"Honey, you'll get a fantastic one off me. You've put up with Rex, and for that, you've earned your right to a damn good one. Besides, you showed me what had gone wrong while having a complete meltdown, remember? Not only that, you went to Larry Peterson in person, and pleaded Rex's case, and gave him every possible reason why he should take Rex as the lead for his case. You made a mistake, but you fixed it."
"Thank you, Frank. I really mean it. You've been amazing." She hugged him back. Her feelings for Frank were that of a mentor, and in the back of her mind, kind of like a grandfather. She would love to have had him as her grandfather. He was wise beyond his years, kind, and yet lethal when he needed to be.
She pulled away and left his office. Her heart was aching as this was really her home for so long. The people here, they appreciated her, even if her own direct boss didn't.
On the way out of the building, Carl cornered her and asked for her assistance. He had been having such a hard streak lately that she refused to ignore his cry for help. Leaving early was not an option, especially when she could support someone. Entering his office, she sat down, and began to work with him.
Rex finished his phone call, and looked at the sandwich on his desk. Nora had placed it there five minutes ago, and he had asked her to join him. What the fuck was up with that? What made it even more worse, she had told him she had other plans. Plans that didn't include staying in the office, and now he was pissed. He was making himself look like a fucking idiot, and once again, he didn't know why. Nora was not the most beautiful girl in the world.
Last night you couldn't stop thinking about her, and you went home beating off in your own hand thinking about all the dirty things you want to do to her.
The sandwich was his usual, spicy chicken with cream cheese on a bed of lettuce. He had always loved this sandwich, and the only other one he loved was peanut butter, one of his childish loves that he has never gotten over.
There was a knock on the door, and he looked up to see Frank standing there.
"Hi," he said. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah, of course. Have a seat. I'd get Nora to get you a coffee, but she's not here. She's gone out to lunch." I don't know where, or who with, and it pisses me off. She's supposed to be single.
Rex didn't like his sudden need to know everything about her.
"I know where Nora is. The question is, do you?" Frank closed the door, and took a seat opposite him.
"She said she had a lunch date that she couldn't cancel."
"Has she asked you about a reference lately?"
Rex tensed up recalling her question yesterday. "Yes, and I told her she didn't need to worry. She loves working here."
"Actually, she loved working here. Past tense. I had a very interesting conversation with sweet little Nora yesterday. I can tell you for a fact that she is currently sitting down at an interview with a rival firm. Now if it was anyone else, I would be worried, but I know Nora is as loyal as she is hardworking. She would never spill anything about us, and I trust her. Also, I told her that she would never need to worry about a reference, but I want to know from you why one of our fucking team wants to leave when she was so happy."
Rex was in shock. He had reached out to her yesterday, and he'd not said anything bad. "How can you offer her a reference? She sent me to the wrong places on purpose!"
"If you got your head out of your ass, and stop believing the worst in people, she made a mistake, and like I said before, she made sure that nothing came of her mistake. You landed Peterson. Now answer me. Why does she want to leave when she was happy?"
Rex recalled Nora's attempt to excuse her behavior. She had held up that damn notebook diary he had made her use. Not to mention the fact there was a new computer delivered to her, and everyone had told him that she had called to double check all other appointments. He hadn't wanted to hear any of it. Still, he could have been wrong. Maybe. He didn't know. "I don't know what the problem is. I really don't. She was fine yesterday."
"One day of being nice to her against all of those others, and you think for a second that she wouldn't want to leave? You've been treating her like shit, punishing her when you're really pissed at me."
Rex didn't say anything. When Frank was on a roll, everyone tended to shut the hell up, and listen to what he had to say. Rex had seen him in court, and once he got going, it really wasn't pretty.
"You wanted to continue to fuck around with stupid women who were no better than whores. They were here to fuck, not to work. Now Nora, she's not the kind of woman you're used to, huh?" Frank didn't even raise his voice as he spoke. "Nora is the kind of woman that you're loyal to. She's the kind of woman that you feel guilty if you ever fuck another woman when she is yours."
Rex had already figured that out. Nora was the kind of woman you settled down with. She was the woman that you thought about a future, kids, and everything in between. To Rex, she had always represented a life that he had turned his back on, settling instead for meaningless fucks.
"She's leaving?" he asked. He didn't like the spark of pain that shot through him.
"I don't know. I guess that is entirely up to you, isn't it?" Frank stood. "You know, I've always liked you. You're a mean little shit, and you've made me a lot of money. I never thought I would be sorry to see Nora go either. My biggest mistake was handing her over to you."
Rex watched as Frank left his office.
Placing his hands on the desk, he didn't know what to do or what to think. Nothing made any sense anymore, and yet it made perfect sense. Of course Nora would leave. He had been the meanest bastard in the world.
Something had to be done. He didn't want her to leave, not now, not ever.
I don't want her to go.
I like looking at her.
Crap. Rubbing his eyes, he focused on the task at hand. He finished his sandwich, and tried not to watch the clock. It was next to impossible to though. He kept waiting for Nora to come in, and he didn't know what he was going to do or say.
Finally, a little after one, she entered the office and fired up her computer. Gritting his teeth, he wondered what he would say or do.
She didn't enter his office, and Rex wasn't interested in talking to her right then. Time passed, and she went back to her desk, and then wandered around toward the research section.
Several colleagues passed, and he waited, wondering when she would finally enter his office. She did nothing, and he chanced a glance at her desk, to find a small lamp that she was reading from. Only when Frank left did she seem to realize the time.
Rex stayed at his desk, waiting. He couldn't hear what Frank was saying, and he wasn't interested. Finally, they were all alone on the floor, and seconds later, Nora came in.
"Hey, I didn't realize the time. I'm going to head out," she said.
"Why didn't you tell me you had an interview today?" He closed the file on the Richmond case, and looked up at her. Her hair was down, cascading all around, tempting him. The moment she had entered the office that morning, he had noticed her hair. Never had she worn it down. Looking at her now, he saw that she was dressed to impress. The skirt she wore molded to every single curve that she possessed, the white blouse highlighting her full tits and slender neck.
"You know. Frank told you."
He got up from behind his desk. "Yeah, but I want to know why you told Frank, and you didn't tell me."
She licked her lips. "You wouldn't even answer my question, and you would have probably made it next to impossible for me to go to an interview."
"You want to leave?"
There was a pause, a slight hesitation.
"Yes."
"You're lying." He stepped closer to her.
"I don't want to work for you anymore, and I don't want to work in this office."
"What have I done that is so damn terrible?"
"What have you done? You don't even see what an asshole you are?"
"Oh, so now I'm the asshole because I expect a level of respect-"
"Respect! You treat me like a damn dog, and you have no respect for anyone but yourself. You're the worst person I have ever worked for."
Raising his voice, he closed that final distance. "You know what, fine, go elsewhere. I'm sorry I wasn't the kind of boss to kiss your fucking ass."
"I don't need you to kiss my ass! You could have just been nice to me without all that crap. You're mean. You're a bully, and I want out." She was yelling just like him.
"Is that what you want? You want me to tell you how wonderful you are, how nice you are."
"No, I don't want you to tell me anything because you know what, I'm not sticking around. You're a horrible human being, and I'm glad that I know what it's like to work for a scumbag. I've finally seen one."