by Jamie Knight
Jack, of course, didn’t seem to care. This dangerous course was part of the fun for him, I suspected. That’s the kind of man I anticipated reading about his exploits. Besides, you can’t tell a lion not to hunt any more than you could tell Jack Harris not to go after what he wants.
I hoped what he wanted was me, but then again, was this some kind of ploy? My God! Did he do this to all his lawyer rivals? Get them all hot and bothered so he could win his court cases and get one over on the companies they represented?
“Jack, excuse me a second,” I said. “I have to hit the restroom. I wanted to check them out anyway.”
“Of course.”
The restrooms were elegant. Sparkling even. I checked myself in the mirror and splashed a little cold water in my face. While I dried off and touched up my makeup, I tried to compose myself. I needed a clear head if I was going to do this.
Was Jack Harris really interested in me? Probably not. I was just an associate. He had his pick of the women of Manhattan and going with me, well, I guess I’d be convenient. Close by. But you can’t form a relationship based on that.
Don’t get me wrong, it would be exciting to date Jack Harris, but I had to keep things in perspective. Maybe this was just his way of being friendly. Did he flirt with Laurel like this? I don’t think so.
Checking my hair in the mirror, I came to the conclusion that I just had to give it time. I shouldn’t rush into anything with him. Sure, he was handsome, brilliant, and successful. Heck, maybe I was so smitten I was just reading into everything he was doing without realizing it.
There was a knock at the door.
“Sandra,” said Jack from the other side. “We’re all set with Laurel. C’mon, we’re out of here for now. We should get back and arrange for duplicate documents to be sent over.”
“Okay, coming,” I announced.
Chapter Three - Jack
For the next few weeks, we got the new office set up and worked on the merger. Cam Tech’s assets were more complicated than initially advertised. Their founder had placed all sorts of investments under the company that weren’t widely known. Mostly, he did it to avoid paying taxes on certain things and to shift funds from this division or that when his accountants needed to. When he passed on, many of the assets were just forgotten about.
McKenzie Tech had the opposite problem. While Cam Tech’s paperwork was kind of all over the place, missing or was a mess, McKenzie Tech had everything correctly accounted for. However, their in-house bureaucracy required double, triple, and sometimes quadruple the paperwork. They had literally sent three copies of everything.
Now that doesn’t sound very bad until you realize that the company was sending over close to two million pages of paperwork. You’d think in this age of computers, we wouldn’t need such formalities. In some respects, it was easier just to create new virtual paperwork for Cam Tech. But with McKenzie Tech, we had to at least go through the boxes. I mean, we were billing for the time, the firm would make a small fortune just doing the inventory.
Sanjay and Pete were sent over to help. They were two associates that I had worked with before. Sanjay was a great kid and a hard worker. Pete was kind of a suck up to the Davies brothers. If anyone had to be kept out of the loop about my attraction to Sandra, it was him. Most likely, he was sent over to make sure I wasn’t making goo-goo eyes at her.
Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to deny it myself, there was unbelievable chemistry between Sandra and me. We just clicked in so many ways. It was like we had a secret language that only the two of us knew. I brought in my personal cell phone, and when I wanted to flirt with her, I’d do it through that. No sense in risking the firm getting access to our messages.
“Okay, guys,” I said over lunch. “Let’s have a brief meeting while we’re eating. Where are we on cataloging Cam Tech stuff?”
“We brought in a scanner,” explained Sanjay. “If we can hire two more office workers to scan it back into the computer, it should save us some time.”
“Are you kidding? Can’t Cam Tech just send us the files?” I demanded.
“Called them,” said Pete with a mouthful of Chinese food. “These guys are ridiculous, boss. When I asked them for the files, they said I had to fill out a form for each individual file. The bureaucracy there is off the charts!”
“There’s gotta be a better way to do this,” I muttered.
“I think I know,” suggested Sandra. “If Sanjay hires the office workers and we scan it all back in, there’s a program we can use called BP Solution. It stands for Big Picture. It uses AI technology to read everything, and then you just ask the AI questions for whatever you need.”
“No way, boss,” dismissed Pete. “Obviously, we want to cut down the workload here, but you’re talking about a database. You’d still have to ask it the right question.”
“No, it’s more sophisticated than that,” Sandra insisted. “Over time, if you keep asking it questions, it learns the pattern of information you want. It also makes suggestions, once you start using it, based on your patterns of inquiry.”
“Sounds better than reading two million sheets of paper,” I concluded. “Get on it, Sandra. Nice work.”
Pete made a face. The guy didn’t like to be shown up at a meeting, but oh well. Sandra had ideas. He was just here to kiss my butt and try to climb the firm’s corporate ladder.
The additional purchases required us to bring in an IT expert and a total of six other employees. Sounds big, but we were still at skeleton crew levels for a merger this big. At the end of the day, companies like Cam Tech and McKenzie Tech just split the cost and pulled it out of their massive profits. Everyone was going to be making money at the end of this, so no one cared about a few hundred thousand dollars in expenses. With billions at stake, that was just a rounding error.
A week later, I walked into the storage room. I found Sanjay and Sandra standing around talking. It seemed like an awkward moment between them.
“Oh, hey boss,” Sanjay said nervously. “I’ll talk to you later, Sandra.”
Sanjay abruptly exited.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“I think Sanjay was trying to ask me out,” Sandra explained.
“Really?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “He’s a nice guy. What did you say?”
She shrugged. “Well, he never got the words out. Was kind of dancing around the subject,” she continued. “Plus, I don’t know if the HR people would approve of that.”
“Oh, right, sure,” I agreed as I leaned against one of the shelves. “Is that something that bothers you?”
“No, not really,” she responded and dropped her eyes. “Attraction is attraction, it’s hard to deny. I just wasn’t really attracted to him, to be honest. Not that I don’t like him, he’s great. I just don’t see myself, you know, romantically with him.”
I was dancing on a fine line here. It was the middle of the day, and we were at work. Sanjay had just seen us together. I had to be careful. If I made a move right now, it could be known throughout the company in a matter of hours.
“Yes, discretion is important in these matters,” I said carefully. “You wouldn’t want any miscommunication.”
“No, of course not,” she agreed. “That could be very awkward. It could cause someone to lose their job.”
Whoa, was Sandra pushing me off? Had I misread the flirting? Then again, she had a rising career that she needed to protect. Maybe she was just telling me to be discreet as well—that we couldn’t just paw at each other like a couple of teenagers in the middle of the day.
I had the bankroll. It would be nothing for me to get us a hotel room. Hell, there was a great place down the block. I could get us a room for the next month, who cares? We could meet there whenever we wanted. The brothers would never know.
Then again, sneaky Pete was eyeing for anything that could get him a promotion. Calling me out for hooking up with Sandra? That would be the perfec
t way for him to endear himself to the brothers. While they were chastising me, they’d be promoting him. And now Sanjay, having been rebuffed in a sense, he wouldn’t exactly be an ally if he found out I was fucking the girl he was crushing on.
I had to be very careful about this. It required finesse.
“I’m just glad everyone at the office is professional,” she declared.
“Yes,” I agreed. “We’re all very professional here, I think.”
Over the next several days, Sandra wore outfits that were office appropriate, but increasingly sexy. It wasn’t like she was exposing more cleavage or leg or anything, but there was something about the way she carried herself. It was driving me crazy.
At lunch one day, she dripped a bit of mustard onto her cleavage while I was talking with Sanjay and Pete. Sandra was at the opposite end of the table, so they weren’t paying attention to her at that moment. She reached down with a finger, took the mustard off her breast, and sucked on her finger while making eye contact with me. It took all the strength I had to continue with my boring work conversation and not draw attention to her.
A day later, the sultry redhead was in my office, discussing some of Cam Tech’s newly discovered assets. She dropped a stack of files and bent over to pick them up right in front of me. Her skirt was of appropriate work length, but it must’ve gotten caught or something. I could practically see her entire ass when she bent over and the lace thong that was barely covering her. I was tempted to say something like, “Hey, no tan lines.”
But if she was backing off from our flirting, maybe it was a trap. I had never thought about it that way. What if Sandra was only flirting with me to get me to make a move? Then she could cry victim all the way to a new promotion—maybe partner. I’d be on the street, disgraced, and unable to work. Perhaps I needed to back off. I tried to ignore her sexy ass.
Sandra got up, having picked up all the files.
“I think I have them all,” she reported. “Check me. We’re good, right? You see anything outstanding to you?”
“Only one thing,” I responded, unable to resist the chance to flirt. “It was fantastic, and I hope to see it again.”
But then came Friday and everyone was anxious to leave for the weekend. Of course, I didn’t have anything brewing other than a strong desire to take a cold shower. Between Sandra’s outfits and her flirting, I was spending a lot of my time trying to keep the hardon under my desk from getting noticed.
I had said my goodbyes and Sanjay and Pete were already out of the office. I had assumed Sandra had joined them. Just as I was about to leave, I remembered something I needed for home in case I got a frantic call from the Davies in the middle of the night. When I walked back, I spotted Sandra in the storage room. Just before I made my presence known, I saw her slip off her bra under her shirt. She must’ve thought she was alone in the office and wanted to relax.
Rushing back to my office, I didn’t want her to know I had seen her. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. Sandra was perfectly silhouetted behind some lights, and I could see the outlines of her nipples as she slipped off her bra. I sat down at my desk. The erection in my pants was already growing.
“You shouldn’t, Jack,” said the little imaginary angel on my shoulder. “The brothers will go berserk. She’s family to them. It won’t be like last time.”
“Look at her, Jack!” said the little imaginary devil on my other shoulder. “Those tits are class! Imagine sucking on them!”
The little devil made a valid point. I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to not only cup those perfect breasts but fuck the shit out of Sandra right here and now on my desk. I wanted to look at the skyline of New York out my window while plowing into her hot, tight pussy.
The scenario would be classic. Two lawyers, working late, falling into each other’s arms. We’d talk a bit and suddenly kiss passionately. We’d tell each other that what we were doing was crazy. That we could both be fired, but we wouldn’t care. Overcome by our passions and lust, we would fuck like animals in the office.
After kissing her, I’d reach under Sandra’s shirt and fondle her breasts. They were already freely bouncing around in her silk blouse without a bra. Then I would hike up her skirt and rub her wet folds through her thong with my fingers. Pulling that aside, I put my fingers into her dripping pussy and fuck her with my hand.
Once I got her good and moaning, then I’d push her down on the desk and slip my rock-hard cock into her. It would be intense. The first time always is. A dozen thrusts, and I’d be ready to bursts.
Would this dirty girl then insist I pull out so she could taste my seed? Sandra didn’t seem like that kind of girl, honestly. That sounded like something more advanced. Spanking? Maybe. I would like to take a paddle to that apple bottom of hers, make it nice and red and then fuck her asshole senseless.
“God, you’re an animal, Jack,” said the little angel. “Calm yourself down. Take a cold shower.”
Chapter Four - Jack
The next few weeks had the COVID Virus in the background. Most people ignored it. We had had these scares before from China. I remembered the bird flu and the swine flu. These things always blew over, and there certainly wasn’t any reason to change things over it, right?
Well, it turned out a lot of people were wrong about that. I had read tons of mainstream press on the subject. At first, they pooh-poohed the very idea of the virus coming on American shores. Then, suddenly, it was the worst thing ever. I couldn’t help but see the pronounced political slant in all this.
Politics was one thing, but I had bigger fish to fry. The merger needed to move forward, or our clients might get cold feet and call the whole thing off. It was a bit dicey to do either. To complete the merger and have businesses close would make the merger look bad. Yet, to not do the merger and then see activity drop off, well, then you could practically guarantee there’d be no other mergers until years later. I decided to get some perspective, so I called my boy, Kelton.
“Kelton, what’s the good word?” I greeted over the phone. “Is this virus something I need to worry about?”
“The early indications say that someone as young and as healthy as yourself has little to worry about,” Kelton reported. “Still, I wouldn’t take any chances. If you have an underlying medical condition you didn’t know about, it could be horrible. People are dying all over Italy.”
“Not good. What’s your risk assessment then? Move forward like nothing’s happening or put the brakes on the merger?”
“I would say we’d need to prep a situation where we can work from home for the next several weeks,” he suggested. “I mean, they can’t stop you from working there, right? Plus, what difference does it make? It’s just paperwork at the end of the day.”
“Good point. Let’s get prepped then. Get a squad of interns and have them copy everything that isn’t in the computer and ship the copies to my penthouse,” I suggested. “Leave no stone unturned. Also, make sure all my passwords to the network are up-to-date. I’d hate to be stuck at home without access.”
“You should be fine. Just call me, and I’ll give you the password,” Kelton agreed. “I’ll get started on the copies. I hope your penthouse is big enough.” He laughed.
The morning continued apace. As Sanjay, Pete, and Sandra came into my office, I reminded them to make sure they had access to the network through their laptops. I wanted them in the loop should we have to shut down.
I couldn’t get much work done. I started watching the news and press conferences. It was a nightmare, of course. The message to me was clear: No one really knew what we were dealing with, whether it was a diseased bat eaten by some brave Chinese foodie or a bioweapon that was going to snuff out half the United States. Some estimates had the death toll in the millions.
“Don’t wear a mask,” said a news anchor. “It’ll make you worse by keeping in your germs.”
Now that didn’t make any sense whatsoever.
I had seen video after video of people in Asian, and they wore masks all through flu season. Why would they tell people in the U.S. not to wear them? Were they that worried about a shortage? Hell, you could just put a bandana around your face. It pretty much did the same thing.
I searched my desk for a mask or an alternative. The best I could do was an unused handkerchief. It was just long enough to tie it into a bandana and get it around my head. Going into the bathroom, I checked myself in the mirror. I looked like a very high-end bank robber. Was this the new norm for the next few weeks? I had to doubt it. How would the American people react to such changes?
“Excuse me, boss?” Sanjay said, poking his head through the doorway.
“Yeah, what’s up, Sanj?” I asked. “It’s all good.”
“Do you think we could start wearing masks around the office?” he asked.
“Uh, well, you’re free to do so. I’m not, I mean, I can’t make it a requirement for the rest of the team,” I explained. “You freaking out about this? Talk to me. Sit.”
Sanjay sat down. He looked a little shaken. “I’ve been reading a lot of this online,” he explained. “I have relatives back in India, and they’ve been sending me links to Chinese videos. It’s bad, Jack. I mean, this is really bad.”
“What makes you say that?”
“They’re welding people in China inside their apartment buildings,” he claimed. “I’ve seen the videos. Some of them are people that are being rounded up and taken to hospitals. But they fight the police tooth and nail. What kind of people do that if they’re actually taking you to a hospital?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know much about China, Sanj,” I admitted. “What are you saying exactly?”
“The Chinese government is Communist. They have no problem making people disappear,” he explained. “They’re not taking these people to a hospital. There are videos online claiming the crematoriums in China are working non-stop, 24/7 to burn the bodies of this pandemic.”