by Anna Lewis
“What if I show you, instead,” she said.
Before Eric could answer, she kissed him roughly. He returned her kiss full force, his fingers threaded through her hair. Shawna’s hands slid down his abdomen, and she made quick work of his belt, pulling the buckle open, then going for the button on his jeans.
Eric pulled away, looking at her, his expression confused and amused all at once.
“I thought you said sex was off the table.”
“You’re not paying me right now,” she said. “So, this is different.”
He laughed softly.
“I’m not going to argue with you there,” Eric said, kissing her again.
Shawna finally got his button undone and pushed his zipper down. She felt Eric’s hands on her dress, gathering the fabric up so he could slide her panties down.
She stepped out of her underwear, tugging on Eric’s jeans and pulling him to a dark corner near an empty stall. She pushed him against a ladder affixed to the wall, still kissing him wildly, her heart racing and her body on fire with the excitement. They could get caught at any moment, and the idea was turning her on more than she thought it would.
Back to the ladder, Eric was in the perfect place, and Shawna was eager to try something she’d fantasized about for a long time. Grabbing the ladder, she stepped onto the bottom rung, then the second one, her feet on either side of Eric.
He held her hips and guided her as she lowered herself down onto his cock, which was already rigid with his need. Her excitement had aroused him, and Eric’s breath was heavy as he kissed her again and again. Shawna took him to the hilt, her body stretching around his, her fingers holding the ladder rung beside his head for leverage.
With feverish precision, she began gyrating against him, moaning loudly in the quiet, dark corner. Eric’s hands held her skirt up, and she cried out in delight when his free hand connected with her exposed backside.
“Yes,” she said softly, her voice breathy as she rode him harder and faster.
His hand worked her mercilessly, each slap harder than the last as she moved up and down his shaft rapidly. She could already feel her orgasm building, but she was watching Eric’s face, waiting for him before she let herself go.
When his free arm wrapped around her waist and his other hand treated her to a volley of rapid-fire slaps on her already tender ass, she knew that she didn’t have much longer to wait for him. He tensed beneath her, but instead of pausing with him, she thrust even faster, sending him over the edge. When he called her name out, she let her thin control go and joined him, throwing her head back and crying out into the rafters. Eric’s hands were splayed over her backside now, pulling her closer as he thrust deeper into her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as he drew every last bit of pleasure from her, then she collapsed against him, still cradled in his arms, her legs wound around his hips now.
He held her like that for a long time, shuddering as they both tried to catch their breath, then gently sliding her off him and onto the floor.
Holding her close, they stood there for what seemed like an eternity before either of them spoke.
“Wow,” Shawna said, drawing a laugh out of Eric.
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said with a wry smile.
“I did.”
She kissed him, then her hands went to his and she tugged him forward.
“What?”
She smiled.
“You said to tell you what I want and don’t make you guess, right?”
“Right,” he said slowly.
“Good,” she said, letting his hands go and winking as she turned away. “Then I’m ready for round two, but first, you have to catch me.”
Before he could zip his pants up, she took off, laughing in the night as she headed to the house. She turned, squealing when she realized that he was right behind her.
He caught up to her near an old oak tree, and they made love beneath the stars, then again when he caught her in the hallway on the second floor. By the time they made their way to the bedroom, Shawna was exhausted and more than ready to fall into bed in Eric’s arms. She felt at home in his arms, and she was starting to think that there was more to life than making money and buying her dreams.
So much more.
***
Monday morning came too quickly, though Shawna was relieved to head into the office and quietly take her place at the giant desk that prevented people from just walking into Eric’s office unannounced. They had arrived together at almost ten after a leisurely breakfast on the balcony of his bedroom. Sitting at the desk now, the entire weekend seemed like a dream that Shawna wished she didn’t have to wake from. But today was the beginning of her new job, and she had goals.
She’d dressed in an outfit chosen by Eric, her skirt calf-length and tapered so that it accentuated her curves. Her blouse was white with thin green stripes, which hadn’t surprised Shawna in the least. Eric had made it clear that his favorite color on Shawna was anything that made her green eyes shine, so she had resigned herself to wearing a lot of green at the office.
His door opened and she turned in her chair, smiling at him. He held a file folder in his hand and he looked serious, though more pensive than anything.
“This is your first job,” he said briskly. “I want you to put together a proposal covering how you think the secretarial pool should be run, and how we can improve the overall conditions and pay.”
“Alright,” she said, his request daunting.
He was asking a lot of her, and giving her nothing to work with except for the names, hire dates, and salaries of everyone that she’d worked with before she was fired.
She went to work, pouring over everything in front of her, jotting her ideas on a notepad, then pouring over the information again, and breaking the pool into groups before jotting down more notes.
It was almost one when she finished her proposal and walked into his office, setting it on his desk. He looked it over, his face unreadable as one hand absent-mindedly stroked one thigh.
“What about the person in charge of the secretarial pool? I would like a comprehensive plan laid out for their compensation and perks.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” She jotted a few things down, looking at her notes and tweaking some numbers before she handed him the paper. “What about this?”
He nodded.
“Good. This is all good. Do you think working in teams and shortening the hours will help?”
“I think it will. There’s no reason for any of them to be here for more than six hours, and if we pay them full-time at six hours, good people will stay on task and be more productive in a shorter time period. And, by having them stagger when they come in based on teams, we can have secretarial support throughout the long work day without forcing anyone to stay for overtime.”
“This is brilliant,” Eric said.
“Thanks. I always wondered why they didn’t do it this way while I was there. We were all always going full-steam and that gets exhausting after five or six hours. I know that my last two or three hours, I was just trying to get through, and I made a lot of mistakes because I was tired. Mistakes cost time, and no one is productive when they’re tired.”
“This is all good stuff, but I want to bump up the salary on the floor manager on this one.”
“Okay,” she said.
“I feel like the person managing all this needs to feel well-compensated, and since they’re going to have to implement all these ideas you have, and manage a lot of people and schedules, I would rank them as an upper-level manager.”
“I think whatever you decide will be good enough.”
“I’m glad you think that,” he said. He set the file folder down, slipping his hands beneath her skirt and toying with the crotch of her panties. “Because I’m thinking about letting you hire the person from the secretarial pool that you think is most qualified to implement this, and then I want you to work with them to get th
e new system up and running.”
“You do?”
“I do. I think that you’ll be perfect for the job. Does anyone come to mind?”
“Dianna. She’s always on top of everything, and when the rest of us fell behind, she was the first to offer to help. She’s great at what she does and she has solid leadership skills.”
“Good. Call her in and chat with her.”
“But, what will Richard think?”
“Who cares about what he thinks? Call down to HR and have them send Dianna up quietly. He doesn’t have to know why.”
Shawna nodded, feeling giddy. Eric had proposed a six-figure salary. It was more than double what Shawna had made before, and she was sure Dianna was going to be happy with one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars in addition to the healthcare and vacation package.
Shawna called down to HR and was just sitting at her desk when Dianna stepped off the elevator, face pale, looking terrified.
When she saw Shawna, her expression changed to a mixture of happiness and confusion, but Shawna wasn’t going to let her sit across the desk and wonder what she’d been called up to talk about.
Shawna laid the entire plan out, saving the appointment of department head for last. Dianna sat perfectly still for a moment before Shawna’s words sunk in. When Shawna slid the paper with the salary and benefits offer across the table, Dianna covered her mouth and fought back tears.
Shawna waited for her to compose herself before she said anything else, but inside, she was jumping for joy. She couldn’t think of anyone who deserved this as much as Dianna did.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, excusing herself while Dianna looked at the paper in her hands in awe.
Shawna ducked into Eric’s office and quietly closed the door behind herself.
“When are you going to fire Richard?”
“I’m not.”
“I don’t understand. How is Dianna going to run the department if you don’t fire Richard?”
“I’m not because you are,” Eric clarified. “You do it when you’re ready.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am,” Eric said.
“But—
“I’m not going to change my mind. You wanted me to show you your power, this is a big part of this. Richard took everything from you and made you feel worthless. This is your chance to take that power back.”
“I don’t want to hurt someone just because they hurt me.”
“Then be a better person than he is and show him the door and a little mercy.”
“How?”
“That’s up to you.”
Shawna wanted to press him for more guidance, but she knew that Eric wouldn’t give it to her. This was something that she had to do, and Eric wasn’t going to tell her how to do it.
He didn’t say a word and she quietly let herself out and went back to where Dianna was sitting.
“Do you have an idea of who you want to put on each team?”
“Honestly, everyone works great together, so I’m thinking that I’ll ask everyone what their first and second choices are for start time, and I’ll organize it that way. I wouldn’t want my night owls getting stuck on the first wave.”
“Good thinking. I’m going to call Richard up here, so if you want to keep this to yourself until he leaves the room, that would be great.”
Dianna nodded.
“Do I have you to thank for the new job?”
“No,” Shawna said. “You have you to thank. You were the first person I thought of because you showed that you were meant to lead long before I was in the position to give you the role.”
“Thank you,” Dianna said, beamed as she clutched the papers in her hands.
“You’re welcome,” Shawna said, and she watched the woman walk out of the room and toward the elevator.
She called down to HR then sat down, waiting for Richard to show and practicing what she was going to say. She would only get one shot at this, and she wanted to make sure that it made an impact on him.
She didn’t want him to ever treat anyone the way he had treated her again.
***
“Sit down, Richard,” Shawna said, indicating the seat across from her desk.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking at Eric through the open office door, but Eric didn’t look up from what he was doing.
“Sit, please,” she said, reminding herself not to let Richard get to her. She had the power, not Richard.
Richard sat down, but he looked nervous, and a little angry.
“Do you remember me?” she asked.
“Of course, I do. I fired you. Why are you up here?”
“I got a better job,” she said with a wry smile.
“This isn’t a job,” he sneered, leaning forward and lowering his voice so that only Shawna could hear him. “You’re an office decoration, nothing more.”
Shawna smiled, leaning forward too, and not even bothering to lower her voice in response.
“If I’m just an office decoration, then this is going to be hard on you.”
“What is?” he asked, his expression still arrogant.
“Your termination.”
Richard sat up straight, his face turning a mottled red as his anger and indignation overwhelmed him and his common sense.
“You’re nobody. You can’t fire me!”
“Actually, she can,” Eric said from the doorway.
“I will fire you, or I can offer you a bit of grace that you didn’t offer me,” Shawna said coolly. “Your choice, Richard. You have power over how you choose to respond, and if you respond like a decent human being, I have an offer for you.”
“What kind of offer?”
“Work in the secretary pool on one of the shift teams, do a good job and when Dianna moves onto something bigger and better, you have a chance of being in the running to replace her. Since we’re hiring upper-level from within, if you work hard, the only place you can go is up.”
He was already shaking his head vehemently.
“Dianna is an idiot. I’m not working under her or anyone else. I’ll be the laughing stock of the entire department.”
“Sometimes, we have to humble ourselves to grow into better versions of ourselves,” Shawna said. “It’s your choice, but if you don’t want to work here anymore, I’m sure your final paycheck will be enough to get you through while you look for another job.”
Richard sat back, arms crossed, glaring at Shawna, then at Eric and back again. Shawna sat comfortably behind her desk, unbothered by his anger and blustering. She knew a desperate man when she saw one, and Richard was terrified of being fired, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself.
When he was silent for more than a minute, Shawna slid a piece of paper across the desk so it was in front of him. He scanned it, then leaned forward and read it again.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the new package for entry-level Administrative Support.”
“What does that mean?”
“That’s the new title for the employees providing valuable data entry, proof-reading and transcribing support for this company.”
“That’s the same amount I’m making now.”
“The amount you were making. If you’ll recall, you’re no longer a manager, but yes, we’ve bumped everyone up to fifty-two thousand a year after their ninety day probation period is over. So, if you want to start Monday, you’ll make eight hundred a week. Since you’re stepping down rather than being let go in this case, you will keep your medical benefits and any accrued vacation hours. But, you can be let go at any time in the first ninety days, so it would be in your best interests to be on your best behavior.”
“Today is half over,” he said.
“It is,” Shawna confirmed. “So, you’ll be starting next Monday when the new schedule goes into effect. Dianna will email you your schedule by Friday night.”
“And what do I do about this week?”
“I don’t really care what
you do this week, but I would spend it taking a long hard look at myself if I were you.”
He looked at her then, and for the first time, Shawna saw something in him besides hatred and anger. He looked lost and scared, and Shawna was glad that she had chosen mercy over firing him. She had dreamt of doing to him what he had done to her someday, but she knew that wasn’t who she was. She wouldn’t sink to his level, no matter how much he deserved it.
“We’ll pay you for the rest of the day and you can take four of your vacation days so that you don’t lose pay. I’ll need a formal letter of acceptance of the position by Friday morning, and we’ll expect you here at your designated time on Monday if you’re going to continue to work here.”
“I understand,” Richard said quietly. He stood, still having a hard time looking her in the eye. “Thank you,” he said just above a whisper, then quietly left the room and got onto the elevator.
When the elevator doors closed, Shawna let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Eric, who smiled at her.
“That was interesting,” she said.
“You handled it well.”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I did.”
Eric was nodding and smiling, his pride evident.
“How do you feel?”
“I feel good. I wanted to fire him and watch him beg, but it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as being the better person. Having to work at the bottom and climb his way up is punishment enough.”
“I agree. People like Richard punish themselves. But it’s people like you that make them change their ways and their hearts.”
“I hope he chooses to use this as a way to change his life.”
“I do, too. If not, then in ninety days, he’ll be gone.”
***
The next few months were a blur, and Shawna found her rhythm at the office pretty quickly. Their mornings were the same every day, and Shawna loved every minute of it. They woke up in each other's arms, tangled in the sheets with the sun streaming through the bank of windows in his massive master bedroom. They ate on the balcony, Shawna in the nude and Eric in a robe. The sun felt delicious on her skin, and the tranquility of the quiet morning did her soul good. Then they got dressed in barn clothes, feeding the horses in the morning and spending some time just enjoying the quiet barn. Sometimes they had a quickie in Eric’s office, and sometimes, they went back to bed and spent the day making love instead of going into the office. The rest of the time, they went into the office together and tackled the workload between quiet moments spent together as Eric teased her in preparation for the night ahead.