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Opening her mouth, Stacy wasn’t sure what to say, so she gulped down whatever she’d been given. Her eyes watered slightly, and she started to cough.
“You weren’t supposed to gulp it, sweetie.”
Stacy would’ve responded, but she didn’t think she could speak.
“Does Demetri know any of this?” Stacy shook her head, still trying to get used to the burning that flooded her chest as the drink made its way through her body.
In front of her, she heard Ms. Pope set her glass on the desk. A few seconds later she felt her boss pull her up from the chair. An arm wrapped around her shoulders, and she was guided out of the office and back to the waiting room.
When she saw Tina, who looked a little blurry thanks to the tears still in her eyes from the strong liquor she’d just guzzled, Stacy could see the concern on her friend’s face.
“Tina,” Ms. Pope said in a very no-nonsense tone.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I want you out of the office for the rest of the day. I’ll change your calendar and reschedule all appointments. Your duty for the day is to make sure Stacy gets drunk.”
“I’m sorry?” Tina asked. Stacy couldn’t blame her. She wasn’t sure she’d heard the woman correctly either.
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“After everything she’s been through, she deserves a little bender. But I want you to stay sober. I know you two have gotten close. Don’t let her do anything you don’t think she would do while sober. Am I clear?”
“Yes...”
“Good. Give me a call if you encounter any problems. And make sure she gets some lunch in her. Something with a lot of bread.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tina chuckled, putting her arm around Stacy as Ms. Pope released her.
“You girls go have fun. Now, get out of here before your next appointment arrives.”
Without another word, Tina ushered Stacy out of the office.
“Wow,” Tina whispered as they approached the elevator. “She really must like you...”
* * * * * *
“Fuck them. Who needs men?”
“Uh-huh,” Tina nodded her head. “And what prompted this attitude?”
Stacy looked away from her friend. While the other woman had gone to the bathroom, she’d tried to call Demetri and gotten his voicemail. She of course neglected to leave a message. And did it matter that it was the middle of the day and he was probably in meetings with his clients? Nope.
“Nothing. I just decided I’m giving men up.” She took a large sip of the nearly full fruity drink in front of her. When she set the glass back down, it was over half empty. “Are you sure this has alcohol in it, ‘cause I can’t taste any.” Finding a bar that would serve them with no questions asked at such an early time hadn’t been as hard as Stacy had believed it would be.
“Yeah, trust me, it’s got alcohol. Though depending on what Ms. Pope gave you in her office, I’m not surprised you can’t taste it. She may have completely numbed all your taste buds for the next week.”
“No. ‘Cause this tastes like...” She smiled when she thought of how she wanted to describe the drink. “Tropical punch.” She nodded for emphasis. “But I won’t be veered away from the subject at hand. Men are... Okay, I don’t know what they are, but I’m done with them. And don’t think just because Demetri is a total hottie that he can just come in here and sweep me off my feet. Nope, that’s not happening again. That ship has sailed. And Jack... Well, the man did things to me that had me practically begging—he is definitely more than a minute man, hell, I think he’s more than an hour man—but nope, he’s cut off too. Nope. I’m entering a convent. Go ahead and start calling me Sister Stacy. Well, except for the clothes. I need more variety than your basic black. And those things they wear—that cover all their hair, yeah, that would have to go too.
“And the religious thing. Can you still even enter a church if you’ve sold your soul to the job? Okay, even though she said she didn’t want my soul. Hell, that’s about all she doesn’t want. My mind, my body, my blood, all of it belongs to the company. And she had to just go and ask me all sorts of bad questions about feelings and such. I mean, can’t a girl just ask to have her emotions suppressed and not have to deal with the whys? I mean, if I could deal with the whys, would I have asked for it in the first place? Which of course just leads me back to the original topic of men. And what they won’t be doing with me anymore.”
Tina laughed. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Especially today. Here Stacy was trying to give her friend sage wisdom, and the woman laughed at her. But that wouldn’t stop her from giving her advice. It was her duty.
“What? Okay, so maybe I can’t tell some of them that they can’t do whatever they want with my body. Damn job. But you know, that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it. And I won’t. It’ll just be another thing I have to do. Like...typing, or filing or....stapling.”
“You know,” Tina took a sip of her clear soda. “If I hadn’t been told to help you get drunk, I’d be cutting you off right about now.”
“Cutting me off from what? I swear, I don’t think this drink has any alcohol in it. Why is my cup empty?” Looking at the glass on the table in front of her, Stacy tried to remember drinking the rest of her drink and couldn’t. Of course she could barely remember when they’d gotten to the bar. Had they been there for hours or just a few minutes? Had she drank more than one of the fruity treats?
