Auctioned to Him 7: The Contract

by Charlotte Byrd

  “Aw, no they don’t.” She said, but couldn’t meet my eye. She obviously knew that they were but she definitely didn’t seem like the type that would go around bragging about it.

  “Oh come on Abbie. It’s so obvious. They’re both in love with you. They cannot stop looking at you.”

  “Nah, that’s not true.” Her blush was getting deeper.

  “Okay, forget about them. Let’s talk about you then. So… which one do you prefer?” I nudged her and winked.

  She giggled. “Okay, okay. You got me. Man, you’re good at getting stuff out of people. So… I do actually kind of like Michael. You’re the first person I’ve admitted this to so please don’t say anything. He’s so tall. I’ve always been attracted to tall men. And… aw… he’s just so nice. But, nothing’s happened. Just a bit of flirtation. Kind of awkward because we work together you know. We’re just friends. But he’s a bit of eye candy for me too which is always great.” I must say, I didn’t find Michael at all attractive but I was glad that she did. Different strokes for different folks.

  “Well, he definitely likes you.”

  “Time will tell I guess.” Just then Michael had walked in and Abbie had walked off, her face as red as a tomato. I had a feeling Michael had noticed and I saw him smiling as he made his way to his desk. It was incredibly cute to watch. But I hope that the whole friendship with Kevin wasn’t what was getting in their way.

  It was Friday now and I was pleased to have gotten through my first week. Thankfully, after the dreadful morning of day one and day two things had actually gotten better. And somehow, probably because of the accident, I felt a lot more at ease between Sebastian. Despite his cockiness and surety on everything he was actually quite nice to me on that ride to work that day and the two of us had spoken with surprising ease. Also, as promised, he had made sure to take complete blame with the car and had paid me out in full. My car, unfortunately, would not be fixed but at least I’d have the money to buy a new one. Goodbye Mr Honda – hello new beginnings. In the meantime Danielle had been dropping me off at work and picking me up on the days that she could and I’d been taking cabs on the days that she couldn’t. Sebastian had actually offered to help with lifts but I had said no. He lived at the casino so it would be completely out of his way to have to help me. I was sitting at my desk, trying to decide whether or not to visit the restaurant for lunch or eat my rather sad looking sandwich when my phone buzzed.

  Hello Jane, what are you doing for lunch today?

  I didn’t recognize the number so I typed back, Well that depends who’s asking. Who is this?

  Seriously? You don’t know who this is? I’m shocked. Appalled and very saddened by this news. It’s me.

  I chuckled. Who is me? Oh, is it Kevin? I thought you were in a meeting.

  Kevin? No, this is not Kevin. Do you have the hots for him or something? Tell me more…

  Who was this? No, I do not have the hots for him. Okay, so you’re not Kevin. Uh… well I know you are not Michael – he’s at his desk and I can see him on the phone. And I doubt it’s Abbie. Is it Danielle? Yeah, I know it’s you – hey, when did you change your number?

  Michael? Yet another male name mentioned. My oh my… you seem to have a lot of men at your feet. Who is Danielle? Your girlfriend?

  What was going on? I was desperate to know who this was. Hmm… this is driving me nuts now. Kevin and Michael are guys that I work with. Danielle is my best friend. By the sound of this conversation you clearly know nothing about me.

  Oh, but I’d like to know more.

  A sudden thought occurred to me. What if this was Justin? What if he was playing some cruel prank on me? I felt a shiver go up my spine at the thought. I wanted to throw the phone against the wall. This didn’t seem like something that Justin would do but then again I never thought that he would cheat on me. Wait. Is this Justin? Because I swear I’ll change my number if it is. Please leave me alone. I felt tears forming in my eyes.

  Hey Jane, sorry… I was just messing with you. It’s Sebastian.

  Sebastian? That was the last person that I had thought of. And I had inadvertently just told him about Justin, which was the last thing I wanted to do.

  Sebastian! Oh goodness, I had no idea. Sorry… I didn’t have your number.

  That’s okay – I was just fooling around. Sorry about that. So really, what are you doing for lunch? That really was a valid question.

  I’m not doing anything. I have a sandwich next to me.

  What’s on it?

  Cheese. Tomato.

  That’s a very sad sandwich.

  I know. But I didn’t have the time to make anything better this morning. Beggars can’t be choosers and all that.

  Well, how about you join me for lunch then? I mean, we do have a very nice restaurant at the casino. Have you been before?

  Was he asking me out? I have actually. Abbie took me. Thank you for the kind offer but I think I’m going to have to decline.

  Why’s that? His next message said.

  Well, because you’re my boss. I didn’t think I really needed to elaborate on that one.

  That’s a silly answer. And that’s exactly the reason why you should be saying yes to me. Actually… seeing as though I am your boss… I demand that you join me. Jane, please join me for lunch.

  No. No and No. Sorry, but I can’t.

  So you’re saying no to your own boss?

  Yes because forcing me to do something would count as sexual harassment and you certainly don’t want that title to be given to you. I stared at the words before I typed them out. I wasn’t sure if I should send them. It felt a little too bold. A little too much like I was flirting. And Sebastian really was the one person that I didn’t want to flirt with. But it was fun and I was actually quite enjoying this playful conversation. I was glad that Abbie was not around to see it happening. I had a feeling that she would be incredibly disappointed in me. But flirting was just flirting. It didn’t have to be anything else or go any further. It was just a bit of fun. I sent the message and then held my breath.

  Fine fine. You’ve got me there. I certainly do not want to be cited as sexually harassing you. Well, I’m going to get some lunch ordered and delivered to my office – say in about twenty minutes – and I actually do have some work that I’d like to run through with you. So, forget the lunch thing. Let’s pretend all that didn’t even happen. I’d appreciate it if you came to see me so that we could go through all this work. You may or may not have some of the food. That’s up to you. If you want, you can even bring your sad little sandwich along.

  I couldn’t help but smile at this even though the message had made me slightly nervous. I couldn’t quite figure Sebastian out. And I certainly couldn’t figure out how I felt about him. Did he like me? Did he just flirt with all the girls? Was he trying to prove a point? Did I like him? Was it just a welcome distraction from Justin? It was hard to tell. I had to remind myself to play it cool and to constantly remember what Abbie had told me about him. I tried to remember how sad that poor girl had looked after Sebastian had kicked her out of his office. The last thing I wanted was to let something like this get in the way of my work – especially since it’s a job that I wanted so badly. Still… he was incredibly convincing.

  Well, if it’s for work purposes, I suppose I can’t say no. See you in a bit Mr boss man. And… keep me some food. I tried not to smile as I waited impatiently for the twenty minutes to go by.

  Chapter 18 - Jane

  The twenty minutes took forever to go past, but when they were up I suddenly wished I had more time and I hoped I wasn’t going to regret saying yes to Sebastian’s offer. It’s just a business meeting and a small lunch, I told myself over and over again. I didn’t understand why I felt so confused anyway – I certainly did NOT want to be with Sebastian and I was not looking for a relationship. There was no way that I was even close to ready for such a thing. I wondered briefly if it were because I had been in a relationship for such a long tim
e and had forgotten what it was like to flirt with other men. If so, then my feelings were not real at all. I was simply excited at the prospect of another man finding me attractive. Although I couldn’t quite imagine that he was actually attracted to me. Abbie had pointed out a few of the girls that he had been with and I remembered clearly the girl with the short dress that had come to see him. He was the type of guy that liked models on his arm – not ordinary woman like me. I had a feeling that he probably wanted to see how far he could push me. This infuriated me. Also, Justin had proven that he had never been into me in the first place – his eyes were always on someone else – and this had made me think that perhaps no man would ever truly be interested in me ever again. This didn’t infuriate me. It saddened me. I knew that I didn’t have Danielle’s long legs. Or a face that didn’t need makeup to look pretty. I knew that I was too short. And too plain. And too normal. And yet… I hadn’t imagined that Sebastian had flirted with me. Had I?

  Again, I was grateful that Abbie wasn’t around to see me go into his office for lunch. I tried walking very softly so that Michael wouldn’t notice me but he had his head down and looked very heavily involved with his phone so I figured I was safe on that bet. Although I wasn’t sure why I was suddenly so ashamed at going to see Sebastian. He was my boss after all. I knocked.

  “Come in.” His voice was a sing song, the melody beckoning me.

  I opened the door and walked in. “I’m here for our meeting.” I said although the minute I said the word meeting it sounded as if it had a double meaning. I cringed and hoped he hadn’t noticed.

  “Great! Glad I could twist your arm. Close the door behind you so that we don’t get people coming in and stealing our lunch!”

  I closed the door and then sat opposite him. I was well aware that only a few days ago I had sat across from him a nervous wreck after discovering the guy that I had spilled coffee all over was also my boss. Just then his phone rang and he mouthed an apology before picking it up. While he spoke I got a chance to take him in. I was hoping that the more time I spent with him the less attractive he got to me – but so far my attraction to him was only mounting and I could feel myself getting more and more frustrated in his presence. Did he really have to be this good looking? His work attire differed depending on the mood and today he definitely meant business. Just yesterday he looked cute in jeans and a t-shirt, a hoodie pulled over when the afternoon chill set in. He’d looked younger then, and I felt more relatable to him. But today he was wearing a tailored suit of dark grey, a black shirt and a deep blue tie. There was no doubt in my mind that this suit had been made for him and not just bought at a shop because it fit him perfectly. I wondered what it would be like to get clothes made specifically for me. I battled to find clothes that suited me because while I had very big breasts I was also quite short. Things were either too long, or too tight or too short and I was constantly getting things fixed. Whenever I found an outfit that fitted me perfectly, like a good pair of jeans, I’d buy like three of them so that I wouldn’t have to go shopping for a while. While Sebastian talked on the phone I listened to his voice and smiled at the easy way in which he spoke to people. He had a way of either making someone feel small and significant or grand and important. Right now he was making the person on the other side of the phone feel incredibly special. When he finally put down the phone he apologised to me.

  “Sorry about that Jane. I’m so rude. I called you in for a meeting and then I took a phone call. I promise to ignore any others that come in.” I noticed that he had emphasized the word ‘meeting’ just as I had. I pretended not to notice.

  “No problem at all. Work is work. It must be done.” I said, trying my best to act as professional as possible.

  “Indeed. Work IS important. But breaks are equally important. I told myself when I took on this job that I wouldn’t work so hard that I wouldn’t even get to appreciate my life. So I’m a big fan of still having fun in amongst the busy times. And also… a man has to eat and I’m starving.” Why did he look at me when he said that? “Now, let me take you through this wonderful array of food. I didn’t know what you liked so I took the courtesy of ordering pretty much everything. I hope you left your sad little sandwich behind?”

  I chuckled. “Yep, it’s still sitting on my desk. Looking even sadder now that I have decided not to eat it. This looks amazing though. Thank you so much. How did you get it all here so quickly?”

  “Oh my dear, you underestimate the powers of being the boss.”

  “This is very true. I’ve never known such power. I’m glad to see you are using it towards getting food. This impresses me.”

  “You are impressed by very strange things. Does this impress you?” He held up a mini quiche and I smiled.

  “Oh yes. Very much.”

  He handed it to me. “How about this?” He held up little stack of bacon, cheese and cucumber.

  “Yes. Even more so.”

  He handed it to me. “And this?” It was a piece of pickle.

  I pulled a face, “Oh no. Definitely not.”

  “You see,” He said and put down the pickle, “I’m getting to know a bit more about you now. I’m glad to see you’re not a fan of pickle. It’s awful stuff. Not quite sure why anyone would actually eat it unless they were forced to.”

  “My motto in life is why eat pickle when you can eat bacon?”

  “Great philosophy.” He put a piece of bacon into his mouth and smiled and I moved uncomfortably in my seat as I looked at the way his mouth had moved. I couldn’t stop thinking about what that mouth might feel like on mine.

  “Uh… so… about that work you wanted to discuss?” I said and took out my notebook and pen, desperate to think about anything else other than his mouth.

  “Ah… I like a woman that is all business. Okay, well here’s what I’m thinking.”

  He launched into a few ideas for my campaign and I was surprised to find that he really did have work to talk to me about. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed at that. Nevertheless his ideas were good and I was glad to be talking business. For a small moment I almost forgot that I was hoping for something else to happen in the meeting. Almost.

  “So, what do you think?” He asked me.

  “Honestly? I think those are great ideas. Definitely something that I can incorporate quite easily into my campaign – which by the way is going very well. I’d like to hold a meeting at the end of next week if you don’t mind – just to update everyone on the statistics. I’m well aware that I’m the new girl so I also don’t want to tread on any ones toes. I would rather let everyone know what I’m doing and hear their thoughts. I think it’s something that I can do well by myself but even better with everyone’s input.”

  “Great idea, not many people think that way. Everything is better when done in a team. And yes of course. Chat to Abbie and get her to set something up.”

  “I’ll do that. Thanks Sebastian.”

  “So, are you enjoying it here? Glad you got the job? Is this the type of place you could imagine working at for a while? I mean, messed up car aside.”

  That made me smile, “I am actually – messed up car aside. It’s very interesting and I’m learning a lot. And I really like everyone on the team. And I can definitely picture myself staying here.”

  “Yeah, they’re a good bunch. And you’re right about the job – it suits you. I knew it from the moment I saw you in that meeting on your first afternoon. The way you commanded the room like that. I tell you what Jane, I was very surprised at that. That was not at all the same Jane that I had seen that morning, embarrassed over spilled coffee. I half expected you to run out the door when I asked you to stand up and yet you did it with so much grace and self-assurance.”

  “I guess I’m just confident when it comes to my work.”

  His eyes glistened and he stared at me without looking away. I was desperate to look somewhere else but for once I couldn’t stop myself from staring right back at him. I could liter
ally feel my entire body start to shake. “I liked your confidence. And I liked your shyness. You’re like a little walking contradiction, you know that.”

  “Like the Green Day song.” I said, and squirmed in my seat and looked at my hands, which were crossed firmly into my lap. Suddenly I was too nervous to look back up at him. I didn’t know what to do with myself.

  “With good taste in music too. Can I tell you something Jane?” He asked.

  “Yeah… of course.” But I was still looking down at my lap.

  “I want you. I want you so badly right now.”

  I looked up suddenly. “Wh – What?”

  “I want you so badly Jane. I don’t know what it is about you. You’re very different to the type of women that I normally go for. And yet, I cannot stop thinking about you. I cannot tell you how wild you are making me right now.”

  I was startled by his bluntness and the sudden turn this conversation had taken. “But you don’t know anything about me.” My voice was timid.

  “Well, I think I know enough. I know that you like bacon and cheese, and little mini quiches. I know that you detest pickles and that you name your cars. I know that you hate wearing high heels and you love alternative rock music. And the thing I know the most… well I know how I feel whenever I see you.”

  I felt my mouth go dry. I thought of Abbie and the warning bells went off in my head. I had to stop this from happening before it got out of hand. I had to make sure that I wasn’t just one of the girls that he got into his bed simply with a few nice words. I wouldn’t be that type of girl. I rolled my eyes at him. “Oh please, you’re just thinking with your dick. Just the way all men do.” Then I stopped myself. “Oh my God, I cannot believe that I just said that to you. I’m so sorry. I think I just crossed the line there. Sorry Sebastian. I’ve just met a few bastards lately, but it wasn’t fair for me to say that to you.” I could not believe I had just called my boss a dick. The very same boss I had been fantasizing about and who was now flirting with me just as I wanted but wouldn’t admit. Thankfully he was smiling at me.