Sixteen
Melanie
My parents and Beth know of my budding relationship with Shane, and his family knows of me, but neither of us have really acted differently at work. There's nothing in the company bylines about fraternization, we just don't need everyone knowing our business.
People can be ignorant and small-minded. They'll assume I got Junior Partner through Shane. It's just the way stupid people's brains work. I couldn't give two shits about their comments because my work speaks for itself and they can act like jealous brats for all I care. I can sound conceited and self-centered, but they're the petty ones who can't see good work if it slapped them in the face.
Shane and I just have more important things to accomplish at work than how much and quickly we're falling for each other. There are little things that we do though. Like there's a coffee waiting on his desk from me or he matches his tie to my shoes.
I love that we can leave any drama at the door and be a kickass law team. I did, however, adjust a few of my rules for post-rejection Shane.
1. Don't get caught staring at sexy boss' delectable ass by coworkers but text him he has a great ass.
2. Make sure my wayward thoughts and daydreams are not spoken aloud in case he might hear me. That one only accounts for being in public. In private meetings, it's game on.
3. Wear the sexiest shoes I can everyday because they make me feel sexy and not to drive him insane even if it's an added bonus. I totally do it to drive him insane half the time.
4. Be the best fucking gopher associate in this firm. Knock him off his ass every chance I get. Be an awesome Junior Partner and knock everyone off their asses.
5. Don't let him see how much he affects me. Until we're in close quarters where I can tear off his clothes.
Since Shane is a closet sweetheart, he got us tickets to the Mets game tonight. Watching baseball was something my dad and I loved to do growing up even though I don't understand RBIs and all that. It's America's past-time, I can't hate on it. Our company has box seats to all the stadiums in New York and New Jersey, but Shane wanted to sit among the crowd.
I told Shane to pick me up at six since the game starts at seven-thirty. I only needed a few minutes to change and freshen up. I wore my hair stick straight today knowing a touch up would be easy after work. I dawn my favorite orange Met t-shirt and slip on my dark skinny ankle cropped jeans. I pair them with my cork wedges.
The knock on my door sets off butterflies in my stomach. It's still hard to believe we're really doing this. The sex has been fantastic, but I love learning all of his little quirks. How his pecs flex when he's eaten too much or how he has pictures of his favorite charity events in his home office.
I open the door to complete and become utterly speechless. If I thought he was sexy in his suits, he's downright delectable in the gray with blue sleeves Mets baseball t-shirt molded to his upper body to dark jeans fit to the perfect amount of tightness on his legs. Black boots instead of sneakers cover his feet and it makes him seem slightly dangerous.
My gaze roams back up the hotness twitching in his groin area. I would gladly be a sex fiend right now to drop to my knees and suck him right here. I lick my lips in the anticipation of what's behind that zipper.
"Fuck Melanie. You're making me hard looking at me like that. If we want to get going to the stadium, you need to stop drooling. Now grab your stuff so we can go."
I grab my purse off of my side table and close the door behind me. As I'm locking the three deadbolts on my door, I feel the wonderful hands that belong to Shane moving my hair to one shoulder, and kissing along the shell of my ear. I shiver at the action and wish I could just reopen the door and whisk him inside. He's tempting me so much more than he realizes.
I can't help the moan that escapes me when I feel the hard bulge against my backside. "Shane. You're not playing fair."
He nips at my earlobe, inducing another small moan. His deep accented voice croons to me, "I guess I'll stop for now."
The trip to the stadium is boring at best. Shane and I tend to talk a little shop when we're together as that's just our nature. The constant city traffic has us distracted from keeping a fluid conversation. We segue back and forth easily from work to game talk. Once we hit the stadium though, all thoughts of work have gone out the window. It's a night for us to just be Shane and Melanie. Happy new couple on a date night.
Sitting amongst the crowd is a new experience for me. The vast amount of people waiting to watch America's past time is rejuvenating to say the least. It makes me wish my family was here to enjoy this with us. Shane and I send them a picture of us eating chili dogs and ice cream dots. My mom texts back how cute we look together and to have fun. Which is exactly what we do.
Once the fifth inning ends, the stadium erupts with a song about kissing the one you love. The kiss-cam heart frame roams around the stadium. It falls on a cute older couple in full-on Mets gear and then a young couple who share a nice kiss. My own face soon pops up and Shane smiles at the screen, dimples shining for everyone to see. I feel his hand on my neck to pull my face to hiss and he plants a really damn good kiss on my lips. The stadium noise is deafening with hollers and cheers. Shane pulls away from the kiss and leans his forehead on my own.
People all around us tell us what a happy-looking couple we make and how our children are going to be beautiful. I probably have a permanent blush after thinking about the possible futures for Shane and myself.
The rest of the game flies by smoothly with an actual win by the Mets by one run. I haven't stopped smiling the whole time and when Shane drops me back at my apartment, I quickly drag him inside for a night of naked debauchery.
Monday comes far too quickly and I've been having an odd sense that people here know something that I don't. The feeling of being out of the loop has me slightly terrified. It seems people are either avoiding me or walking on eggshells when addressing me.
I head to lunch at noon to try and clear my head, but it fails as I enter back into my station at work. A picture of me and Shane kissing at the game is sitting right on my desk with giant gold dollar signs around my head.
A voice creeps behind me, "Nice kiss at the Mets game last week Mel. Look who's nailing the senior partner to get ahead in her career. I guess your genius act was easily just that, an act. Nice one playing over the boss little girl. When you have all of his money, what do you plan to do with it? Keep up with your slutty shoe collection? Get your tits and dick sucking lips done? Tell me, did you spread your legs before or after you got junior partner?"
I know the voice behind me belongs to Travis Murphy, a lawyer who started a few weeks after me at the firm. He's still a gopher through no fault but his own. He's immature and lazy, but despite knowing his own insecurities, it still doesn't make the sting of his words make me cringe any less. Before I can give him a piece of my mind, the intercom from a nearby desk screams through.
"MURPHY! REPORT TO SHANE THOMPSON'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!"
A mixture of relief and unease mix through me as I was hoping that Shane's and my personal relationship wouldn't be blasted all over the office, but thanks to Travis, the gossip will begin before the end of the day. Shane's attitude at work is still detached in general meetings, but he's more casual in smaller discussions.
I wait a good twenty minutes before I go to Ms. Henson's desk to see if he's available. I would rather talk to him in person after this ordeal, but if he's still talking to Travis, then I need to head on to a conference call with an actor that I've been trying to land as a client for weeks.
Ms. Henson is not near her desk when I arrive and I note the small "in the bathroom" figurine she places out when she's away from her desk. I smile thinking about her personal touches when I hear shouting echo through the door.
"Childish behavior will not be tolerated in this field. If you cannot handle the stress and intellect of a competitive environment, then you have no place in law. Make this your first and last warning! Now get the hell out of this office! "
I quickly scramble as I hear the lock of his door opening and I make it back to my own desk mere seconds before I hear Travis skating past me with a murmured "sorry" in his wake.