Northern Proposals
Read Northern Proposals Online
Authors: Julia P. Lynde
Northern Proposals
by Julia P. Lynde
"It's not happening," Jessica said to me. "I am not giving up my weekend to work on this. I have plans."
Frustrated, I stared into her
green eyes. "I only need a few hours from you," I told her. "You can come in for three hours."
"No, I can't," she said. "I have plans."
"If you can’t come in, I'll come to you."
"I am going out of town," she said. "I have been working
my ass off, I begged my sister-in-law for the use of her cabin, and this was the only weekend I can get it. I am not giving it up."
We were standing in her cubicle at work. Jessica and I weren't exactly friends at the office, but I thought we got along. The project was due Monday, and it had taken longer than I expected to finish it. She had waited all week for me to finish my part so that I could hand it over to her for the portion she needed to do. I needed her statistics expertise
to lend weight to the presentation.
And now she wasn't going to do it.
"Please, Jessica. You know it's due right away on Monday."
"I have been bugging you all week to get it to me." She looked at her watch. "It is now 3:30 on Friday. I wanted to leave a half hour ago. I still need to
stop by my house then pick up my date for the weekend. It's a long drive, and I didn't want to drive during rush hour, but now I either do that or wait until after six. Thanks a lot."
Her phone
chose that minute to ring. She picked it up from her desk and looked at it. "It's Susan," she said. "Probably wondering why I'm standing here arguing with you instead of picking her up." She answered the phone. "Hey," she said with a smile. I watched the conversation. First, her features froze. Then the smile began to evaporate. "I thought we were doing well. I know we haven't known each other that long, but-" She paused for a while, listening. "Oh." Her features finished their dissolve into sadness. "No. I hope it works out well for you."
She hung up her phone. "Fuck."
"I'm sorry," I told her quietly.
She turned away
for a moment, staring into space, then turned back. "It's not like we were in love," she said. "But I was looking forward to this weekend." She sighed. "Well, I'll find someone else to bring. It should only take a few phone calls to find a fun playmate." She paced around her office. I tried to judge her mood after being dumped over the phone. She seemed frustrated by the situation more than anything else. Finally she turned back to me. "As far as I am concerned, it is not my fault you didn't get this to me yesterday. If you had, I could have done it today."
"I agree," I told her. "Entirely my fault. I should have stayed late earlier in the week. Please, Jessica."
She looked me up and down, and I felt she was evaluating me for something. "What is my help worth to you?"
"Anything."
"Do you really mean that?" she asked.
"Yes."
"All right," she said. "Pack up your laptop. You are my date for the weekend."
"What?"
"My companion for the weekend just cancelled. I had to grovel to get the cabin. My sister-in-law doesn't like me, and the kissing up I had to do to get the cabin was humiliating. I am not giving it up. I want a nice weekend. I hope you like to swim."
I looked at her. "Your date?"
"Oh don't be so shocked," she said. "You knew I was gay."
"Yeah, but I'm not," I told her. "I like boys."
"I'm not asking for sex. Think of it as an extended slumber party."
I thought about it.
When Jessica said she wouldn't help me over the weekend, I'd felt as if she wanted me to get into trouble on Monday when the project wasn't done. I couldn't finish the project without her, and she was right. It wasn't her fault I'd gotten to her late. But I could do the remaining work from a laptop, so maybe doing it out of town would not be a problem.
"Tell me about the cabin."
"Four hour drive," she said. "Quiet lake in northern Minnesota." She smiled, and it was like the tension left her body while she thought about the cabin. "It's a small cabin with only one bedroom for us to share. But Marcy told me I was free to use the pontoon boat, and the swimming is good. We can bring laptops out on the boat. It will be nice. When have you worked from a boat? I already bought all the groceries. It's not going to cost you a dime. We'll take my car, and you can work on the presentation during the drive if you don't want to talk to me."
I looked at her hesitantly.
"Jade, it's not like I'm going to turn you gay if you spend a weekend with me," she said. "And you might have fun."
I offered a droll
expression at the joke about being turned gay.
"Look, keep me company. Flirt with me a little. Enjoy the cabin. It's really very beautiful. We'll finish the presentation. I won't have to give up my weekend. I promise I won't seduce you unless you look like you want me to."
I laughed. "You know, it actually does sound fun, Jessica. Thank you."
She offered a smile that lit up her entire face. "Really? And you'll flirt with me?"
I laughed again. "Yes, I'll flirt with you. But it's just flirting."
"I knew I liked you," she said, reaching out and touching my hand briefly. Her smile was infectious, and I soon found myself smiling back. "I have all our food at my place, and I'm only ten minutes away. I'll go home and pack up the car then meet you at your place." She turned to her desk and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, handing them to me. "Address."
I wrote it out for her. When I was done she handed me a business card. "It has my cell number on it." She looked at the address. "Oh good, you live close, too." I nodded. "I'll head straight there after collecting my things, and if you're not ready to go, I can help you pack."
"What do I need?"
"Casual clothes, pajamas, swim suit, personal items."
I thought about
her description of the cabin. "One bedroom cabin? Please tell me it has running water."
She laughed. "
Indoor plumbing. You won't have to use an outhouse. There is even a shower. And cable Internet. It's my sister-in-law's cabin, but my brother insisted on Internet." She reached out and touched my hand again. "Thank you, Jade. You wouldn't believe the groveling I did to get it, and I didn't want to go alone." She sighed, and some of her sadness came through.
"You said you could make a few calls to find someone. I'm not really doing you a favor. You could probably find someone who would do more than flirt."
"Probably, but you're outdoorsy. You go running at lunch, and last week you mentioned a camping trip. Anyone else I might find, well. My type tends to be pretty feminine, and someone who looks as stunning as you but likes it outside, well, I don't think I'm going to find her with a few phone calls. I would rather you came along than anyone else I can think of."
I laughed. "Thank you.
I know what you mean. Thank you for inviting me, Jessica."
* * *
On the drive home, I thought about whether I was making a mistake. The reality was simple. I needed Jessica to finish the proposal, and she was right. She shouldn't have to give up her weekend because I took too long to get it to her. And a weekend on a lake sounded like fun.
I got home and was shedding clothes by the time I was in the house. I was wearing a business suit but quickly had it hanging up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a casual blouse. I wasn't going to wear silk, after all.
I was still packing by the time the doorbell rang. I ran to the front door, and Jessica was standing there. She had changed, and my jaw dropped. She was wearing a black leather skirt, ankle boots, a white blouse open halfway down the front, and a stylish leather jacket. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was pulled to the side. She looked good.
She grinned at my reaction. "I thought you weren't gay," she said.
"I am reevaluating my choices," I told her. When she stepped past me into the house, I made a point of checking out her ass, making sure she caught me.
She cocked her head, and her smile reached her eyes. I hoped she realized I was just teasing. Then her smile faded a little. "I'm trying too hard," she admitted. "I was feeling a little rejected. I know you're just teasing, but I appreciate it."
She took a breath, and her tone became more detached. "You don't have to go, you know. You could email everything to me. If you go, we will have to share a bed. There are two bedrooms, but we can't use Jon and Marcy's bedroom. Marcy would have a cow." She looked away. "I don't want a sexual harassment lawsuit."
I could tell she really wanted me to come, and I decided perhaps it wouldn't have been as easy as she had suggested
for her to find someone else to go. And to be honest, if I had to work for a weekend, doing so at a cabin on a lake sounded like more fun than going to the office.
It was my turn to reach out and touch her hand. "Jessica, I was leery at first.
I wouldn't have called us friends, but we get along well at work. I think it'll be a nice weekend. May I come?"
She turned back to me and smiled again, and I couldn't imagine she had much trouble finding dates.
It felt like she was lighting the room with that smile. "Are you packed?"
"Not quite.
"
"Will it be weird if I help?" she asked. "It will go faster. If we hurry, we'll still
deal with rush hour, but at least we'll be ahead of the worst of it."
I nodded and
led the way to my bedroom. The suitcase was on the bed, and I had tossed a few things in it. She looked through it. "Undies," she said. I went to my dresser and found underwear, handing her three pairs. She put them into the suitcase. "Swim suit." She listed a few more things and I handed them to her. "Something to sleep in," she said. I went into my closet and came out with a black teddy. She looked at it.
"Jade, if you wear that, I will take it as a message you want to be seduced."
"Oh, right. Sorry." I went back into the closet and found a pair of granny jammies. She took one look at them and sighed. "You could give me a LITTLE eye candy."
I grinned and pointed to my dresser. "Second drawer on the left has my swim suits. Pick two.
Not the thong."
I put the
jammies into the suitcase. I'm not sure why, but I still had the teddy, and I hid that in the suitcase too.
"How about these?" Jessica asked, holding up two swimsuits, a bikini in one hand and a one-piece in the other. They weren't my sexiest suits, but I looked good in both of them. "Eye candy without being too suggestive," she said.
I nodded and she put them into the suitcase for me.
I looked at her in her hot outfit and I came to a decision. "Turn around," I told her.
She turned her back to me and I stripped out of my jeans and blouse and tossed them at the suitcase. I went into my closet and found a summer dress. I slipped into it. I wouldn't look as sexy as Jessica did, but it was comfortable, and I thought she'd appreciate it.
"You can turn around again," I told her. She smiled
in appreciation when she saw I had changed attire. I packed the rest of the clothes and grabbed some things from the bathroom.
"Jacket," she said. "In case it gets chilly. And do you have beach shoes of some sort? Sandals?
And how about hiking boots or tennis shoes?"
"Front closet," I told her.
She carried my suitcase for me and I grabbed everything I would need to work on the proposal. Soon we had everything in her car, and she was holding my door for me. I slipped into place and watched her climb into the driver's seat. We buckled up and were soon on the road.