10. NICK
The knocking persisted. I froze, my eyes fixed on Izzy’s. I put a finger to my lips, signaling her to remain quiet.
“But what if they get the keys—” she hissed, and I quickly covered her mouth again.
“Ssshhh…”
I held my breath for a while, counting to ten in my head. I hadn’t finished counting yet when I heard the footsteps receding.
Izzy let out a relieved sigh. And that’s when I slowly got up, my eyes never leaving her body, taking in every curve and the mountain-like shape of her tempting breasts. I wanted to kiss them again, to make her scream and tremble and come over and over again.
“Nick, climb off the desk,” she told me in a whisper.
I snapped out of my mesmerized state and did as I was told. We found our clothes and quickly got dressed.
Then it hit me that I’d just had sex with this woman for the second time. In the office of God-knows-who, inside my own building. It was reckless—but certainly riveting and memorable.
As I gazed at her, I realized then that I’d done some crazy things I’d never done before in just a few hours of being with her.
This isn’t me. Or maybe it is. Maybe she brings out this side of me. Is that good? I don’t know. But it felt so damn good.
“We have to get out of here,” Izzy whispered, opening the door and peeking out to check if the hallway was empty. She grabbed her bag from the floor and hurried out, quickly trying to smooth down her messy hair with her hands.
“Hey, wait!” I tried to catch up with her.
She turned around, her hair whipping in all directions. “What?”
“Tell me.” There was something that I needed to get off my chest, something that had been gnawing at me inside. “That evening at Tanya’s party…”
She stared at me wide-eyed, her cheeks getting even redder than their after-sex glow.
I went on, “Who did you think I was? Was I just some random stranger to you or did you mistake me for somebody else?”
She knew what I was getting at. I could see it written all over her face. And her silence gave me the answer I was looking for.
My head suddenly ached. I felt a heavy burden pressing on my chest.
She thought it was my brother Dan. The famous Daniel Hale. What did I expect? And she’d wanted to fuck him.
“Never mind,” I suddenly said before she could say anything. I turned around and walked away to the opposite direction, trying not to be affected by this little piece of unspoken information.
The lights turned on. The power was back. I stopped walking and looked around. Izzy was nowhere to be found.
“Mr. Hale!” someone called.
I saw Catherine running toward me. Even in her mid-forties, she was still quite strong and energetic, and certainly very competent. That last bit was what I appreciated most about her.
“Sir, I’m so glad to see you. Are you alright?”
I had no coat on, just my wrinkled button-down long sleeves and my slacks. The necktie? I had no idea where it had gone.
“I’m fine, Catherine. Thanks for your concern.” Once again, I was back to my stoic facial expression and serious tone of voice. It was time to get back to my old self and figure out what had caused this power outage and what the effects had been.
As we walked together back to my office, Catherine informed me of what she had found out. “Mr. Hale, the sudden power outage was primarily caused by a massive surge in demand due to the heatwave in the region. While our generators should have been able to handle the increased load, we faced an unexpected malfunction that prevented them from kicking in.”
I frowned, the pieces of the puzzle coming together. “What caused the malfunction?”
She took a deep breath, her expression grave. “It seems that a buildup of dust and debris had clogged the generators’ intake vents, which led to overheating and eventually the malfunction. It’s a known issue in areas with significant construction and deforestation.”
My heart sank as I connected the dots. “Deforestation and construction projects in the area contributed to this?”
Catherine nodded. “Yes, sir. The extensive construction and deforestation activities in the region have increased dust and debris in the air, and they’ve clogged the vents more rapidly than anticipated.”
Shit. This is what Izzy had been trying to point out to me. She was right.
The reality of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks. The very activities that fueled my wealth and investments were contributing to environmental issues that had devastating consequences. It was a sobering wake-up call, and the guilt and responsibility weighed heavily on my shoulders.
I looked at Catherine, my determination to address this issue growing with each passing moment. “We need to take immediate steps to rectify this situation. Contact our environmental consultants and find out what measures we can implement to prevent further environmental damage. Also, reach out to the local authorities and see how we can support efforts to mitigate the effects of deforestation in the area. Furthermore, make sure that our electrical system is up-to-date, and we can avoid incidents like this in the future.”
Catherine nodded in agreement; her professionalism unwavering. “Of course, Mr. Hale. I’ll start the process right away.”
Just then, I remembered something else. “By the way, what happened to all the employees of the building?”
As we moved further down the hallway, I noticed many workers passing us by and heading back to their offices.
“Well, we did the evacuation drill at once. Where were you, sir? Did you get trapped somewhere?”
“Yes, but I’m fine.” My mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of what had transpired—exchanging stories with Izzy in the elevator, working together to pry open the doors, climbing onto the landing, having sex on someone’s desk.
Fuck, what a day!
“By the way, Catherine, please contact Ms. Isabelle Turner. We’ll be investing in her startup business. Give her the funds she needs. The receptionist should have her number.”
“Okay, sir.”
Suddenly, there was a commotion at the end of the hallway from the direction we’d come from. I turned around to see what it was all about.
Someone was swinging my necktie around, teasing his buddies about who it belonged to and how it ended up on their boss’s desk. “Tell me who the boss fucked among you while we were all outside the building!” one of the guys said.
The others broke into laughter. “Wish it was me!” a blonde guy answered. “She’s hot!”
“Hey, shut up,” another one told the others. And they all returned to their cubicles.
Catherine raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. I wondered if she’d recognized the tie, but I doubted it. I had only worn it for the first time today and had gone straight to the conference room. No one would have noticed it.
“Those men were like high school kids who’d just come back after a fire drill,” Catherine suddenly uttered, perhaps not being able to contain her comment any longer.
A grin began to tug at the corner of my lips. “Let them have their fun. These unexpected work disruptions only come once in a while. They finally had a short break from their mundane routines.”
Catherine threw me a highly surprised look. “Of course, Mr. Hale. You are absolutely right.”