He was a little satisfied now but still agitated. He knocked the doll to the ground and stomped downstairs to the kitchen, where the whiskey bottle stood on the counter. As he grabbed the bottle he noticed her half full glass. The rim held the print of her light pink lipstick. The ice had melted by now, leaving the glass cool to his touch. He picked it up, centred it so the print would align with his lips, and gulped down the contents of the glass.
He wondered what she was doing. Maybe she was washing her mouth. Taking a shower. Hating him. Thinking about quitting.
He took a deep breath. There was no use thinking about it. He would have to deal with it on Monday. It would be awkward for both of them, but there was no telling how exactly it would turn out.
Caroline cried while brushing her teeth. She also cried in the shower. Then she lay in bed naked, not bothering to put on clothes, and she cried there too. It was a Friday night and she could have been doing other things. She loved tv, but she couldn't bring herself to turn it on.
When she felt like getting up she took the leftover pizza and the half full bottle of wine from the fridge. Her mom spotted her in the kitchen and she could tell something was wrong.
"You came home late today. Where were you?"
"I went out with a friend," Caroline replied, refusing to meet her eyes.
Her mother was eyeing her suspiciously. "Something's wrong."
"I'm fine," Caroline replied.
"Did something happen? You can tell me."
When the pizza was finished in the microwave Caroline quickly took it out and grabbed the glass of wine. She walked upstairs to her room without saying another word.
She was 24 and had only had one boyfriend, back when she was in high school. Their relationship lasted a month because he had been pressuring her for sex.
Her boss was a smart and successful lawyer she had looked up to for years as an inspiration. She had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he was really just another dirty man in a mid life crisis.
At some point that night she decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and start steeling her mind and body for the coming week. She was scared of what could happen but she had no choice.
She arrived to work on Monday morning with her hair down. She did this on purpose so as to cover the hickey that had appeared on Saturday. She had been horrified but not surprised. When he made her take off her clothes in his bathroom he had played with her neck before telling her to get into the jacuzzi. It had hurt a little and she hated that she moaned.
She had arrived early as usual and began turning on the lights. The others arrived a short while after and she greeted them. He arrived last and she made it a point to turn her back to him, but enough so that it would not look odd in front of her colleagues.
She could feel his eyes on her as she set her bag down on her desk. She had to go downstairs to buy coffee but the door was behind her. She steadied herself to turn around and face him. When she did she was met with a glare and she winced.
"Good morning," she murmured as she walked past him.
He gave her a curt nod and she descended the stairs. She hoped he did not follow her. To her relief the only footsteps she heard were her own, but she could still feel his stare.
She had not talked to her mom all weekend. She knew she was upset and she felt guilty, but she could not bring herself to speak to her. During her break she contemplated returning her call but she decided not to.
For the rest of the day she was collecting data on the case she was assigned. He had given her something challenging that Friday because he believed she was capable and it would look good for her career, and she had gladly accepted it. She had felt honoured that he respected her intelligence and potential.
The image of him was attached to her case and she had to ground herself before she started working on it again. She could not cover as much as she wanted to over the weekend and she hated herself for dwelling in her emotions for so long.
She fake smiled with her colleagues when they came to check on her every now and then. Every time she heard the door open a part of her feared that it was him, but he did not come until a few minutes after 4.
She had been in the library for most of the day. The door made its signature creak and when she turned her body tensed and she clenched her fists.
"Still working?" he said coolly.
She decided to look straight into his eyes. He was obviously on edge but was trying not to show it.
"I can take it home with me," she replied.
She could feel her eyebrows reacting in fear. If he was smug or satisfied he was not showing it.
She finally averted her eyes. Her head was swimming. She was shocked when he started walking towards her. He stopped next to her chair and looked over the contents on her side of the table.
"Impressive," he said finally. "So you proved that murder wasn't his intent."
"It was self defense. It was just unfortunate the officer had a heart attack in that moment," she said quietly.
"Very good."
He squeezed her shoulder and an odd feeling overcame her. He let his hand stay for a moment and then he released her.
She had decided to keep their after-work arrangement. They never mentioned anything about it to each other after Friday so he assumed it was going as normal. She continued to use her earphones for the entire commute.
After a few days his tension was beginning to ease. Nothing significant happened. There were no rumours, no whispering, no side eye glances. The fire in his pants started to ease as well and he apologized to the doll for treating it roughly.
The night before her court case he decided to have a session with the doll. He had not touched it since that Friday, in which nearly three weeks had passed.
He gently took it out of the closet. It felt like the first time he was touching it. He nervously began to speak while he awkwardly stroked its hair, suddenly self conscious of his voice.
"You know, I'm glad you chose my firm. You're a smart young woman. You have a knack for this."
He lay down on his bed and brought the doll's head between his legs, positioning it over his erect penis which felt like it was going to explode.
"I have years of experience in this field. I can show you things you don't know."
He placed his penis in the doll's mouth and pressed its head all the way down. He sighed after having abstained for so long. He moved its head up and down and his sighing grew louder.
"You're a good whore. My whore. Only mine."
He climaxed with a groan and ejaculated into its throat.
"That's so you could speak in court tomorrow. Make sure you swallow it."