Bullied by the Boss(6)

"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."