Chapter Thirty-Three
GAVIN
I walked into my office and found Sarah’s desk cleaned out. I looked around, thinking that maybe she moved her things to another desk in the office, but when I didn’t see her anywhere, I headed straight to HR. They told me that she had to go back to school earlier than expected because of some club she was involved in, so for the time being, we had to make due without one until she was replaced. That was going to make my job harder, especially since Sarah was such an excellent replacement. I made it to my office and tossed my suit coat on the rack. I had no idea what was on tap for the day, but Sarah always saved my meetings weeks in advance and emailed them to me. I searched for her name and pulled up the IT. I didn’t have a meeting until later that day at 2 pm, so for now, it was just down time.
I called Bethany, but she didn’t answer, so I left her a voicemail. “Hey babe, just calling to see how you were doing. I don’t have anything going on until 2 pm, so maybe, if you have time, I can swing by there and we can go to lunch with Vinny. Let me know. Talk to you soon.”
A few hours passed, and she still didn’t respond. I didn’t notice it until I got an email from The Right Click. It was a message asking if I wanted to come back and give the website another try. I laughed at the thought. I was good with who I had. If they wanted more money from me, they probably shouldn’t have allowed me to meet the woman of my dreams within the first five minutes of me signing up. Just then, I got a call from the security desk. “Hello?”
“Mr. Wallace, there is someone here to see you.”
I looked at my watch. It was only 12 pm, and my meeting wasn’t for another two hours. I looked at my schedule to double check, but everything was clear. “Who is it?”
“She says her name is Bethany Pope.”
“Bethany? Oh, yeah, let her up.”
“Alright, sir.”
I stood up and propped the door open, waiting for her to walk through. It was a pleasant surprise, but at the same time, I wondered why she had driven all the way down here from Morris Elementary. It was something that she had never done before today, so I figured it was serious. “Hey, sweetheart. What a pleasant–” I stopped mid-sentence as she walked into my office. Her face hung low, as if it were weighted down. She hesitated to make eye-contact with me like she was ashamed to show her face. As she walked by, I quietly closed the door behind her as she took a seat on my couch. I propped myself on the arm, “Babe? Is everything alright?” I thought her ex-boyfriend somehow wiggled his way out of jail and found a way to harass her again. I didn’t know what I would do if that was the case, but I was prepared to do something.
Slowly, she fixed her gaze on me. “This is a nice office you have here. Nice view outside,” she said, glancing towards my window.
“Babe, I know you didn’t come all the way downtown just to admire the view from my office window. Come on, spit it out. I’m here for you.”
She played around with her purse strap until she found enough courage to let her words out. “I just want to be honest with you. Especially since I wasn’t in the beginning.” A glimmer formed near the bottom of her eyes. I took a deep breath, not knowing what to expect. “Word got out at my job that I used to be a stripper. There was a guy that worked at Morris. He um,” she wiped her cheek, “he wanted to take me out for the longest time, but I wasn’t interested in him at all, so I kept rejecting him. Well, I don’t know how he found out, but he knew what I did in the past, and since I didn’t go out with him, he blabbed it all over the school.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. It started out as a rumor, but eventually, all kinds of things were added to it in the process. I know people were looking at me like I was some type of whore or something.” I eased myself next to her on the couch as she continued. “So, the principal called me into the office earlier today before school started. He said that he checked my background and when he found out what I did in the past, he let me go.”
“Wow.”
“He said that I was like a daughter to him and it hurt for him to do it, but it was out of his hands. He said that once the parents got wind of it, they wouldn’t be okay with the fact that a former stripper was around their children.”
It sounded horrible as the words left her mouth, but then I realized that I thought the same way about her when I found out. I judged her based on her past and because of that, I was inclined to discontinue my relationship with her. It wasn’t a surprise to me that others would feel the same way. I put my arm around her, “That is tough, Bethany. I am sorry to hear that you went through that today. Now I understand why you didn’t return my call. You were too busy dealing with bullshit at work.”
She wiped her eyes. “Yeah. I saw that I missed your call, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk. I didn’t want to tell you anything, but I knew that I couldn’t keep it from you. Not after all we had just gone through.” She looked directly at me. “I am sorry, and I hope that you don’t think I am some unemployed loser.”
I chuckled, “Babe, come on. You’ve been unemployed for all of four hours right now. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I don’t think any less of you than I did when you walked through that door. You are still an amazing woman. Smart, intelligent, and willing to work your ass off to learn new things. You didn’t know how to be an assistant before then, but somehow, you got that job, and you overwhelmed everyone by exceeding expectations. They will miss you before you miss them, and that is the truth.” As I spoke, I listened to my own words, and before long, a lightbulb went on in my mind. “What do you think about working here with me?”
Her eyebrows wrinkled together. “Um, I don’t know anything about this business. I mean, what will I do? I have no experience, no–”
“Babe, you have to stop focusing on what you don’t have and instead focus on what you do have. You have the drive, you have the intelligence, and most importantly, you have the will to overcome anything in front of you. It is one of the things I admire about you the most. I know that you have had a rough past, but I’ve learned that you are willing to do what it takes to survive. Anything that comes your way, a fastball, a curveball, a change-up; no matter what it is, you find a way to knock it out of the park.” She smiled bashfully. I took her by the hand, “Come with me.”
I led her outside to Sarah’s old desk. “We had an intern here as an office assistant. She handled my schedule and made sure that I knew about everything that was going to come my way. Here, have a seat.”
“I don’t know if I should–”
“Babe, just have a seat. Please?” She reluctantly sat down in the large leather chair behind the front desk. I kneeled beside her, “Now, I don’t have one doubt in my mind that you can come in here and do this job. I will not say that you were made for something like this because your potential exceeds what is required to perform this job. However, I know that you can perform flawlessly. And,” I leaned closer to her ear, speaking in a soft whisper, “just think of what we could do together when nobody else is in this office.” I put my hand on her thigh. “Me… you… alone in a big room… doing forbidden things like… spreading your legs while you lay on top of my desk… or making love while the moonlight shines through my window.”
My hand slid higher between her legs until she smacked it away. “Gavin, stop. You are turning me on, and I don’t need to get all hot and bothered if you are not going to put the flames out right now.”
I chuckled. “Okay, I’ll stop. But, that is just something to think about. I mean, I could use the help, and I am the man here, so if you want the job, it won’t take anything for me to give it to you. You just have to say the word.”
She leaned forward in the chair, then opened the drawers and closed them like she had to examine things for herself. I waited patiently, hoping that she would agree. It wasn’t just because I knew she needed a job, but I knew that she could help out a lot until she found a new job. Finally, she spoke up, “Under one condition, Gavin.”
“Anything.”
“I only want to help out until I finish school. After I got fired, I made up in my mind that I will not drag my feet about that anymore.”
“Done.”
“Wait, but I’m not.”
I laughed. “Okay, a list of demands. I’m all ears.”
“I need to make enough to at least pay my bills each month.”
“Done.”
“And I need to have sex with the CEO in his office at least once a week.”
“That was already included in the deal. I have sex with every new assistant anyway. It’s part of the initiation process.”
She narrowed her eyes at me as I sat on the edge of the desk with my arms folded. Suddenly, I sprang out in laughter, “Babe, I am joking! It was just a joke, okay?” I put my arms around her as she shook her head. “Babe. A joke?”
“Whatever, Gavin,” she chuckled, “I was ready to pull one of these drawers out and pop you upside the head with it.”
“Ouch. Well, the ONLY assistant I will be having sex with is the one named Bethany Pope. The one who has my heart wrapped around her pretty little finger.”
I leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “Good,” she said. “That is what I like to hear.”
I knew it would be a good idea to offer her the job, especially since I knew she would perform at a high level. All things happen for a reason, and as she smiled sitting at her desk, I felt that from here, things could only go up, and I just prayed that she would be by my side as we reached new heights together.