Again Daniel turned around and headed for the door. He could not make up his mind. He decided to hit the golf course for the rest of the afternoon and cool off. He was too upset at having Jane dare to face him down about Sara. Sara must have said something because that nosey sister of his seemed to know quite a bit. He texted Sara from his car and told her he was done for the day.
Daniel: Sara, I will be out for the rest of the afternoon.
Sara: Okay. Is everything okay.
Daniel: No. Everything is not okay. So...I am going to work my aggressions out on the golf course with a few Martinis. Have a good afternoon.
Sara: What would you like me to do this afternoon?
Daniel: I gave you enough to do this morning to keep you busy for two days.
Sara: I finished it all before lunch.
Daniel: Take the afternoon off and go home and think about how sore your ass is going to be when I calm down enough to spank you. I told you not to talk to my sister about our personal life.
Sara: I didn't.
She waited for him to respond but when no response came, she put her phone away. She looked around her work space and started straightening and organizing things the way she wanted them. She cleaned and created new files and made the space her own. When she finally looked up several hours later, it was 6:07 p.m. It was dark outside. She started closing down the Executive Suite. She peeked into Daniel's office, tidied up his desk, pushed in his chair and shut off his desk lamp. She grabbed her coat and handbag and locked up before heading to her car. She drove home in complete silence. She was nervous about how the night would proceed. By the time she pulled into her parking space at home it was almost 7:00 p.m. It had started to rain and Sara pulled the drapy hood over her head on the way to her front door.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Little Red Riding Hood."
Sara turned, startled, to see Daniel leaning on his car.
"And the wolf.." She sniped back.
"Where in the hell have you been?" he asked.
"I stayed at the office and organized my space and cleaned up. If you thought I was going to come home and sit around like a scared cat waiting for you to come pounce on me, then you were wrong. There is no sense in wasting time on that nonsense."
"I told you to take the afternoon off and come home."
"Well, I didn't want to sit here stressing out so I kept myself busy. Are we going to stand out here in the rain or can we go into the house?"
Daniel held out his open palm for her to precede him.
"After you..." Their eyes locked for a second sending messages back and forth before she started walking. Sara knew this was not going to be fun. He was mad at her. But it also was not her fault he had a nosey sister and she wasn't going to give up easy.
Daniel followed her trying to assess her attitude.
If she keeps flipping sassy remarks at me I am going to push her, facedown over whatever surface we are near and tan her little ass for her. That will teach her a lesson or two about her smart mouth.
"Have you eaten dinner?" he asked as they entered the foyer and hung their wet coats and kicked off their shoes.
She shook her head no. She reached down and picked up her new heels. She dried them off so that she could put them back in the box. They still looked brand spanking new after a full day of wear. She was having a hard time looking at Daniel because she was nervous.
"What would you like to eat?"
"Can we talk first? I am not going to be able to eat right now."
He took off his suit jacket and hung it in the front hall closet. He started to removed his cufflinks and roll up his sleeves. Sara froze and tears filled her eyes as they fixated on his hands and his sleeves. He stopped and looked at her as she clutched her shoes to her chest.
"You're going to spank me...I didn't say anything to her, Daniel. I promise you I didn't." Tears began spilling over her cheeks. She was hanging onto her shoes for dear life and had begun to tremble.
"Then how in the hell did she know we were having sex and how did she know I bought you new clothes?"
"She asked me if we were romantically involved and I told her please don't ask. Then she immediately asked if you bought me new clothes and that's when your call came through. As soon as she dropped her phone in her purse she reiterated her question about the clothes. I told her I can't answer any of her questions and we dropped it. That's all that was said."
Daniel stood staring at the frightened creature in front of him for a long moment. He thought about what he knew of Jane and her manipulative ways and how easily she could probably corner this innocent slip of a woman. He nodded and stepped forward to hug and comfort her and help her calm down.
"Okay, Sara. Alright. Calm down. I am going to make us a quick dinner. I am in no mood to go out and we should eat something." She nodded and let him wipe her tears away.
"Honestly though...I wish you hadn't let the silence hang. You could have told her you wouldn't share it if we were involved and if I had bought you clothes you would never tell anyone. But your answers gave her what she wanted. I spent an hour trying to shut her up because it is none of her goddamned business."
"Well, she said as much when I wouldn't answer her. She told me it wouldn't make a difference because she likes me and that she just wants you to be happy."
"Did she, now?"
Sara shook her head and wandered off to put her shoes back into the box. She slipped into one of the night shirts Daniel bought on their shopping excursion and came back out to help with dinner. He immediately hugged her and pulled her against him and held her bottom in both of his hands.
"Do you feel better?"
She nodded.
They decided on chicken salad and ate them out on the balcony with a glass of wine. After supper they went to bed early. The day had been stressful and had taken its toll on both of them.
Daniel told Sara to take her night shirt off and they climbed into bed naked, wrapped around each other and both fell into a deep sleep.
It had been about three months since Sara had started working for Daniel. She had gotten used to her job and better understood what her new boss expected of her. The company and its attorneys were investigating Sara's brother and keeping him under Daniel's watchful eye. She had been spanked a few times for slipping up in attitude or openly disobeying him. It was a Friday afternoon and the office was slow and Sara was bored. Daniel had left for the afternoon to meet a business associate out on the fairway. She wandered into Daniel's office where she was always allowed to go and ran her hands over his chair and smelled the leather...the smell of his cologne lingered there...she sat in his chair and for the first time and saw the office as he saw it. She had never been in his office chair before. It seemed so...
forbidden
. She opened his desk drawer and looked at all of the items in his drawer so neatly placed and organized. He was clean and neat and masculine in every sense of the word.
She spun the chair in circles until she was almost dizzy. The smoothe glide of the obviously expensive chair lulled her into continuing. When she finally stopped she stared at the matching credenza behind the chair and reached over to open the drawer. Right in the front file her brother's name caught her eye. She pulled the file and turned the chair and laid it out on Daniel's desk and began to read. She turned page after page after page of the plans the company had in the investigation. The notes back and forth between Daniel and his attorney were too numerous to read in one sitting. She had no idea how long she had been reading when she heard Daniel's thunderous voice. How he got as far as his office without her hearing she had no clue.
"What in the HELL do you think you are doing snooping through the files in my office?!" Sara jumped and nearly had a heart attack.
"Daniel. You scared me."
"Yeah. I'll bet I did."
"I just got bored and sat in here looking around and I just got curious and opened that drawer and saw this. I was just curious and started reading."
"Pack your things and go home. Now!" He nearly shouted.
Sara jumped and grabbed her coat and handbag and fled the office in shock. She drove home blinded by tears. She barely made it there and got inside without incident. She locked the door and ran to her room. She had no idea how long she laid there crying before she fell asleep. She woke up and the sun was still up so it could not have been too long. She went to find her phone and there were no messages but it said 11:00 a.m. She had slept all afternoon, night and into the following morning with her work clothes on. She sunk into a depression when she realized there was not one message from Daniel; no missed calls; nothing.
The weekend drug on forever and the only way Sara could pass the time was to write. She knocked out three whole chapters in her book and on Sunday night, she began to get nervous. She laid out a green dress and camel colored pumps. She wore pearls and her hair up. She decided on a camel colored cardigan sweater to match the shoes and handbag. She stopped and got the usual two coffees for herself and Daniel on the way into the office.
When she arrived at the office she greeted Brandy and headed into the Executive Suite. When she got to her desk it had been completely cleared and her things were gone. Daniel stood at his office door waiting for her. She stood staring at him and greeted him.
"Good morning, Daniel."
"Good morning. I will no longer be needing your services. Go see Jane. I am sure she can find something around here to keep you busy."
The sudden shock felt like a kick to her stomach and nearly knocked Sara off of her feet.
"Umm. Okay. I brought you coffee." She set his cup on her empty desk as she began to cry. She turned and fled the office. She was going to head to Jane's office but decided to head for the doors leaving the office completely. There was a text message waiting for her when she got out to her car.
Daniel: Miss Beckett, whether you like the conditions or not, you will continue to work for me or I will sue you for $65K for the cost of the rent on your condominium and your new wardrobe. I will give you the rest of the day off to pull yourself together, but I expect to see you at work tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.
Daniel watched from his office window as she sat reading her phone and crying in her car.
His
heart was breaking too. He had given her everything and trusted her. When he walked in and caught her reading the most strategic file he had on her brother, he was unwilling to believe it was by accident. She
had
to know what she had in her hands. She also had to know she was trespassing and chose to do it anyway. He had been off at the Country Club and she thought he would not be returning. He had planned to be gone but his business associate hadn't shown up and after a drink or two at the Golf Club Bar while waiting he headed back to the office. Anyway, as he watched her now, he wanted to run down the steps and out to her car and stop her from leaving. He wasn't about to let her quit working for him. She needed looking after regardless of whether she was in his office or even his life. As far as he could tell there was no one in her life taking care of her. But the truth was, he could not afford to have a backstabber or snoop in his midst regarding that brother of hers. The man had cost him close to a million dollars already and he aimed to get to the bottom of it however he had to do it. If Sara was not behind him one hundred percent, he could not have her in his office. What he had caught her doing was obvious and he did not feel the need to have a conversation about it.
Sara refused to answer his text. Instead, she texted Jane.
