Just then, the last discussion I had with Gabe popped into my head. I had no idea if he'd been keeping tabs, although I suspected he did. If he had, would he be pleased with how I'd handled it? Although I'm sure it wasn't the way he would have done things, I hoped he would.
In spite of his teasing ways, he'd been kind to me. I still had no idea why. I wasn't anything special and certainly nothing like the women he probably dated. If for that reason alone, what he thought of me mattered.
As to the rest of it … His office dalliances and veiled overtures towards me, well, I'd blocked it out of my mind for the most part. Thinking about him in ‘that way' would mean nothing but pure distraction for me.
But as I sat there, unoccupied, my mind wandered back to the first night we met. Knowing what I did about him now, I looked on the interaction in a whole new light now. My gaze lingered, out of focus, on the scribbles in my log book as the memory flooded back.
Aside from the obvious, like his thick, dark hair and brilliant blue eyes, the thing I remembered most were his arms. Muscular and lean, they looked as if they belonged on a man who worked the land for living and not one who wielded enormous power in the boardroom. I recalled the warmth of his hand as he wrapped his fingers around mine, swallowing them with a masculine squeeze.
His arms would feel the same, I was certain of it. He'd wrap them around my curves as I vanished into their strength and power. It would be nothing at all for him to sweep me off the ground as if I were weightless, a tiny waif. My breath slowed as the vision intensified. In my mind, I was close enough to smell him. His powerful musk sent my nostrils flaring as I inhaled with all I had before he …
Just then, the sound of a door slamming down the hallway brought me back to awareness. Checking the time, I glanced at my mobile phone. I still had almost twenty minutes left. The pressure of the past few weeks … It was terrible. Some of the worst I could remember.
I just needed some relief, a break, a release …
Looking up between strands of my hair, I noticed the lab was still empty. It wasn't long, perhaps thirty seconds or so, before my mind once again conjured the image of us together. Soon enough, an urgent need stirred between my thighs. After a hard swallow, I inched my chair closer to my desk, leaving just enough room to slide my arm underneath.
Fiona what the hell are you doing?
All my senses went into overdrive as I battled my urge. In spite of being paranoid to the point of near panic, I found myself suddenly unable to stop. Before I realized it, my fingers slid beneath my lab coat and between my thighs.
Oh God. No, no, no …
I was so sensitive, more than I even realized. I'd neglected my needs, burying them below my awareness. And now I found myself paying the price for it as my index finger took on a life its own, making small circles through the fabric of my clothing. Touching my clit sent fire through my body, nearly paralyzing me in the process. Goosebumps raced to the surface as I intensified my efforts.
My eyes fluttered as they threatened to close. I grew desperate to see what Gabe would do next, and trying to imagine it with my eyes open proved more difficult by the second. I moistened my lips with flick of my tongue and sucked in my lower lip, pinching it with a tender bite. My fingers sped up, as I found myself unable to stop them.
Fiona, oh no … Please stop, stop, stop!
But I couldn't. It wouldn't be long now. Any second, less than a minute for sure. Holding my breath, I took one last look, making absolutely certain no one was around. Satisfied, I returned to my release, certain it was within my grasp.
Mmm, hmm … mmm, hmmm … . mmm, hmm. Yes Gabe, yes … .
My entire body jerked forward as the wave of my climax approached. There was no turning back. It was coming, coming, coming … I gripped at the arm of my chair as the moment approached. And as it did, I yanked my head up and glanced across the room when I noticed it for the first time.
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed, snatching my hand from between my thighs. I banged it underneath the desk as I withdrew it.
"Ow!" I yelled as I jumped to my feet, colliding with the desk yet again, except this time with my knee. In the process, everything on top of the desk shifted as if it were in a small earthquake. A glass of water I'd poured spilled all over my lab notes.
"Goddamn it!"
Now completely frantic, I tried to clean up and regain my composure at the same time. Because to my horror, what I'd seen across the room, a tiny camera, had been trained on me the entire time. I'd never seen that there before, ever.
Who put it there? When? And why?
And then a more terrifying notion occurred to me.
Who was on the other side of it?
Over the next few minutes I worried to the point of near panic. But, it wasn't long afterward my final experiment completed.
None of it mattered now …
Whoever was on the other side of the camera surely saw what I'd done. The terrible thing I'd done. Before long, I'd be summoned to Colin's office and that would be it. And Gabe, when he found out …
I collapsed into my chair at my workstation, devastated.
Listless, I wrapped up what would be the end of my career with Hawkins Biotech, not to mention probably any chance I had at getting another job somewhere else.
Disgusted at myself, I dropped my head in my hands and immediately my grandmother popped into my mind. What the hell were we going to do now? Shame flushed to my chest and it wasn't long before I felt the heat of tears following close behind. I stood from my chair to race to the ladies' room before they started to flow in earnest. But no sooner had I taken my first step than the speaker on my office phone crackled to life.
"Fiona," Holly's voice blared from the tiny speaker. "Gabe would like to see you in his office right away. It's urgent."
FIONA
On the way to Gabe's office, there was a moment when I almost considered leaving the building, getting in my car and driving away. Since coming to work here, I'd experienced some of the most humiliating days of my life, and now I was moments away from what was likely to be the worst of them all.
But still, I'd come this far.
No matter what he had to say to me, I decided I wasn't going to be afraid. If nothing else, I hoped Gabe would respect me for dealing with the situation in the lab and doing my job. Since coming to work at Hawkins Biotech, I'd taken the elevator ride up to Gabe's office once before when he'd emailed. But for some reason, this time it seemed much longer than I remembered.
Much, much, much longer.
In fact, it might have been the longest elevator ride of my life.
In any case, I'd gathered up all my belongings prior to leaving the lab and clutched them against my chest as I exited the elevator on Gabe's floor. I walked in the direction of Holly's desk, but as I drew near, I noticed she was nowhere in sight. I stood there for about a minute or so as I waited for her to return. She never did. However, it wasn't long after Gabe appeared in the doorway of his office.
"Fiona," he began with a nod as he looked at me. "Come on in. Close the door when you do."
With that, Gabe turned away from me and headed back into his office.
I swallowed hard and readjusted my precarious hold on my belongings. Moments later, I passed through the threshold, closed the door, and as I did, I saw Gabe at his desk. As he leafed through a stack of papers, he did a half-turn over his shoulder.
Our eyes met.
"Where is … Holly?" I asked as I stopped a few feet inside his office.
"Oh, I sent her home early for the day," he said, with a casual wave of his hand. "We've all got a big week coming up. And anyway, she doesn't need to be here for what we have to discuss."
Just then, Gabe took notice of my heavy load for the first time. "What gives?"
"Oh," I stammered, not sure of exactly how I should answer the question. "It's just some things from my desk in the lab."
"I see."
He wrinkled his brow in confusion for a moment as he looked at me. Otherwise, his behavior seemed casual as always. Frankly, for someone who caught me masturbating, he certainly seemed unfazed. A few seconds later, he nodded in the direction of a large couch in his office.
"I'm going to have to ask you to remove your lab coat, Fiona."
My stomach clenched. Okay, here we go. I was sure my dismissal was at hand now. I nodded and with shoulders slumped, I made my way towards it. I placed my armload down in a chair adjacent to the couch and a few seconds later, removed my lab coat. I swallowed hard. Gabe didn't strike me as a cruel man. I hope I'd judged him correctly. I just wanted this to be over as soon as possible.
"Where would you like it?"
As I finished speaking, Gabe turned around and leaned against his desk in a half-seated position. He frowned at me as he considered the question.