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Chapter Four
It was casual Friday,which was always Sera’s busiest day. Business casual and what you would wear to the bar to look for a fun night were not the same thing. But so many people had to be reminded of that every week—every week!
This was the reason she wore the same thing every day; no business casual for her. Not that she even thought about it after twelve years. Friday was just another day. Some weeks, it was the worst day of the week. Sera was happy with her gray skirt and lighter gray blouse; she liked to dress in black, white, and gray. At home, she wore everything but black. She didn’t even have black jeans. It was color, color everywhere when she was home.
Her only issue with today’s outfit was that she felt it smelt a little like bacon, as in Filet Mignon. Harper and Lucy had served it the week before at a private luncheon. One of her daughters had to have worn the skirt as she early-morning prepped before her second job. Last year, Sera had found her a personal assistant job that went from 4 a.m. until noon; perfect for a caterer … until said caterer borrowed her clothes and prepped in them, leaving her hungry and smelling all day.
At least they were happy with what they did. Her only goal as a mom was to have happy kids, and so far, she’d succeeded without using the pressure some parents put on kids.
Of course, Harrison’s personal assistant, Kylie Nash, was on her list this week about her clothes, just like the week before. Walking into Harrison Dean’s outer office, she was happy the couple wasn’t having sex. Not that she thought that they had sex all the time, but what was the difference between a conference room and an office? It was casual Friday, and from what she’d heard about what Kylie was wearing, it was very casual Friday.
Pushing into the office, she saw the younger woman at her desk. Kylie’s eyes were on her phone, and she wasn’t even pretending to work. If Sera wasn’t looking at close to fifty percent of her breasts, she would talk to the woman about what she did on company time. Instead, it was the breasts that steered the conversation.
“Kylie, we need to talk,” she said to the younger woman … again.
“Mr. Dean and I have stopped our relationship.” The younger woman looked up from her phone finally—she had no common sense at all.
“I hope so, Kylie. It’s inappropriate, as is that dress.” Sera looked at the red cocktail dress that left nothing to the imagination, and when she sat, everyone knew she wasn’t wearing panties. Or at least the three people who called her about it had noticed. At fucking work!
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Lovely.” Always with the “Mrs. Lovely” like she was a schoolteacher. But then again, the woman was twenty years old. Most likely, she had encountered teachers in the last two years. “I have a date tonight, and I don’t have time to change before it.”
A date surprised Sera since Kylie was supposed to be having a relationship with Harrison. Or maybe it was just a work thing, and they both had different partners in their personal life. Gross.
“That is not an acceptable excuse. When this happens, just change in the bathroom after you clock out. There’s no need to wear that dress all day.” She tried to explain what anyone should be able to figure out.
“Mr. Dean said it was okay this morning.” She crossed her arms, and Sera was sure she was about to see some major boobage; one was sure to bounce free at any moment. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last, but she always wished it was.
“Mr. Dean knows better, Kylie. Maybe you should just stick to business attire all the time. You’re having a hard time with business casual,” Sera reiterated.
Looking into Kylie’s light blue doe eyes, Sera was planning for another night of drinks. After so many drinks, tomorrow would be an issue, but that was another day.
“What can I help you with today, Seraphina?” Harrison asked. He always called her by that name, to her annoyance.
It was the name parents gave to their children that they didn’t want to grow any older than eleven. That was the age she stopped using it, and at thirty-six, she knew she should have changed it years before. Only Harrison called her it now, and he only did it because he knew she hated it. That was how he was.
“Just was telling Kylie here that her dress is inappropriate for work.” She liked that Harrison at least never did casual Friday either. It seemed to be the one thing they both agreed on.
Mostly, he didn’t like her, and she had no idea what she had done to deserve his bad side. She knew she’d been nothing but nice to him. Unless he truly needed to be talked to, she didn’t. In fact, over the years, she had let him slide on some issues because he was a partner at the firm. Only when he really needed it did she bring it up to him.
“I told her you said it was okay.” Kylie rushed to his side. For his part, he stepped away when she got too close.
“I didn’t say it was exactly okay. I said it was okay this time,” Harrison said to Kylie, not to Sera, talking to her like she was a child.
“I don’t think it’s okay this time, Harrison.” Sera pointed out.
How could he not see that her outfit was completely unacceptable for the office? It was almost unacceptable for a date.
“You know what, Kylie? Seraphina is absolutely correct. You can take the rest of the day off, and don’t wear that dress here again.”
Sera’s eyes swung to the man in amazement. Did he just do that? Just let her have over half a day off for misbehaving? It wasn’t the first time she had done this, so she knew coming in that she was in the wrong.
“Thanks, Harrison.” Kylie actually squealed and rushed over to Harrison and hugged him before he could move away from her—if he was even going to.
Sera watched her hug him for a beat too long. To his credit, he didn’t touch her. Then she gathered her stuff and was gone as fast as anyone would go if they were suddenly given a day off for no reason—especially one who should’ve been punished.
“Did you just reward her for wearing a cocktail dress to her job?” She spun on him, so angry she could barely breathe.
“I did not. Her dress was inappropriate, so I sent her home.” Harrison defended.
