by ANDREA SMITH
I obliged, helping him remove the pajamas I had put on all of five minutes before. His hands moved across my skin leisurely and purposefully. His eyes were full of love and lust. I discovered Trey was already naked when I peeked
under the covers and saw his lovely manhood standing at
attention. We snuggled under the covers exploring each other.
This time we made love. Trey was slow and meticulous, kissing me all over; gently caressing me with his hands and lips; telling me he loved me several times. Much later, we lay together, entwined in our afterglow bubble.
“Will you please wake me up before you leave in the morning?” I asked.
“I will, baby,” he said, kissing me gently on my lips. “Go to sleep now.”
I settled back in his arms and drifted off into a restful sleep. Once again, Trey and I slept through the night, curled around each other in a perfect fit.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
It seemed as if I had just drifted off to sleep when I felt Trey gently shaking my shoulder to wake up. I sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. He was dressed in sweats and a tight black tee shirt that accentuated his muscular build. He was standing next to the bed, his leather duffel bag in one hand, a black garment bag in the other. I presumed it was his suit for work he was taking with him to the gym. I recalled him telling me he showered and dressed at the gym.
“It’s 6:30 Tylar, do you want me to set the alarm so that you can sleep awhile longer?” he asked.
“No, I want to get up now. I have to fold that last load of laundry in the dryer and then get ready. Trey, I’m not sure how to get to your office from here.”
It had finally dawned on me to mention that fact to him.
“No worries,” he replied, smiling down at me. “The office is less than ten minutes from here. I’ve arranged for a cab to pick you up in the mornings and take you home in the afternoons until you are comfortable making the drive. Traffic can be a real hassle at the time you go in.”
I shrugged. The arrangement was fine with me. Realizing I was still naked from the night before, I stayed under the sheets.
“Your cab will be here at 8:45; the doorman will ring you, okay?”
“Okay,” I replied. “And I just ask for Janice Landrick when I get there, right?”
“Yep,” he said, bending down to give me a kiss. “Have a good day, baby.”
“You do the same, Mr. Sinclair,” I replied in a very businesslike tone.
"Keep your Blackberry with you in case I need to
communicate with you throughout the day," he instructed.
As soon as he was out the door I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. An hour later I was fully showered, dressed and accessorized for my first day of work at the law firm of Pierce, Harmon, Richardson & Sinclair.
I checked my reflection in the full-size mirror in my closet. I wore a black pencil skirt that fell above my knees. My top was a classic white shirt, with a sharp collar, long sleeves with wide cuffs. I left the top two buttons undone. I wore a black double breasted vest that matched the skirt. The open white shirt collar splayed across the shoulders on the vest. Gina had insisted I wear smoky grey tights with my three inch plain black pumps. She had been right, it all came together nicely.
I had pulled my hair back tightly into a high, skinny ponytail. I wore small silver hoop earrings and a delicate silver chain around my neck. I had dusted some light grey eye shadow on, with dark charcoal eyeliner, blending them with a make-up brush. I applied mascara, penciled in a slight arch on my brows, and a bit of lip gloss and took a final assessment. I decided I was presentable for my first day of work.
I folded the laundry from the dryer and put it away. Grabbing my set of keys and my Blackberry, checking to make sure it was on I was ready to go when the doorman called up that my cab awaited.
I got a feeling of déjà vu when I stepped out of the elevator and onto the familiar marble floor that led to the receptionist’s station. I saw a fleeting look of recognition cross Debbie’s face as she looked up when I approached her.
“Good morning, Debbie,” I greeted with faux warmness, “Tylar Preston to see Janice Landrick, and yes she is expecting me.”
“One moment, please,” she replied, pushing a button then talking into her headset.
“Yes, Ms. Landrick, there is a Tylar Preston in reception to see you. Very well, thank you.”
“Have a seat please, Ms. Preston. Ms. Landrick will be with you momentarily.”
I could feel her eyeballing me as I turned to take a seat in one of the many leather chairs arranged on a thick Oriental rug in the reception area. She was obviously trying to figure out what business I had with the HR Director. Perhaps Debbie and I would do lunch sometime soon. I wanted to audibly smirk at the thought of that.
Janice Landrick greeted me warmly upon her arrival at reception. We shook hands cordially, and she led me to her office which was just around the corner from the now gaping Debbie’s desk. She closed the door to her office, inviting me to take a seat across from her.
“We have some standard paperwork for you to fill out, Tylar,” she said, handing me a manila folder that had a label with my name on it.
“You don’t have to fill it all out right now, but if you could have it completed and returned to me tomorrow when you come in that will be fine. Your pay rate is $15.00 per hour; your hours will be 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. with the exception of Wednesday when your hours are 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. You have an hour for lunch every day except Wednesday. Your total hours are twenty-eight per week. Anything beyond that will need to have approval by myself or one of the partners, okay?”
“That’s no problem, Ms. Landrick,” I replied.
“Call me Janice,” she said, “We’re not overly formal here thankfully.”
“Okay, Janice.” I smiled at her warmly.
I was curious about my job. I had a feeling she was getting ready to get to that part.
"Tylar , what you will be doing here at the firm is a little bit of everything. You are what we call a 'floater.'
(Sounds much better than 'gopher' or was it 'gofer'?)
"You will spend time in Central Filing where the cases are filed and retrieved as required for the attorneys and paralegals; you will help with meeting preparations,
conference scheduling, mostly clerical and administrative stuff. There may be occasions where a particular attorney’s administrative assistant requires your assistance in mailings or making copies so you would assist them in those tasks as well.”
“It sounds very interesting,” I replied.
“You will be busy so at least you won’t be bored,” she assured me.
“Today you will be working with Leah, Mr. Harmon’s personal assistant. There is a settlement conference scheduled beginning at eleven o’clock this morning that will likely run until three or four o’clock this afternoon. Leah can fill you in on the details.”
She led me down the marble hallway, past Debbie again, and down several more hallways until we reached Mr. Harmon’s suite. Janice introduced me to Leah, wishing me luck and was gone.
Leah was probably in her forties. I liked her immediately. She was very professional looking. She said that she had been with the firm for about fifteen years, always working for Mr. Harmon who she described as being a ‘doll’ to work for. She showed me where to stow my purse along with the folder of forms I needed to take home.
Leah showed me around the wing where Mr. Harmon’s suite was located. She pointed out the restroom; the filing area, the kitchen where a refrigerator, microwave, stove, dishwasher and multiple coffee makers were located. There were a couple of vending machines and an ice machine in there as well. The kitchen had cabinets containing cookware and dishes, silverware and glassware. She explained that a lot of the lawyers and paralegals had occasion to work long hours and occasional weekends so the firm tried to make things as comfortable as possible.
Leah showed me where the copy room was located
>
which was also the mail drop-off and pick-up area for this
wing. There were assorted mail trays with names attached to them. I quickly perused them and didn't find Trey's name
on any of them. His office was apparently in a different wing. The place took up the entire top floor and it was a maze. When I mentioned this to Leah, she laughed and agreed, making sure that she pointed out the emergency exit signs in case of a fire or other cause for evacuation.
Leah introduced me to several people we passed along the way. I knew I would never remember any of their names or titles. They did wear picture name tags that hung around their necks on a cord that looked like a shoelace. Leah explained that I would have one issued to me by HR once I completed my forms. The name tags were programmed to allow access to certain locked areas based on what level of security clearance you were granted.
We had circled back around to her office area by this time. There was an empty desk sitting in the corner of her office which she indicated I could use for this week. She said my assignment with her was indefinite. I was relieved. I knew she and I would have no problem getting along.
She was showing me how to use the phone on my desk in case I needed to answer calls if she was out of the area when a very nice-looking guy came around the corner greeting her with a stack of mail.
“Hey Leah,” he said, winking at her. “I went ahead and brought your mail down from the copy room. I saw that you were tied up with someone.”
“Barry, that is so thoughtful of you,” she replied, smiling noticing that he was looking over at me.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Leah said, “Barry; this is Tylar Preston the new floater that started here today. Tylar, this is Barry Richardson II. His father is one of the senior partners here at the firm.”
I smiled, extending my hand to him in a handshake.
“Very nice to meet you, Barry,” I said. “Are you a lawyer as well?”
“Not yet, just interning for now until spring. It is extraordinarily nice to meet you Tylar.”
He still had my hand in his grasp.
“I think I’m going to need this,” I said, pulling my hand from his.
“Oh, sorry,” he laughed. “I’m sure we will be seeing each other around. Good luck.”
“I’m sure he will make sure he sees you around,” Leah remarked, chuckling. “I think that you have an admirer already, Tylar.”
Leah finished showing me how the phone system worked, how to pull up the directory, transfer calls, send calls back to voicemail and page to someone’s Blackberry. She got me started on opening the mail that Barry had so nicely brought over. I had to date stamp all incoming mail with one of those self-inking mechanical contraptions. I sat down and got started on it. She left for a couple of minutes to go to Central Filing (wherever that was). She told me that Mr. Harmon was over in Mr. Richardson’s office and to pickup any calls that came in.
That reminded me to check my Blackberry. I pulled my purse out of the desk drawer where I had put it and grabbed my Blackberry from it. I checked and saw that I had a text message from Trey:
'I hope things are going well on your first day at this very prestigious law firm, Ms. Preston. I forgot something very important this morning. I forgot to tell you that I love you.'
My heart did a flip-flop when I read Trey’s text message. I realized that I had forgotten to tell him the same thing. I hit the ‘reply’ button.
'I am guilty of the same thing Mr. Sinclair. I love you! I am working in Harmon’s wing…is that close to yours?'
I went back to slitting envelopes open, taking out the contents and date stamping them. I heard my Blackberry beep. It was a text from Trey.
'Harmon’s wing is at opposite corner of building than mine. I will be over that way in about an hour for a settlement conference. I look forward to ogling you then. I know you will make me hard'
Trey’s message made me blush. Probably because it provoked an image of his erect penis in my mind. I texted him back.
'Mr. Sinclair, I believe ‘sexting’ at work is not appropriate! I look forward to seeing your hardness. I know you will make me wet”
Leah returned just as I had finished up sorting the mail and highlighting the case numbers on the correspondence.
“Thank you, Tylar,” she said appreciatively. “Now you and I have to prep the conference room for an 11 a.m. settlement conference that is scheduled. There will be a total of six attorneys in attendance; three from here and three from the firm of Littleton, Dexter and Klein out of Houston. Oh, and Barry will be there observing, so that makes a total of seven people.”
Leah led the way to the conference room which was just around the corner from her office area. She and I went back and forth between the kitchen and conference room carrying coffee carafes, pitchers of water and an ice bucket filled with ice. There was a credenza against the back wall where we placed the coffee, water and ice. She slid the credenza door open revealing napkins, coffee mugs and glasses, as well as a serving dish containing sugar, artificial sweetener packets and creamer. I found a box of coffee stir sticks and placed it on top with the rest of the stuff.
Once everything was laid out on top of the credenza, Leah instructed me to make sure that I placed legal tablets and pens on the conference room table for seven people.
“How will we know if they run out of water or coffee?” I asked.
“Don’t worry; none of them are shy about asking.”
I followed Leah back to her desk where she opened one of her drawers and pulled out a stack of menus.
“Put one of these at each of the seven places on the table in the conference room. We need to have them filled out as soon as they get here so that you can call and place the lunch order. They are having a working lunch,” she advised. I nodded and started around the corner.
“Oh and Tylar, please put coasters out for each of them as well?”
“Got it,” I replied.
Right before eleven Barry was back in our office and came over to my desk where I was pulling up the excel sheet used to fax the lunch order over to the deli they used.
“Hey,” he said, leaning up against the wall in front of my desk. “How’s your first day going, Tylar?”
“So far, so good Barry,” I replied, smiling up at him. “Are you going into the conference with the others?”
Just then I heard Trey clear his throat in the aisle way. Barry and I both looked over at the same time.
“Good morning Ms. Preston,” smooth and silky said. His eyes were on mine.
“Good morning, Mr. Sinclair,” I replied. “I believe the conference room is ready.”
I stood up trying to give Barry the hint to take leave. Trey was not happy with Barry’s unsolicited attention towards me.
“Talk to you later, Tylar,” Barry said, walking past Trey without a glance.
Trey was looking at me from top to bottom, his eyes were smoldering with something, and I wasn’t quite sure what it was. I didn’t get a chance to say anything further to him as the phone on Leah’s desk rang and I had to get it. Trey disappeared around the corner to the conference room.
It was Debbie at reception. The three attorneys from Littleton, Dexter and Klein were in reception. Leah had gone to get some markers for the white board and hadn’t returned. I told Debbie I would be right there, hoping I could find my way there and back in this maze of offices and cubicles.
Luckily, I found my way there and introduced myself to the three gentlemen who were wearing Stetson cowboy hats. They quickly removed them, placing them against their chests as I greeted them.
“If you gentlemen would please follow me, the attorneys are awaiting your arrival in the conference room.”
“Anywhere, darlin,” one of them said in his Texas drawl, “You lead the way and we’ll follow you anywhere.”
I was glad that they were behind me and couldn’t see me rolling my eyes. I led them to the conference room standing inside the doorway, as they filed in once
again removing their hats as they passed me.
“Thank you little darlin” one of them said, nudging his partner, “They sure don’t grow ‘em like that in Texas, huh Del?”
He winked at me then turned his attention back to three of the attorneys from Pierce, Harmon, Richardson & Sinclair, one of whom was glaring angrily at the flirtatious Texan not pleased with his obvious ogling of me. I flushed, turning to exit and passing Leah outside of the conference room.
“Tylar, are you okay?” she asked, seeing my flushed face. I nodded quickly.
“Did you get their lunch orders?” she asked.
Damn. I had forgotten. I didn’t want to go back in there with Trey and the cocky cowboy lawyers from Houston. Leah read my body language seeing I was uncomfortable.
“That’s all right, I have to give Mr. Harmon a message before they start, I can do it.”
“Watch out for those Texans,” I warned her talking in a whisper.
A few minutes later Leah returned to our office area shaking her head and chuckling as she set the stack of filled out lunch orders on my desk.
“Boy you were right about that,” she said. “They are something else, aren’t they?”
I laughed eyes wide and nodding.
“The partners will have their work cut out for them today trying to keep those three good ‘ole boys on track. Sinclair looks like he’s ready to kill one of them already.”
(Oh God, Trey let it go.)
Leah had instructed me to fill in the excel sheet already set up on a fax form for their lunch order. There was a column to put the last names of each of them so that the deli could mark the box lunches accordingly to sort out easily here.
I started inputting the data into the spreadsheet. I stopped when I got to Trey’s order. He had ordered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a smiley face drawn next to it. I smiled and chuckled.