I woke up alone and missed the hard body against me from the night before. Being with Greg had been everything I had thought it would be and more. I had told Fran that I was going to be able to forget about him after I was with him once. I knew then as I lay there in my bed that it wasn’t true. I was never going to be able to forget our sunset picnic and my few moments in his arms.
Wondering what his phone call had been about, I got ready for work. I tried to pull my mind from the soreness in my body. Every part of me was screaming from the night before, and it was hard to ignore it. Getting in the shower gave me time to think about his hands on me, and by the end of it, I was ready to go to work and see him again. I knew that I would finally have the courage to go see him in his office.
When I was dressed, I realized that it was the weekend and sat back down on my bed. I had never been as impatient as I was then. The fact that I was going to have two whole days before I saw him did not sit well with me, and it was becoming clear that I had already fallen.
Getting up, I changed into some shorts and a tank top for a run. If I wasn’t going to see Greg, I was going to need something to keep my mind busy and get rid of all of the pent-up energy that I had at the moment. I wanted Greg, but that wasn’t possible, so I’d have to settle for the open road instead.
When I got back from my run, Fran was up. She watched me check my phone again. I kept hoping that I would get a call from Greg, but there were no missed calls.
“Who are you expecting a call from?”
I shrugged and wiped the sweat from my face. I didn’t want to see the disapproval in her eyes when I told her about what happened the night before. I was bursting at the seams, so happy with it all, but I knew that she was not going to see it the same way. She would talk about how he had taken advantage of me, and it just wasn’t so. I had wanted him bad enough to take the chance, and it had been worth it.
“Just checking it. You’re up early. What are your plans for the day?”
“I have to go to work later. You want to go get some lunch at the café?”
I told her maybe. I wasn’t going to say that I was waiting on a call from Greg and would ditch her in a heartbeat if there was a choice. Of course I wasn’t going to say that, even though it was the gospel truth.
“Maybe. I don’t know if I’ll have to do something for work today.”
“You work weekends now?” Her eyebrows were scrunching and I knew that she was wondering what I was talking about. I was starting to get nervous that she knew. How did Fran always know everything?
“Sometimes. If they ask me to. I really like the job, so I will work this weekend if they need me.”
“If Greg needs you, you mean.”
I wasn’t going to argue. Instead of trying to hold it close to my chest, I burst out with what had happened the night before. I avoided her eyes so I wouldn’t see the judgment in them. I knew that what I had done wasn’t exactly right, but how could it feel so good if it wasn’t what was supposed to happen?
“I can’t believe you slept with him, Desiree. After everything that happened there with the rumors and you quitting. How could you do that?”
She didn’t get it, and I wondered for a moment if Fran had ever been in love. I felt like if she had, she would see the sweetness in the midst of the madness, but she sure didn’t seem to. I knew I shouldn’t have told her, and I silently admonished myself.
“He is single, I am single, and I really like him.”
“So now that you did it, are you over him?”
Fran knew the answer, but she was going to make me say it out loud. How could I be over him after last night? I was falling hard and fast, and there was no turning back for me anymore. I had to have Greg. I just had to.
***
The weekend was long, made longer by the fact that Greg never called. At the end of Saturday I was starting to get nervous, but when I hadn’t heard from him all day Sunday, I wondered if I was feeling something that he hadn’t. I couldn’t wait to have my hands on him again, but I knew that I wasn’t supposed to. If he didn’t want me, I was going to be crushed.
I dressed carefully on Monday, with Greg in mind. I was determined to have him again. Maybe even in his own office, I thought to myself. There was only one thought on my mind, and it was the handsome man with the fathomless green eyes.
As I arrived at work, there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. All I could think about was Friday night and the fact that Greg had rushed off and I hadn’t seen him since. The building looked benign as I walked up to it, but the feeling was not something that I could shake.
As I walked in, I saw that there was definitely something going on. There were several people standing around and even more were packing up their things in small white boxes. The feeling of dread followed me into the elevator. I felt a few eyes on me, but I didn’t know anyone well enough to ask anything. That meant I had to make my way up to the fourth floor still wondering what was going on. Surely all of those people hadn’t been fired? Right?
The upset followed me to the accounting floor. I felt more looks and I didn’t say much of anything. Looking for Paul, I was not relieved to see that he seemed to be one of the ones that were going out the door.
“Paul, what is going on?”
Paul had a look of anger and sadness on his face. I don’t think even he knew which feeling was the dominant one.
“Half of the staff is getting sacked. New cost-saving initiative.”
“What?” I was afraid to ask if I was one of them. I figured if Paul was getting let go, as well as most of the senior staff, there was no way that I was going to make the cut to stay.
“Donald took over on Friday. He convinced a majority of the stockholders that Greg was taking the place down. So now Donald runs the company and he’s getting rid of anyone loyal to Greg and anyone who’s been here so long they make more than he’s willing to pay.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was sad to lose my job. The realization that it was gone was immediate. There was no way that Don was going to keep me around. Of course, there was no way that I wanted to work for him, either. I felt worse for the people like Paul who’d been working there for years. I had only been there a few weeks, and although I was going to miss it, I knew deep down that I was going to have to make peace with it all.
“I am so sorry, Paul. I guess I better take after you and get my things together.”
Paul nodded his head. We both knew that I was going to be on the chopping block, but because it was Donald, I knew that it wasn’t going to be that hard for me to leave. I never wanted to work for a man like that.
“Have you seen Greg?”
He shook his head as he put another framed photo into the box. “No one has seen him. We were told this morning by email to be out by lunch and that Greg was no longer in charge. I don’t know where he is, but even Tommy has been absent. He has been here the longest, and I’m sure he was the first to go.”
I didn’t know how to react. I got my few things together and felt sadness come over me. This was the first real job I’d had, and I had certainly not thought that it was going to end like this.
Seeing Don walk in from the elevator, I made sure to avoid eye contact with him, but he came over to me anyway. “I see you’ve heard the news.”
I didn’t look up. “Yes, sir. I’m getting my things together like the email said.”
“You didn’t get an email.”
His words surprised me and I finally looked up at him. “Why wouldn’t I get an email?”
“Because I want you to stay. Greg thought he saw promise in you, and everyone agrees that your work is impeccable. Besides, you make far less than Paul does… and then we would be able to work closely together, like you did with Greg.”
The last part was not hard to figure out. I shrank from his touch on my shoulder. When I did, he gave me a surprised look.
“I have no desire to work for a man like you.”
He chuckled and told me that I would be back.
“I’m sure you’ll take the company down with you. Greg said that you were always the fuck-up between the two of you guys.”
His eyes darkened almost to black, and again I felt aggression pouring off of him. It was yet another moment where all I could think about was getting away from him. There was no way that I would work for such a man. I would rather go back to serving drinks at the bar.