Playing with Power - Book 3: New Adult Office Romance (6 page)

“So, you’re leaving tomorrow?”

He nodded. “Yeah, seven tomorrow morning from JFK.”

“Ouch, that sucks. At least it’s first class though. You’ll probably have those seats that lay flat.”

“Nope, I always fly economy.” Lauren’s eyebrows shot up. “What? You find that hard to believe? I don’t see the point in spending quadruple the price to sit in the same plane going to the same place.”

“Then why did you buy me and Ali first class tickets?”

“Business, to impress you. A little bit of both.” Lauren didn’t know how to respond to that. She could still feel a pulse between them, a thrumming pull that made her weak.

Fortunately, as the conversation turned to business, much of her desire was replaced with anxiety and stress. They spent another two hours at the office discussing everything from possible funding opportunities to launch strategies. Over and over, Lauren was impressed by Landon’s seemingly natural expertise. It was as if he had an innate intuition for business and she was glad she had him on her side. He finally declared he needed to head back to his hotel to pack up and catch a few hours’ sleep. Lauren led him down to the street where they said an awkward goodbye. They hugged, his arms holding her tighter and longer than any platonic embrace. She stood on her toes, her arms wrapped around his neck. They pulled away slowly, their cheeks brushing against each other in an agonizing caress, until their arms dropped. He insisted she take the first cab and as the car whisked her away, she tried not to look back.

She got home to the dark apartment well after 1 a.m. Not mentally prepared to get up in only a few hours, she sent an email off to Faith saying she’d be coming in midday.
I just need a little sleep.
Yet she tossed and turned in bed, her mind restless and replaying scenes from the day, particularly the ones from the subway. In a huff, she finally threw the covers off the bed and reached into the bottom drawer of her nightstand. Her fingers rifled through the contents, finally finding the hard, rubbery vibrator buried in the back. The poor thing was working overtime with her recent abstinence but after a full day of sexual tension, she needed a release.

Shimmying her panties off, she closed her eyes and saw Landon. As her fingers worked their magic below, she imagined his gorgeous brown eyes filled with the longing he felt. In her mind, she stood naked before him, exposed and vulnerable. They were in the bedroom back at the office, his shirt open but not yet off. He stepped close, burying his nose in her hair and breathing deeply, a growl escaping with the exhale. Tentatively, he raised his hands to her breasts, ever so slightly touching the skin. Goosebumps raced across her body. He kissed her on the forehead, on the nose, softly on the lips. He kissed a line down the center of her body, kneeling when he reached the spot between her legs.

Lauren’s eyes fluttered open as she grabbed the vibrator, twisting it on. It didn’t take much to get her going. Her eyes closing, she imagined him on his knees in front of her, gazing up with a mischievous look. His fingers gently opened her pussy, his tongue plunging in. Lauren’s head rocked back with a loud moan as his tongue probed and licked. Spreading her legs wider, inviting him in further, she imagined his hands on her ass, fingers digging into her skin as he drank deep. Approaching the point of no return, random images and memories flashed through her mind. His hand on her knee at the bar, his hard cock pressed against her in the crowded subway, the passion with which he kissed her in the bedroom. With a shudder, Lauren came, pressing her lips together to keep from calling out his name. A drop of sweat rolled down her neck as her body relaxed. She turned off the vibrator and dropped it limply to the side, quickly finding her breath.
If only that hadn’t been just a fantasy,
she thought with immediate guilt.

August 26th

Wow, it’s been over two months since I last wrote in here. Shows how busy I’ve been I suppose! I don’t even know where to start...I feel like everything in my life is in stasis. My relationship with Nick isn’t really going anywhere. I don’t want to just fall into the same old habits. I want to work things out before seeing if we should genuinely get back together but we just don’t have time. I’m working all the time, he’s working a crazy amount of hours. Maybe that should tell me something? If we can’t find the time to mend a relationship, do we have the time to maintain one? As much as he might want to, I don’t want to go back to the way things were without properly addressing our issues, our plans for the future. I’m just not ready for him to move back in here.

StyleSpur still sucks. I love the people I work with but now that I’m working on My Best Friend’s Closet, my heart just isn’t in it. I used to be able to put up with all the bullshit because at least the end result meant something to me but now? It’s not that I’ve stopped caring because there’s a good chance MyBFC won’t ever launch but, I don’t know. Maybe Landon is right to worry. Maybe I am spread too thin.

And then there’s Landon. Landon who is probably on a plane somewhere over Utah right now. Landon who makes me feel strong and weak all at once...I didn’t think seeing him again was going to be
that
difficult, especially after so long. I should’ve told him about Nick from the start cause I really made an ass out of myself and honestly, the last thing I’d want is for him to think less of me.

Behind it all is Damon. I haven’t seen him since the last time and aside from a few short emails, haven’t spoken to him either. It’s ridiculous, but I always feel like Damon is somehow watching all this play out from behind some curtain. I flipped through that book a couple times,
The 48 Laws of Power
, but he hasn’t tried to “mentor” me. I’m thankful he might’ve found another “apprentice” because I don’t think I can handle both him and Landon at the same time.

I take it back. My life isn’t in stasis...it’s a roller coaster. No, not even that’s right. A roller coaster is controlled, designed, on a track. You’re never going to fly off course on a roller coaster (hopefully). No, my life is a sailboat pushing through 50 foot swells in the middle of a hurricane. Wicked highs, long tension-filled middles, and plunging lows.

Whoa, that’s a little dramatic. I think Ali’s been rubbing off on me.

Anyway, I’ve gotta go in to work. I was up late with Landon...talking business strategies. At least the trains will be empty.

7.

Taking a half day completely threw Lauren off her stride. By the time she’d reached work, the office was in full swing. Still drowsy and drinking her first coffee of the day, everyone seemed overly boisterous and energetic. They were on her in an instant, demanding attention, her inbox overflowing with emails marked urgent.

“What’s up with you guys?” she said draping her bag across the back of computer chair. “I’m gone for four hours and you go into panic mode. You
can
do this without me, you know.”

Amit pulled her to the side, far enough from the desk cluster they could speak privately enough. He was the most senior programmer under Lauren and he looked worried.“Today hasn’t been a normal day. Dank Denim is freaking out. Called up Crystal this morning shouting about the widgets on their site, threatening to cancel their contract if it’s not fixed right away. Then the site went down, kept timing out and we’ve only just got it back online. Plus, Parker didn’t come in today and Faith can’t reach him.”

“Shit. Why didn’t you guys call me?” With all that happening, Lauren was surprised there weren’t literal fires burning in the corners of the office.

“Faith and I figured you needed your rest. In the two years I’ve worked here, I don’t think I’ve ever known you to take a half day.” For a person with such a normally stoic personality, it was touching to see Amit express such sympathy. Lauren’s frustration melted as she realized they’d done the best they could.

“Okay, alright, show me this widget problem.”

Within an hour all the virtual fires were extinguished and Lauren finally had a chance to sit and breathe. The office had quieted, Dank Denim was no longer shouting like it was the end of the world, and Lauren tried to gather her thoughts. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes.

“Lauren?”

“Oh God, Faith, you’re killing me,” she said without opening her eyes. “What’s up?”

“Rochelle was supposed to start her tech rotation today.”

Ugh, I’m really not in the mood to teach someone how to code today.
Eyes bleary, she rocked forward. Faith and Rochelle stood in front of her desk. She hadn’t noticed it until now, but seeing them stand next to each other she realized Rochelle could’ve been Faith’s younger sister. Blonde, petite, perky, with two perfect dimples that popped out when she smiled.

“It’s okay. We can start later this week if you want.” She sounded almost embarrassed. Lauren realized she was taking her grumpiness out on her for no reason.

“No, it’s cool. Sorry, it’s just been a stressful day. I’ll meet you over at your desk in a couple minutes, okay?” When Rochelle had left, Lauren whispered, “Still haven’t been able to reach Parker?”

Faith shook her head, looking more ashamed than concerned. “We had a fight.”

“Yeah, well, he’s alive. He’s been sending me emails all afternoon,” Lauren said pointing to her monitor.

“Are you serious?” Faith said, rounding the desk so she could see the computer screen.

“Yep, actually, here. He sent one just now.” Lauren pulled up the email so she could see it. “Check the time stamp.”

(No subject)

Just got an email from Landon DeWitt, thanking me for my time. He wants to go through some of our code base, so I’ll send over an NDA for him to sign.

I said it before...I don’t know how you hooked Mr. California Surfboy but I’m fucking glad you did.

Faith scrunched up her face, shook her head, and walked away.
That poor girl is all sorts of twisted up over someone so inconsequential,
Lauren thought.

Grabbing a notebook and pen, she made her way over to Rochelle’s desk in the far corner of the office. She smiled brightly as Lauren approached.

“So first of all, how are you liking things?”

“It’s amazing,” she cooed, her blue eyes wide. “Since I started business school I’ve been fascinated with startups so to be here in the middle of one, especially while you’re growing and seeking Series B? It’s better than I could’ve hoped for.”

“Well good! That’s good to hear. You just finished shadowing the sales team, right? Did you learn a lot there?”

“Yeah, a lot more than I thought I would. I figured they just called people up and read a script but it actually takes a lot of skill. I couldn’t do it.”

“Neither could I, but I’m glad we have people who can. So, using the the sales team as a launching point, let me explain one of the biggest problems young companies have. Sorry if I’m repeating stuff you already know from school. There’s always this tug-of-war between developing the technology and finding customers who are willing to pay for it. First, you have to create something to sell, right? But then, you have to sell a lot more so you can hire more programmers to create better, faster tech. It’s this whole back and forth thing. You probably sat in some meetings we had when the salespeople started selling products or widgets we haven’t actually created.” Rochelle nodded tightly and with good reason. Those had been some stressful meetings. “Right, so you can’t expect a salesperson not to sell. If they know they can close the deal, they’ll pretty much do anything they can to make that happen. It’s not their fault they don’t understand how much work goes into making it a reality, nor do they really care. They work on commission and no CEO is going to rein them in.”

“Right, I can see that now,” she nodded.

Lauren went over StyleSpur’s tech stack and explained the direction they were headed over the next few years. Rochelle pleasantly surprised her, demonstrating from the beginning that she was a quick learner and eager to get into it. Asking all the right questions, taking notes, and even when she didn’t understand something her assumptions were spot on. Her face lit up when Lauren showed her Codeacademy, a free online website designed to teach the basics of a variety of programming languages.

“This is perfect. I’m gonna check this out tonight when I go home!”

“Well good! I haven’t used it myself but I’ve heard great things. I think starting tomorrow, we’ll get you to shadow Amit for a week or so, just to see how things operate on a daily basis. If you have any questions just come to me, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks so much. I was really worried about this part of the internship. It sounds stupid, but I always thought of programming as a male profession. It’s intimidating, you know? But it doesn’t seem as difficult as I’d thought. I shouldn’t have doubted myself.”

Lauren choked up a little, hearing a little bit of herself in those words. “That’s really good to hear. I think you’re going to do great.” She walked to her desk blinking back tears, happy that she might have the chance to mentor someone a little.
And where will I find the time for that?
she wondered to herself.
Doesn’t matter. I can make time.

8.

“I will never understand why you refuse to buy an air conditioner,” Lauren groaned. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.