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Absolutely stunning. Lily is the first woman in a long time that I’ve actually taken note of. Most women have been playthings for me since Carolyn. But not this one. And I don’t really know anything about her.
She looks good sitting at the Parnian U-shaped desk. We picked it out just for her. The dark walnut top is supported by varying colors of wood, inlaid in a swirl on the front of the desk. The bottom is cherry wood as well as the unit of shelving and drawers just behind her.
An amazing desk for an even more amazing woman
Sighing, I walk up to her desk, stopping for a minute. “Good morning, Lily.”
She looks up from her keyboard and smiles at me with those big green eyes. “Oh! Hi!” she says.
“Everything going okay so far?” I ask, almost losing myself in her gaze. “You know you can ask for help at any time, right?”
She nods her head emphatically, “Yes, I know. But I think I’m getting the hang of it. I’m a quick study.”
I’d like to study every inch of that rockin’ bod of yours. I smile, chasing away the lusty thoughts. “Alright, suit yourself.” I walk past her and into my office to see James sitting at my desk, heels propped up on the edge.
“Mornin,’” he says.
“Hello to you too,” I say, setting my things down.
The brooding look on James’s face tells me that we’re about to have a tussle, which happens often around here. He stands, holding a contract in his hand. “I suppose you think this is the best way for this contract to be done?”
I take the contract and peruse its contents. Handing it back, I say, “Yep.”
James shakes his head and looks at the floor. I’m standing between the two office chairs in front of my oak desk. He seems as if he’s going to go on one of his rampages about how this contract is going to get done.
“I don’t see it being finished by this date at all with the additions to the work orders. It’s either going to need to be changed to accommodate the requested date or the way it gets done,” he says, staring me in the eyes.
His demeanor frustrates me as he has always handled the financial aspects of the company and I handle the ‘how it gets done’ part of things and the engineers to do it. “What I don’t understand is why you keep trying to stick your big honker into my side of this company.”
“If you’d do it correctly, I wouldn’t have too, you big lug,” he replies nastily.
Good thing our staff is used to us handling business this way. None of them have really quit because of it, but no one can claim that they like it either.
Placing my hands in my pockets, I stare at James. If I could bore holes into his head and let the stupid leak out, I would.
“James,” I shake my head at him. “We always do this and I don’t get why.”
“The why involves the expense of the how,” he yells at me, “And that is my business!”
Losing my cool, I holler back at him, “Then maybe you should set a budget for each damned contract so I know how fucking much I can spend to get the project accomplished by the date!” I point at the papers in his hands.
“I shouldn’t need to set budgets for contracts, man,” I swipe at his face and he looks away from me.
“And why the hell not? You’re always in here or in your office complaining about some aspect of most any contract. People are people and they want things done quickly, but also done right!”
He turns back to me with fire in his eyes. “Yeah?”
James stops short and I see that he’s looking over my shoulder. I turn to see Lily there with a frustrated but quizzical look on her face.
I don’t know how long she had been standing there listening to us bicker back and forth, but it looks like it was more than a minute as she is leaning against the door frame with her arms folded across her chest.
“Can we keep it down to a low rumble in here?” she asks, appalled by our behavior.
James looks at me with chagrin planted firmly on his face. I also feel the heat rise to my cheeks, embarrassed that she heard us fighting. But she’ll be like the rest of the staff one day, knowing that things here do come to blows.
“We’ll do it how you’ve gotten it written this time,” James says.
“And perhaps you can at least estimate a cost for the contract from now on?” I ask.
