Chapter 3 (Elaine)
When I left Leonel’s office, I was sweating bullets. I had only been in there for about fifteen minutes, but it honestly felt like an eternity. I couldn’t be certain, but it seemed like he was toying with me. The way he leaned against me, whispering in my ear, or when he grabbed my ass. Surely, he was getting very personal.
And, what about the light striptease he did in the back of the room?
He was obviously trying to get me to look at him and it worked. But, what was I supposed to do? It wasn’t like I could look away. He’s the most attractive guy I had ever seen. Besides… when he rolled up his sleeves, I almost lost it.
Even after leaving his office, I could feel the burning in my belly, my primal lust trying to take over the rational side of my mind. I knew it was an exercise in futility to try and pursue my boss. It would never work out. He’s probably just playing with me because he gets some sick power kick out of it or something.
“Hey, how was your meeting with Mr. Jacobsen?” Freddie asked once I returned to my cubicle. He was leaning back in his computer chair, twirling a pen between his fingers.
“I’m… not sure.”
“Did he have you debug some mess of a code?” He asked.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry if you didn’t get it. Most people in here don’t.”
I shook my head. “No… that wasn’t the problem.”
“Wait…” Freddie leaned forward. “You actually managed to debug the whole thing?”
“Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t all that hard. There were a few parsing issues and those arrays were god-awful, but other than that, it really wasn’t that bad.”
Freddie stared at me like I had three heads. “How long did it take you?” He asked.
“Um…” I tried to think back to what Leonel had said, but my mind was still in a jumble. The image of his body was the only thing I could picture. I blinked before I remembered the question. “Little over ten minutes, I think.”
Freddie’s mouth hung agape. “Ten minutes? You’re pulling my leg.”
“Seriously. Why, is that bad?”
“Bad… I finished the same thing in 28 minutes. The record is 17. Well… it was…”
My eyes widened. “Oh…”
He chuckled. “I hardly think you need a mentor if you’re some coding prodigy.” He teased, poking me with his pen.
I forced a laugh, but then felt strange all of a sudden. “Maybe I should get to work.”
“Sure, sure. Your first assignment is on your desk. It just came in. It’s due Friday.”
I nodded. Soon, I was settled in my cubicle, getting started on the tracking software for the newest Fly Tech drones. It was a bit buggy, causing issues with the GPS signaling, the accuracy of map coordinates, and overall flight path recognition.
I was getting into a good rhythm when I heard footsteps behind me. I swiveled in my chair, coming face to face with Mr. Jacobsen.
At once, my heart started to beat a little harder. My palms itched with perspiration. “S-Sir…” I stammered, surprised to see him.
“Elaine.” He smiled. “I need you to do this new assignment. Due tomorrow. Do you think you can do that for me?” He plopped down a thick folder on my desk.
“Yes, sir…” With that, Leonel disappeared.
***
That wasn’t the only time the CEO showed up in my cubicle and demanded I finish something in an unreasonable amount of time. It was like he was trying to push me to my limits, giving me harder assignments each time, until I was developing software all by myself when realistically, I should have been working with a whole team of developers.
“Hey, Elaine, do you want to grab lunch with me? It’s Friday, so there’s free pizza in the breakroom, but if we don’t hurry, the only thing left will be cheese.”
I wondered, for a moment, what was so wrong with cheese pizza before I noticed all the work I still needed to finish by the end of the day. “Um… I don’t think I can.”
“Oh, come on, this will be the third time this week that you skip out on lunch.”
Before I could say anything, he had already marched over to my desk. He grabbed me by the arm, hoisting me out of my seat.
With no other choice, I followed him to the break room. It was only when I sat down with two slices of pepperoni in front of me that I realized how hungry and tired I really was.
“Mr. Jacobsen is working you pretty hard, huh? Usually, the interns have it easy. They go on coffee runs, debug some code here and there, but generally, they have more than enough free time to lounge around in the game room. Have you even tried out the ping pong table?”
“We have a ping pong table?” I asked in confusion.
“Of course. As well as a billiards table, darts, and all the newest consoles. We hold a Street Brawler tournament every Friday afternoon. I can probably get you a spot if you didn’t already sign up.” He said enthusiastically.
“No thanks,” I said politely.
Our conversation died down as I ate my pizza in silence. It was actually pretty good and I was about to note the brand when Freddie let out a sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing.” He was looking at his phone. “The world is just so messed up, you know? So many people dying every day.” I glanced over. He had some news app pulled up, a headline flashing across the screen.
113 dead in the catastrophic fire: Firefighters struggle to combat the flames!
“But, I don’t want to depress you with such issues. How are you liking your first week here?”
“It hasn’t been bad… but I think Mr. Jacobsen might be taking advantage of me.”
“Oh?” Freddie cocked his head to the side in question. “How so? He hasn’t… you know?”
I shook my head. “No, no. Nothing like that.” I responded, but I couldn’t help but think back to our encounter in his office. In fact, every chance he got, he did manage to touch me. A lingering caress on my arm… or his fingers would brush against mine. Was he trying to send me a message?
“Then what?”
“I don’t know. I feel like, he’s been overworking me. I mean, every day, he comes into my cubicle, drops off an assignment, tells me to finish it by tomorrow, when realistically, I should have a week to get it done, and not once have I heard a ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ out of him. I’m starting to think that he’s incredibly rude.” I didn’t know I had such resentment for the man, but as I started to complain, my true feelings came to the forefront. “It’s like he knows I’m attracted to him and he’s using that against me.” By the time I realized what I had said, it was already too late.
“You’re attracted to Mr. Jacobsen?” Freddie questioned.
“I… I didn’t say that,” I replied quickly, my cheeks turning red. “What are you talking about? I could never like an egomaniac like him. He’s just some rich jerk who thinks he can use women. That’s all he is. I don’t like him at all.” I lied through my teeth, trying to make a case for myself. But, the more I replayed my own words in my head, the more truth they seemed to have to them.
“You hate him that much, huh?”
“Yes,” I said firmly, and a part of me believed it.
***
Yet, for the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Even if I wanted to convince myself that I hated him, he was still incredibly attractive. The mere sight of him got me all hot and sweaty. No man had ever had such a profound effect on me.
Still, I tried my best to ignore him, knowing he would do nothing but use me if I decided to develop a personal relationship with him.
I struggled with these conflicting thoughts all day, even as everyone filtered into the game room for their tournament. I was the only one still working, trying to finish my assignment. I had to work through their shouts of excitement.
To be honest, I didn’t know why I was trying so hard to please Leonel, but for whatever reason, I didn’t want to let him down, even if he made me feel unappreciated.
Soon, I was the only one left in the office. It was getting so late that even the lights went out, forcing me to turn on my desk lamp. I was so close to finishing the piece of software I was working on. All I needed was a little bit more time…
By the time I was finished, it was almost ten o’clock. I sighed, gathered my stuff and finally headed home.