“What happened now?”I asked, moving to peek at him around his monitor.
“Another article.I’ll send the link.”
He sent it to the group that included Konni.I skimmed fast.
Another desperate smear campaign, questioning how someone with my general business degree out-designed seasoned designers.It hinted at plagiarism, idea stealing, and upper management corruption.
Prior to Kaya’s live videos, hate and consensus to fire me would have filled the comment section.Now, I saw a shift.People were questioning who I’d angered, citing the data leak, house fire, and the fall into the lake as too many coincidental incidents to be anything but intentional targeting.
“Take it down,” Konni called from his office.
“Hold that thought,” I said to Edi as I hurried from my desk.
Konni watched me enter and close the door.
“You want it to stay,” he said, guessing my intent.
I clasped my hands under my chin and pretended to plead.“Pretty please?”
He had me against the door a second later, kissing me hungrily until he stopped for some dragon rubbing.
“Is it okay to talk about work when you do this or rude?”
He chuckled.“I’d double my efforts if I were trying to do more than ease my need to touch you right now.Tell me what’s on your mind.”
While rubbing my hands over his back to help his neediness, I told him about the comments pointing to Kaya’s live posts and the growing speculation about the news I’d been in lately.
“The comments prove that people see this article for what it is.I think we should let it ride, at least for a while, to see what happens.Promoting press releases while suppressing controversial pieces will only make it look like we have something to hide.”
He kissed the side of my neck, blazing a path to my mouth.When I was breathless and reconsidering my “no office sex” stance, he eased up.
“Okay.We’ll leave it.Tonight, you can reward me for giving in to you so well.”
My hair wasn’t as neat when I left Konni’s office, but none of the Snack Pack commented.They just acknowledged the decision to keep the article up and talked about taking shifts to monitor the comments throughout the night.
“It’s not that serious, guys,” I said.“Haters will hate, and the more we try to shut them up, the louder they’ll get.If you want to check it before you go to bed, fine, but no alarms or shifts.”
When we got home, Kaya was ready with her phone.Rather than doing another live, she wanted to take photos to celebrate the Southside contract signing.
After dinner, the moms quietly debated which photos to upload while Konni and I washed dishes.He was moving fast, and I knew why.
“Done,” Kaya said as he set the last dish on the drying rack.
The look in his eyes said he’d run out of patience and wanted to steal me away.I wasn’t the only one who saw it.
“Make sure to check the post before he distracts you,” Kaya said.
He stole my phone, plucked me off my feet, and strode away with me.
I didn’t hate Konni’s need for my undivided attention after work, not when he gave me so much of his in return.Which was why I didn’t even think of checking my phone until the next morning when Edi called.
Konni put him on speaker so he could quietly kiss my neck.
“Steele security called a few minutes ago.They stopped someone outside the building with a bucket of red paint.Security already contacted the police.Felix is involved.Nothing else happened overnight.The negative comments on yesterday’s press release decreased after Mrs.Steele’s post.”
“Thanks for the update, Edi,” I said before Konni hung up.
I grabbed my phone and saw Kaya’s post with photos from the night before.
