It was nearing Christmas time, and like every company, there was going to be a party in my office this year. All of the employees meet in the main cafeteria to hear a message from the CEO and receive little door prizes; then each floor hosts their own private party back in their conference rooms. It's usually a great time for everyone and aside from three years ago when John from accounting got drunk and started hitting on the CFO's wife, everyone usually is pretty tame. This year, however, I was not looking forward to the party.
I've been screwing my secretary, and everyone will know it the second we walk in together. Wait, we can't go together, then they'll know for sure. But I can't make her go alone, that wouldn't be fair. Of course, people will wonder why neither one of us have a date if we don't bring one.
My mind raced though a hundred different scenarios, all of them ending in either Jennifer being upset, or everyone finding out about us. Let me back up a minute. I wasn't just screwing my secretary; that would have been just creepy and a bit wrong. I was dating her secretly, though, and our relationship had grown from a purely sexual escapade in my office just three months ago. Since then it had blossomed into something exciting, something great. I was totally in love with her, and that was something I could not wrap my brain around. I hadn't felt this way about a woman since my wife had died a few years ago; taken from me in a tragic plane crash while we had been flying home to see her family one Labor Day weekend. I lived, she died. Life was cruel sometimes, but maybe Jennifer was my second chance at happiness.
Oh, if only I didn't feel like a badly written character in a sexual-tension based sitcom, having to choose between multiple bad decisions when the answer was so clear to the audience. It wasn't a strict company policy that employees couldn't date. It was, however, a very big problem for a boss to date his direct subordinates. Someone from another department would have been fine, maybe even someone from my department if they had been far enough below me in the corporate ladder, but not my direct subordinate. No, my secretary was, for all intents and purposes, completely off-limits. One mid-level manager had been sleeping with his assistant several years back, and they fired him so quickly, many of us looked around for a trap door they may have dropped him through.
"Mr. Davies?" I blinked several times, and adjusted my eyes toward the voice that had pulled me from deep in thought. It was the interoffice courier. An intern of about 19, he looked like he was wearing his father's only suit, and had a mismatched tie to complete the ensemble.
Poor Kid,
I thought,
he'd better learn a lot while he's here, or the business world is going to eat him alive.
I beckoned for him to come in, and he slowly stepped the few feet to my desk.
"Sir, this is from Mr. Archer. He said to deliver it to you personally." James Archer was the CEO, anything directly from him was important.
"Thanks, I appreciate that. You can just leave it here on the desk." He dropped the envelope, scuttled out of the office, and jumped directly onto the elevator.
I opened the envelope. Inside was just a simple letter, hand-written on his stationary.
"Michael, Mary and I would love for you to join us in Montana this year at our cottage. Bring a guest if you would like (I already know about her, but only a few people do. It's not a big deal, so bring her if you wish to.). The jet is leaving from here about an hour after the party is winding down, so we'll just have a car ready for you then. Good job this year, I'm happy we've put you in your position."
Holy Shit!
My mind raced with possibilities. How could he have found out? I sat there staring at the note for about five minutes, when it finally dawned on me.
It doesn't matter how he knows, he does and he's not pissed off. That's probably not an invitation to flaunt it around town, but at least I won't get fired.
Today was Tuesday, and the party was going to be Friday night. I had a lot of work to finish up if I was going to be out of town. I had decided not to tell Jennifer, because I thought that the surprise would be more fun. Instead, I called her roommate, Denise, and asked her to pack some of Jen's cold weather clothes in a duffel bag so I could pick them up later. She was happy to oblige, and promised to keep the secret.
Thursday morning I walked into work, and Jen was already getting things ready for the end of the year. Filing and separating different documents, and preparing others for my signature. She smiled at me as I walked past her into my office. We both went about our day until just before noon, when she sauntered into my area.
"Hey, Mike. I've got to go shopping on my lunch break for a few things, do you need anything?"
I had a wicked grin cross my face, then immediately went back to normal. If she noticed, she didn't give an indication. "Actually yes," I said, reaching back into my pants for my wallet. "Take the rest of the afternoon off, go to the department store, and buy yourself a new dress for tomorrow night. Take my credit card. And while you're at it, why don't you pick up some new lingerie for this weekend? I have a feeling you might need it."
Her eyes twinkled a little bit, subtly reflecting the excitement and anticipation she must be feeling. "Are we doing something special this weekend?"
"Yeah, I thought we could go rent a place on the beach, just you and me. Make a real holiday out of it."
"Ooooh, that sounds wonderful. I didn't really want to go see my parents anyway. They're always getting on my case about working too hard and not finding the right man. I guess they don't really know what they want for me." She took the card from my outstretched hand. "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow then. I won't show you the dress until the party; make it more of a surprise for you."
Friday morning dragged on for so long, I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, waiting on Santa to come. I knew I was getting a present tonight, but I couldn't wait to unwrap it. Jennifer had her typical business attire on, and even thought she still looked amazing, it wasn't anything spectacularly special. She did have a garment bag on the hook behind her desk, but it was completely opaque, and I couldn't see what was inside. Three O'clock and the waiting was finally over. I went back into my bathroom to put on my tuxedo. After several minutes of wondering why in the hell people still wore those stupid things, I emerged victorious and stepped back into my office. I was stopped by my lover, carrying her garment bag over her shoulder, and what looked like a makeup bag in her hand.
"Wait for me, sweetie?" She asked, looking ever so coy.
"Why not, I'm dying to see what you've got for me to unwrap later." She laughed, and pushed past me into the bathroom. I heard the water in the shower running, so I knew I was in for the long wait of the typical woman.
I settled back to my computer to watch some videos of people doing stupid things (always a favorite pastime), and I checked on the bags I had packed for us. An intern was going to come up and get them during the party to take them down to the car for us. When I heard the blow drier finally stop, I looked at my watch for the first time.
Only forty-five minutes, that's not terrible.
About five minutes later, I heard the door handle jiggling in place, and my eyes turned toward the inner part of my spacious office. Then the door swung open, and a vision of pure beauty practically blinded me.
She had her brilliant red hair up in a twist, with two small strands from her forehead perfectly framing her delicate face. Her small white earlobes hung a little lower with heavy pearl earrings, a gift I had given her as part of a set. The necklace graced her fluid lines, as most of the dark green dress she had bought left her shoulders exposed. Save for two thin spaghetti straps, they were completely bare. The freckles above her breasts next caught my attention, as the plunging neckline went from the straps on he shoulders, through her perfectly shaped cleavage, and almost down to her belly button. The lines of this magnificent dress accentuated her hips better than anything I had ever seen her wear, and even though it extended to her ankles, the side slit went well north of her knees. Three inch heels that undoubtedly put me back quite a few bucks graced her feet. I sat staring, my mouth open, for what seemed like an eternity. I was one lucky bastard. I think I would have stared for the rest of the night had she not walked over to me and given me a deep, thoughtful kiss. The kiss was electric for me, with feelings I couldn't describe flowing through me as I kept right on staring through my mind's eye.
She broke the kiss slowly, and stepped back. "You like?"
"Uh, uh, yeah, you could say that." She laughed as I paused, trying to form words into sentences. "Jen, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. You look truly amazing."
"Well, thank you. You just wait until you see what else I bought. Now come on, let's go dancing."
She took my by the arm and we went down to the party together. Most of the guests had had plenty of time to get liquored up by then, so I doubt many noticed us coming in together. After congratulating most of my team on a job well done, kissing a little ass, and having a few glasses of spiked punch myself, I turned to Jennifer, whispering in her ear.
"We'd better get going if we want to get there on time. Say your goodbyes, and then meet me in the main lobby in ten minutes." She nodded almost imperceptibly, and walked away from me without looking in my direction. A casual observer would never have known what was really going through her head.
Eight and a half minutes later, she came up behind me in the main lobby.
