Our three compatriots seem to be in a much better mood today. “I was thinking about it a lot last night, and I’m really excited to hear what you have planned,” Jason says as he sits down.
“Good,” Chris says. “We’re excited to present it to you. It’s going to be hot, even if it’s cold as hell outside.”
The three of them chuckle, and I can already tell we’re off to a better start. I give Chris a smile to let him know he’s doing great as I hand out the packets I brought with me from Seattle. Inside are mock-ups of everything from subway ads to bus station posters to potential TV-spot scripts.
Chris has come up with a brilliant campaign. It’s all bright colors and vintage energy, featuring everything from fruit to pin-up girls with fun taglines and barely concealed innuendos. It’s a perfect match for the company, which is fun and funky and caters to a young demographic who’s in love with quirky media. I watch as Chris charms the marketing directors, and it’s the complete opposite of yesterday’s meeting. They’re talking and laughing, and totally engaged with the material that he’s presenting. I help him fill in gaps when it comes to implementation. I’ve worked with Maureen for three years and I’m intimately familiar with how our marketing campaigns get rolled out step by step. I tell them the most efficient timelines for some of bigger elements, and Chris looks impressed that I know all of the information off the top of my head.
It’s a shorter meeting than yesterday, but a far more vibrant one. All three of the executives are smiling when we’ve finished ninety minutes later. “Chris,” Jason says, standing and buttoning his suit jacket, “this is really fantastic. I’m going to take it to the higher-ups later today, and hopefully we’ll have a final meeting to finalize everything.”
He reaches out to shake Chris’s hand, and Chris takes it. I can see a small weight lift off his shoulders as he shakes everyone else’s hands. We put on our coats and say our goodbyes, and Chris nods to Jason. “I look forward to hearing from you.”
“We’ll be in touch.”
Chris and I hold it together until we exit the office, and then we’re beaming at each other. “That was great,” I say.
He shakes his head in wonder. “I’ve never felt like that during a presentation. I could really tell that we were connecting on the material.”
“It was perfect,” I say. “Really.”
“Thank you for your help,” he says. “I think the way you described our workflow really helped them understand how we’re able to get done things effectively.”
“No problem,” I say, but inside I’m glowing. I knew that he would change his mind about whether I could do this job.
We pile onto the tiny elevator, and Chris presses the button for the bottom floor. But no sooner do we start to move than Chris hits the stop button. His briefcase hits the floor and then I’m pressed against one of the mirrored walls, his mouth on mine. “Chris,” I say, “what are you doing?”
He chuckles. “I would have thought that was obvious.”
A small hesitant thought flows through me, and I have to make sure. I ask, “After a meeting like that you need to blow off steam?”
He pulls back, his eyes full of heat. “This has nothing to do with blowing off steam,” he says. “I want you, and I can’t wait.”
Something in my chest eases and I surrender to the dance of our hands as we shuffle our clothing and Chris—already fully hard—puts on a condom. Seeing him so ready for me, knowing that he’s unable to wait even till we get back to the privacy of the hotel room, it makes me wet. And when Chris lifts me, pressing me into one of the mirrors and guides me down onto him, I can’t help but say, “Fuck, yes.”
He’s so turned on, that I know this isn’t going to take long. I look across the elevator and catch my own reflection. I never knew that watching somebody fuck you could be so hot, but it is. I watch his back as Chris thrusts up into me, the feeling of his cock in this different position, but just as deliciously filling. He reaches between us, working my clit with his fingers, and it sends my body into overdrive.
The combination of everything, the danger, the sight of him fucking me, and his body inside me drive me right to the edge. He strokes me with a skill that almost seems like it’s been made for me, and I come on his hand. I let my head fall forward onto his shoulder, surrendering to the orgasm as he plunges into me once more, twice, and comes with a final groan. This pleasure is hot and sharp, slicing through me and leaving me wanting more. He slips out of me, and lets me back down the floor. I readjust my skirt and underwear while he takes care of his own clothes. When we’re presentable, he pushes the start button again, and the elevator chugs downward. The door opens on the ground floor for to a line of people waiting to use it, and Chris and I glance at each other, barely able to contain our laughter as we head out to the street to call a cab.
When we get back to the hotel we chat for a while, rehashing the meeting, sharing a couple more stories about our lives. I told him about how my bad pottery class led to my job at Ellison media, and he told me about his first pitch meeting with Chelsea Miller when he tried to hand her a pen and it exploded all over her. She ended up laughing hysterically, which is why he thinks she likes him so much.
But later, Chris decides to go to the gym, while I take a nap. I’m more exhausted from last night’s play time than I’m ever going to admit to him. When I wake up from the nap, I feel so much better, and I can hear Chris taking a shower. I glance at the clock, and I see that it’s been a couple of hours. Perfect. In a little while Chris offered to take me to dinner so we can get to know each other in a more traditional manner. It’s really a date, which tickles me, because I never actually thought that I would have a date with Christopher Flintlock. But now that I do, it fills my chest with a happy warmth.
I close my eyes, content to doze until Chris gets out of the shower, when I hear his phone ring. It’s coming from over on the table where he left it. I listen to see if it seems like he’s wrapping up in the shower, but I can’t tell. For all I know that could be Jason, telling us the fate of the deal. I try to get up but my feet get tangled in the sheets and I stumble. I try to get across the room before the ringing ends, but I’m not successful. When I pick up the phone it says ‘One missed call.’
But a few seconds later the voicemail icon pops up. I click it immediately. If it’s Jason, Chris will want to know right away.
It’s not Jason.
Instead, I hear the familiar voice of Maureen. “Hi Chris, it’s Maureen. We got the message about how unhappy you are with Scarlett. You were right, sending her was a mistake in the first place. She’s not ready for this. We finally have someone well enough to take her place. So, since your trip is almost over, let me know if you need them to take a late flight to New York tonight. But whatever the case, we’ll get Scarlett on the first plane home. Talk to you soon.”
I stare at the phone like it’s an alien that just dropped from the sky. What? What message is she talking about? Has Chris been hiding the fact that he’s really unhappy with my contributions so he could keep the peace and get rid of me? That would make the most sense. We had to be in close quarters because of the room situation, and he didn’t want to turn it ugly by telling me I was bad at my job even if I was. On top of that, he chose to take advantage of me. I’ll be lucky if I still have a job when I get back to Seattle. First I didn’t perform well, and then I performed way too well in the one way colleagues aren’t supposed to. My own phone chimes from my coat, and I know that Maureen has sent me the details of my flight back.
There’s a pain in my chest and I give it a beat to sit there before I shove it away. If this what he wants, fine. I’m bigger than this. I can handle it. I can go back to the central office and pick up whatever pieces he left me. But I don’t want to have to see him before I do it. I didn’t bring many things with me, so it takes only a few minutes to throw everything into my suitcase. I leave my key on the table, and I throw on my coat. The water of the shower is still running as I leave him behind.
11
Chris
I come out of the bathroom to a strange kind of silence. “Scarlett?”
She’s nowhere to be seen in the small suite, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. She could have gone down the hall to the vending machines. I cross to my clothes and something gives me pause. My phone is on the coffee table. Before I went down to the gym I had left it on the table. I glance towards her room, and a sickening sense of foreboding settles in my gut. Her room is empty. Not just that she’s not in it, her things are gone. Her suitcase, everything that she had stashed on the bedside table.
What the fuck?
I pick up the phone. Nothing looks out of the ordinary, but if my phone is the only thing of mine that moved, than it has to be part of the reason she left. I didn’t think she would just leave without saying goodbye. I thought we were having a good time, that we were both looking forward to dinner. I can’t think when I’m still dripping wet. I throw on some jeans and a t-shirt, opening my phone again. I see there’s a phone call from when I was in the shower. Scarlett answered my phone? Well yeah, idiot, she might have if she thought that it was Jason calling about the deal and you weren’t there to answer. But the missed call isn’t from Jason, it’s from the Seattle office.