It was 8:36 am on a Friday. A long day of work lay ahead of me. I was looking forward to the weekend because, like any working stiff, I don't particularly enjoy work. Even for a former-man-turned-god with the power to alter reality with my will alone, it's rather difficult to find finance and banking super entertaining, especially in a large, impersonal, corporate environment. So just one more day of grind to get through, then fun and adventure await me.
I had gotten through the day, completing assignments while simultaneously imagining all the things I could do over the weekend. I contemplated all sorts of lurid filth and the various lovers with whom I could share it. I also contemplated spending some quality time with Dana and/or Sasha, maybe just watch a few movies and finish of a bottle of Chianti. I even had momentary thoughts of spending time alone, finally getting around studying some recent chess games. Hey what can I say, some nerd habits are hard to break. Even a sex god has to take a break from sex.
I was brought out of my fantasizing by a coworker, Michael. I was staring off a bit while thinking of Dana; Michael's waving and saying my name caught my attention.
"Oh hey, sorry Michael. What's up?" I noticed his unusually cheerful demeanor.
"Wanna grab some lunch? It's 12:30." He pointed to the clock on the wall.
"Yeah sure." I neatly put away my work materials and prepared to join him. I noticed he was more chipper than usual. I also detected a bit of self-satisfaction. I could have just read his thoughts to find out exactly what was the cause, but in my years of being a god, I find that just takes the fun out of things. There is something to be said with just talking with people and finding out through their own narrative. We made our way to a quaint little sandwich shop across from our office building.
Let me give you a little bit on Michael professionally. He's a relative new guy in the company. This is about the end of his second year working in the corporate office. As to how we know each other, I kept close ties with my professors in college. Michael was recommended to me by one of them and so I recruited him straight out of his undergrad. I helped train him and I continue to give him guidance; he's been kicking ass in his department and is a rising star.
He still comes to me for advice and mentorship even though I'm not his direct supervisor. Many of his peers see him as cocky and undisciplined, especially as he has some of his old habits from his time at a fraternity. Although there is a bit of undeserved arrogance, I see a young man eager to learn and with ambition.
Back to our lunch, Michael got a Tuna melt on white. I got a roast beef on sourdough. Michael immediately opened with conversation.
"So you notice anything different?" Michael put on a coy expression.
"You seem more upbeat today. Did you win the lottery or something?" I dug into my sandwich.
"Well not to be immodest..." he paused for effect, though his childish grin ruined the moment "...I managed to do the impossible."
"You did an honest day's work while working at a large financial corporation?" I mocked him.
He just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No, No. I'm not that good." We both chuckled at that.
"In all seriousness what did you do exactly?" I continued eating my sandwich and let him speak.
"You know Claire? In Human Resources?" Michael asked.
"I know of her. Never actually met her though." I think I knew where this was headed.
"Well she is the hottest chick in the firm. And I bagged her. Me!" Michael said with pride. Yup just as I thought, he got laid.
I gave a disinterested look. "Uhh, congratulations, I guess. So what does that have to do with you doing the impossible?"
"You don't know?!" Michael raised his voice a little. It was lunch hour so the crowd drowned out his exclamation. "Man, they call her the ice queen. She's been at the company for a little over a year now and everyone who has approached her has gotten shut down. And not just a polite no. She turns up the bitch like you wouldn't believe. She got a rep as being unattainable."
Well I thought to myself 'I could have her any way I wanted on a whim' but that was more a matter of factual correctness than ego. With my powers I could change her thoughts and emotions to be desperate for just a kiss and have her melting at the mere mention of my name. The way Michael described her though, I doubt I would want to have her as a lover. She sounded too high strung to enjoy herself.
"And how many people have you told about this?" I asked and Michael saw my concern, turning a bit more serious himself.
"You're the first. So your thoughts?" He looked at me expectantly.
I just shrugged my shoulders "Good for you Michael, but why tell me at all? You know my stance on office gossip." I said flatly.
"But I thought you'd love this. After all the stories about that thing with you and Susan 5 months ago I thought you'd love to hear all this. All the women in my department tend to glare at you when you're around, you know. I wanted to know what the master thought. I bet you had your sights on Claire too."
He was correct about Susan and the other women, but not about Claire. What happened was that I had a fling with Susan, one of the office secretaries in Michael's department. She had just started. It was a very spontaneous encounter outside work; We didn't even realize we worked at the same company until we ran into each other at work the following day. Let me tell you, that was really weird introduction.
We decided not to pursue anything further since we both realized that it would make work awkward. It was bittersweet for Susan as I was the best lover Susan ever had as she came multiple times, something she's never experienced before. However the weight of multiple screaming orgasms bearing down on her, she just had to tell someone so she told her friends in the office; as a result it is true that some of Susan's friends look at me the way Michael described.
As for Claire, I didn't really know her that well to want to pursue her. Professionally I heard she was competent but that's all I knew. I didn't like how this conversation with Michael was playing out. I knew the importance of keeping your professional life separate from your personal life. I needed to shut down this destructive behavior before it could cause irreparable harm to both parties.
"Okay first of all Susan was the one who blabbed about it. Not me. Second of all, they do not glare. You're just imagining things."
Michael was giving a coy grin. He knew I was being modest. "Whatever you say chief."
"But seriously Michael, as your friend, I'm telling you that you should keep everyone's personal exploits to yourself, especially what you do. If someone in HR or worse yet, legal gets wind about this gossip you could get a complaint filed against you or against Claire. So please for both your sakes, don't mention this anymore."
"Yeah, Yeah, whatever you say mister killjoy."
I knew he wasn't happy at all with my response but he also knew I was right.
"But still you gotta admit it was quite the feat." He still had a bit of smugness about him since he thinks he did the impossible.
I didn't like this attitude. I was dismayed that he would treat this like a conquest and not a shared pleasure. He still hasn't quite grown up from his college days. I decided to take him down a bit. At his last statement we finished our lunches and started to head back.
I dropped the bomb. "Off the record..." he turned to me expectantly.,"...I'm not impressed."
"Oh come on! Why not?!" he would not let this go lightly.
