Chapter 9: an Immodest Proposal

Tuesday 2:25 pm

Something yanked me out of one of the best sleeps I'd experienced in a long time. Disoriented, I looked around the room and started taking stock of my situation - four walls, a desk, two chairs pushed into the corner... I was in an office, and I was alone.

A sound went off and I immediately identified it as what woke me up.

Trying to remember what had happened to me and what had interrupted such a good sleep was next to impossible; I sat up, hoping that would clear my head. Whatever I was sleeping on clung to my skin and resisted being peeled away as I rose off my back. I finally registered the fact that I was naked on a leather couch. I spotted my clothes carelessly thrown about on the carpeted floor.

The sound erupted again. What the hell was that noise? Buzzing?

And where was Helen? Why was I alone?

There it was again - my phone.

My phone vibrated against my desktop once more, and I climbed to a standing position to get it, feeling weird about being completely naked in my office. Grabbing my phone, I blinked sleepily at the number on the screen. I didn't recognize it.

Against my better judgment, I answered, "Hello?"

As I answered, I reached around to scratch my lower back. The leather from the couch had practically smothered my skin, making it itch as it was exposed to the cool air. I glanced over my shoulder and out the window behind the couch, squinting at the light of what appeared to be afternoon. I wasn't concerned that my bare ass was on display to the world. Only someone from one of the far buildings who had a pair of binoculars and knew where to point them could see it, and as far as I was concerned, if anyone went through that much effort, they deserved a look.

"Is this Marcus Upton?" a feminine voice I vaguely recognized asked on the other side of the line.

"Yeah. Who's this?" I probably sounded more gruff than intended, but it usually took me a little more time to wake up before becoming fully human.

"This is Ashlee VanCamp. I work for Yunger, Price, and VanCamp. We met yesterday?"

"Oh right. The bathroom." Had that only been a day ago?

There was a nervous titter from the other end. "Yes sir."

Wait a second... did she say VanCamp? As in the same last name as one of the partners? The same last name as Helen's? That jump-started my brain more than any coffee could have, and I suddenly found myself wide awake.

When I didn't immediately respond, she continued, "So, I hear we're going to be working for you."

I gathered my clothes and started to put them on. "Yep. That's right. Helen's been great at walking me through all my different assets. She convinced me that since you guys are so familiar with my estate, it only made sense to keep you. It was a pretty convincing argument."

"I'm sure she did," Ashlee said. Did I detect a hint of something in her tone? My head was still a little too fuzzy to make out what it was.

"Well, since you're going to continue to hire our services," she continued. "I need to collect your signature and initials on some paperwork. Would you be able to meet today?"

I shook my head as if she could see my non-verbal reaction - I'd spied a note on the edge of the desk that had distracted me.

Marcus, thank you for a wonderful afternoon. I would have roused you before I left, but you were sleeping so peacefully. I've left to prepare Erin for her job and to finalize your relationship with our firm. We'll talk soon.

-Yours, Helen

There are some mints in the top left drawer.

My eyes lingered on the word 'Yours', and I couldn't help but grin.

"Mr. Upton?"

"Oh," I said, suddenly remembering I was on the phone. "I can't make it over to the firm today, I'm afraid. It's a bit of a drive, and I have a few things to do."

"That's okay," she quickly cut in. "I can come to you."

I hesitated, "I... maybe?"

I wanted to check on Natalie and see how she was settling into her new role, not that she would have had time to do much. She was likely still getting her office set up. In truth, I was just interested in seeing Natalie.

"Not in the office though," I said. For some reason, the thought of Ashlee and Natalie being in the same building made me recoil... as if their seeing each other would cause me to lose whatever potential opportunity I had with Natalie. Considering what I'd been up to in my office for the last twenty-four hours, it was an unreasonable thought. Would Natalie be interested in pursuing something if she knew what I'd done with Helen? Would she recoil in disgust if she knew what I did with Bobbi? Still, until I got a better idea of what Natalie was feeling, I needed to exercise caution. Surely having to deal with the added optics of Ashlee suddenly showing up would potentially make things worse.

"That's alright. I understand wanting to get out of the office after being cooped up there all morning. There's a coffee shop half a block from you in the Valance building. Would you be interested in meeting me there in about forty-five minutes?"

This girl wasn't giving up. I checked my phone - it was 2:30 in the afternoon.

"Yeah," I said as I finished getting my clothes on, discarding the tie completely. "You know what? Coffee sounds good. I'll see you there."

"Sure thing," she said. I couldn't mistake the excitement in her voice. "What would you like? In case I beat you there, I'll go ahead and order for you."

I gave her my order and then we said goodbye. I pulled open a drawer on the desk and found the mints Helen had mentioned. Popping one, I considered my encounter with Ashlee in the bathroom. I was almost sure she was trying to seduce me when she followed me in there, but she'd been interrupted so early in the attempt by Helen that I couldn't be completely sure. The information that Ashlee was a VanCamp also brought that whole situation into a new light and raised some questions. What was the relationship between Helen and Ashlee? Were they related? That thought stirred something deep down in me, but I quashed that quickly. Helen had been so good to me, and the thought of doing anything with Ashlee without checking in with her made me uneasy.

But then again... why hadn't Helen revealed the connection between her and Ashlee? Surely she knew what the younger woman had been attempting in the bathroom. Hadn't she implied as much?

I pondered the puzzle as I made my way to the elevator to descend several stories to where I'd spent the last year of my life. By the time I was on the analytics floor surrounded by the din of mid-afternoon work-day craziness, thoughts of Ashlee and Helen were fading to the back of my mind. I wound the corridors of cubicles, saying hey to all of my old workmates, who greeted me with all sorts of reactions.

Several of them stared slack-jawed at me through their cubicle windows as I passed by. One of those was my old neighbor Gerald, and I made it a point to stop by his office. "Hey, man. I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing."

"Um... I'm fine," he said, spinning in his chair to look at me. I glanced down the hall to see several others watching the two of us. A few of them were whispering to each other.

I turned my attention back to Gerald and said, "Good to hear it. So, what's the deal with everyone? What have you guys heard?"

"Well," Gerald said, "I haven't heard much. You rushed out of here midday on Friday and next thing everyone knows, you showed up yesterday around lunch with Andrew and some important-looking people and headed right into Gina's office. The whole floor was buzzing over that," he chuckled.

"Then you came out of the office twenty minutes later and left. An hour and a half later, Andrew escorted Gina off the floor with all her stuff. Then I heard Natalie was called up to the executive floor. Then Bobbi. I didn't see Bobbi again, but Michael said he saw her as she was leaving and she looked pissed. Then Natalie started moving her stuff into Gina's office near closing time. She's been in there all morning setting things up. Sounds like we have a new boss."

That was the most I'd ever heard Gerald say in one sitting in my entire time working for this company. He was a simple man who liked stability and predictability. His recounting of events with more than a sentence was a testament to how much his world had been rocked in the last twenty-four hours.

"Yeah," I responded, feeling a bit bad about causing such an upheaval to the crew without telling them. "I bought the company yesterday and moved fast. Gina was bad for us, so I decided to change that with someone who deserved her spot. I'm sorry for any concern I caused you guys."

He raised his coffee cup at me. "No one liked Gina. Everyone likes Natalie. It was a good call."

That was the Gerald I knew.

"Thanks, bud," I said. "Could you do me a favor and spread the word that no one else is getting canned? The team does good work and I want them to know it. Natalie is going to be evaluating everyone, but I'm pretty confident we can look at pay bumps for most everyone."

"Hopefully not everyone. There's Hank in logistics. Fuck that guy."

My eyebrows raised in absolute surprise. I'd never heard Gerald swear before.

But he was right. Hank was an absolute tool and a waste of space.

I pointed a finger at Gerald. "You're right. Fuck Hank. He's gone."

Gerald grinned at me and I shot a grin back. "Okay thanks, man. I'm going to see Natalie now. Have a good one."

I made my way down the hall and arrived at Gina's old office. The door was closed and, I spotted her name emblazoned across it. I made a mental note to make sure that was changed as soon as possible.

I knocked on the door. "Come in," was the response, and I obliged.

I didn't see Natalie at first, which threw me off considering I'd just heard her command to enter, but then I noticed shadows under her desk. I shut the door behind me and moved around the desk to see her on her knees plugging some hanging cables into the computer tower sitting on the floor. The three monitors on her desk flickered to indicate they'd been connected successfully.

She was wearing a black skirt that did wonders for her ass as she was bent over on all fours. The hem reached about two-thirds of the way up her thighs, teasing me with thoughts of what lay just a few inches outside of view. I imagined pressing my palm to the bare skin of her inner thigh and slowly working my way between her legs. In my imagined scenario, I saw her legs part a fraction of an inch, inviting me to explore deeper. I fantasized about the heat radiating from her groin and wondered how moist her panties would be as they covered her pussy.

I was pulled out of my momentary reverie when Natalie looked over her shoulder, saw me standing there, and broke out in a large smile. Extracting herself from under her desk, she stood up, smoothing out her skirt; it now fell to a much more reasonable length, coming to a halt just above her knees. It was complemented by a sleeveless knit top that left her shoulders and arms bare. I wanted to slip behind her, wrap my arms around her slender waist, and place soft kisses on those naked shoulders.

"Hey there," she said.

"Hey yourself," I shot back. I could feel my grin getting bigger. I was smitten with this woman.

"Welcome to my office," she said. I noticed that she kept fidgeting with her fingers, folding them in front of her in a way that made her look a little on the defensive. The tension from her tempered the joy, and I felt my stomach twist in knots. Had I already ruined my chances with her somehow?

To reduce the tension, I looked around the room. "I like what you've done with the place. The last person in here had horrible taste." In reality, aside from the desk, everything looked the same. She generously chuckled at my lame joke, and I felt some of the tension drain out of the room.

"How are you feeling about it all?"

Natalie didn't answer immediately. She looked up at me with those big brown eyes, searching for something... maybe more meaning behind my question. Finally, she said, "I'm a bit nervous. I mean, yesterday, I was just an analyst. Today I'm a boss. I've never had a position like this."

Without thinking, I reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was a familiar thing I'd done plenty of times when offering her comfort. This time, however, as my hand touched her bare skin, it was like touching an emotional live wire. My heart was doing flips in my stomach, and it was all I could do to keep my hand in place and not run it over her bare skin. I gave it a light squeeze.

"You're going to be amazing. You know the business, the company, and ninety percent of the clients. You really are the best person for this job."

"This all just happened so fast," she said.

I wasn't sure what to say. It was hard to think... she was too distracting. Natalie had always been good with her makeup, using just enough to accentuate her large brown eyes, plush lips, and the high cheekbones she'd inherited from the Native American on her father's side. She'd done an impeccable job today, and I was having a hard time concentrating on anything else aside from how freaking gorgeous she was.

I lost track of how many seconds passed as we stared at each other, but in my distraction, I absentmindedly started running my thumb across the bare skin of her shoulder.

"We kissed," she finally said.

I nodded as I replayed that moment our lips touched after I gave her the job. It had been a sweet, mutual moment that had given me hope for the future. "We did."

She glanced down at the floor, obviously contemplating her next words. Then she looked back up at me with those big doe-eyes and bit her bottom lip. When I didn't volunteer anything else, she placed a hand on my chest.

"Are we going to do it again?"

That was enough of an invitation for me. I leaned forward and pressed my mouth to hers as I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her into me. Her full lips felt like soft pillows that threatened to smother mine, and once again I was too distracted by her to think about the next step in this little dance. Natalie took the initiative, and I felt her soft tongue lap at my lips, begging me to grant her access to my mouth. What started as a sweet, kiss full of warmth and promise turned into a passionate, open-mouthed game of tag as our tongues chased each other. I pulled her tightly into me and reveled at the feeling of her large, sweater-encased breasts pressed into my chest. The hand I'd had on her shoulder slid to her upper back where I tried to crush her even harder against me. Then I slipped it even higher to the back of her neck, massaging it gently as we continued to make out.

I wanted her. I wanted her more than I'd wanted anything in my goddamned life.

Minutes ticked by as we continued to make out. I felt her tongue pin mine down and slide across it, exploring the roof of my mouth as if she were trying to taste the entire thing. Then she captured my lips between her fuller ones and sucked on them. Natalie was an aggressive kisser, constantly on the offensive, but her lips and tongue were soft and pliable. Her fingers grazed the side of my face most gently, but I could feel the insistent need through them. Kissing her was an incredible sensation of opposites - a blazing inferno and a gentle breeze.

Still holding her tightly against me, we finally broke our kiss and stared at each other for several minutes as we both drank oxygen. She looked as shocked as I felt.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

"Jesus Christ," I whispered back.

And then someone chose that moment to knock on the door.

Tuesday, 3:20 pm

I stepped inside the coffee shop with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. To say I was in a good mood would be like calling water wet. I made out with Natalie. I held her body against me and felt her tongue on mine. I was still having a hard time believing it happened and kept having to mentally pinch myself every few minutes.

We'd done a little song and dance around each other for nearly two months since she'd broken up with her boyfriend. There had been interest there... tension, and I knew I wasn't the only one who felt it. I was sure I wasn't insane when I thought I'd caught her watching me or wondered if that thing she said was her attempt at flirting with me. It was so nice to know for sure.

She felt nice. Her waist fit so easily in my arms, and I never could have guessed in a million years she would feel that soft. I wanted nothing more than to get back to that beautiful woman waiting for me back in her office.

The Blue Beans was my second-most frequented coffee shop in New York due to its proximity to where I worked. As usual, this time of day saw it packed with men and women in power outfits and carrying leather-clad notebooks. They ordered low-fat soy lattes with extra shots, took notes, and discussed their next acquisition or financial conquest.

I glanced at my phone, noting that I was about ten minutes late, then scanned the room for Ashlee. She sounded so eager over the phone that I suspected she beat me here. I only hoped that she wasn't here for anything more than signing some papers. If she was planning on picking up where she left off in the bathroom yesterday, I wasn't sure how I was going to turn her down. Ashlee was a delight to all five senses, though taste and touch hadn't been verified, a blind man could have told me she was a thirteen out of ten.

Still... I just started something with Natalie, and I wasn't about to kiss her then head to the coffee shop down the street to start making plans on burying my dick in someone new. I was already having enough trouble trying to figure out how to deal with Helen and Bobbi in light of recent events. I was already involved with them and felt a little bad about continuing if I was going to begin a relationship with Natalie. Was I being premature?

I caught sight of Ashlee, who waved me over. There were two coffees on the table, which answered the question of whether or not I needed to order anything. As I approached, she got up from the table and invited me in for a hug.

"Hi, Marcus!" She was all smiles, dimples in her cute, cherubic face. The part of me that liked trouble prodded me with the idea that maybe I was being too hasty in my enthusiasm to pursue Natalie. Helen's words about not tying myself down came to mind. I accepted the hug and she wrapped both arms around me, pressing her chest against my torso. Already in heels, she had no trouble brushing her lips against my cheek in a quick kiss. It landed half an inch from the corner of my mouth. She pulled away a moment later but kept her face close to mine for a moment longer than was necessary, her green eyes peering through thick lashes in what was unmistakably a look of pure carnality. A heartbeat later, it melted into the shy smile of a young woman on a first date.

"So," Ashlee began as we sat down. "Your order just as you asked, and of course, a little business to get out of the way. This is all really just formalities. Nothing major. I just need you to sign and initial where I've marked. These are standard documents that will permit us to manage your international assets. Client/attorney acknowledgments and agreements... you get the idea."

She set a small stack of documents in front of me while I took a sip of my coffee.

"I gotcha. Do you have a pen?" I was trying to remain all business so she didn't have much encouragement to flirt. Despite how conflicted I was, I decided I at least needed time to get my head back on my shoulders. I didn't want to screw up something I wanted, and if things didn't turn out the way I expected... I suspected Ashlee wouldn't be going anywhere.

There was also the matter of checking in with Helen to find out exactly what the relationship was between the two of them. I couldn't forget that.