And then I went to do what needed to be done. Unscrewing the screws, I left them on the side of the carpet and then lifted up the base of the lamp. Hidden beneath it I found a small USB flash drive. I grabbed it, tossed it into the front pocket of my shirt, and started screwing the base of the lamp back into the floor.
Before I finished, I heard someone at the door. Argh! Could I not get a break? Oh well, it didn’t matter. I swept the rest of the screws, along with the screwdriver, under the couch and got up. Whomever it was, I’d just run right past them, make up some excuse, apologize for being here because I must have had the wrong room, then leave.
That all mostly went according to plans, except when Solomon entered his own office. Before I could hurry past him, apologizing for intruding and telling him my excuse, he grabbed my forearm and pulled me back in. Closing the door behind him, he pushed the button on the knob to lock it, then hauled me to his couch.
“You, again,” he said, smiling. “To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?”
I murmured my answer, the words coming out in a garbled mess of nonsense.
“What?” he asked. “Speak up. Calm down.”
I repeated myself. “I’m sorry, Mr. Royce. I must have had the wrong room.”
“What were you looking for?” he asked.
“The weekly reports,” I muttered. “Joel Newgood asked me to get them for him.”
“Did he?”
“Yes. I thought he said they’d be on your desk, and since you weren’t here I figured it wouldn’t be any trouble if I just grabbed them, but…”
“Joel Newgood went on vacation yesterday,” Solomon said. “He won’t be back for two weeks.”
I stared at Solomon blankly. Was he serious, or trying to catch me in a lie? The look on his face seemed deadly serious, but I really had no way to tell. Either way, I didn’t belong here. I could deny it, continue on with my false excuse, and dig myself deeper, or…
Or what? I had no other options.
“I’ve been thinking about you,” Solomon said. “The other day, on the couch. Do you remember, Jessika?”
I gulped and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
He squeezed my arm in his fingers, leaving thin red marks, then threw me onto the couch. “I’d like to re-enact that little scene, if you don’t mind. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with your work performance then, and I think you owe me something.”
I stammered. “I-I, no, it’s… I don’t feel comfortable with that.”
“Why are you really here?” he asked.
“I was trying to do my job,” I said, sticking with some general excuse. Joel Newgood or not, I still looked like I worked here.
“You realize, Jessika, that everyone’s left for the day. Almost everyone, that is. Mr. Landseer decided to allow a rare early leave from work to celebrate an especially sweet accomplishment. Landseer Enterprises has just made a deal with another company that’s previously been very reluctant to work with us. The future is looking bright.”
“No one told me,” I whimpered. Trying to escape his seething gaze, I pressed myself against the back of the cool leather couch.
“That’s funny. First, no one told you that Joel Newgood went on vacation, and next no one told you that you could’ve left the office a bit over an hour ago? That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“I think you wanted to be here for some other reason. I think you saw something you liked when you were my assistant the other day, and you decided to wait until the other office workers left so you could sneak in and grab it. Was it the perfume? Sweet, isn’t it? Unfortunately I’ve already given it away. To my lover.”
I remembered now. Of course I knew of the perfume, the citrusy smelling one with a hint of vanilla and something else, but I realized now that I knew it from two places. Solomon’s office, yes, but then I’d smelled it on Beatrice that night, too. When she wore it, it must have settled and mixed with her natural scent, giving it a slightly different aroma. Still, I should have recognized it!
If I did, if… What? There was nothing I could do.
“I,” Solomon said, “have a wonderful idea. Let’s forget all about this. I don’t want to get you into trouble, you know. I’m sure we can come up with a better solution, one that works in both of our favors.”
“Yes.” I nodded fast. “Yes, let’s do that.”
And then he was on me. His mouth latched onto mine and he pressed himself atop me on the couch. Caught off guard, I stared at him in shock. Only when he’d managed to undo half of the buttons on my blouse did I regain some of my composure.