The Other C-Word(24)

"But it's only ten-thirty," Kathy said.

"I guess its brunch then."

"Oh, I was going to run a few errands, but I could go for some brunch myself. I'd love to join you."

"No!" I hadn't meant to say it aloud, but I did. I didn't quite yell it, but the pleading whimper in my voice was unmistakable. People shifted in front of me and Kathy shot me an annoyed look.

"I didn't see you there, Marley," she said, although I knew she had.

Rick took charge of the conversation quickly. "Kathy, Marley and I are doing a working lunch. We have some … results to go over." It amazed me how professional he sounded.
                       
       
           



       
"Oh, on the website beta testing?" Kathy asked.

"Yes, on that," Rick replied.

The elevator let us off and I breathed a sigh of relief to be in an open space again. Kathy wasn't done though. She stopped in front of Rick, smiling broadly, flipping her dark hair. "Well, if three's not a crowd then like I said, I would love to join you. I have some ideas of my own."

Oh crap! I almost laughed at the absurdity of her statement, but I restrained myself, leaning against the wall outside the elevator for support, not daring to speak again.

Rick smiled brightly and took Kathy's hand. He took her hand! "Kathy, I would love to hear your ideas, but right now, I really need a one-on-one with Marley. I need to give her all my input, no matter how long it takes. I need her to take all the data I can possibly give her so she can … come … up with the finished reports." His loaded pause between the word ‘come' was not lost on me. "It will be boring for you to just watch us. I mean, there's nothing you can do for me, right now. I'm in desperate need of Marley's assistance with this." His words gushed with sexual suggestion and he knew it … so did I.

Thankfully, Kathy didn't. She smiled gleefully and took his statements literally. I felt a strong pang of jealousy like I'd never known. It physically hurt. "But Rick, I have so many ideas of my own."

"Come by my office later then, and we'll go over them," he replied, releasing her hand. "My afternoon is free, right Marley?" They both turned to me expectedly. I had forgotten that I was standing there gaping at them. I shut my mouth and nodded, although in reality, I had no idea if his afternoon was free. Rick did his own schedule. I did my best to ignore the snarky eye-roll Kathy aimed straight at me as I walked past her to the parking lot.

When we got into his car, I fought the urge to scream at him. I stopped myself and replayed the conversation. Really, Rick's words were salacious to me, but in a strange way, he had managed to reject Kathy's obvious advances in front of me without insulting her. Although the statement ‘there's nothing, you can do for me … right now' didn't help. Did he mean later? Like, when he was done with me? I decided to let it all go. I just wanted my results. By the way Rick was breaking every speed limit, I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

He ran into the clinic like a marathon runner. I laughed, following behind him.

After we got our results, he drove over to the abandoned lot again. We studied our own tests then traded with each other. He put down the paper and smiled broadly. "The best C-word … clean."

"Yep, so are we going to do it now?"

"I want to, but I think it would defeat all our hard work to fuck you in the back seat of my car like a horny teenager. Besides, I told Kathy we were having brunch, and we should stop somewhere. I don't want to risk you fainting."

I smirked at him. "I only get an hour for lunch, and my boss has given me a ton of work, so I'll have to pass."

He smiled, shaking his head. "You are the studious assistant, aren't you?"

"Oh, you have no idea, but you will," I replied breathlessly.

"Stop talking right now, Marley," he said, holding his hand out in a sign of dismissal. I giggled the whole way back to the office as he clutched the steering wheel as if he were hanging from it.

He ordered lunch in for us, and I told Dillon to come by and grab a plate. I had no idea how Rick expected the two of us to consume two large pizzas. Dillon grabbed a seat at the edge of my desk and chewed on his pizza while I finished my reports. Rick relegated himself to his office, taking a few slices with him.

"Look at you, Marley Mason, rocking the jean skirt. A blast from the past," Dillon mused as he re-arranged the pepperoni on his slice of pizza.

I smiled. "It's Mom's."

"It's pretty cool. Tell me, kid, does Rick like it?"

I looked up at him. "I don't know. I don't think it's appropriate to ask my boss his opinion on my outfit." I trusted Dillon, but I didn't want to spill this secret just yet, although I suspected he already knew.

Dillon chuckled. "Come off it, kid. It's pretty obvious he digs your skirt. He wants to examine the stitching up close."

I reddened. "Dillon, shut the hell up, please. No one is examining my stitching." Did everything these days sound overtly sexual?

"Relax, Marley. I know it's obvious because I know you. It's not to anyone else. Hell, Kathy's practically planning to coerce the man in the bathroom."                       
       
           



       

"What? Seriously?"

Dillon chuckled, shaking his head. "He's the hottest thing to happen around here since the air conditioning went on the fritz last August, so yeah."

I swallowed. "That won't happen."

"Why?" Dillon replied, stopping his pepperoni rearranging to stare at my reaction.

"Because he's mine and I don't share," I hissed.

Dillon smiled widely. "Since when? You've never had a jealous bone in your body."

"Since him." It was stupid, because even I knew it was temporary. Still, Rick was temporally mine, and I wouldn't let Kathy interfere with that. She could have all the douchebag Doug's in the world, but she wouldn't ruin Rick for me.

"I thought so, don't worry, your secret's safe with me." I knew it was. Dillon wouldn't blab to anyone, not even my family. We had a deep-rooted friendship, which prevented us from intentionally hurting each other.

After Dillon had left, I found myself constantly glancing at the clock. It seemed like time was mocking me today, moving slower, prolonging my anguish. Kathy came in to see Rick about her ideas, and I felt like the clock wasn't the only thing tormenting me.

"Hi, Kathy," I greeted, faking a smile.

"Hi, Marley, nice skirt. Did you get it from a thrift store?" Oh-there's the Kathy I've grown to scorn.

"No, it's my mother's."

"Ah, well, it looks like it belongs in another decade."

Yeah, I'd like to punch you into another decade. "I'm glad you like vintage too, Kathy. I see you're trying to bring the girdle back all by yourself." It was snide, but I couldn't resist.

"I'm here for Rick," she said, walking past me. She'd actually said I'm here for Rick, not I'm here to see Rick. My mean girl senses were locked and loaded.

I called Rick, and he came out to receive Kathy.

"Rick, I'm so glad you made this suggestion. It's about time we got together for a little brainstorming session."

I rolled my eyes since she couldn't see me.

"Kathy, I'm anxious to hear your suggestions. Marley, hold my calls please."

I replayed the conversation from the elevator in my head. Was it possible I'd misinterpreted it, and he wanted her too, or worse, instead?

I looked over at his closed office door. Damn, it must have been soundproof because I couldn't hear a thing. I stared at the window to his office. The blinds were slanted open. I bet I could see right through them. That hideous plant was still beneath it. It looked pitifully sick with overgrown and yellowing leaves. I really needed to remove the dead leaves. After all, I knew from my informal knowledge of gardening that plants waste energy fruitlessly replenishing dying leaves. It was practically calling to me, begging me to help it. I walked over and bent down, pulling out a few leaves, then I raised my head so I could see into the opening of the blinds. Kathy's back was to me. She was sitting in a chair opposite Rick, who was seated behind his desk. She kept leaning towards him, using his desk as a personal pedestal for her ample cleavage.

He smiled amicably at her and nodded, even jotting down notes during the conversation. Then his gaze shifted … straight to me. I crouched right away underneath the window. Had he seen me? Maybe it was just my imagination. I rose up again. He smiled at her, but then glanced back at me. This time, I knew I hadn't imagined it. The best thing to do was to crawl back to my desk, but I wasn't done with the poor plant. It still needed my help. Besides, I couldn't look away. Kathy was after what was mine. I knew it.

I stood up on my knees and peeked again. I ducked down several more times when Rick glanced in my direction. I hoped I was faster than he was. I couldn't hear their conversation, but I sure could hear Kathy's shrill laugh. You would think Rick was a stand-up comedian the way she giggled at everything he said. Geez, he wasn't that funny. They stood, and I knew I should scoot my butt back to my desk, but I couldn't. She strutted towards him like a cat on the prowl. She opened her arms as if to embrace him, or possibly more. My knees felt cemented to the carpet. The movements appeared to happen in slow motion. She shifted closer to press her body to him and he … he held out his hand to her. I breathed a sigh of relief. He gave her a handshake. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, but she returned his handshake, allowing her hand to linger far too long.