The Other C-Word (11 page)

I stared in disbelief with my mouth hanging open. When had all this happened? Kathy was going home with my fuck buddy?

Mr Henley approached and managed to extend one arm over my shoulder and the other over Dillon’s. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you guys all night.”

I wanted to tell him that’s because he hadn’t. I couldn’t though. Mr Henley was a very decent man, and I couldn’t fault him for being so enamoured with Rick. Rick was going to save the company that was
Henley
’s life work. “It’s okay, Mr Henley, have a good night, sir.”

Rick approached me as everyone was getting up, and doing the compulsory stretching required after many hours spent drinking in a seated position.

“Looks like I won’t be giving you a ride tonight after all,” Rick whispered softly against my ear. The statement sounded completely sexual to me. He reached for my hand, taking hold of my right wrist and gently rubbing it. “No one else will either. Thanks for letting me use your phone.” The heat of his breath against my earlobe caused an involuntary and unwelcomed shiver. He placed my phone on the bar in front of me. I’d forgotten all about it. I wanted to yell at him and berate him, but I got lost in the intoxicating scent of his cologne. I couldn’t speak. The heat that crept along my face and neck were response enough. I no longer trusted my mouth to speak.

Rick and Henley each took one of Doug’s arms as Kathy followed behind them. As soon as Rick had left, I remembered where I was. I picked up my phone and scrolled through it. My mouth incrementally got wider as I rolled through my contacts. Dillon peered over my shoulder. Rick had erased every man’s number I had except for Dillon’s. He’d even managed to erase my text message and call history. There was one addition though—Rick Randy.

“Son of a bitch,” I said, wondering if I should run after him and throw my phone at him this time. It was heavier than the protein bar, after all. Dillon’s uproarious laughter interrupted my thoughts. “What’s so funny?” I demanded.

“That was hilarious! I’ve heard of cock block, but kid, your boss just pussy blocked you in a major way.”

* * * *

The next morning, I didn’t bring him his coffee. I stormed into Rick’s office with my head held high in sheer determination. I slammed my phone on his desk, crossed my arms and tapped my foot obnoxiously.

“Can I help you, Marley?” he enquired, not even looking up from the computer screen.

“What you did was over the line and a complete invasion of privacy.”

“What was that?” he asked innocently, but I could see the smirk threatening to curl around his lips, despite his obvious attempts to keep his expression sincere.

“You know! You deleted all my male contacts. Why would you do that?”

“Sorry, it was an accident. I’m not used to your phone,” he replied with measured indifference.

I bit down on my lip hard, struggling not to choke him.

“You deleted my future brother-in-laws number and friends too, you jerk!”

“I’m sure if there’s a number you really needed, you could get it back.” His nonchalance fuelled my fury.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You’re my boss, not my dad. It’s none of your business.”

Rick finally looked up at me, acknowledging me with a clenched jaw and narrowed eyes. In that moment, I knew I wasn’t the only irate one in the room, but his voice was free of hostility. It was soft, but sarcastic. “Calm down, my little Garter Belt Girl.”

“Don’t call me that.” I slammed my fist on his desk. He actually flinched, which gave me great satisfaction.

I waited for him to reply, to utter his apologies and come up with beseeching excuses for his behaviour. Instead, he smirked and his green eyes were twinkling mischievously.

“I can’t have a nickname for you? I mean you have one for me…don’t you?” He was staring straight at my eyes, studying my reaction as I analysed his words. It was my turn to flinch. He’d read my text messages to Dillon.
Oh, crap
! He knew we called him ‘Big Dick’. “Marley, I’m flattered, really.”

I had no idea what to say. I was still seething, but I was embarrassed now too.

He broke the silence, “I really do have a lot of work to do if there’s nothing else.”

I walked out of his office, not sure what had just happened. Part of me had thought about threatening him with HR, but it wouldn’t work on Rick. He knew it would be a veiled threat. Part of me felt thoroughly defeated. Part of me wanted to jump in his lap and kiss those soft lips. All of me was completely confused.

“Don’t forget your phone, you might need it,” Rick said when I was at the door.

I stomped back to his desk and picked it up. “You’re right, I have a lot of numbers to track down,” I retorted, harshly. His expression was grim as I spoke. I made a point of straightening the frame of his girlfriend’s picture on the way out. He noticed it, and I think in that moment I conveyed the message clearly—
we’re both unavailable
.
 

* * * *

Surprisingly, the cell phone calamity went by the wayside. I was still bitter, but as the days passed, I found myself immersed in new assignments. Rick acted professionally, and neither of us mentioned what had happened at the bar. I started bringing him coffee again like some kind of peace offering, however, he never complimented my appearance or called me Garter Belt Girl. He remained polite, but distant and aloof. I imagined he thought less of me since I’d stupidly revealed the details of my sex life.

I missed the camaraderie we’d shared prior to ‘cell phone gate’. Who was I kidding? I missed the way his eyes assessed my body. I missed the way he bit his lower lip when he looked at my legs. I missed the way he would grin salaciously when he made a naughty remark causing me to blush. I actually wanted to dress up more to elicit some kind of response from him, which I knew was completely asinine. I had an image of playing out my inner Bridget Jones and wearing a scandalous bra underneath a see-through top, but I decided against it. HR would kick me out on my butt. We were a casual company, but not that casual. The damn Brits could get away with anything.

I managed to track down the phone numbers I was missing, but I didn’t place any calls, except to Doug to make sure he made it home. It turned out he’d made it to Kathy’s house instead of his own. I would never sleep with him again—that much I knew. Doug had been with Kathy, and in my eyes, that made him spoilt goods. I didn’t feel any jealousy. We weren’t in a relationship, but even so, it didn’t seem natural to me that I wouldn’t resent Kathy for fucking Doug. It made me re-examine my choices, which only brought on more shame and frustration—two feelings I usually avoided. They manifested themselves when I slept at night, causing me a great deal of anxiety.

Luckily, I was very busy. I still worked late many nights, and on my free evenings I helped Stevie with wedding plans. The following Friday, I stayed until seven and as usual, Rick insisted on walking me to my car, as he always did. I grudgingly accepted, as I always did. It was our pattern, and like most patterns, it had become expected and comfortable, despite the shift in our relationship. We stepped into the elevator, immediately retreating to the opposite sides of the car in our normal manner. There was still insatiable electricity between us, regardless of the cool, polite exchanges we had.

The only variation from our typical pattern was that the elevator was going very slowly today. I wondered if it was my imagination, since being in such close proximity to Rick, made me hot and damp all over. However, when the elevator jolted mid-floors before coming to a complete stop, I knew it wasn’t in my head. I gaped at him, blinking rapidly. We were stuck in the elevator! Rick took control of the situation and contacted facilities who contacted the elevator maintenance company. After several calls, Rick stared at me with some trepidation of his own.

“It will be at least an hour until the guy can get here.”

The realisation caused me to lean against my corner of the elevator for support.
This can’t be happening, can it?
The thought of an hour, alone with him, in a closed-off space sounded like an absurd exercise in self-control. The situation might have been comical if the intensity wasn’t so palpable.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked him when I found my voice again.

“No, it’s Friday night and the guy is coming out from Gurney,” Rick replied, taking off his jacket and loosening his tie.

“What are you doing?”
Damn, my voice croaked
.

“Getting comfortable, we’ll be here for a while. Why don’t we sit?” He sat in his corner of the carpeted elevator, grinning reassuringly, but I remained standing.

“I bet you’re enjoying this. It’s pretty convenient, don’t you think?” I narrowed my eyes, letting the unspoken accusation hang in the air between us, which felt heavier with each passing second.

He cocked his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, let’s see, we’re stuck here alone for at least an hour on a Friday night, when no one is around to help us.”

He shot straight up from his sitting position. “What? You think I devised this? You think I planned you would be ready to leave at seven, so I made the elevator stop working? To what end, Marley? To take advantage of you?” He sounded enraged.

I knew he wouldn’t take advantage of me. Despite his past flirtations, I knew Rick would never hurt me…physically, but there was no denying how odd this was. “No, but it’s a little too coincidental.”

He laughed sarcastically, gesturing wildly. “You’re right. I planned this whole thing. In fact, guess what? The company you think you work for? It’s all a fraud perpetrated by yours truly. I created it, so we could have this intimate moment together. The city of
Chicago
? It doesn’t exist. It’s part of my master plan to fuck you, Marley.” He’d said ‘fuck’. I should have been freaked out, but I found my perverted self completely titillated by the way the word rolled off his sexy lips.

Still, he was berating me and that only pissed me off. He held out his hands towards me, demanding an answer. I flinched at his words and slouched in my corner, but he was too outraged by my accusation to stop his tirade.

“Is that what you want to hear?” He looked up at the ceiling of the elevator, cupping his hands over his mouth like a megaphone. “Bill, Jim, if you can hear me, start the elevator, she’s on to me. This one’s too smart to fall for my Machiavellian plan.”

I shrunk back trying to find my voice. It came out as a raspy shriek, “Shut up, shut up, shut up! I know I’m just a stupid blonde in a skirt to you, but shut the hell up, right now.” I felt a lump rise to my throat, but I swallowed it back. I wilted down to the floor, splaying my legs in a zigzag underneath me. I was tired, starving and emotional. A sure-fire recipe for disaster. I whispered my only coherent thought, “Hell is other people.”

I heard Rick shuffle over to me and he placed his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t look at him, but when he spoke, his voice was remorseful and concerned. “Hey, I’m sorry, Marley. Please look at me. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I snapped, crossing my arms, refusing to look at him. “I’m just hungry. I skipped lunch.” He had given me a ton of work today, and it was all I’d been able to do to finish, even with staying late.

“Why would you do that?” There was censure in his voice, as if he might go into a lecture. I didn’t like it.

“Because, my boss is a big dick,” I blurted, before my mind could even comprehend the words. I cringed at my stupidity, preparing myself for the rage he would bestow on me. Rage I most likely deserved at this point. Instead, I only heard laughter. It was a natural laugh, without any reproach or hostility.

I glanced up at him. He was holding out a Zesty bar over my shoulder. “If I give you this, do you promise not to throw it at me?” His eyes looked hopeful, but he smiled tightly. It seemed like a fake smile, one he donned to put me at ease. It worked.

I snatched the protein bar and opened it hungrily. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have called you that.”