"Damn that peckerhead," Sharon Trent grumbled as she set her coffee down hard on her desk. "I've worked hard for ten years to get this law office together, get the right people in the right jobs, and that asshole Frank has to fuck things up."
"I don't know how we can keep him," Monica Smith responded. "He's hit on every secretary in the outer office, both our law clerks, Priscilla and even me. The only reason he doesn't go after you is you're his boss. After we all chase him off, it's a week or two before he's making the rounds again. You'd think his ego would submit after all this rejection, but he's clueless. I don't know how me manages to be that smart and that stupid at the same time."
Sharon sat back in her overstuffed chair and looked out the window. "Must some kind of savant syndrome, hell, I don't know. Men can be wonderful and smart one minute and have their fly open and their cock out the next if there's any stimulus whatsoever."
"Sometimes they bring that, too. The stimulus."
"Well, he's first on my hit parade today and this time the riot act sticks. If this doesn't work, I'm renting him an office downstairs and changing the locks. I can't afford to lose him, he's too damn good, but he needs to grow up."
"To dream, the impossible dream..."
"Thanks Aldonza. We just need to make a pact to start busting his balls when he pulls this shit, and keep doing it until he stops."
"Yes, boss. Anything else this morning?"
"No, you and I both have enough to do. We're in court next week and need to be ready. Follow up with your witness list, and get Jill and Jack busy in the library."
"Just as long as they don't go up a hill..."
"Shut up, wiseass. I'm not in the mood today. Save the humor for happy hour. Get out of here, I need to psych up for this."
"Yes, boss." Monica closed the door gently behind her and Sharon had a moment to think. Her office spoke of the success of her firm, and all her employees were talented and motivated. She took a sip of coffee and planned her strategy. It was 8:45, and he would be there at 9.
Sharon was a reasonably attractive woman in her early 40s, not too thick or too thin, reasonably attractive without being drop dead gorgeous, with light brown hair and warm brown eyes. Her eyes were the set up, getting people to trust her, even when she was biding her time, waiting to lower the boom. Monica was the former model, who'd used her fame to build up a nest egg so she could get her law degree and have a useful live once her young beauty was past. Everyone else who worked there had a tough past; Sharon was happy to find people who had been down on their luck but willing to work their way into a better future. Her practice was rated in the top 5 up and coming firms in the region.
Frank Sherman was a great litigator with a checkered past. A man in his late 50s, he was the grey eminence of the firm. His presence was commending when he entered a room: a man in his mid 50s, immaculately groomed, piercing eyes, in excellent shape. He worked for the Russian Mafia for a few years, and had to relocate in the witness protection plan when he turned state's evidence against them. This identity was secure, but he had to keep his head low. Two other firms had ridden him out on a rail for sexual harassment, and this was his last chance: his protectors weren't going to put up with any more. Sharon, Monica and the others in the office relied on him for advice and experience in preparing their cases: he always knew what had to happen next, and which strategy they needed to pursue in a case.
The man walked through her door promptly at 9, and stood in front of her desk without saying a word. He knew he was in trouble, but stood before her at attention, like a soldier at inspection, waiting for what was coming. Sharon looked at him for almost four minutes without speaking, waiting for him to blink, and let out a sigh of relief when he finally did. "Shit, Frank. You stupid motherfucker. This is the thanks you give me for being nice to you. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm a man, that's all. Tired of living like a monk."
"Shut up. If you weren't on the Russian Mob's hit list, you'd be out the door and looking for work, if not on the way to jail. No other firm will take you, and you can't work on your own, it's too dangerous. There's no way we can bring you up on charges, if you do go to jail, you'll be dead in 24 hours. Why the fuck can't you keep your pecker in your pants?"
"I don't know, Sharon. I want to, I really want to."