at you, period. I just can't be at home right now."
"Why can't you be at home right now?"
"My roommate has someone in the apartment, and they're in the living room..." She pauses. "Anyway, I don't really think I need to say more than that."
"Wait, Elisabetta? She has her Tinder date back in the apartment?"
"No, it's not her Tinder date. It's another guy. Anyway, I really shouldn't be spreading her business. I’m just working, and I want to make sure that I have everything done tonight so I can prove myself to be a great assistant, so you can come in tomorrow morning and have everything done because I know how important it is to you."
"Okay. Thank you, I guess."
"You're welcome."
"So you're planning on staying there all night doing this?"
"Well, until I get a text message from Elisabetta that it's safe to come back to the apartment. I don't really want to be in my bedroom listening to my best friend bang some random dude."
"Oh," I say.
"Is that all you're going to say?" she snaps again.
"Hey, I'm just saying that that does sound like it sucks. I don't have a roommate, so that's not something I've had to worry about. But I guess if I did, I wouldn't appreciate them banging in the living room, either. Look, if you are homeless for the evening, you can come back over to my place."
"No, thank you. I don't need your pity."
"It's not pity. You slept here last night and?—"
"And look how that turned out," she says sarcastically.
"You're not trying to say that you did not enjoy last night, are you?"
"I'm just trying to say that last night was last night, and it's already in my past."
"Really? Because this morning it wasn't in your past."
"You know what I mean," she says. "Do you want me to get this work done for you or not?"
"I do want you to get this work done, but I didn't expect you to be at the office on a Sunday at ten PM. It makes me feel bad."
"Why does it make you feel bad?"
"Because I don't want people to think that I'm a monster."
"Really? You don't want people to think that you're a monster in the office, yet you're always bossing people around and?—"
"Hey, I'm reasonable, though, don't you think?"
"I guess."
"Hey. Look, Skye, are you upset with me because of what happened this weekend? Are you upset because you're in the office working? Are you upset because your roommate has someone in the apartment and you can't go home? What's going on?"
"Nothing." She lets out a deep sigh. "I'm just frustrated."
"Why are you frustrated?"
"It's nothing that I can talk to you about," she says. "Or at least it's nothing I want to talk to you about."
"Fair enough. Hey, why don't you come over to my place? Bring the files with you and we'll go through them together and drink some wine."
"Are you out of your mind? I am not coming over to your place to drink more wine."
"Why not?" I say innocently.
"Because I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning with you inside of me."
"Well, you didn't wake up this morning with me inside of you," I say, laughing. "Though, if that's something that's a kink of yours, I'm sure we can make it happen."
"Really? That's so inappropriate."
"What? You're telling me that you haven't thought about last night and hoped that it would happen again?"
There's silence on the line.
"Come on, tell me the truth."
"Was last night fun? Yes. Do I think you're an asshole? Yes. Do I think it's going to be awkward tomorrow morning? Yes. Do I want to repeat what we did? I don't know."
"Why do you not know?"
"Because it's already going to be complicated, Kingston. I'm your assistant. You don't really respect me. You don't think I do an amazing job. And, yeah, while we had great chemistry, I don't want people in the office thinking that I got the job, or I'm keeping the job, because I'm banging you."
"Okay," I say softly. "Are you upset because this is not going anywhere super important?" I ask awkwardly.
"Dude, I don't want to marry you. I don't want you to propose to me. I'm not looking for a long-term relationship with you. You're not the dream guy I've always had in my head."
"Well, thank you," I say. "That makes me feel great."
"I'm just being honest. Yeah, it was fun hooking up. Yeah, I'd do it again, but I don't want that to make my position more complicated."
"What if we had rules?"
“What sort of rules?"
"What happens in the office stays in the office, and what happens outside of the office stays outside of the office."
"So what, you're trying to come up with an arrangement?"
"I mean, other people have them. It could work. We both enjoyed making love, or knocking one out or banging or whatever you want to call it, and I think we'd both quite like to do it again."
"Maybe once, just to see if it was good or not," she says seriously, like she is weighing her options.
"So come over tonight. Bring the folders."
"But isn't that blurring lines if I bring work over?"
I pause. "I think it's okay for you to bring work to my home, but it's not okay for you to bring our sex lives to the office."
"So I can work with you at your house, but I cannot do anything in the office," she says softly.
"Yeah. We don't want word getting out that anything is going on. And I'm sure that we can both agree that what we're having is fun, and as long as it stays fun, it's fine. But when either one of us is over it?—"
"You mean if I get a boyfriend or something?"
"Well, I guess." I frown at the thought. "Why? Is there a potential out there that?—"
“I'm not looking to have a friend with benefits for the rest of my life. I am looking for a relationship. Remember I told you I want to travel around the world."
"So, sure, when you meet the guy that wants to travel around the world with you, we stop things. Or when things are no longer fun."
"Or, I guess, if you find a woman," she says.
"Yeah. Or if I find a woman." I chuckle. "Which I don't anticipate happening. But you have to promise not to catch feelings for me."
"Well, you have to promise not to catch feelings for me , Kingston."
"I can pretty much assure you that I don't catch feelings for women."
"And I can pretty much assure you that I don't catch feelings for jerks," she counters.
"So are you coming over then?" I ask.
"You want me to bring these folders?"
"Yeah, because maybe we finish the work tonight, then neither one of us has to get to the office tomorrow at five AM."
"Okay," she says, "I'll bring them. But..."
"But what?" I ask.
"I just don't know that I want to carry the folders onto the subway."
"I'll send a cab to pick you up."
"Okay, thank you."
"Are you hungry? Do you want me to order a pizza or something?"
"I think I've had enough pizza for a lifetime," she says, giggling.
"Chinese food? Indian? Ethiopian?"
"I'm okay, but thank you." She pauses.
"Tell me. What is it?"
"I mean, I could go for some tacos. Like, real Mexican tacos with corn tortillas and carne asada and cilantro and onion."
"Okay, I can get some authentic Mexican tacos for you. You want some tequila shots as well?"
"Tequila shots make me do bad things, Kingston."
"So then that's a definite yes to the tequila shots," I laugh.
"You're bad," she says.
"Well, if we're going to follow through with this arrangement, we might as well do it to the best of our ability."
"What does that mean?" she asks.
“It means that if we're going to have fun, I want to make sure that I show you the most fun you've ever had in your life."
"Okay. Like how?
"Like, have you ever had anal?"
"I'm not doing anal with you, Kingston."
"Have you ever had anal? I didn't ask if you want to do it with me."
"No," she says. "I don't want?—"
"Aha. So you don't know the joys of it."
"Kingston."
"What? I'm just saying," I chuckle. "Have you ever been tied up?"
"Like you mean with handcuffs, or a tie, or…?"
"I'm talking about with rope and hanging from the ceiling."
"What? You're not for real."
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But if you're open to exploring, so am I."
"Kingston, I think we're going to have to have a chat while I'm there because I think you and I are thinking about this in two different ways."
"Oh yeah? And how are you thinking about it?"
"I'm thinking about we just have some casual sex every now and again. You're acting like you're Christian Grey."
"Really? I make Christian Grey look tame. Trust me."
"Trust you?" she says, laughing. "I don't know if I would be wise to trust you."
"Maybe you are smarter than you look," I say.
"Really?"
"I'm just joking. I'm going to send the cab over now. It should be there in ten minutes, okay?"
"Sounds good," she says.
"Good. I'll see you later." I hang up the phone and I walk into my bathroom. I stare at my reflection in the mirror.
What have you done, Kingston? I shake my head. Even though it had been my suggestion, it’s not something I've ever contemplated in my life before. I don't believe in messing around with people who work for me, even if we’re keeping it separate.
But there’s just something about Skye. Hearing her voice sounding so sad and desolate, it made my heart pang. And seeing her in that office all alone with those files, it made me feel guilty. And hearing that she couldn't go back to her apartment because her roommate was banging it out with someone else, it just doesn’t sit right with me. And if I‘m being honest, I thought about her all day and missed her company, missed her laugh and smile.
I’m looking for a relationship, and I don't want this to go anywhere, but it would be fun just to see where it could lead.