"Well if you join me for dinner, we can go over all the details." William smirked. Even though that sounded like the worst thing in the world, a promotion meant I would be transferred to a different department and I wouldn't have to work with William ever again.
William knew I would try to argue my way out of dinner but I did just the opposite, "Dinner sounds nice!"
William's face looked like someone had punched him in the gut. He was not expecting it to be so easy. "Oh okay that's great. Let's get out of here and I'll take us to that new Japanese restaurant."
I gathered my stuff for the second time and left the office with William. We walked to his car and I'd totally forgotten that he drove a brand new BMW. I couldn't believe I forgot because he only talked about it every five minutes. I opened the car and sat down inside. I braced myself for William to unload a barrage of useless knowledge about how awesome his car was but he didn't even mention it.
On the drive over, he didn't once talk about himself. He kept asking me questions about how I was doing and what I did for fun. Ever since he married my mom, he barely spent any time with me. At first I thought it was all an act. He was trying to win me back once he found out I was going to quit. The more we talked though, the less I thought that was the reason. Maybe there was more to William than I thought?
We pulled up to the Japanese restaurant and William dropped off the keys to the valet. William led me inside the restaurant and we were immediately sat down at a table. I took one of the menus and it all looked very foreign to me. There was a grill in front of us and I saw other people cooking meat on theirs.
"So I've never been to this style restaurant before. I have no idea what to order."
William took the menu away from me. "Don't worry, I'll order for the both of us."
The waitress came by the table and William ordered a bunch of different type of meats and vegetables. "So when will my promotion take into effect?" I asked.
William chuckled. "Well you get straight to the point, don't you. Well I would need to talk to my superiors but it's pretty much a done deal."
"Well that's amazing--"
William cut me off, "Before you get too excited, there's just one thing you need to do."
I took a sip of water and waited for William to continue. "You need to sleep with me."
I immediately spit out my water all over the table. "What the fuck are you talking about?!"
William was very calm. "If you want me to recommend you for this promotion then I need you to sleep with me."
I couldn't believe what he was asking! He was my step stepdad! I just wanted to run out of the restaurant as fast as I could and never look back. I really needed that promotion though. Whatever sick things William was into might actually be worth a job promotion. I took a deep breath to calm me down.
"Look Ariana, it's very simple. You come over to my old place for the night and after a couple hours, you're free to go. Tomorrow morning, I'll put in the promotion for you."
I took a couple minutes to think about it.
"Only if you want," William said with a wink.
I took a deep breath, "Okay William I'll go home with you."
William clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Let's finish dinner and go back to my place."
We ate our dinner in silence and the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about what was about to happen. Was a job promotion really worth this? Yes I told myself. We finished eating and William paid when the check came.
As we both stood up, William took my hand. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied.
We drove back to William's house and arrived at a small mansion. I knew William made a lot as a manager but not this much! Becoming a manager was looking better and better.
"Does my mom know about this place?" I asked.
"Nope," he replied.
We walked inside and it was the most extravagant home I'd ever set foot in. There was a huge grand staircase with a gigantic chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I pictured William living in a small, dirty apartment with empty pizza boxes everywhere. This was totally different.
"Wow William this place is really great! Why did you move in with us if you had this house all along?"
"This place is just too big and empty. I like your smaller house a lot better." William walked me through the maze of rooms and it was so disorienting that I had no idea how to get back outside.