"I'm your boss and you will do as I say," Jackson said raising his voice. He stood right in front of her, crowding her in the tiny office.
Jackson and Terry worked in the same office together in the design department. They started off like partners. Recently the big boss made Jackson the supervisor of the design department. Now Terry answered directly to him.
"Go to hell Jackson," Terry fired back. She refused to be cowed by her new "boss". She looked up into his angry brown eyes and had to crane her neck back to do so. Jackson was tall, around 6'2". He had a trim athletic build, dark brown hair that he kept cut low and those dreamy brown eyes. All the girls at work were ga-ga for him. He liked the attention but didn't take it too seriously and he never got involved with anyone from work. She admired him for that.
During their first year at the office they merely got to know each other. By the second year they were fast friends and starting to flirt quite a bit. Terry had a huge crush on him and thought he liked her too. Neither did much about it not wanting to risk their relationship as friends or make an awkward situation at work. She was beginning to wonder if she should go ahead and make a play for him – then found out the corporate office made him her boss. That was three weeks ago.
In short, it sucked. Her buddy and not so secret crush now had the power to tell her what to do, veto all her design ideas, keep her late at work and ruin her weekends. She was so angry about it that she had been fighting him every step of the way since he took over the department. She knew it was wrong but couldn't help herself. She hoped he took his big fat raise and choked on it!
Jackson looked down at the angry little woman. He wanted to shake her! Since they met no one has been able to get under his skin the way she did. He knew she was angry about his promotion, knew that they had both been vying for the same position. Everyone expected it to take a couple more years before there was an opening though. It surprised everyone, him included. It was tough being the new boss and he thought he would have his buddy on his side. He'd also begun to have deeper feelings for Terry over the last several months. Her nasty attitude towards him now hurt on a whole other level that he refused to admit to.
He took in her big brown eyes...so pretty. They were wide and innocent looking, fringed with thick lashes. She was a lot shorter than him, barely over five feet tall. She had gorgeous curves packed in that 5 foot frame though. Her pretty brown face was screwed into a mask of anger. Her kissable full mouth pouted petulantly. Well, he guess all those fantasies about kissing said mouth while running his hands through that thick shoulder length black hair would remain just that – fantasies. So be it. He WAS the boss now and she WOULD do what he asked or else. He started with trying to intimidate her. He thought it would be easy given their size difference but it wasn't working. It was time to up the ante.
"Look Terry, your design is great and I know the original plan was to give you artistic lead but the plan has changed. So you can either get with that plan or else." Jackson finished his little speech by planting his fists on his hips and waited for her response.
Terry stepped back in shock. Well, she stepped back as far as she could. The old office they were standing in was small and filled with books, boxes, a sizable desk, drafting table and three computers. There really was no more space.
"Are you threatening me, Jackson?" She really hoped not. She hoped he was just trying to scare her like he did by getting all up in her face. Maybe she had finally gone too far. She watched him, searching for some clue. She knew she had been pretty nasty the last few weeks but figured she could get away with it. Jackie, as she had started to call him when they were alone, was always so nice to her. She didn't realize he could be nasty too until it was too late.
"It is not a threat Terry. It's the truth. You have to learn to accept my authority right now or there will be major consequences." Jackson turned to walk toward the shelf were the latest printouts were. Everyone else had left for the evening but he wanted to take a final look at the preliminary designs before leaving for the weekend. He had planned to go over them with Terry the way he always did. But she was being difficult as usual.
Accept his authority? Terry thought to herself. Has he lost his mind? Her temper flared again. "Who the hell do you think you are Jackson Kapfhammer? You are not the boss of me and I don't have to accept anything from you, you bastar-."
Terry didn't finish the word bastard because at the sound of it Jackson swung around took the two big steps back in front of her grabbing her upper arms. He jerked her close and said through gritted teeth, "Stop calling me that. That's all I've heard from you for weeks. I haven't done shit too you, you spoiled little bitch."
At first Terry was surprised and scared. Jackson had never behaved like this even when she was at her worst. She even felt bad knowing she must have been hurting his feelings...that is, until she heard the b-word. She jerked out of his grasp and drew her hand back.
CRACK. The sound her little brown hand made against his creamy cheek was loud and ringing. They both stood there frozen for a moment staring at each other in shock. Terry didn't know she was going to hit him until she'd already done it. It just made her so angry, him calling her bitch and if she were completely honest it hurt. He called her spoiled too. Did he really think she had no reason to be upset? She had started to think of Jackie as special, not just her friend or coworker. Then this happened and everything got so ugly.
An ugly red mark was starting to well up on Jackson's face. He couldn't believe she struck him. He knew she was angry, maybe even hurt about getting passed over for promotion but...damn. She must not care about him at all. He stared at her getting angrier by the second and if he were honest with himself he would admit to being hurt as well. He had been lusting after his friend's delectable little body for a while now. But it was more than that. He genuinely liked her. He thought they could still get together – after this work stuff blew over. But still she called him bastard. Jackson put a hand to his stinging cheek, knowing his passions were getting all confused but not caring. Well, if she insisted he was a bastard, he'd show her one.
Terry, who had been quietly watching Jackson the entire time, knew exactly when his mood changed. She saw the expression in his eyes switch from shock to anger and then to something else. Something she was sure she didn't want to name. It was time to get out of there. Since the company was empty now, being well after 6pm, they left the office door open. Terry made a dash for it. She could make it. It was no more than four or five steps to the door from where she stood against the drafting table.
Unfortunately it was terribly hard to move nimbly in the black pencil skirt and heels she wore. Before Terry made it past the computer desk Jackson caught her arm and flung her back against the drafting table. He walked over to the door and slammed it closed. Then he advanced on her.
Terry was trapped and she knew it. Was it too late to appeal to their sense of friendship? Would Jackie listen? Or would he make her pay for being so mean to him these last three weeks?
Jackson stopped when he towered right over Terry. Her eyes went large with fear. Good. She deserved it. He grabbed her upper arms again and leaned down to her, face to face. "So I'm a bastard am I," he snarled? I'll show you a bastard." With that Jackson began to move his hands over her body. Her blouse was ivory silk and felt nice against his hands. But his hands were cruel, rubbing and squeezing to hard. He covered her breast. They were full and heavy, large C cups maybe? Jackson squeezed just hard enough to hurt.
Terry yelped and tried to push his hands away but he would just put them back somewhere else.
