My ears perked up. "Hmm?"
"It's the shareholders. You have to keep them happy or their going to mutiny and claim incompetence. I don't want you to have to deal with that."
Cash rules everything around me, as the saying went. I understood that. Maybe I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was if I didn't even consider such a thing. "You think they won't have faith in me leading the company?"
"They should have faith in you, but there's a growing anti-nepotism wave coming around. Too many idiot kids pissing away the family fortune."
Hmm. I always thought it was odd for my father to even be considering Michael for this company, even if I was coming off as a playboy.
"Leave the company in good enough shape, they'll overlook you taking over. By the time the boom dies down, they'll see you sailing the ship good enough and their panties will finally be out of a bunch about all this."
I understood a bit more now. This is why he wants the face of the company to be a family man.
The family man was what I hoped to become, but it was something I literally couldn't do alone.
"I hear you, Dad. I'll make it work, and make you proud."
"You're already doing that," he smiled. "Just... just get me some grandkids and I'll be even more proud."
"Grandkids?"
He squeezed Marissa's hip and she smiled my way too. "Well, you got the fiancée. What was the kiddy rhyme? Love, marriage, and then the baby carriage?"
"About that..." Sage called that one. Damn.
"Hmm? Is something the matter?"
"Sage and I had a bit of a rough time about an hour ago."
"Aw. What's the matter?"
Should I play it up more? Make it worse than what it was? "She wants to end it. Says it's too tense right now. All of this with your recovery and me having to run the company, it's stressing her out and thinks it's the wrong time."
"You did tell her we don't buy the whole incest angle, right?"
"I did. She just thinks it's weird. She doesn't want to take anything from you and Dad's marriage."
"Oh, Sage," Her mother shook her head. "I don't want to do anything to discourage her from being happy, but this shouldn't make her unhappy."
Hmm. That may have gone stronger than I wanted.
Damn, was this why Sage was so twisted up? I wasn't really crazy about the lie crafting either.
"I think she'll come back around. I think she feels powerless right now, and the idea she can't do anything to help isn't... well, helping."
Marissa grimaced. "That sounds like her. She's a worrier. It's not her fault for any of this, but powerlessness drives anyone a bit nutty."
"What's Sage do?" My father said. "Like, what's her job? I never caught that."
"She was looking for one. She stopped a little bit ago. I guess she got discouraged?"
"Case, my boy."
"What's up, dad?"
"You should give Sage a job at the firm. Let her help you in any way she can. That's sure to smooth over any rough patches."
"Dad, I appreciate it, but Lauren and I work together really well business wise. I don't think it'll look good around the office if I replace her with my girlfriend."
"That's small minded of you. Just find something for her to do. Make her feel productive, and if you're really skilled at evaluating her skills, she'll be productive."
I knew of some skills she definitely had, but they weren't exactly applicable in a corporate situation.
Any ethical corporate situation at least.
"If you insist. I'll find her a place where she can contribute and take her mind off things." Maybe she'll start to see how good it is when it doesn't seem the sky is falling around her.
"Good," he said. "You got a fine woman of your own, Case. You shouldn't let her slip away so easily."
"Believe me, Dad. I have no intentions of letting her get away. Not without a fight, certainly."
Sage
One day, I'm trolling Craigslist desperately trying to find a job that isn't minimum wage garbage, and the next?
Apparently I'm Acting Lieutenant Executive Technical Manager of Human Resources at Case's company.
I didn't know what the hell that entailed either.
Something about human resources, so I'd have to deal with people. I should have said no to that right there.
I should have said no to everything.
Case insisted. He told me the story he was weaving. He wanted me to feel like I was contributing.
It would have helped if the position he gave me didn't sound made up.
"Ah, they finally got around to replacing Jane," someone said.
I turned to face him. It was some balding guy in his forties, a bit pudgy. When you thought of middle management, you thought of a guy like him. "Who's Jane?"
"Our last Lieutenant Executive Technical Manager of Human Resources. Wonder if you're a hack like her?"
"Aren't you doing a lot to make a good first impression with me... um... uhh... "
"Michael Schwarb. But everyone calls me Mike. I'm going to be a pretty big deal around here soon."
"Yes, Mike." Didn't Case mention something about a Mike? "What did Jane do in my position that was so awful?"
"She couldn't keep the peace around this office. Let assholes run freely, and didn't address employees concerns. Kind of a frigid bitch who would never smile."
Yes, this is why Case said something about a Mike. "Well, Mike," I said, "I would appreciate if you didn't refer to co-workers, past, present, or future, as quote, unquote, 'frigid bitches'."
He rolled his eyes. "Another one of you, huh?"
Another one of what? Something told me this was one of those people thought it was perfectly okay to be 'politically incorrect' as long as you didn't say one of the naughty words. "Mike, don't you have your own work to be attending to?"
"I'm ahead of what needs to be done. I was supporting this office by supervising. I truly believe in the future of this company, and if you work here, you should too."
Less than an hour. That's how long I'd been here and I was filled with an incredible desire to quit.
Although in this case? That's exactly what this asshole wanted. Probably thought all women were good for were being secretaries whose list of duties included 'stress relief'.
There was human resources in my title, but I didn't exactly know enough of the company's protocols yet to determine what exactly was expected of me.
Or if this guy was high ranking enough to be untouchable.
God willing it'd be someone I could fire without a second thought, but the world was far from that nice.
I started past him, thinking nothing productive would get done. I figured I'd go to whatever office is assigned to me, and there'd be some documents describing what I should be doing.
"You know, you could build some bridges on your first day," he began, continuing to follow me. "Put some good roots. You're meant to be HR. Wouldn't it be nice to have some extra ears around? Just in case?"
"What are you implying?"
"If you're nice to the future head of the company, you could go far with a body like yours... and a mouth like yours."
Who did HR people report sexual harassment to? "No thanks. And I'd be quiet before you push a wrong button and the wrath of the people really in charge comes down on you." Case sure as hell wouldn't be pleased with that come on.
"First day in and already not making a good impression. I don't think you'll last as long as even Jane did."
Somehow, that got him off my ass. My eyes closed, and I took a deep breath, remembering the whole self-help one day at a time stuff.
"Think you should wait until you're in your office and sitting down before doing breathing exercises."
I opened my eyes. Case.
"You've met Mike, I see."
"He's a wonderful employee I'm guessing."
Case rocked his hand back and forth. "Eh, he's okay. He gets stuff done."
"How is he still employed if t
hat's how he treats people?"
"I guess he's been here for decades. I'd call it tenure, but I think that's only for professors. He's gotten to the point where he's even remotely considered for the CEO promotion, so I guess he has enough going on that he won't get canned easily. Probably a hefty severance package too with how generous my father makes contracts."
"Golden parachute if he gets fired? Are you trying to encourage him to be an asshole?"
Case scratched his head and shrugged. "I didn't design corporate culture. I have some reforms in mind, but I can't retroactively change the rules."
I stood side by side with Case watching as Mike went about his business of being a wannabe supervisor.
"Seriously? No clause that cuts him out if, I don't know, starts a fight? Brings a gun in and starts shooting up the place?"
"Ah. If he commits a felony the agreements are null, but Mike's such a stale typical boring asshole he's probably not creative enough to do anything like that." Case rubbed his chin. "If he got into a more visible position I suppose he could be forced out for a serious violation of honor and character, but again, boring asshole who has a wife with a sandpaper vagina, so I don't see that going anywhere either."
"Wait, what? Sandpaper vagina?"
"Drier than the Sahara."
"Why are you telling me this?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You're HR, Sage. You need to understand people. Read into them. This combination of factors might be exactly why Mike is such a miserable asshole to be around."
"Right, so my job is to come up with theories about employees' partners private parts."
"If that's what you need to do to get into heads, yes."
"You know, I think I can do this job without relating all troubles to sex."
"Hey, if you do your job right, no one cares how you do it."
Case led me along, helping me find my way to my new office. It was barren at first, but I supposed it was on me to spruce it up a tad.
I wasn't confident in my ability to serve this role yet, but it was damn nice to have a job where I had a place to call my own. It made me feel like my master's degrees weren't completely useless.
"And now that you've seen your new private corner office, put your stuff away, I'm taking you out to lunch."
I looked up at the clock. "It's barely 11 am."
"We're going to a very early lunch."
"Brunch?"
"Whatever you want to call it. Let's go, my dear Sage."
Something told me that he didn't usually take all of the company's new employees to a personal brunch. Or lunch. Or whatever we were calling it.
Case
“Are you ready for lunch?” I stood, both arms hanging in the doorway of Sage’s office.
It was a little over a week since she started working at the company, and she’d been doing a great job. Most of the employees said she was nice, and even though she didn’t have a lot of HR experience, she seemed to learn quickly.
She gave me a small smirk. “You’re always on time.”
“Twelve o’clock on the dot. Not a second later.”
Even though Sage did her best to keep things cute and professional, my desire for her burned deep into my soul. Watching her take on this role only made me want her more.
She would come to work, dressed in the best clothes money could buy. I made sure of it, as I had Lauren take her shopping to get every outfit tailored. She was still my fiancée, and that meant I would take care of her aesthetic expenses, especially at the office.
That’s what a real man does.
Lauren met us at the Asian restaurant a few blocks away. The ladies chatted it up while I picked away at lunch. I was definitely hungry, but my mind was honestly on something else: getting a taste of Sage.
We hadn’t been intimate since she started working, but I was tempted. We’d kissed, and held hands, but after the guilt of Dad’s heart attack and our agreement to pretend things were on the rocks, she didn’t want to go all the way.
What she didn’t understand was that the more she denied me, the more I desired her. Even across the lunch table, sitting next to Lauren like sisters, I allowed my eyes to caress her with lusting, invisible fingers.
She avoided my intense gaze for the most part, but when our eyes locked momentarily, I could see the flush in her skin. Her lips parted slightly before she pulled it together.
Sage, beautiful, Sage. She couldn’t help it if she tried. Shame and desire mingled in her body, even when she didn’t want to admit or own up to it. But we had a connection, and it was real, even if she lived to deny what she felt.
“Come to my office at 5 PM.” I demanded at 4:45 PM.
“I have to go home. Besides, Mom wants to go to the hospital to see Charles.” Her voice was small, quiet. As if she’d been caught off guard.
She had been. I made the decision to call her merely seconds ago.
“Marissa can see Charles without you. Come to my office at 5 PM, and not a second later.” I hung up the phone immediately, without waiting for another argument or response.
My decision was impulsive, a victim of reckless desire I couldn’t purge from my veins.
She pulled up at 4:59 PM, and my dick thickened, every inch of its length stretching in anticipation.
“Hey,” she said casually. “I’m here.”
“Come in.” I joined her at the door, locking it behind her.
She stared quizzically, but I grabbed her passionately by the chin and locked lips with her.
My pounding need to be inside her was too much, but I had to make her beg for me. My lips ravished hers, invading her mouth with wet heat.
Surprisingly, she didn’t fight. She opened her mouth to me. I felt the sharp nails of her manicure rake against my scalp. They scratched and soothed me, and my breath sharpened with desire.
In one breath, I stooped low enough to grab both her thighs. As I hoisted them over my forearms, I looked her straight in her eyes and bit my lips. If she didn’t believe she was getting fucked now, she would find out in a couple of minutes.
“Case…” She whispered. I felt the goosebumps from my touch pepper her flesh. “We’re at work.”
“We’re in my office. With the door closed.”
“It’s glass,” she whispered, her final attempts to remain professional crumbling by the moment.
“Mirrored glass. We can see them. They can’t see us.” As I spread her over my desk and laid her back, I licked her neck and purred. “We can pretend they’re watching, if it helps.”
She tried to continue her protest, but her eyes were blind with desire. I stared deeply into her eyes, and admired the view of her sprawled over my desk. I lifted her left leg to my mouth, and delicately nibbled over that tender piece of flesh above her ankle.
“I need to taste you with these high heels on.”
My hand reached for the apex of her thighs, and I pulled her panties to the side. My heart pulsed even more when I noticed she was already aroused, wet and slick with need.
“I see you need me to taste you too.” I flicked my tongue against the sweet slit of her lips. She arched into me as I ate her; it wasn’t long before my tongue was drenched with her taste buds.
Sage cried out for me, softly. She didn’t want to make noise, because she was still well aware of the fact that she was in my office. And the mirrored glass made it really look as if we were being watched by everyone.
“Case…” she begged. I groaned and continued feasting, my dick rock hard from inhaling the sex-musk of her body. She crooned softly, but it wasn’t enough. I parted her cheeks and slid my tongue down to her ass crack, determined to make her lose it.
I heard the sharp inhale, and then the breathy little moan that followed. I mastered the rhythm of tonguing her ass and sucking her clit until she quivered uncontrollably and leaked all over the desk.
Spent and exhausted, she was too tired to get on her stomach the way I wanted her. I unzipped my cock, hard and ready, and slid it up and d
own her lips. She was sloppy wet, and her eyes were glazed with heat.
She wanted me, and I was ready to give her every inch, but I wanted to draw it out. I wanted to make her feel it, really cry for me, and lose it on my dick.
In the middle of my office. With unsuspecting men and women, surrounding us.
The temptation of getting caught would make us cum so hard.
She made a begging sound, a little cry of frustration that begged me to stop playing.
“You see everyone getting ready to go home, baby?” I husked, sliding my length up and down, but not penetrating. I was throbbing hard. I looked around to see what was happening just beyond the walls of our rendezvous. “Can you imagine what they’d think if they knew what we were doing in here?”
She moaned softly, and her eyes narrowed. She looked so fucking hot, laying there weak and barely able to move.
Lauren was on her computer, completely unaware of what we were up to.
Gotdamn, this was fucking hot. An office fantasy come to life.
I lowered myself to her lips, and kissed a trail to her neck. I tasted the salt on her skin, and allowed myself to get lost in the touch of her nails scratching sensuously at my scalp.
She wriggled against the tip of my dick, clearly open and ready to experience the length of my stroke. But I needed to push her a little more before I gave in.
“Tell me you want it.” I commanded, biting her earlobe. She whined and I repeated myself.
“I want you inside me.” She whispered.
“Say, ‘Give me that dick, baby’.”
She elicited a frustrated sound, and I pushed the tip right against the smooth, firm entrance of her pussy.
“Give me that dick, baby.”
Fuck. Yes. That desperate need in her voice was all I needed at the moment.
“It would be my pleasure, darling.” I pushed myself inside, feral and brutish. She gripped my shoulders, and panted in pleasure.
There were no more words, just sounds of passion. We lost ourselves in sexual heat. Lightning shot through my body as hers gripped me in its sheath. I didn’t need to think anymore.
Corporate Assets Page 9