by Dani Hoots
That I didn’t know, but kind of figured after last night. He was pretty drunk and I think I had seen him buy a couple drinks for other people, mainly girls.
I shrugged. “He isn’t that bad.”
This time it was Sven, a Swedish assistant manager, who said something. “Yeah right. The other assistant manager couldn’t stand him. Not to mention that he has had multiple complaints in the branch and from other managers.”
“If he’s so bad, why is he still manager?” I asked.
Thomas laughed. “Because his branch brings in the most money. He may not be a nice guy, but his tactics work and that is all the company cares about. If I were you, I would watch out for him. He is devious and will use anything against you.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that warning, as I had grown to like Christoph more over this business trip. I couldn’t believe that he was the same person that these three were talking about. I knew he was hard on his employees, but no more than I had experienced from other jobs. He also seemed to be a lot more open with me since this trip started so I didn’t think that he was as bad of a guy as everyone acted.
We finished up lunch and headed back to the company’s headquarters. I met up with Christoph and we both entered where the workshop would be held. He didn’t say anything as we sat down and started listening to the lecturer.
I could see where people thought Christoph was an egotistic jerk. He was ruthless in his job, and seriously almost didn’t let anyone else speak during the workshop, other than the lecturer. He appeared as if he wasn’t going to let anyone else tell him what to do, as if he had all the answers. I wondered why he was like that, and how he could change personalities so easily.
And I wondered who I actually cared for, this man, or the one he lets me see when it is just the two of us.
The day ended and we headed towards another pub for the night. I was hoping to get some time to look around the city, but Christoph talked me into just going to the pub. I was tired, actually, after the workshopping and I didn’t particularly want to get lost. I would visit this city again, I was sure of it, and it wasn’t like it was that far away.
Christoph drank a lot, again, and I was surprised that he actually didn’t buy any girls drinks, especially after what Ellen said. He seemed normal enough, as if he wasn’t playing any games, contrary to what the others said. Could I trust him? I knew Christoph longer than I knew any of the assistant managers, but at the same time, I had only known Christoph in the office and he was the rude man that they claimed him to be. But did anyone get to know him like this? The other assistant manager never said anything. He was an older man, though, and was just trying to get retiring benefits. He hadn’t been in the position for that long.
Now that I thought about it, we had gone through quite a number of assistant managers. Could it have been because of Christoph? Or could it have been because they simply moved up in the system. I know some of them had been transferred. Was it because they wanted to or was it because Christoph wanted them gone?
So many questions were running through my mind. It was all things I didn’t want to think about, and this trip was proving to be quite the interesting one indeed.
We would be leaving tomorrow morning, which I was thankful for. Workshopping like this brought too many memories of college, and I didn’t particularly like having work like that. I liked the job I had, and I found it to be less stressful than listening to people speak all day. I couldn’t stand sitting still like that, and enjoyed being able to get up and stretch whenever I wanted.
It was starting to get late and the other people that Christoph had dinner with started to leave. That left just the two of us, again.
He turned to me, a smug look on his face. “So, meet any fun people on this trip?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I like meeting all the different people that this company has. Definitely puts into perspective how large it is.”
Nodding, he added. “Good, good. Glad to hear it.” He took another sip of his drink. “We are leaving early in the morning. We should probably head back.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” I got up and found that Christoph wasn’t as drunk as he was the night before. I was really surprised, actually. Maybe it was because he knew the train ride would be horrible if he did drink too much, though I didn’t know what too much was for this man.
We started down the street towards the hotel. At least this time I didn’t have to practically carry him, which I was thankful for. He was actually quite heavy for his size, and after seeing him in just a towel, I understood why.
As I started to unlock the door, Christoph placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Wait a second,” he whispered.
I turned to face him, confused as to why he was stopping me. He slowly leaned in and I had no idea what was going on. Christoph’s lips brushed against mine, his hot breath against my skin. He kissed me and I had no idea what to do.
He leaned back, as if curious as to what my response would be. I just stared at him, not quite sure as to what had happened. It was a wish come true, yes, but I had no idea why.
Christoph laughed. “By that surprised and slightly happy blushing, my guess was right.”
I could feel my cheeks redden more. He chuckled some more. “Don’t get embarrassed. After all, I did tell you you were cute last night.”
So he did remember saying that. I thought he was completely out of it. Damn, how much could he drink?
Christoph unlocked the door and grabbed me by my tie. “Come on Heinrich, we have one more night in the hotel.”
I had no idea what to say, and really had no chance to as he pulled me to him and kissed me while closing the door behind him. I ran my hands down his stomach and pulled off his coat as he did mine. I tried to loosen my tie but he shook his head and stopped me.
“No, no. You are keeping your leash on. It’s more fun that way.”
Honestly, I had no answer for that, and couldn’t really answer before he grabbed it and pulled me onto the bed.
I woke up to find Christoph was already in the shower. I found myself in his bed, naked. Memories of what had happened that night before came flooding back to me. Rubbing my face, I tried to figure out what I was going to do. God, I didn’t want this to happen, now I had no idea what to do. Yes I had a crush on him, but I never planned on it getting this far.
As quickly as I could, I searched for my boxers and pulled them on. I kept rubbing my face, a nervous tick as I tried to calm myself down.
“Good morning, Liebchen,” Christoph said. I turned to find he was out of the shower. Naked. I turned back around, my mind just screaming at me for being an idiot.
“Morning.” It was all I could manage as I quickly grabbed my clothes and went in the shower. Christoph didn’t say anything as I passed him, but simply chuckled at my nervousness.
I quickly got ready and we headed to the train station with our stuff. It would be a long four hour train ride back, even longer than the first. I had no idea what to say to him now. All I could think about was last night…
But every time I did that, I could feel my face begin to flush.
Christoph, surprisingly, didn’t say anything, but slept off the train ride. I just stared out the window, counting the minutes until I could jump off this train and go finish up my work at my desk, and away from him.
The four hours were finally up and I jumped off the train as fast as I could, though it wasn’t like I could really get away from Christoph, we both had to take the U-Bahn to work after all. Christoph still didn’t say anything to me, which made me a bit nervous. Was he mad at me? Did he think last night was a mistake, did I not act the way I should? Or was it because I wasn’t saying anything. I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t expect this to happen. I felt like a complete idiot.
We arrived to the office and Christoph went straight to his office. Both Charles and Jonathan came up to my cubicle, as I still had a couple more days at my old job.
“So,” Charle
s smiled. “How did it go?”
“I, uh, fine,” I said. “Like any work related thing would be.”
Jonathan stared at me. “Any hot girls at the event?”
“I don’t—“
Charles smacked him. “Of course there was, don’t put him on the spot. There were probably too many and it was overwhelming for him. Better question was, what was it like being around that ass of a boss all day? I bet it was horrible.”
“No, it was fine. I didn’t see him too much, he had different meetings than me.” And then, you know, I slept with him. There was that.
“Well I couldn’t imagine having to spend two whole days with him. I get sick at just the thought. Though, then again, with your new job, you will be spending more time with him either way. You lucky dog.”
God, I forgot. We would be spending more time together now. I sighed. “I have a bunch of work to finish up before then. Talk to you guys later?”
They nodded and went back to their own cubicles. I tried to block out any thoughts about Christoph the rest of the day as I finished up my work.
It was impossible.
It was fifteen minutes until work was over and Charles and Jonathan decided it would be best if we went out and drank some, so I could forget about the past two days. They had no idea how much I needed that. As I started getting my stuff ready to go, Christoph stepped out into the main office area.
“Heinrich, can I have a word with you?” with that, he went back into his office.
I felt as if something hard hit me right in the stomach. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. I turned to Charles and Jonathan. “I’ll catch up. The usual spot?”
They nodded and left while I went into Christoph’s office.
Christoph sat behind his desk and had a file in front of him he thumbed with as I closed the door behind me.
“You needed to see me?” I asked.
“Yes, please sit.” He motioned to the chair in front of him. I quickly sat down as he asked. “I wanted to inform you that you will be transferring to our branch in Vienna.”
I just stared at him, my mouth dropped. “What?”
“I said you are being transferred. They need a new assistant manager down there.”
I shook my head. “This has to be a joke, you can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am. I talked to the Vienna manager yesterday about it. He said he liked your work and would be offering you quite the raise.”
“Wait, yesterday? And you are just now telling me this?”
He nodded. “Yes, I had to finish the paperwork.”
“But, what if I don’t want to go.”
He shrugged. “Then you will be fired.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He had used me, he had known I would be leaving, made it so I would be leaving, then he used me. “But… we…”
“I told you when we left for the trip that one of the perks of being the manager is you can easily transfer someone when that does happen.” He smirked. “You should have taken my warning.”
I stood up, shocked at everything that had just happened. He used me, he lied to me. I couldn’t believe it. He was the selfish ass that everyone made him out to be. “I have friends here, I can’t just leave.”
Christoph shrugged. “Fine, but if you want everyone to know the truth, why I’m sending you away, I could just tell them. That you slept with your boss. Or you can just leave, take your new bonus and go, and that would be that.”
I stared at him for a moment longer, wanting to punch his perfect stupid face, but decided against it. It wasn’t worth it. “Fine, but just realize this, Christoph. Maybe the reason you play these games, think it is okay to use people like you do, is because deep down your heart has been crushed and you simply don’t want your heart broken again. There is a reason your wife left you so long ago, and you know it.”
With that, I left him sitting there, and went to drink with my friends for what felt like would be the last time.
“So let me get this straight, you want us to sneak into one of the richest men in all of Europe’s house and steal this painting?” I pointed at all the data Bridget had accumulated for this job, of which I had to say was quite detailed. But did that mean it was going to work? Hell no.
Bridget tossed her dark auburn hair back and rolled her virescent eyes. “Look, if you don’t want to do it, fine. But you aren’t going to stop me from getting those paintings. Think about it, Charles, this could be our big break. We would be set for a very long time.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck. “Now where would the fun be in that?”
Her attention left the pile of notes she had on the table and turned around towards me, her body still in my arms. She ran her hands up my chest. “I didn’t say it would be forever. But wouldn’t it be nice if we could take a break and stay on the beach somewhere, maybe in Italy or Greece? Just you and me, doing whatever we like?” Bridget’s hand drifted down towards my belt.
I coughed. “Yeah, I guess you do have a point there. So what is your plan?”
She quickly turned around and sorted through the papers. “It’s simple. Our mark here, Jaques Van Francis, is hosting a banquet next week. We will get in, distract the owner and any prying guests, get our painting, and get out of there.”
“When everyone is there? Won’t there be higher security?” I asked as I flipped through her information. She had everything on this guy: his schedule for the next two weeks, the layout to his home and where the painting will be. Everything.
“The painting isn’t near where the party is. The guards will be paying attention more to the rooms where he stores his more valuable articles. Oddly enough, this painting isn’t his most valued possession and hangs in his bedroom.”
“I guess when you have the money and can hang the painting wherever you god-damn please, huh? But how are you going to get tickets to this event? I presume it’s invite by the host only.” And it wasn’t like we were going to make friends with such a man overnight, or even by the time the party started. That just wasn’t how the world worked.
Her lips curled up in a smile. I loved it when they did that, they looked so delicious I could kiss them all day. “Leave that to me. I have an idea that will work.”
I hated it when she didn’t give me all the information, but I knew I could trust she would find a way. She always did for the past five years we had been doing this. So far we haven’t been caught. So far we have only stolen small paintings across Europe, leaving no trace behind. Then we posted them in the black market, getting our portion up front, in cash, and nothing could follow us as we headed to our next job. Either way though, we had never gone after something this big, but I knew we could do it. We were good, we were ready for this.
“Well then, what do we need to do now?” I asked.
“We need to get a tuxedo and dress of course.” She turned to face me. “And you need a haircut. You don’t look proper at all.”
I frowned. “You just hate this style, it has nothing to do with the party.”
She shrugged. “Either way you need a haircut. Then go get a tuxedo tailored. Have to fit in, after all.”
I sighed. “Fine, I will go get a haircut and find a tuxedo.”
“A nice one, this is a big event after all.”
“I’ll put it on the card and pay it off after we get the money from the painting.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She leaned in and kissed me. Her lips tasted like cherries. I loved the lip balm she used and she knew that. I let the kiss linger a bit longer than she had intended, my arm wrapped around her, making her stay. I let go and let out a breath.
“Sure we can’t just stay in and get the tux tomorrow?” I asked.
She pointed at the door. “You know it takes a while for tailoring. Go get it now and then we will have all the free time in the world.”
I smiled and turned towards the door. She always knew what to say to get me out of the flat.
> I got the haircut. I still thought my shaggy hair was fine, but I decided to go for a hair cut short on the sides and long on the top. Then I could slick it back like all those guys I saw on T.V. Seemed like the “in fashion” hair cut around Paris as well.
Paris was lovely in the fall, with the leaves starting to change and the cool weather beginning to drift in. People started wearing petticoats and boots were the fashion again. Women still wore skirts that were barely longer than their coats, tights, and heeled boots. Maybe even darker makeup and sometimes fancy hats, but whenever the wind came through the street, they just seemed to be more of a hassle than suitable for the weather. Either way, women looked best this time of year, I thought.