War is hell? Sure, I’ll agree with that. I have no idea what war is like. Right now, however, I’m thinking one thing only: WORK is hell. Yes, it’s all fine until you’re fucking your boss. That’s when shit gets really weird.

I can’t stop staring. I can’t stop twiddling my damn thumbs and almost biting my perfectly manicured nails, growing more and more wet by the second. When he looks up at me with that saw in his hand, it’s like nothing else. He’s the man on every woman’s mind. He’s fucking perfect and I have him to myself.

He smiles and my panties soak underneath me. “Stop,” I mouth at him, but that only makes him grin wider. “Please?” I beg him. No, of course not. He’s not stopping. He presses the table saw down harder, against that wood, and his muscles just pop out at me. Eventually, I have to just put on some headphones and attempt zoning out. This time, Hanson has no idea, somehow. It’s our little secret for the time being.

After work, I pack up my tools extra slow. We keep eyeing each other, placing every screwdriver, every nail, and the rest within our boxes. Hanson leaves and the dust settles. “Well, I should probably go,” I say.

“Oh no you don’t!” He snatches me up and I squeal, laughing my ass off. He lightly squeezes around my waist and sets me back down on my feet. “You can’t leave yet. Come on.”

“Well…”

“What am I going to do without seeing you for another twenty-four hours?” he asks me.

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” I laugh. We’re both thinking the same thing. We’re mad about each other. Totally insane.

He kisses me, but I pull away, playfully. “I’m not sure I will,” he says.

“You’re going to have to.” I smile. “Because we have to be careful.”

“Susan,” he sighs.

“She’s coming in soon, right? You have bigger things to take on than me today,” I say.

“In an hour,” he says. “But you should stay. I’m going to need someone to help out with Lisa, anyway.”

“You want me to hang out with your daughter, while your ex-wife is in the other room? That’s twisted,” I tell him.

“You’d rather go home? Think of it this way. She’s going to leave and then we have the whole night to ourselves. I’ll cook you dinner. We’ll watch a movie,” he reasons with me.

“A movie? Like, Netflix and chill?” I laugh.

“I don’t even know what that means,” he shrugs. “But sure.”

“It means… never mind. Fine, I’ll stay. But if she gets pissed, I’m seriously dipping out,” I warn him.

“Alright. Don’t worry. We’ll just finish some sanding down here or something,” he says, picking up a block of wood. He drops it and shrugs.

“I want you so bad,” he finally says. “Right now. I want to fuck you in every corner of this room.”

I’m still wet. It’s a never-ending thing with me now. I jump onto a counter and spread my legs. I smile and wait for him to come over to me. “How much time do we have?” I ask him.

There’s a loud knock on the garage door. Any wetness I had immediately dries up. I fall to the floor and grab the nearest thing I can find. It’s a small nail. I hold it in front of me as if I’m about to use it for something, though it’s pretty obvious that I’m caught in my tracks.

“Hello, hello,” Susan’s voice shoots in like a dagger from the outside world. “Don’t mind me. Keep doing whatever it is that you’re doing.”

Lisa runs inside the room and heads for Michael. “Daddy!” she yells.

“There’s my Lisa!” he grabs her and picks her up, groaning from her size. “You’re getting bigger every single day!”

“We were just finishing up,” I say. Susan darts her head toward me and raises an eyebrow.

“How are you doing around here so far?” she asks me. I grow tired, heart ready to burst. Why did I have to say anything to her?

“She’s doing real well,” Michael interrupts, bouncing Lisa against his chest. She giggles wildly and this seems to annoy Susan, just a little bit.

“I didn’t ask you,” she grumbles.

She has a stack of papers in her hands. She holds them tightly, looks down, and realizes why she came in the first place. “Oh, the code. Right. We need to do some dramatic renovations to this place, Michael,” she says.

I eye her closely as she sits down next to him. “But I think we have a clear budget and it will fit nicely into our taxes,” she says. Then, something weird happens. She places her hand against Michael’s cheek and sighs loudly. “You look so pale, dear. Have you been getting enough rest?”

“Mom!” Lisa calls out. “Don’t mess with Dad. It’s not nice.”

“She’s always looking out for you, isn’t she?” Susan laughs.

“I’m fine, Susan. I’ve just been working all day. I doubt I’m pale,” he says.

For the record, he’s not pale. As for me, I’m turning red with anger, and the shade is growing darker by the second. “So, what? Are you going to look this over with me?” Susan asks.

“Sure. Whatever,” he says. He takes the packet in his hand and glances it over. “What the hell? This is like way over our budget, Susan.”

“It needs to be taken care of,” she says.

Michael looks away and breathes out quickly. “We don’t have enough revenue coming in. I’m serious, we’ll be in debt if we go through with all of these changes.”

“Think of the long-term gains,” she replies. “This needs to be done.”

Lisa walks over to me and Susan eerily looks out of the corner of her eyes at me. “Hi,” Lisa says.

“Hey.” I smile.

“Want to go outside and play?” she asks.

I look over at Michael, who nods. Meanwhile, Susan doesn’t say a word or move a muscle. “I’d love to.”

I grab her hand and we leave the room, toward the backyard. Outside, the weather is fairly nice. The rain has gone away for the week and the green has started to show more and more. In the center of the yard is a large trampoline. This is, oddly enough, the first time I’ve even set foot in the yard.

“Do you want to jump?” Lisa asks.

“Do you?”

“Yes!” She jumps into the grass and runs over to the trampoline. “Come on!”

I throw my shoes off and run after her. There’s something contagious in a child’s energy. Seeing her glee is something beautiful and fun. When we dive onto the trampoline, we’re already giggling wildly and out of breath. When I jump, I feel the gravity pause in the center of the air. I come back down and hit the elastic resistance. I bounce back up and I feel free.

“Do you like my dad?” she asks.

It throws me completely off guard. I sit down and catch my breath. I look up at her honestly and try my best to navigate this. “Your dad? I don’t know. He’s my boss,” I say.

“Yeah, but do you think he’s fun?” she asks. “Because I think you’re fun. More fun than my mom.”

I hate to say this, but is it wrong to feel some sort of joy from her comments about Susan? I try to hide my smile when I say, “Thank you. But you should give your mom more credit than that. She does a lot.”

“She’s always working. When she’s not working, she’s arguing with Hank,” she says.

“Hank? Her boyfriend?” I ask. This is all new to me. It’s territory I probably shouldn’t be walking in.

She nods her little head and forces a smile. “You jump with me!” she shouts, and pushes her body back onto her feet. She bounces, jumping over me, until she falls over my chest.

“Oh!” I groan. Her laughter is never-ending.

I roll out from under her and tickle her. “No!” she squeals.

I stop and lay across the trampoline. “I like you too, Lisa. You’re fun,” I say.

“Thank you.” She smiles. “My daddy likes you too.”

I stare off into the sky, watching as small clouds pass overhead. The tops of the green trees peek their heads through my peripheral. This is the kind of life I’ve always dreamt of. Work, relaxation, and fun. I love Michael’s reality. There’s just that one glitch of a woman that I can’t be around. It’s literally the only problem in the equation.

The sliding glass door noise spins me out of my trance. I look back and Susan is standing next to Michael. “Come on, Lisa!” she shouts. “It’s time for your tutor.”

“I hate homework,” Lisa sighs.

“Yeah, but you won’t be able to watch TV if you don’t do it,” I whisper.

“It’s like a game, right?” she asks.

“Yeah. If you do your homework, you get a prize. That’s how life works.” I wink.

“Well, we can’t tell mom. She doesn’t like prizes,” she whispers back.

“Your secret is safe with me.”

I jump up and out of the trampoline. I hit the ground and half-expect to bounce. Of course, I don’t. When I get over to Michael and Susan, we’re both dizzy and laughing, from running.

“Looks like you two had some fun,” Michael says.

“I did!” Lisa jumps and falls into the grass.

“Lisa, you’re going to get yourself covered in stains.” Susan sighs.

“It’s fine,” Michael quips back.

“We still need to talk,” Susan says. “Call me after seven.”

“Sure,” he replies, turning his head to look at me.

“Time for your tutor,” Susan says, walking back inside.

“If I finish my homework, can I watch TV?” she asks, with a big, fake smile.

“If you finish your homework, yes,” she says.

Lisa immediately turns to look at me. I mouth the words, “Told you,” and watch as she skips out the front door.