"Melissa, it may come as a surprise to you, but this is my lifestyle. I don't like the popularity that that book is brought to my life, and to my friends. There are things that are very, very wrong about it, and people are getting hurt. At first it seemed as if it was a bit of a passing fancy, something for people to dip their feet into before going elsewhere. But now, now there are innocent people doing things that they have no business doing and getting hurt in the process."
Melissa watched him, her expression was inscrutable. Finally, she spoke, "I just read the books, Doctor," she said meeting his eyes for a fleeting moment, before looking down. "This isn't my lifestyle. This isn't my life." She emphasized the "my" and he gave her a little smile. She had no idea that she was broadcasting her interest, regardless of what she said.
"Melissa, I'm a student body language. Whatever you say, your actions are speaking louder than words. If, and I repeat if, you're interested in exploring this, together or alone, I can help you get through it." He leaned in, brushing her hair off her shoulder and gave a little smile. "I've been there before, Melissa," he whispered. "I know what it is like to train somebody. If you want to be trained, or if you just want to explore the lifestyle, I'm your man. It will never interfere with our working life. You think about it, and you tell me if you're interested. If not, I won't say another word to you."
Melissa couldn't quite believe what was happening. First, there was the car accident, thankfully only a fender bender. The people inside, an elderly couple, had been a little shaken up, but they had not wanted her to call EMS. Then, she'd returned to the office to find her purse was open, disengaging all of her personal items onto the floor. It hadn't been bad enough that her feminine products had been lying out there for anyone to say, but that book, her current favorite book, had fallen out, too. Dr. Glenn had held it in his hands stroking the cover, an unconscious gesture. She had a feeling that he had no idea he was broadcasting his own body language cues, and expressing his interest to her, whether he intended to or not. Not that she had ever considered that he was a student of BDSM. But now that she knew, she was driven crazy with thoughts of him wielding a whip, handcuffing some beautiful young woman, exerting his will over strangers. Dammit, she wanted that to be her.
Melissa stuffed her book, and her other things, back into her purse trying not to blush, resisting the urge to fan herself, but only barely. She'd work for Dr. Glenn for a long time now, six years, and change. In that time, the entire office staff and turned over several times. They were the only two who had stayed. And they formed an interesting bond, not quite friendship. Not quite boss and employee. It was somewhere in between, a gray area of professional respect and personal lines drawn for the betterment of their working bond.
And as such, she was never quite sure how to approach the doctor. Sometimes they were friends, and he would dispense advice about boys, men really, and other times there was a distance between them. Like when Rose, his former girlfriend, had left the country. Dr. Glenn had been very quiet that, and Melissa had known how to get him out of his shell. Since they were the only consistent employees in the office, she felt a responsibility to keep the office running smoothly, even though that wasn't her job. They had a very capable office manager, who was at lunch right now, thank God. Cathy would have been all over this if she'd seen what was happening. Heck, she probably would have live blogged it to her friends.
The office was rounded out by a very part time receptionist and a medical biller, both young and just out of college. They wouldn't stay, Melissa knew that.
Most of their employees were here for a short time, either starting anew after divorce, or a change in life, or they were college kids, looking for something bigger and better than $15 an hour. It was a darn shame. Dr. Glenn was both generous, and compassionate. He wasn't only known for his bedside manner, but he was known for being a generous individual in their city. Every charity event opportunity that came past their doors, every invitation, he did something, no matter how small. She could respect that he seemed plugged in and invested in their community. So many others wrote checks and were done with it, but Doctor Glenn actually went out and physically assisted the charities.
"Melissa, are you okay? Are you thinking about what I had to say?" Dr. Glenn looked at the doors. Melissa realized that Cathy would be back soon.
Melissa looked up at Doctor Glenn. How could she possibly answer his question? "Oh yes, I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about all the ways it would be a bad idea." She clapped a hand over her mouth, wishing she could pull her snarky response right back in, but it was too late.
"But you're thinking about it aren't you," Glenn said with a little smile. She couldn't think of him as Doctor Glenn right now; that would be too confusing, and yes, way too arousing.
"So now that I know your secret, Melissa, what are we gonna do about it?" H had a little smirk on his face. A part of her wanted to wipe that self-confidence right off his face, and the other part of her liked the sight of it, his arrogance, and his surety that things would work out for him in the end. It was as if they had a little secret against the world.
Melissa cocked a hip and gave him a little wink, pulling forth all the sex goddess that she had buried deep inside her. Deep, deep inside her, maybe like 40 pounds ago. "So, Doc, are you really serious about this? Is it going to impact my job security?" She asked him.
"Whatever we do outside this office, will never come into this office," Glenn said intensely, his eyes flashing. "Your job will never be at issue, Melissa. I promise you that. I vow that." His intensity was getting to her, turning her on in a way that she could not have imagined before today.
He was the good-looking older brother type, not the sort of guy that she could ever attain with her average looks and extra pounds. Or even hope to have, so she had chosen not to be attracted, too. And that denial, that self-delusion, was rearing up and biting her on the ass.
"What do you have in mind?" She gave him a deep, penetrating look. She couldn't do intensity like he could, but she could give back a little bit.
"Well, I have just the idea, I … "
Melissa turned, looking at the door, knowing that they were about to get invaded. And wasn't that horrible term, invaded. It was just their office manager, who was doing both her own duties and that of their receptionist today.
"Cathy!" Doctor Glenn said, falsely enthusiastic. "How was lunch?"
"Just...fine?" Cathy's voice lifted, as if in a question. While Glenn was friendly to the staff, this level of enthusiasm seemed as false as it was.
"Good. Good. We had some excitement here."
While he filled Cathy in on the fender bender and the frantic older couple, Melissa finished scooping up a few of her wayward belongings. Dropping to a crouch took her much lower than Glenn's penetrating gaze, and gave her a little breathing room. Standing eye to eye, or eye to collarbone, with him had been a little too intense.
"Wait, what happened?" Cathy asked, and Melissa experienced a moment of sheer terror, thinking he might tell Cathy about what had just transpired between them. Her rational mind knew that he never would, but there was a part of her very nervously anticipating something. It was in the air, that feeling before a bad storm. Named Glenn, apparently.
"You heard me, fender bender, older couple. They were a bit shaken up but didn't want any medical assistance. I offered to call 911."
"Doctor Glenn offered to check them out, but they were having none of it," Melissa added, standing up, her purse clutched in her arms.
"Hrm," Cathy said, and ended that in a small smile. "Maybe they have something to hide, like grandma and grandpa are jewel thieves or something like that. You never know what secrets someone else may be keeping. You know my neighbor down the block, George? Muscle bound? Yeah?" She gestured to Melissa, who nodded.
"Well, he's on steroids. That's how he gets those muscles. Can you believe it? I can't. I'm totally shocked."
"Me too," Glenn quipped. "Let me get back to my paperwork, ladies. Melissa, about what we talked about...give it some thought."
"I will."
Melissa wasn't quite sure why she said yes, but she had. And Dr. Glenn had taken the fact that she'd had her book and run with it. He seemed curious to know if her interest was just an exploration, a discussion of what might be titillating to read, rather than an opening into the life. Melissa still wasn't quite sure why she said yes. Maybe it was Glenn, or maybe it was just her own interest in finding out where the books got it right and where they got it wrong.