It served him right for making me look at myself in the mirror differently in the morning. He wasn’t wrong and I did somewhat regret not taking him up on his offer. I was just lucky that he didn’t remember. I wasn’t going to have to play the innocent victim.
“I’m sure that I can keep things quiet.” I purposely moved the chair across the floor making it squeak like fingernails down a chalkboard. His fingernails gripped the edge of his desk and he snapped his head forward with a look of shock on his face. “I’m sorry about that. What was I thinking?” I was laughing inside, knowing that I was causing him pain and feeling that I was justified from the way that he tried to make be one of his conquests.
“This whole thing could have been avoided had I just met the client here at the office. I always tend to think that getting them away from the stuffy day to day stress is a good idea. I don’t know how many times that I’ve gotten a call in the morning from some irate wife ready to take a switch off of me. I don’t play nice and sometimes playing dirty is the better way to go. I don’t use vinegar. The honey trap of those girls’ obvious attributes gets them more in the mood to talk about business.” I could see that men would feel almost at home around naked women. That was what I considered a man’s club. A woman could not break that glass ceiling the same way.
“You might be starting to realize that there is a better way. I don’t want to beat this to death. I would like to know your opinion of my work. Not to be modest, but I do find that it’s some of my best stuff.” I was putting that bug in his ear and maybe that would manipulate him psychologically to like it before he even saw it.
“I’ve been meaning to get to it, but you can imagine that it has been a slow morning. I might even take the afternoon off. You and Miss Timmons can look after things without me.” He looked around and then I helped him by placing the file in front of him.
This morning, I was not wearing the same dress. I had on a pair of dark slacks and a heavy blue sweater to keep him from getting ideas. It didn’t exactly hide my endowment. I didn’t think anything could. I was all natural with no sag and looking like a wet dream come true.
August was not as polished, his sleeves rolled up with his eyes bloodshot. His hair was out of place. It made me look at him as more human and not that unattainable fruit at the top of the tree. I liked the way that he could show his vulnerable side.
“I can leave and give you some time to go over it in private.” I did make a move to leave, but I was only going to do so at his request. There was no way that I was going to make this easier on him by vacating the premises.
I took my place in the chair in front of the desk. I picked up my pen and I began to tap it ever so slightly against the surface of his desk. Each time that I made that impact, his eyes would shoot wide open and his back would straighten like somebody was screaming in his ear.
He dropped the papers unceremoniously and placed his hands-on top of one another. He gave me the look that a principal gives a student after they are brought to their office.
“I’m sure that it’s not intentional, but could you stop doing that.” I feigned surprise by dropping it and making him put his hands up to his face. “I need absolute silence.” I put my finger and my thumb together and used it to indicate that I was going to zip my lip.
I was having fun at his expense. I did on some level hate the idea that he didn’t remember. He had made me feel desirable. All the way home, I felt this newfound confidence. I was always self-conscious about my big thighs, but he had made me feel good about myself.
We very carefully went through my drawings. He had some good points to make. It was a little surprising considering that he wasn’t working on all cylinders. I found his insight to be an eye-opening experience.
“For a first draft, I would say that you more than lived up to your previous creations. We really do work well together and maybe we can get a drink after work.” I wasn’t sure what to say, but it seemed rude not to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Are you sure that it’s a good idea to drink after what you have been through? It would be better that we have dinner together. I know of a nice Italian place down the street that has the best ravioli that money can buy.” If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn that he had tricked me into asking him out and not the other way around. “I think that we can get a lot more work done on a full stomach. We might even come up with some kind of brainstorm at the table.” I had turned the tables and made it into a work thing.