She Left Me Breathless

by Trin Denise

  “Every morning that I wake up on the right side of the grass makes me happy and I promise not to kill you.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Rachel exclaimed, clutching her hand to her chest. “You must be Edna and I’m so sorry about your floor.”

  Edna smiled at Rachel. “And I’m sorry for scaring you. Yes, I am Edna and don’t worry about the floor, it’ll dry.” Edna leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. “Don’t tell anyone but I love giving Sydney a hard time about it, so she feels it’s her duty to warn anyone who walks through the door,” she whispered.

  “Your secret is safe with me and I usually don’t startle so easily, I just assumed I was the only one here.”

  Edna shook her head. “In this house, someone is always around.”

  “Well, in that case, good morning, Edna,” Rachel said and smiled.

  “And top of the morning to you as well and you must be Rachel,” Edna said with a wink. “May I take your coat?”

  “Yes I am and thank you,” Rachel said, shrugging the coat from her shoulders.

  “Can I get you a cup of coffee?” Edna asked as she took the coat and hung it in the closet located next to the elevator.

  “I would love a cup but you don’t have to wait on me. If you can point me in the right direction, I can get it myself.”

  “Nonsense, and if you don’t mind the company, I think I’ll join you,” Edna said over her shoulder as she went through the large doorway, separating the two sets of stairs in the entryway foyer.

  “I wouldn’t mind at all,” Rachel said, following Edna across the dining room toward the double doors that led into the kitchen. “This house is simply—”

  “Too much,” Edna laughed as she grabbed two ceramic cups from the cabinet located above the stove.

  “Actually, I was going to say, amazing,” Rachel said as she watched Edna pour coffee into the cups.

  “It’s definitely that,” Edna said as she slid a plate that contained sugar and cream over in front of Rachel.

  “Thank you,” Rachel said as she spooned two sugars and half the contents of the cream into her cup.

  “Would you like a little coffee with your cream?” Edna asked and then chuckled at the expression on Rachel’s face.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Rachel said, looking slightly embarrassed. “I will refill it for you,” she said, sliding her bar stool back.

  “No, no, you just sit right there and enjoy your cream and coffee,” Edna grinned, waving Rachel off with her hand.

  Rachel laughed and sat back down. “Sydney used to tease me and say that she could save the waitress several trips by just hooking the cow up to the table.”

  Edna’s eyebrow shot upward, a little grin playing at the corners of her mouth. “Did she now?” she asked slyly as she sipped her coffee.

  Rachel looked up in surprise, realizing that she just spoke her thoughts aloud.

  Edna laughed. “So I take it that you and Sydney know each other?” She said it more as a statement than a question.

  Rachel nodded. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Several seconds went by without Edna saying a word. A look of relief crossed Rachel’s face when she realized that Edna wasn’t going to pry. Instead, Edna pushed her bar stool back and stood up.

  “Would you like a warm up?” she asked as she refilled her own cup.

  “Yes, please,” Rachel said, sliding her cup across the bar so Edna wouldn’t have to stretch.

  “I understand from Sydney that you’re going to be redecorating the place,” Edna said as she placed the pot back on the warmer.

  “That I am,” Rachel said, nodding her head. “I honestly don’t know why though. The place is beautiful just the way it is.”

  Edna shrugged. “Maybe she just needs a change.”

  “Maybe,” Rachel said in agreement but she doubted a change was the reason behind Sydney’s decision. She just wasn’t sure exactly what the true reason was. It couldn’t simply be that she wanted to make Rachel’s life miserable. It had to be something else and she was determined to find out the answer.

  “If you’d like, I can show you around,” Edna volunteered.

  “I would love that,” Rachel said as she got up from her bar stool.

  “I’ll use any excuse I can to put off cleaning and if giving you a tour around this big old house can help me do that, I’ll take it,” Edna laughed.

  “Really?” Rachel asked and then chuckled as she slid her fingers over the air vent above the stove. She held her hand up for Edna to see—her fingers were spotless.

  “And your point is?” Edna asked with a grin.

  Rachel laughed. “No point at all. So ... how about that tour now?” she asked.

  Allen Carmichael quietly closed his office door as he stepped out into the hallway. He walked toward the opposite end of the hall where Sydney and Caitlyn’s offices were located. He slowed his pace as he came to Maureen’s office and poked his head through the open doorway. He glanced at his wristwatch. The digital readout said that it was 9:32 A.M.

  “Just like clock-work,” he mumbled under his breath as he looked at Maureen’s empty chair. Everyone at Welsh knew that Sydney’s assistant made a break-room run at 9:30 and 2:30 every day. Over the years, Maureen had developed an addiction for the strawberry Danish’s from the vending machine. She was so predictable that you could set your watch by her food craving and that’s exactly what he had been counting on.

  He smiled as he crammed his hands into the front pocket of his trousers. With one last glance down the hallway to insure he wouldn’t be seen, he walked past the closed door of Sydney’s office and stopped at Caitlyn’s office. He knocked lightly on the door with his knuckles. When no one answered, he slowly pushed the door open. Seeing that the office was empty, he slipped inside and closed the door behind him. He wasted no time and headed straight for her desk. He pulled her chair out and sat down.

  “Okay, let’s see if you’re as smart as everyone says you are, Caitlyn,” he whispered as he pulled open her lap drawer and sifted through the contents. Not finding what he was looking for, he systematically began pulling out every drawer on the left side of the desk and searched through them. He sighed in frustration, running his hands through his hair. “You’re fucking crazy if you think I’m gonna let some nineteen-year-old little bitch ruin me,” he muttered under his breath as he searched through the drawers on the right side of the desk.

  Karen watched Caitlyn walk past her desk for the third time in less than fifteen minutes. “Stop right there!” she yelled.

  Caitlyn stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at Karen. “Are you talking to me?”

  With a dramatic look on her face, Karen slowly looked around the lobby. “No, I was talking to that tiny little woman with horns protruding from her forehead. You know, the one sitting on your shoulder. Hell yes, I’m talking to you.”

  Caitlyn’s right eyebrow shot upward as she looked at her shoulder. She smiled as she slowly walked over to Karen’s desk.

  “You’ve already worn a bare patch in the floor in front of my desk, are you trying to destroy the hallway carpet as well?”

  Caitlyn shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Hold that thought,” Karen said, picking up a pen and a large white index card. She scrawled something on the card, folded it in half like a tee-pee, and then set it up on the counter for Caitlyn to see.

  Caitlyn burst out laughing as she read it aloud. “The Remarkable and Luscious Dr. K. - Office of Supreme Intelligence. All problems welcome. Payment required at time of service. Will trade smart ass answers for sex.”

  “You like that, huh?”

  “You crack me up,” Caitlyn said as she looked at Karen’s clothing choice for the day, which consisted of a pink leather miniskirt and ‘come fuck me’ knee high pink boots with lace down the side. “By the way, the new studded pink dog collar is way cooler than the black one.”

  “Way cooler? Oh young protégé of the all mighty and powerful Welsh employer, you really n
eed to work on your vocabulary, honey.”

  Caitlyn frowned. “What’s wrong with my word choice. I think I speak with very proper diction.”

  “See right there, that’s what I’m talking about,” Karen groaned.

  “What?” Caitlyn looked completely confused.

  “Diction? Who the hell says diction?”

  “Hey, I can talk hip and slang with the best of them.”

  “Uh huh, sure you can and thanks for the compliment on the collar. I have matching furry pink handcuffs to go with it. You wanna come over to my house and try them on sometime?” Karen winked and then laughed at the expression on Caitlyn’s face.

  “Um ... uh ... I—”

  “OMG. Stop the press,” Karen yelled. “Why, Ms. Caitlyn, you sure do turn the prettiest shade of red when you’re all hot and bothered,” Karen teased, speaking in a twangy southern drawl.

  Caitlyn grinned and shook her head. “TMI, TMI,” she said just as Karen took a sip from her Starbucks cup.

  “SCAOMK,” Karen choked as she spit coffee out of her mouth.

  Caitlyn frowned. “I don’t think I know that one.”

  “Uh freaking duh. Spitting-Coffee-All-Over-My-Keyboard,” Karen grinned.

  Caitlyn shook her head. “You are just too dang funny.”

  “Thank you. Lord knows I do try,” Karen said as she pulled herself together. She sat straight up in her chair and laced her fingers together in front of her. With as serious of an expression that she could muster, she looked at Caitlyn. “Okay, Young Apprentice, tell me why you’re really pacing back and forth in front of my desk ole little one with many problems.”

  “Since you ask. I have a quagmire,” Caitlyn laughed.

  “SMFH,” Karen laughed.

  Caitlyn frowned. “Why are you shaking your f-ing head?”

  “You have a quagmire? Do you know what that word means?” Karen laughed.

  Caitlyn smiled at Karen. “Of course I know what it means. It’s a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot.”

  “Thank you for that definition, little Webster. Now explain to me why you think you are in an area of soft wet low-lying land.” Karen held her hand up in the air. “On second thought, I don’t wanna know.” She tapped her finger on her wristwatch. “We’re on the clock here and time is sex. So what’s the problem?” she asked.

  Caitlyn looked down at her hands. “I’ve met someone.”

  Karen slapped her hand on the counter, causing Caitlyn to jump. “Hot damn. It’s about time.”

  “It is?”

  Karen laughed. “Hell yes it is. So when’s the big day?”

  “The big day?” Caitlyn asked, frowning.

  Karen shook her head. “Is there an echo in here or do you always talk like a parrot?”

  “I don’t understand,” Caitlyn said.

  “I meant when is your date? You know the big day?” Karen asked, her eyebrows rising.

  Caitlyn shook her head. “That’s just it. I haven’t asked them out yet and I’m not sure how to even do it.”

  Karen shook her head in disbelief. “Why the hell not?” she asked.

  Caitlyn shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Um ... I ... I’ve never been on a date before.”

  Karen’s eyebrows shot upward in surprise. “No fucking way.”

  “I’m serious, Karen,” Caitlyn said, almost apologetically.

  “Wow,” was all Karen could manage to say. For the first time in her life, she was actually speechless. She took a deep breath. “So is this person you like fucktastic or fuckalicious?”

  Caitlyn busted out laughing. “And you have the audacity to talk about my word usage. Is fucktastic or fuckalicious even a word?”

  Karen laughed. “They are now. Seriously though. Do you really like him?”

  “Who says it’s a him?” Caitlyn asked, her right eyebrow shooting upward.

  “Do you really like her?” Karen asked without missing a beat.

  “Yes, I really like this person,” Caitlyn answered without confirming one way or the other who or what the person was.

  Karen pretended to roll her eyes in a dramatic fashion. “Okay, now that we’ve got that settled. Does this person like you?”

  Caitlyn shrugged. “I’m not really sure. I don’t even know if they know I exist.”

  Karen looked Caitlyn up and down in an appreciative, yet seductive manner. “Trust me when I say this. You’re gorgeous and you can bet that not only do the men notice you but the women do as well.”

  “Thank you for saying that. So what do I do now?”

  Karen laughed. “Grow some balls and I don’t mean literally. Go up to them and just ask them out. If going out for dinner scares you then start small and ask them to let you buy them a coffee or something.”

  “It’s that simple, huh?” Caitlyn asked.

  Karen nodded. “Yeah. It really is.”

  Caitlyn smiled. “Thanks, I think I can do this.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Karen said, patting Caitlyn on the hand.

  “You know. I can see why Sydney loves you so much,” Caitlyn said, nodding her head.

  “Yeah and I can see why she loves you as well.” Karen picked up a pen and scribbled something on a post-it-note. She held the paper out to Caitlyn.

  “What’s this?”

  “My number in case you wanna join me for a night of mad, freaky, uninhibited blow your mind kinky ass sex,” Karen said with a cheesy grin. She laughed at the shocked expression on Caitlyn’s face. “I’m just teasing you, honey.”

  “I knew that,” Caitlyn said as she grabbed the pen and wrote her number down.

  “Sure you did,” Karen said, nodding her head as she took her cell out and added Caitlyn’s number to her list of contacts.

  “Thanks for the advice. I guess I better head on back to my office. The work isn’t going to get done by itself.”

  “I hear you. I still have two fingernails left to file,” Karen said with a wink.

  “You’re incorrigible and thank you for this,” she said as she looked at the number scrawled on the paper.

  “Don’t mention it and since I know that you now know text jargon, shoot me one or just give me a call if you need to talk.”

  “I’ll do that,” Caitlyn said as she finished programming Karen’s number into her Blackberry.

  “Hey, Caitlyn?”

  “Yeah,” Caitlyn answered, turning to look back at Karen.

  “You can stop by and chat with me anytime as well.”

  Caitlyn, with a smile on her face walked toward the elevator. She waited as the door slid open. “I can do this,” she whispered to herself as she pressed the button for the executive floor.

  “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Caitlyn asked. She glared at Allen from her open doorway, her hands on her hips.

  Allen shoved the desk drawer closed with a bang. “I ... um ... I was looking for the report on the Dem Project,” he stuttered as he got up from her chair.

  Caitlyn’s right eyebrow shot upward.

  “You know, for the new recycling plant,” he said after a few seconds passed without Caitlyn saying a word.

  “I know what it is but that doesn’t explain why you were just rummaging through my desk.”

  “I ... I just thought that since it’s a current project that ... that it would be in your desk drawer.”

  “Well, you’re not going to find it there,” Caitlyn said as she walked over to the filing cabinet located against the wall, next to her coffee maker. She pulled out the bottom drawer and flipped through the stack of manila folders. She pulled out a file that had a red tab affixed to the top of it. She kicked the drawer shut with the back of her foot as she turned to face Allen.

  “Why do you need this folder anyway? I thought Virgil was handling the logistics behind this project with Sydney having the final say.”

  “Yeah ... yeah he is. I just thought I would take a look at it in case something got overlooked.”

&nb
sp; “Really?” Caitlyn asked. Something just isn’t adding up here, she thought to herself as she held the folder out to him.

  “Thanks,” Allen said as he took the folder from her. “You know what they say here at Welsh? An extra set of eyes on a project never hurt anything,” he said as he walked over to the doorway.

  “Hey, Allen?”

  “Yeah?” he said, stopping to turn and look at Caitlyn.

  “The next time you need something from me, try asking me first. I don’t appreciate you or anyone for that matter, searching through my desk or being in my office when I’m not here.”

  “Sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Caitlyn smiled at him. “I hope not, otherwise Sydney and I will be having a nice conversation about it.”

  “Have a good day, Caitlyn,” Allen said over his shoulder as he left her office.

  “Yeah, you do the same,” she said to the empty room. Once she was sure that he was gone, she went over to her desk and pulled out the drawer she caught Allen searching through a few minutes earlier. She shook her head as she looked at the stack of papers. “The Project Dem file my butt. Just what were you doing in my office and what were you really looking for Mr. Carmichael?”

  She sat down in her chair and glanced around the office. “What are you up to, Allen? Whatever it is—”

  The sound of her desk phone buzzing stopped her from finishing her thoughts. She looked at the caller-ID and seeing that it was Sydney, pressed the answer button. “Hey, Syd, what’s up?”

  “Are you free at the moment?” Sydney asked.

  “Yes, ma’am I am.”

  “I would like for you to join me and Jackie in my office, please.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Caitlyn said and then pressed the button to disconnect the line.

  Sydney leaned back and stretched her legs out in front of her. She took a sip of her coffee and looked at Jackie over the rim of the cup. A knock on the door caused her to sit up in her chair.