6
Lia stared at her pay statement for a full minute, wondering what she should do. It had to be a mistake. How could she possibly deserve a thousand-dollar bonus?
“Stan?” She knocked on his doorsill moments later.
“Lia. Hello.” He looked up from a file. “What can I do for you?”
“I think there may be a problem with my pay.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I’m not complaining, but...” She paused, crossing to his desk and holding out the pay stub. “I think there may be a mistake.”
He took the paper and waved it towards the chair before his desk. “Have a seat,” he said before his eyes scanned her pay stub. “No, this is right.”
“Oh.” She hesitated, not sure what to say. “Well, thanks.” She began to stand.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” He held up his hand and motioned for her to stay seated. “I’m very pleased with your work. I told you when you were hired there was the potential to make a great deal of money in this job.”
She nodded and wanted to ask exactly what she’d done to deserve the bonus, but was afraid it wouldn’t sound right.
“And after watching you over several weeks,” he continued, “I think you could be one of our top producers.”
“I hope so,” Lia said, pleased with the compliment.
“I’m getting positive feedback from the clients. You may not realize it while you’re socializing, but those receptions make our VIPs feel a loyalty to Zurtech they wouldn’t feel otherwise.” He leaned forward, his hands flat on the desk. “And gaining that loyalty is what makes the B2Bs so important to Zurtech. People like to do business with friends.”
“That makes sense.”
“Yes, it—”
“Stan?” Carmen interrupted, coming through the door. “We need to talk.” She didn’t acknowledge Lia as she stopped in front of his desk.
“We were finishing up.” He stood, picking up Lia’s pay stub and coming around the desk. “Keep up the good work.” He ushered her out of the office, but it was obvious his mind had moved past her to Carmen.
After three weeks and four dates, including the picnic and the show at the Kennedy Center, Lia accepted Eric’s invitation to spend the weekend with him at his beach house in Delaware. She knew he wanted to have sex, had known it since almost the first date, and now she too felt ready to take the relationship to the next level. Taylor was with Ned for the weekend, so she didn’t have to share her plans with her mother, who she knew wouldn’t approve.
Forty-eight hours after first arriving at her apartment to pick her up, Eric was returning to the same apartment and depositing her bag inside her foyer. “Do you want something to drink, or—” Lia began.
“No. I’ve got to get home.” He gripped her shoulders and kissed her. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Lia leaned forward and kissed him again. “I had a great time. Thank you.”
“Me too.” He gave her a half smile. “Next time maybe we can actually leave the house.” He winked before turning and leaving the apartment.
After removing her coat, Lia walked into her family room and lay down on the couch, still overwhelmed with memories of the weekend. He was perfect. The weekend had been perfect. She closed her eyes, replaying the details. His cozy beach house turned out to be a sprawling oceanfront estate in Bethany Beach, Delaware. His bedroom, where they’d spent most of the weekend, was twice the size of her entire apartment and opened on to a large deck with a hot tub offering a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean.
As she lay on her couch, she could almost hear the sound of the ocean. It couldn’t have been more romantic. They’d spent hours in the hot tub drinking and talking, and then they’d make love, either on the bed or the bedroom floor, even once in the hot tub. She sighed at the memory and wished the weekend hadn’t gone by so quickly.
“Good morning.” Claudia stopped at the opening to Lia’s cubicle the following morning.
“Where’ve you been?” Lia hadn’t seen her since before Thanksgiving.
“I went home for a few days,” Claudia answered.
“Home?”
“Up to Boston to see my family.”
“I didn’t know you had a vacation planned.”
“I didn’t. I needed to get away.” Claudia sat down in Carmen’s chair. “This place was getting to me.”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Not particularly, but that will change soon enough.”
“What do you mean?”
Claudia looked around before responding. “I’m looking for another job, but don’t repeat that. I want my next job lined up before I give my notice.”
“Of course, I would never mention it. But why? I thought you were happy here.”
“I haven’t been happy here for three years. It’s been more about the money.”
“Oh, so is that what you were doing in Boston? Looking for a job?” Lia asked
“Pretty much. I was putting my feelers out.”
“I’m sorry you’re not happy. You’ve been great to me.”
“Right.” Claudia laughed without humor.
“Seriously, I’ve learned a lot from you.”
“God, I hope that’s not true.” She looked up and met Lia’s eyes. “You should transfer to Kay’s division. Those jobs are less stressful.”
Lia frowned. “What do you—”
“Nothing.” Claudia held up her hand. “Don’t listen to me. I’m feeling sorry for myself. And there’s actually a purpose to my being here right now. Stan said you haven’t been sending in your weekly client roster.”
“What’s a client roster?”
“It’s a list of the clients you’ve spoken to at the receptions. You know the emails we receive regarding the attendees?”
“Yes.”
“Well, every Monday you should send a reply to that same address and list who you’ve met with and for how long.”
“No one ever told me,” Lia said.
“It’s okay. That’s why I’m telling you now.”
“Okay. So every Monday I send in an email listing the receptions I attended and who I spoke to?”
“You don’t have to mention everyone. Just the ones you’ve really met with.”
“Last week there was only the Friday-night reception, and I didn’t attend it, so I guess I shouldn’t send anything this week?”
“You didn’t attend Friday night’s reception?” Claudia frowned.
“No. I was away.”
“With Eric?”
Lia wondered if she was going to get another lecture. “Yes.”
“Well, you need to put that.”
“Put that I went away with Eric?”
“Yes.” Claudia brought her coffee mug to her lips. “And how long it lasted.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. How is that anyone’s business?”
Claudia swallowed the liquid in her mouth before responding. “He’s a client. Any interaction with clients is Zurtech’s business.”
“I spent the entire weekend with him,” Lia whispered, leaning forward in her chair. “I’m not telling them that.”
“Sure you will. They aren’t going to judge you. In fact, Stan will like it.”
“I don’t understand.”
Claudia stood. “He likes it when we date the clients. Friends like buying from friends, remember?”
“It’s private,” Lia insisted. “And I’m not telling him.”
“Suit yourself,” Claudia said before walking away.
Lia was so busy with Taylor she barely noticed when Eric didn’t call on Monday, but by 10:00 p.m. Tuesday she was starting to wonder if something had happened to him.
She decided to call his cell phone. His voice came over the line after three rings. “Hello?”
“Hi, Eric, it’s Lia.” She was surprised he answered, having assumed the phone would be off and she’d leave a message.
“Hi, beautiful, how are you?”
“Good. I was calling to see if you’d be at the reception tomorrow night.”
“I hadn’t really thought about it. Are you inviting me?”
She could hear the teasing in his voice. “Sure.” She smiled. “Would you like to meet me at the reception?”
“I’d like to meet you right now. Can I come by?”
“Taylor’s asleep in her room.”
“I’ll be quiet. And I’ll leave before she wakes up.”
“No,” she said without hesitation. “She gets up in the middle of the night sometimes.”
“Come on. I miss you. I’ll only stay for a little while.”
Lia laughed at how pitiful he sounded. “If you miss me you can meet me at the reception tomorrow night.”
“How about I do both? I’ll come by for an hour tonight and then we’ll meet at the reception tomorrow.”
“No, seriously. I can’t. Just meet me tomorrow.”
There was a long pause before he responded. “Maybe, we’ll see.”
Lia slowly lowered the phone, surprised by the abrupt ending to the call. He was mad, she realized. He’d expected her to let him come over with Taylor in the house.
Lia arrived at the reception just after 8:00 p.m. wearing a simple black sleeveless dress and black suede heels, gold earrings and a watch her only jewelry. She was at the bar ordering a gin and tonic when Eric arrived thirty minutes later.
“Hi, beautiful.” Eric smiled, leaning forward to kiss her cheek.
“I was starting to worry you weren’t going to come.”
“I almost didn’t.” His eyes swept over her body. “I got caught in a business dinner.” He moved his hand up and down the curve of her waist. “I had a hard time getting away.”
Lia nodded and looked around, wondering if she should push his hand from her waist. It couldn’t look professional.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
“Upstairs?” Lia frowned. “Why?”
“Bedrooms.” He met her eyes.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No.” He shook his head, his amused eyes meeting her startled ones. “Let me show you.”
“No.” She shook her head and took a step back, forcing him to drop his hand.
“Why not?” he whispered and then laughed at her horrified expression.
“I’m not going upstairs with you,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Then let’s get out of here.” He took her hand and headed towards the door. “I want to be alone with you.”
“I missed you,” he said minutes later.
“I missed you too.” She settled back in the plush leather seat of his Porsche. “Taylor is with her Dad, so if you want to go to your place, I—”
“How much did you miss me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he began, taking her hand and placing it on the bulge between his legs, “I’d like you to suck that.”
“Here?” She let out a nervous laugh, unsure whether he was serious.
“Yes, here.” He leaned back in the seat, lifting himself up slightly as he undid his pants and freed himself from his underwear. “Come on. It won’t bite you.”
She could feel her heart rate accelerating and her hands clamming up. Ned was the only man she ever gave a blowjob, and it wasn’t in a car. “I don’t know.”
“You can do it.” He moved one of his hands around the back of her head. “Come on.” He applied enough pressure to slowly coax her head down towards his lap. “That’s it,” he moaned as she took him in her mouth.
“Oh yeah,” he groaned, moving his hips up slightly as he held her head down. “That’s right, babe,” he said, spreading his fingers in her hair. “Suck it.”
Lia tried not to gag as she moved her mouth up and down the full length of him. He was so hard and so big she wasn’t sure how to do it without choking.
“You can’t stop now, baby.” He held her head down when she tried to take a break, increasing the tempo of his hips, seemingly unable to get his penis deep enough in her throat.
She managed to breathe through her nose and attempted to keep her lips against her teeth so she wouldn’t rub them against him, praying he would come so the ordeal would be over. It seemed to take forever, and she was sure she was about to throw up, when finally with a hard thrust of his hips he was coming, his semen spilling into her mouth. He seemed to come and come as the spasms shook his body, and then finally he loosened his hold on her hair and she was lifting her head.
“That was good,” he said as he pushed himself back into his underwear. “Man.” He blew out a stream of air.
Lia leaned back in the seat, her tongue running along the torn skin of her inner lip. She glanced sideways at him after a few minutes of silence. “Do you want to go somewhere now?”
“You know, I’m really beat.” He squeezed her thigh. “Why don’t we call it a night?”
“Oh, okay.”
“I’ll see you Friday night.” He reached over her and opened the passenger door. “You’ll be here, right?”
“Sure.” She picked up her purse from the floor of the car. “I’ll see you Friday then.” She turned towards him, expecting a kiss, but he made no move to close the distance between them so she climbed out of the car into the cold December evening. “Bye,” she said before closing the door. Before she took two steps, he had shifted his car into drive and was skidding out of the parking lot.
Lia didn’t bother asking Stan if the thousand-dollar bonus in her paycheck was correct Friday morning, but realized if they continued, she’d be making close to one hundred thousand dollars per year and be debt free by April. Unfortunately, the knowledge did nothing to quell the unease she felt after her date with Eric, if giving a guy a blowjob could even be considered a date.
“What’s wrong?” Claudia’s voice broke into her brooding.
“Nothing,” Lia lied, lifting her head. “I’m tired.”
“Me too,” Claudia said as she sat down in Carmen’s chair. “I had an interview yesterday in Boston.”
“You did?” Lia forced thoughts of Eric from her mind.
“I called in sick,” she whispered. “They paid to fly me up for the day.”
“How did it go?”
She glanced around before responding. “I start the first week in January.”
“They offered you a job after only one interview?”
“Shh,” Claudia said, looking around. “I don’t want anyone to know yet.”
“Oh, sorry.” Lia grimaced.
“It’s okay. No one heard you.” Her eyes returned to Lia’s. “Actually, it was my second interview. I interviewed the first time when I was there last week.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “I’m not planning to give my notice here until the last minute. I don’t want it to affect my bonus pay.”
“So you’re not taking any time off between jobs?”
“No. I can’t afford to. I’m taking a big pay cut, so I’d like to make as much money as I can over the next couple weeks so I can pay some bills.”
“Why are you taking a pay cut?”
“Because I’m making a lot of money here and at my level there’s no way I’m going to bring in that kind of money somewhere else.”
“Why not? If Zurtech’s willing to pay you that much, then—”
“Trust me. No one’s going to pay me what Zurtech does.”
It was 10:20 p.m. when Lia parked her Honda next to Eric’s Porsche in the small parking lot outside the Zurtech house. She stared at his car, feeling a renewed sense of disgust at her behavior two nights before. She thought about going home, not wanting to have to see him, but knew she had to confront him eventually.
She spotted him as soon as she entered the house. He was across the room at the bar, laughing at something Carmen was whispering in his ear, and then he was following her through a door to their right and they were out of sight. Lia took a step in their direction, intending to let Eric know she’d arrived, when Kay stopped her.
“Surprise!”
“Kay! Hi.” Lia smiled. “What are you doing here?”
“My husband wanted to come.”
“Oh, he’s here?” Lia looked around.
“He’s in the back room playing pool and discussing business.” Kay leaned forward. “I met Eric Nettles. He’s really cute.”
Lia nodded, her eyes glancing towards the door he had just exited. “I just arrived, so I haven’t spoken to him yet.”
“He seemed nice.”
It took Lia over five minutes to untangle herself from Kay, and then she was opening the same door she saw Eric walk through minutes earlier and stepping out into a dimly lit hallway leading to a staircase. She made her way upstairs, the sound of the music from the main room fading with every step until she could no longer hear it, and then she was walking down a hallway and looking into one empty bedroom after another.
She was about to turn around when she heard Eric’s baritone voice, and then she recognized the sound of Claudia and then Carmen. She approached a closed door, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Hello?” She knocked lightly on the door.
“This room’s taken,” Eric said.
“It’s Lia,” she said, putting her hand on the doorknob and slowly opening the door. “I was—” She stopped midsentence, pulled the door closed, and then she was covering her mouth and running towards the bathroom.