I couldn’t believe it at first and definitely, couldn’t believe that luck finally went my way. I was ecstatic and called my bandmates and Lisa to gush about the good news before I went into panic mode. I realized I would have to eventually face Sam. The realization both excited me but worried me because he not only was not in the panel interview so I wasn’t sure how he would react if I show up and he was surprised at what he saw.
It was only a matter of time before I would run into Sam again and I didn’t know what I was going to say to him about how I felt, let alone what he was going to say to me if I said anything to him at all. It was sad giving notice to the company that I had worked for almost 9 years, but there was a point in time where I felt it no longer provided me with the sense of satisfaction and passion I had in the beginning.
It didn’t seem like the department heads had any ideas about providing empowerment to their employees let alone any growth opportunities. It didn’t seem like it was important to them, so it wasn’t exactly a tough choice for me when I was selected to work for the Foundation.
On my first day of work at my new job, I made sure I showed up bright and early. I woke up energetic and refreshed for some strange reason, and I wasn’t as nervous as I felt days before. I was excited about the opportunity and excited to hopefully see Sam. I came to the realization that I was overthinking things again and I wouldn’t have gotten the job if he didn’t have some influence over it, even if he wasn’t around.
When I arrived, the receptionist Marta, congratulated me on the position and introduced me to some of the interns and administrative staff who I would shadow for a few days. For the first few hours, they gave me a tour of the facility, gave me a basic description of the Foundation and the various divisions and the different roles and how each interacted with the other.
“This afternoon, you will be sitting with Amy and Sam, that’s the Director. You haven’t met him yet, but they will discuss with you more in detail about the major programs we have and what their needs are in the interim. They probably will also explain their expectations of you as well.” Marta told me hours later. Time went by fast, and before I knew it, it was lunch time.
“Did you bring a lunch with you?” Marta asked. My cubicle was near the front of the office where all of the interns and administrative support staff sat. Sam’s and Amy’s offices were close by, luckily.
“Yes, I did. I wasn’t too sure what the lunch situation would be like, so I brought one just in case.”
“Want to join me in the lunch room? I usually leave during my lunch break to run errands or check on my grandkids during the summer, but I don’t have to do that today. Tobias, one of our admins, usually fills in for me. Once in a while, you will be asked to provide backup help, but when the time comes, I’ll train you.” Marta explained and then whispered, “It’s really easy.”
“Sure, I’d love to.” I smiled.
I liked Marta, and I warmed up to her quickly. Marta was a bubbly, middle-aged woman who reminded her of a stereotypical PTA mom. Her desk was made of cherry colored wood and filled with pictures of her kids and grandkids. She had pastel-colored pens and knick-knacks everywhere. She seemed like the kind of woman that was always happy and cheery as apple pie.
“Where are you from?” Marta suddenly asked me as she dived into her Chicken Caesar salad.
“I live in Cottonwood Beach. I’ve lived there for the past several years.”
“How do you like it there?”
“Oh it’s great, but it’s nothing like Sutton Hill, I just love it here.” I gushed.
“Me too, although I don’t live here either. It is a quaint little community. There are some really nice pockets with charming Victorian and Spanish style homes. Pleasant neighborhoods and homes are hard to come by here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously as I bit into my ham and cheese sandwich.
“How shall I say it? Sutton is definitely beautiful and charming, but sometimes people can make it really hard for you to see the gem for what it is. Know what I mean?”
“You know, that’s the second time someone has said that to me about Sutton Hill.”
“Well, then it must be true.” Marta smiled.
“I know what you mean, though, small towns usually make it hard to get away from any sort of difficulty or people. In larger cities, you have more anonymity.”
“You got that right!” Marta laughed.
Time had passed even faster after lunch, and it was almost time for my meeting with Amy and Sam. I hadn’t seen Sam all day, and I found it weird because I didn’t see him walk in at all either. I was eventually called into the same conference room where I had my panel interview, but when I went into the room, Sam was nowhere to be seen. Amy was the only one seated.
Where was Sam?
An hour later, the meeting was over. It was brutal being alone with Amy. Sam never showed up nor did Amy give me an explanation as to his whereabouts. She did not even seem worried that he was not at the meeting nor provided any explanations as to his whereabouts. Not that she owed any. Amy spent the hour tactful and with a threatening disposition. It was the most uncomfortable moment of my life.
By the time the work day was over, I couldn’t help but be disappointed by the lack of Sam’s presence but be the head of the organization, it was to be expected that he would spend most of his time gone than not. The realization that it would be customary for him to be gone most of the time gave her a slightly sad feeling. It was a realization that never occurred to her before.
Although I was nervous to see how his interaction would be with me, I couldn’t wait to break the ice. It was already a little past five in the evening, and most of the administrative staff had already left the building and congratulated me on getting through my first day successfully.
To my disappointment, I had waited a long time to get some answers, and I was looking forward to finding out once and for all so that I could potentially make the first steps in legitimately moving in one of two directions, but I was denied that privilege today. How many more days would I have to endure before I got answers?
Chapter Seven
SAM
I ARRIVED AT THE OFFICE LATER than I wanted, but I was swamped this week with a multitude of meetings to attend, site visits to some of our local facilities to check on progress and take care of some personal errands. I flew back to the Hall of Fame headquarters in Ohio to go over some post-induction ideas they recently contacted me about. One of which was a rock n’ roll history photo book. It was merely a brainstorming meeting with nothing set in stone or even a confirmation that this idea particular idea was going to be pursued.
As I arrived, I found Jamie still at work but more specifically in the parking lot what looked like loading her belongings into her car. I took care of a lot of things today, but the one thing that I had forgotten to do was check on how her first day was. I did manage to communicate with Amy what Jamie could assist me with but that was the kind of thing I should have taken care of personally. It was ill-mannered of me.
I approached her methodically but like always I managed to startle her again. As funny as it was, I didn’t want her to think my constant creeping up on her was a habit. I wasn’t trying to creep up on her at all, it just ended up that way.
“Oh, geez. Not again.” Jamie jumped in surprise.
“Jamie Winters,” I emphasized. “See I got the hang of it. How was your first day?”
“Hi, Sam. Oh wait, should I start saying Mr. Ellis now?” Jamie asked.
“Sam’s fine. I wanted to apologize for my absence the past couple of weeks. I had every intention of being there in the interview as well as your first day, but I’ve been swamped with last minute fires and requests.”
“It’s been good. Your staff has been very helpful for me today. With their help, I’m sure I’ll get caught up.”
“That’s great. We have a great team here. I’ll be in the office more this week, so I want you and me to sit down and chat
sometime. I wish I could have today but as you can see I just got back a few minutes ago.”
“Well, we just closed up.” Jamie’s face lit up whenever she laughed.
“I left some files here that I wanted to take home and review. I’m glad you had a good day, I hope you end up liking it here.”
“Everyone’s really nice, especially Marta. She is a very sweet lady.”
“Marta is like my second mom. She’s such a gem. I am glad everyone’s treated you well. I expect nothing less from them that I would expect from myself. I’ve gotta get inside so I can head on home but I’ll definitely see you tomorrow. Let’s chat, alright?”
“See you tomorrow.”
****
“Thought you’d have to come back sooner.” Amy chided me the second I walked through my front door. I didn’t expect her to be at my house tonight, it had slipped my mind. I was looking forward to just reviewing files a bit and then heading to bed early.
“I thought so too.”
“I’m starving, and I had planned on us going out to eat tonight.”
“Sorry, I don’t think I’m in the mood to eat this evening.” I sighed as I dropped my leather briefcase and jacket onto a dining room chair.
Although Amy and I were colleagues, I had gotten into some kind of relationship with her. Ironically, I didn’t know what to call it. It definitely wasn’t an actual relationship, though I was starting to think she assumed it was more than what it actually was. She spent more time at my house unexpectedly than at her own place. It was becoming a frequent habit of hers.
It wasn’t my original plan to regularly sleep with her or have it become a regular thing, committed or otherwise and while I appreciated the time we’ve spent together because it’s been a blast. She’s an excellent lay, it’s just days like this I regretted it all. If you asked me why it’s continued, I’d say Good question. I didn’t know the answer why. I enjoy it when we fuck, she’s a great conversationalist, and she’s great at her job, and the whole thing was just easy when I needed her, and when I didn’t, it felt like chaos. I think that’s why I haven’t put a stop to the whole thing before she expected more out of me, it was convenient, and I just didn’t want to deal with it yet.
I wouldn’t call it dating precisely, we had been more off than on. Despite Amy having a key to my house, it was a casual arrangement that I didn’t have the energy to put more effort into. I led a busy life running the Foundation, and it was my life’s work that I would continue doing for as long as I was able, and I did not see a future beyond that, I just didn’t tell her otherwise but I should soon. Plus, I couldn’t imagine more with her, and frankly, it’s the truth.
You could call me a bastard for having my cake and eating it too, but it’s not like I mistreated her. I’m not an asshole despite what anyone would think. I wasn’t abusive, verbally or physically, we weren’t in a relationship, so I didn’t ‘cheat, ’ and although I haven’t put a stop to everything or correct her in her assumptions, it wasn’t as if I was lying to her. She’s just never asked me what ‘we’ were. If she had asked me at any point before, I would have told her. I am definitely not an asshole, and I’ll prove it to anyone.
Sure she matched the Sutton Hill lifestyle and had a huge network that held a lot of power in the city, a skill that provided useful for the Foundation. As far as my personal life was concerned, she looked and talked the part and at least on a surface level, won over my mother and the rest of my family but as I’ve said, convenient was all it was.
“Why, what happened?” Amy asked as she walked over and caressed my jaw with her lips. I really didn’t need this now from her, but the feel of her lips on me felt great.
“Nothing happened. I’m just tired, and I’m sore all over. This jet setting is getting to me.” I stepped away from her grasp. “I think I’m going to head to bed early, I’ll take you out tomorrow.”
“Sure you don’t want me to give you a little massage? It will work wonders for you.” She winked and ran her hand over the bulge in my pants and planted a kiss on my lips.
“Amy…” I put my hands on her shoulders to stop her from what she was doing.
“Tell me what you want me to do.” She whispered as she snaked her hand inside my slacks.
When I walked in, I didn’t initially know what she was wearing. Under her blazer, she wore a button down shirt that was tight enough to promise a lot of nasty things. She had previously unbuttoned the top two buttons and exposed more of her neckline and cleavage and untucked it from her skirt.
It didn’t take long for me to feel aroused, I was human after all, but I just really wanted to be alone tonight. My body betrayed me, however. The thought of getting a good night’s rest went out the window.
Without thinking, my hand slowly crept up underneath her blouse, I wanted to see if she was wearing anything underneath. I swiftly picked her up and carried her to the master bedroom for something a little more carnal. I proceeded to lay her down on the King Size bed and as I laid next to her caressed her smooth legs and slid my hand up further to see if she didn’t wear anything underneath her skirt either.
As I reached the hem of her skirt, Amy placed her hand on top of mine and pulled our hands up her leg slowly until we reached in between her legs before she let go.
I felt her stiffen a little as I moved my hand back down to her knee. Logic was pretty much gone, and all of my actions were dictated by my other head.
I had to prop myself up to take off my suit jacket and my shirt as quickly as possible, but my eagerness hindered my ability to do so.
“Looks like you need more help,” Amy said suggestively as she rolled me onto my back. She straddled my waist and placed my hands on either side of her hips.
I moved her lower on my body and repositioned her to just that right spot, and she started to sway her hips to elicit more excitement out of me.
Amy started taking off the remainder of the clothes that I had on before she moved her hands up across my stomach and up to my chest and kissed me there. As she started to lick my nipples, I moved my hands up to her breasts, pausing so that I could give them a gentle squeeze before tossing her top to the floor.
Her hand started to linger over my bulge and then moved up to undo my belt, button and pulled my zipper down slowly. The outline I made was visible through my briefs, and after I had moved my hips up, Amy took them off completely before tossing them off to join the rest the clothes on the floor.
Amy had wasted no time before she started to stroke me in long, swift motions while her left hand teased me elsewhere. After she had repeated this a few times eliciting loud moans from me, Amy circled her tongue for a few seconds before taking me into her mouth.
I couldn’t take much more of it, and with fluidity, I roll her onto her back and rip off what clothes remained on her body, and I kissed the side of her neck, shoulder and down her chest towards her nipples and all the way to her stomach. My hands followed tracing the same pathway my lips took.
I positioned myself above her, and I slid into her until I am completely inside and I thrust into her slowly at first eventually picking up speed.
As she cried out, she called my name while I groaned to myself muttering unexplainable words. Several minutes later I felt I was starting to come closer to climaxing and I began thrusting in her harder over and over again.
I grunted with raw lust, and I pumped into her as hard as I could. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer at the pace I went in, but I wanted a quick release. To hell with anything else.
It didn’t take long for Amy to climax as well and when she did, she called out my name. I felt her shudder beneath me, and I immediately roll off her to catch my breath.
“Ah, that was incredible.” Amy exhaled out loud before looking at me.
“Yeah.” I managed to muster. Every single time I hardly said a word. It was because I felt that all too familiar feeling of guilt whenever we finished fucking. I wasn’t too sure what the exact source of my guilt was o
ther than the possibility that Amy would be upset and accuse me of leading her own but I don’t think that was completely it either. Whatever the source of the guilt was, it came like clockwork, every single time. I was determined to find out what it was all about.
After Amy had fallen asleep comfortably next to me, I used the opportunity to review some files for the NSK proposal we were still working on, determined to find a way win them over. I wasn’t sure Jack Holden and Mark’s way was the right one for our organization. I felt like there was something better out there and I had to figure it out. The answer was in these numbers somewhere.
“Bzzz.” the sound of my cell phone vibrating in the pocket of my slacks on the floor – the aftermath of what had just taken place.
According to the display, it was half past eight, and the call was coming from an unknown number, “This is Sam.” I answered.
“Oh, Hi Mr. Ellis. I mean Sam.”
“Jamie? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me I’m sorry to disturb you…”
“Why are you calling so late? Are you okay? Did something happen to you?” I asked.
“No, nothing’s wrong. I’m really sorry I’m calling you late, but I got your number from the staff directory Amy gave me.” Jamie apologized.
Was she always like this?
“It’s quite alright, what’s going on?”
“At work, in the afternoon Marta stepped away to get something from the supply room, and the phone rang. She didn’t hear it, so I answered it. A man named Corbin left a message for you and wanted to let you know he was going to stop in tomorrow to speak with you. Said it was urgent. I forgot to tell her. I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, it was just a message. It could wait until tomorrow.” I laughed. She was such a worrier.
“That’s the thing, it wouldn’t have been good to wait to tell you tomorrow. He was going to stop in around 9:00 am. By the time Marta came back, I had forgotten all about the call. I still have the message in my pocket.”
Break Away Page 21