"Come on," Sarah's eyes flicked between her watch and the ascending numbers on the elevator's screen as her foot tapped loudly. It was earlier than she normally arrived, but she had a mess to clean up. She'd been mortified at being late picking up her girls. That never happened. The rest of her night had been like a whirlwind. Getting the girls fed with McDonald's and then spending some quality time reassuring them that mommy wouldn't be late again before putting them to bed. The whole night had made her feel like she was behind the eightball, but that's how her entire day had gone.
In her rush to grab the girls she hadn't had time to stop and grab the bottle of wine she had planned for. Her late-night bath hadn't been nearly as relaxing without it. She just wanted to take the edge off a bit after everything that had happened yesterday. Learning she wasn't getting the promotion that would pull her family from the brink of financial hardship, Dan lying, and Lester...
Well, Lester found the right buttons to push to cause her to open up her legs for him in her own office. Something she never thought she would entertain, blurring the lines between her professional life and her now wildly unpredictable personal life.
She felt like she was juggling all of these different aspects of herself. Her own different multiple personalities. The loving mother, the devoted wife, the stellar daughter, the badass professional, Lester's slut...God maybe not that last one. They all felt like they were beginning to blur and meld together, but that wasn't what she wanted.
Sarah wanted to be all of those things but be able to slide into one or the other when necessary. She couldn't sacrifice her professional or home life to fulfill her desires for Lester.
The elevator chimed, and the doors opened, snapping Sarah back to the situation at hand. Sarah stepped out into the administrative area of the building and began walking towards her office.
Her desires towards Lester.
She had been such a bitch the day before on the phone with Dan, telling him how much she enjoyed spending time with his troll-like roommate. She hadn't planned to say it, but it had just come out. Dan hadn't texted her all night, and her phone still hadn't received a message from him this morning. She knew he was already up and heading to work, but she felt a lot better if he just reached out to her.
She hated being the one to cave first and apologize. But she had just reacted to the way the conversation went. Dan had still been the one who lied to her in the first place and needed to apologize. Sarah wasn't even sure if she actually felt that way towards Lester, but something like a weight had been lifted when those words left her lips, as if she was revealing some unmentionable truth she had been suppressing.
Sarah wanted to think more about it and figure out what it was she was feeling but she'd have to do that later. Right now, she had to clean up the mess she and Lester had made in her office the previous night. She'd already left Lester's phone in his cubicle on her way up. Now it was her office she needed to tackle.
She passed a row of empty cubicles, many of which would be occupied within the next half hour. Sarah noted the absence of the janitor's cart that she'd spotted last night. That meant that the janitor had been up here sometime between when she left and this morning. She prayed that they hadn't seen or heard anything that went on yesterday.
There was no point dwelling on what might have happened. She had to focus on what was right in front of her. Sarah dug her keys out of her purse as she neared her office door. She turned the handle to double-check that she had locked it last night. It didn't budge.
Good. She used the keys to unlock it and slipped inside before closing it behind her. She locked the door before turning around and surveying the surreal scene before her. Overcast clouds outside the window made the office feel dark, so she flicked on the lights. The incandescent lights flickered to life, illuminating the remains of her broken desk. Garbage and other items lay all over the floor. Some personal items, like the broken picture frame, were on a side table where she left them last night.
With a heavy sigh, Sarah started to straighten up her office. There was no fixing the desk, and she was afraid to check the condition of her monitor and laptop. She focused on cleaning up the trash from the bin that had toppled over while Lester fucked her. Her mind couldn't help drifting to Lester and how he'd power fucked her the day before. Each piece of trash Sarah picked up and put back into the bin was like another admission of guilt at just how good and thorough of a fucking it had been.
Seeing Lester's lust-filled face transform part way through into something more hungry. That look he gave her. Its possessiveness. She didn't know what to make of it, but she felt her body respond to its memory. She couldn't explain it rationally. It almost felt like a biological reaction.
Sarah finished cleaning up the trash and turned her attention to the pens and other items previously set up on her desk. She took a few minutes to collect them and recreate the arrangement with her personal items on the table.
She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Even though she felt like a hot mess, her wardrobe was still on point. She loved the way her high-waisted cotton pants looked with the slim green button-up shirt she had chosen. Sarah loved to toe the line between professional and sexy.
She froze when she heard voices coming from the other side of the door. Holding her breath, Sarah waited for the door to open and for her to have to explain the carnage she was standing in the middle of. Thankfully, the voices moved on in the direction of the empty cubicles. Sarah checked her watch. It was close to the time everyone normally came in, and meetings began assembling for the day.
She cursed at herself for taking too long to clean. Daydreaming and thinking about the day before cost her precious time.
Sarah pulled her monitor and laptop to the side, away from the broken desk. She did her best to pull the cables out from under the desk, trying to keep IT things separate from building maintenance things. Even in her own personal mess, her professional side still wanted to demarcate things and compartmentalize them. Put them in order. There was still debris on the floor, broken pieces of wood where the leg snapped, but she decided to leave those, proof she'd pass on to maintenance - that one of the desk's legs must have given out in the night.
Crossing her fingers, Sarah put her laptop on the table and opened it, hoping it would still work. Thankfully, it booted up normally. She quickly composed an email to the facilities team telling them about the desk and arranging for a replacement. She would stop by after the morning meeting to touch base in person. She'd do the same with her monitor and laptop, go talk to Jerry in person, and get a favor to send one of his team members up to check them out.
More noise outside her office signaled her coworkers were busy arriving and starting their days. She rechecked her watch. It was time for her to head downstairs for the department head meeting. Leaning back against the table, Sarah sighed and surveyed the room one last time. Despite her nominal cleaning, things were getting messy, and she needed to ground herself somehow.
