Chris Stevens felt his face redden as Lindsay Briar's tongue lashed him. Her face was already an angry crimson as she passionately denigrated Chris and his department.
One of the Management Team rules was that its members should not interrupt each other, so he was forced to sit and listen. The rule could be infuriating, but not as infuriating as Lindsay.
Halfway through, Chris stopped hearing her. He gazed at his fingernails and bit his tongue—literally. His embarrassment started to subside when he scanned the other faces around the room and recognized in his colleagues' expressions. He saw that they felt she'd overstated her argument and damaged her case. They had all been there before with Lindsay, and mostly viewed her as the enemy.
The tragedy in her being the most annoying person on the planet was that it was easy to overlook how attractive she was. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was straight and well-groomed, flowing around her face and highlighting her startling blue eyes. She had a nice figure that she hid well under charcoal business suits and her nose and mouth wouldn't be out of place on a catwalk. When she opened that mouth, though, all illusions of Lindsay as an object of desire were smothered.
Her voice was shrill and cutting when she got animated and today she was on a par with any Disney character. What started as a point about how the month-end numbers were late again had turned into another all-out attack. Fortunately, Chris could not have cared less anymore.
At the end of her poisonous assault she looked at him for a response.
Chris shrugged to everyone in the room. "She's got a point." At the same time he was thinking, She may also have a dick though. "I'll look into the issue. See if there's anything we can do."
Lindsay appeared slowed—probably because she had spent ten minutes building an argument against him and he conceded immediately. "You... you mean you don't already know what went wrong?"
"No." Chris smiled innocently. I do, but you can go screw for now.
"But it's your team!" She exploded again. "Have you got no control over what happens?"
He idly rubbed the corner of his eye with a finger. He knew the relaxed gesture would wind her up further. "It's only the fourth of the month. I'll have an answer and an action plan for you in a few days."
His lack of fight finally silenced her and the Chairperson moved them on to the next agenda item.
Chris smiled smugly and sipped at his glass of water. For once he enjoyed the mad-as-hell gaze he knew Lindsay Briar was directing at him.
*****
An hour later, he arrived back in his office. He was reconnecting his laptop when Lindsay barged in behind him. He didn't look up, but heard the door shut behind her, loud enough to make him wonder if the plaque showing his name and title, IT Manager, had fallen off.
"I guess that's violated my open door policy." He looked up and smiled.
Lindsay's look might have wilted a cactus. "Can we talk?" Her tone indicated a statement, rather than the question.
No. "Sure." He tapped his password on the keyboard. "Can I get you a coffee?"
"Your team is making me look bad."
Chris almost laughed. I thought you're doing a great job of that without their help. "I know you have issues Lindsay, but we're getting to them. Things are improving. No coffee, then?"
Her eyes bulged with anger. He watched her ponder her next attack and wondered about the unlucky bastard who was married to her. Unconfirmed rumors were that she was recently separated though—so that poor bastard may have caught a break.
Lindsay was twenty-eight and the company's Administration Manager. In the five months she had been there her department's efficiency had increased by twenty percent and she had made zero percent friends. Chris knew one of her Team Leads well and had heard the expression, "She needs a good fucking to loosen her up" several times. It was unusual that a good-looking blonde didn't have a line of volunteers for the job, but in her case it was no surprise.
She finally sat down on his guest chair, took a deep breath and tapped the folder she was holding. "Look, whether you like it or not, you've screwed up the month-end numbers for eight of the last ten months."
"That's an exaggeration."
"No it's not. You just have your head too far up your ass to see what's going on."
"No way it's more than three times." Chris's tone hardened as he fumbled through his memory for confirmation. "Maybe four, no more—bet you anything you like."
Lindsay shook her head slowly. "Come out of denial. Eight times."
He could only remember two instances prior to the current problems when there were issues. He figured there might be another couple he'd forgotten so was sure he was on solid ground. "No way you can prove more than five times," he dismissed. "Show me more than five and I'll run naked around the third floor."
She gave him a measured look of sympathy and then handed him the folder. "It's your funeral... or your naked butt at least."
The front sheet detailed month-end issues going back a year. Problems with his own department were highlighted in red. His heart started to sink when he counted four and by the time he got to six he realized he was in a hole that required no more digging. The final number was eight. Chris quietly replaced the paper and closed the folder. He could feel that his face had paled.
"Can we agree we have an issue here that requires your immediate, and full, attention?" She took the folder back.
Chris nodded—his throat now dry.
"Good." Lindsay stood up and opened his office door. "Let's talk about your action plan tomorrow." She stepped out into the corridor.
His sigh of relief was half-way across his lips when she hustled back. "Oh, I almost forgot," she smiled with a vicious mock sweetness, "I do intend to collect on that bet."
*****
The cruelest thing was the waiting. The bet hung over Chris for almost two weeks—unmentioned by either of them and plaguing his psyche. It was a slow torture that was reawakened each time he saw her and she said nothing on the subject. He knew the real pain was yet to come but the waiting was beginning to tear him apart to the point he considered mentioning it to her.
Lindsay's email arrived on a Thursday. It had no subject and the only text in the message was, "Saturday, 7:30 a.m."
Chris stared at the email for several minutes and enjoyed the tainted relief. At least she hadn't been sadistic enough to insist he paid his debt during working hours. In six months this was the first sympathetic gesture he had seen from her. He replied using the same text, "Saturday, 7:30 a.m."
He didn't sleep much that Friday night. His mind turned over and over, wondering how the whole episode might play out and trying to figure out how he could minimize his embarrassment. He planned a route around the third floor that would afford most cover and even practiced slipping in and out of his pants for minimum exposure.
He lived alone, so there was no one around to question why he was trimming his pubic hair before bed. Chris figured that if he was going to be exposed he'd better look as good as he could. His nervous discomfort continued when he got into bed but all of his misgivings were tinged with a slight sexual edge. At first he was simply holding his erection, but before long he was masturbating.
The following morning Lindsay's car was already in the lot when he arrived. Thankfully, Chris's car brought the total number of vehicles there to two. He jumped out and almost ran to the office door. He was keen to get this over before anyone else arrived.
Lindsay was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt and standing with her arms folded when he arrived on the floor. "Good morning," she welcomed him with a dry look.
"Hi." He smiled uncertainly. For all his thoughts and planning, he had no clue what to say or do next. A late-breaking idea was to ask her for leniency. He dismissed the idea, but wasn't sure whether he was being brave or because he was enjoying the excitement.
As usual, Lindsay was all business. "There's no one else here yet, but I know some of my team, at least, are working this morning. I figure you have enough time to get this done without losing your job. I wasn't sure you'd turn up."
"A bet's a bet," he answered dryly.
"Agreed." She didn't move but her face adopted a knowing look. "But losing a bet like this to a woman... some guys would've done anything to wriggle out of it."
Chris sighed. "Okay. Let's go." He started to pull at the buttons on his shirt and turned away. "I hope you haven't hidden any cameras around here." He tried to joke but the higher than normal pitch of his voice gave him away.
"No cameras." She confirmed with a slightly nervous laugh of her own. "Just me. I'll wait here."
Chris threw his shirt on a chair and surveyed his route. The floor was square with a central bank of elevators and stairs that prevented an all-around view of the space. There was a path between the desks that made a lap of less than two hundred yards. He figured this would be all over in less than a minute.
He kept his back to her as he kicked off his shoes and socks. As he unzipped his jeans he had one final thought about checking that she wanted him to go through with this, but in the end he hooked his fingers into the waistband and pulled them down. When his hands returned to do the same to his briefs he was relieved to find that he wasn't hard. Without another word or look at her, he pulled the briefs away, threw them on the chair and set off around the floor at a brisk walk.
"Running." Lindsay called after him. "The deal was running."
Chris picked up the pace and immediately felt the unusual sensation of his cock bouncing up and slapping against his thighs and lower belly. "Stay limp," he encouraged himself in a whisper. It wasn't a plea he had ever expected to utter.
