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As much as she hated this job—knew she wouldn’t be here next week—she couldn’t help herself. She tried to organize what she could in the little time she found for herself. She couldn’t stand the disorganization. She hadn’t lied to him when she said others called her anal at her other job. She was always organizing the files at that place as well. She knew some of those jokers she worked with purposely put things away wrong to see if she would put it back correctly. She did. It was a compulsion she couldn’t control.
Throwing her purse strap on her shoulder, her eye caught the empty coffee cup in her trash can. She still had a bit of a shock that he asked her to join him. The ride down the elevator had been awkward, to say the least. But once outside, they had meshed into an easy conversation.
She wasn’t sure how it happened, but one minute they were talking about the fresh air, then the next, they were talking about baseball. She loved baseball, and she loved her home team. Surprisingly, so did he. Not that she was surprised a New Yorker loved their home team, but that he enjoyed baseball. He worked so much, she didn’t think he made the time to enjoy anything.
That fact alone made her like him just a little bit. Which was a very bad thing. She didn’t need to develop feelings for her friend’s boyfriend. He had tiny moments when he could spark the desire in her. She hated the feeling every single time. Only two days with the man and she found herself daydreaming about what it would be like if he was her boyfriend.
But that’s where problems started. Nothing could happen between them. Absolutely nothing. Her friendship with Mia was worth more than just a guy. She would never ruin what she had with Mia for anything. Not only would he be considered a cheater and liar, so would she.
Yet, sometimes it was hard to get his face out of her mind and the soft way he touched her. She almost froze in place when his hand hit her back. His touch scorched right through her shirt straight to her skin. She had wished for her shirt to magically disappear and for his hand to glide up her back and to her front. Of course, she had been glad when he let her go. His touch had made her lose her focus, the ability to function like a simple step forward. It was a very good thing he urged her forward; otherwise, she didn’t think she would have made one step.
She walked to the double set of doors and knocked. She opened the doors when a loud voice told her she could enter.
“I’m leaving for the night. You should walk down with me.” She didn’t want to see the tired lines on his face tonight. She didn’t want to leave him alone with his work for his only company. Even with his abruptness and rudeness at times, she didn’t want to see him working so hard by himself.
“I still have things I need to get done. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ms. Stileano. Thank you for another great day. I do believe you’re the best secretary I’ve ever had.”
He smiled at her. A full-blown smile that suddenly made her feel guilty.
She was lying to him. She would be quitting by Friday, thereby leaving him secretary free again. He would have to interview more people for the position. She could already imagine the torture he would go through in doing so. He was a very particular man. Very set in his ways. She wasn’t sure how she managed to mesh with him so well in such a short amount of time. But she did. They made an excellent team. She would be destroying all of that soon.
Sure, his regular secretary would be back in a few months after her maternity leave was over, but he needed someone else in the meantime. She hated how she’d be letting him down.
“Don’t work too late tonight. You need downtime sometimes.”
His face fell into a frown, rubbing his whiskered chin delicately. “What can I say? When you have nothing to go home to, work seems to be the only solace.”
“What about your girlfriend?”
What about Mia? Was he saying Mia was nothing? How dare he! Mia was an amazing person, full of life, full of fun and laughter. Which made her realize, these two were complete opposites. Sort of like he and she would be complete opposites.
“Good night, Ms. Stileano. Close the door…please.”
Too shocked by his words and his refusal to answer her question, she did as he asked. She closed the door and walked out.
She changed her opinion, just like that.
He was cheating on Mia. Cheating on her with his work. Maybe she wouldn’t have to come back tomorrow. Maybe that would satisfy Mia. She deserved better.
3
To Gabby’s great annoyance, Mia found nothing wrong with him ignoring the question or his words that he had nothing to go home to. She said they weren’t living together, so he had nothing to go home to unless he knew she would be there. She had a late show that night and couldn’t make any plans with him.
Mia worked backstage doing costume and makeup for a small theater. She hoped one day to move up to the big leagues on the big Broadway plays. But for now, she was happy working where she was. She worked with some talented people who made her job worth walking into every day. And Mia loved dressing up. She didn’t care she wasn’t dressing herself up. As long as she had someone to beautify, she was a happy camper.
Instead of finishing her vacation putzing around her apartment or taking in the sights, it was a beautiful city not to enjoy now and again, she returned to her job, to the man who started penetrating her nightly dreams.
She tried her hardest to keep her focus on the notepad in front of her instead of his handsome face when he needed her to dictate a few things. But it was a hard thing to do. His eyes lit up with excitement as he talked, his hands making motions in every direction. It’s as if he needed to talk with his hands, impossible to keep them by his sides.
Every day, he inquired whether she wanted to join him for a cup of coffee. It took her by surprise as it had the first time. But unlike the first time, the elevator ride wasn’t awkward or stilted. She found herself laughing with him. Laughing. She had no idea he had such a boisterous laugh, he barely smiled.
They didn’t talk about anything personal. They talked about baseball, the crazy things going on in the news, a book she recently read—which in turn made him mention a book he also read. She didn’t know when he had time to read. She knew he always stayed late at the office. Sometimes she wondered if he stayed until the next morning. But she knew that wasn’t possible as he always had a new suit and tie on the next day.
A suit and tie that fit every delicious inch of him.
Talking about reading had her thinking about Mia’s dislike for reading before sex. Which had her thinking about sex. Which had her thinking about sex with him. She couldn’t dispel how many times she pictured him taking her across his desk and having his wild way with her. There were a few times she had to back up from his desk to stop the urge to fling herself across the desk.
She couldn’t be any more excited that it was officially Friday. Her last day of work. Even with all the times they shared talking, although never getting too personal, she still had no concrete evidence that he was cheating on Mia. Her gut, though she didn’t like what he said a few days ago, still didn’t think he was a cheater. And that’s exactly what she would tell Mia. She would also tell her that she should move on from him. For two reasons.
