The snow storm lasted until Saturday afternoon and Dallas was all but paralyzed on Sunday and Monday. Walking into the office on Tuesday, I was in a very good mood because of the weekend. That lasted for all of five minutes after my first cup of coffee when Lori stuck her head in my office and announced that we had a conference call in five minutes with the home office in New York.
"Can you tell them I'm home sick?"
"Nope! That's why you get paid the big bucks." she said with a smile and a wink.
"Close the blinds when you come in. I don't want anyone to see me taking a nap."
Three minutes later she re-appeared, closed the blinds, locked the door and pulled a chair around to the side of my desk, sat down and laid a steno-pad on it. I dialed in to the call, announced myself, then I placed the phone on mute. Standing up, I walked out of my office to grab a fresh cup of coffee, then returning, I closed the door and sat down to endure one hour of telephonic Hell on Earth.
The call went thirty minutes past its scheduled conclusion and I had lost all interest in it ten minutes ago. I was sitting at my desk absently staring at Lori's leg as it slowly rocked back and forth. Her shoe had slipped off her heel some time ago and she was doing a balancing act with it on her toes as she sat with her legs crossed in the chair across from me taking notes. I wondered if she realized the reaction she was having on me when she suddenly hissed, "Phillip! They asked you a question!"
"Huh?" I replied as I bolted upright in my chair.
"Where are we at on the Sanford liability case?" she said quickly as I fumbled with the mute button.
"Sorry guys, I'm having some technical difficulties here with my speaker phone. We are still in the process of reviewing our options with that one. I should have an answer by Friday at the very latest but from the preliminary findings, I don't think we will be able to settle. It will most likely go to trial."
The responses came back quickly as I eased back in my chair grinning at Lori like a bird fed cat. She shook her head at me and to my dismay, reached down and placed her shoe back on her foot. Ensuring that the mute button was lit I whispered, "Aww!"
"I'm sorry Phillip, but you need to concentrate on why we are here instead of my little distractions."
"Your legs aren't a distraction."
"You certainly seemed distracted." she said with a knowing smile.
"I was a tad pre-occupied with your toes."
"With what?" she questioned as her foot started to rock back and forth again.
"I was imagining them pointing toward the ceiling."
"I guess our work relationship has changed a little huh?" she said quietly reaching across my desk to hang up the phone as the conference call came to an end.
"Regrets?" I asked softly.
"Oh Hell no!" she exclaimed, "I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know you and Tiffany will never hurt me and that means everything to me."
"Really?"
"Why do you think I agreed to Halloween night instead of slapping you across the face and running off to HR?"
"Did you really think about running off to HR?"
"My first thought was wondering what you had done with my boss, my second was thinking that I was dreaming and my third was 'Holy shit, this man really is asking me if I want to bang his girlfriend'. But HR never figured into it."
"I really thought that you might do that for a moment because of the look on your face when I asked you if you meant it."
"You still have a lot to learn about me young man." she stated as she flashed me a beautiful smile, "But now that I have your attention, there's a business matter that we need to discuss."
"Why ruin a perfectly good office flirtation session by bringing up business?" I asked as I leaned back in my chair.
"I have my reasons." Lori answered as she reached up and unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse.
"You have my attention." I said leaning forward.
"Be a dear, open your email and approve my vacation request. Would you please?"
"Sure, when are you going?" I said, reaching for my keyboard.
"The second week of February."
"Isn't that the week of the firm's annual business trip?"
"Yes it is, and that is why I am taking vacation."
"You're not going this year?" I said, becoming really confused.
"Oh I'm going with you, I'm just not going to work. Tiff and I talked about it on Sunday while we were making dinner. She gets bored waiting on you in the hotel room and I get bored listening to a bunch of attorneys talk about the bimbo they screwed the night before. So I am going but Tiffany and I will be spending our days shopping, laying on the beach and drinking every margarita that we can find. That is why God made Antigua and we are going to take full advantage of it while we are there this year. Now be a good boss and approve the request."
"Really?" I asked, arching my eyebrows as she walked over and sat down on the desk beside me, placing her left foot between my legs on the front of my chair.
"Really, then we can discuss the real problem." she said in a serious tone.
Every year my office would have its annual meeting someplace warm, sandy and inviting to beat back the mid-winter depression that had inevitably set in and this year it was in Antigua. The junior partners were encouraged to bring our significant others and on the final night we had an appreciation party for them. It was basically a company paid six day, five night vacation because the hangovers and sunburns usually prevented any serious business from being conducted.
I had taken Tiffany to the past two and I had taken Lori to every one since my first invitation four years ago. I couldn't imagine what the problem was but then again I was mostly concentrating on Lori's leg, or legs, or more truthfully the edge of her skirt and the inside of her thighs as she slowly rocked my chair back and forth with her foot.
"So what's the real problem?" I asked as I reached out to touch the charm on the gold chain on her ankle.
"No touchy!" she said softly as her foot dropped away from my chair.
"Aww."
"Sorry Sweetheart, but I promised Tiffany there would be no inter-office hanky-panky and I meant it. I may tease you until you run to the bathroom to take care of yourself, but no touchy in the office. Are we clear on that?"
She said it so firmly that I immediately pulled my hand back and looked into her green eyes, "Yes ma'am. Now what's the problem?"
"Our rooms. Plural. As in two of them. I'm not willing to risk being caught leaving your room in the morning and I am certainly not sleeping alone while we are there. Not after the past couple of days anyway. And to be honest with you, Tiffany isn't happy about it either." she responded.
"You've never brought a problem to me that you didn't already have an answer for so how much is this answer going to cost me?" I said with a chuckle.
"Six hundred dollars a night. There's an all-inclusive, adults only resort about three miles from the hotel, with personal transportation, a private beach, three restaurants and a really nice nightclub. Coincidentally, they have a very reasonably priced Presidential suite with a California King sized bed that is available."
"How private is the beach?"
"Very." she said with a gleam in her eyes.
"So book it."
"I already have. I used your American Express card, just so you know."
"This is my shocked face." I said, realizing that I had been played like a fiddle.
Without responding, she reached for her phone then punching the screen a few times, she smiled at me as the phone rang. I was more than a little shocked when I heard Tiffany answer and I almost came unglued when I heard Lori say, "I told you so."
"Really?" Tiffany said.
"Really?" I parroted.
"Girl, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Two buttons on my blouse, a little glimpse of leg and he folded like a cheap lawn chair." she answered as she slid off my desk winking at me.
Taking the phone off the speaker she held it up to her ear and began walking toward my office door adding, "If I had unbuttoned three of them he would have probably bought us matching cars."
Pausing for a moment she laughed then turned to face me saying "Hang on, I'll find out."
She glided back toward my desk and stepping around it she leaned down with her face inches from mine. Looking me in the eyes she slowly and deliberately smiled as she began to unbutton her blouse again with her free hand; stopping only when it was completely unbuttoned. Her bare breasts were on full display to me as she slowly began to move them closer until first one, then the other nipple brushed across my lips.
She slowly pulled back, lifting her hand to her breasts she rubbed them, looking at me with those vivid green eyes and almost whispering said, "Tiffany wants to know what Mercedes Class that will get us?"
"E at the very least." I said softly, as my hands slid up under her skirt, coming to rest on the bare cheeks of her ass.
Laughing as she tossed her head back, she spoke into her phone again, "Don't make any plans for Saturday Tiff; we're probably going shopping."
Hanging up, she quickly re-buttoned and straightened her blouse, reached down and removed my hands from her ass, then walked to the door. But when she reached for the knob she froze, quickly turning back toward me.
"It's unlocked!"
"Indeed it is." I replied with a grin.
"Anyone could have walked in here!"
"Indeed they could have." I said as I leaned back in my chair smiling as her self-assurance quickly faded.
"Phillip! My God! Have you lost your damn mind?" she responded with a wide eyed stare.
"I wasn't planning on any inter-office hanky-panky as you've so beautifully phrased it. Besides, what happened to no touchy and your promise that nothing would happen if Tiffany wasn't present?"
"Oh Phillip, sometimes you are so innocent that it is sinful to play with you." she responded with a small laugh.
"Huh?" I replied becoming a little confused.
Holding her phone up she winked, "Have you never heard of Face Time? She was right here with us from the moment I called her; you should have seen the smile she had. It was amazing."
