26
The things Laura got up to lately no longer astonished Abbie. Her initial concerns had slowly developed into an abnormal curiosity of how far she would go with this and if she would, at any point, say no. They spent a good half hour over a coffee discussing both the meeting with Amelia Chambers and Andrew's role before Abbie ran out of questions.
"And you've got to do that, today?"
"That's what she said, look." Laura turned her laptop so that Abbie could read the email.
"Bloody hell, he'll think it's his birthday."
"Again." Laura added. In reality the task wasn't a big deal compared to what she'd been through already.
"But he's a slime-bag, doesn't that bother you?"
"That's what makes it more of a challenge. If he were some hunk that I could fancy it would be me who was being a sicko."
Abbie looked at her long and hard. "You're loving this aren't you?"
"No I am not! I'm saving the business, and all your jobs I might add. You should be grateful." Laura felt the heat of the blush spread to her cheeks. Abbie could read her like a book.
"Well I know somebody who's going to be very grateful. Come on then give me the bra." Abbie held out her hand.
"I can do it myself, I'll take it off in a minute."
"I'm not having you cheating, hand it over." Laura huffed, then pulled her blouse from her skirt, put her hands behind her back and undid the clasp. After a little twisting and stretching she pulled the bra out through her sleeve. "Now undo the top two buttons. We want this to be right."
"My God, you're not one of them now are you?" Laura said light heartedly.
"Just protecting my job, that's all." She made her way to the door swinging the bra round as she went. "I'll call him, tell him you want to see him. I won't tell him what for. I like watching him squirm. I'll tell him ten minutes."
As soon as Abbie left, Laura went to the cloakroom. Standing in front of the mirror she checked her clothing. The blouse wasn't see-through, but not far off. It wouldn't have been so obvious if those traitorous nipples hadn't turned to rock. Still, nothing she could do now. Returning to her desk she brought the presentation up on the screen and tried to think of some intelligent questions to ask. She couldn't concentrate enough to think of any before a knock on the door told her it was too late anyway.
"Laura, Shaun's here to see you." Abbie said, showing him in. She never did that normally. "Shall I bring some coffee through?" she asked, a big smile on her face.
"No, I think we'll be fine thank you, this won't take long." With her back to Shaun, Abbie made a point of looking at the front of Laura's blouse. She widened her eyes and lifted her eyebrows, then gave a discrete wink and made her way from the office. At the door she called back.
"If there's anything I can help with just call."
"Oh, Abbie," Laura said, "this afternoon, can you remind me to fire you?"
"Of course."
Shaun sat in silence listening to the banter. "What was all that about?"
"Take no notice of her, you know what she's like." Laura quickly changed the subject. "Now, about this presentation."
"The presentation?" There was an exhaling of breath and visible relief in his face.
"Yes, the presentation. What did you think you were here for?" She tried to be casual but knew exactly why he thought he was there.
"I just thought that, you know, I might not be needed here any more after...you know...the incident."
"Water under the bridge Shaun, just a misunderstanding, don't worry. Now about this presentation."
She spent the next few minutes facing Shaun across the desk, her folded arms protecting her modesty while they discussed the various options. Knowing what she had to do induced that now familiar activity down below.
Eventually she bit the bullet. "Let me show you what I've got done so far then." She opened the file on her laptop. He didn't take the bait. "Come and see." She left the screen in a vertical position so that he had to bend down to look over her shoulder. She talked him through the work she had done so far knowing that she hadn't got his full attention. His eyes spent most of the time looking down her blouse at the dark, hard nipples brushing against her silky blouse as she moved her arms. Quickly turning her head she saw his eyes flick towards the screen and his face redden.
"What do you think of it so far?" She asked.
"Er...very impressive...yes...very good." He gave a slight cough.
"I'm not very happy with this bit here." She said, taking her time to find the relevant part, knowing that once again, he would be taking in the view. "There, do you think that looks a bit amateurish?"
"No, I think it all looks good, I'd leave things just as they are." There was a slight tremor to his voice as he spoke.