by S. E. Law
“Yes! I can do that. Thanks so much, Brick. I won’t mess up again.” He leaves my office a lot happier than he was when he came in, but I am frustrated as hell. Originally, I was more lenient with George because he has been with me from the beginning. He was one of my first hires, and I guess I got a little sentimental.
Something I’m trying to avoid now.
Oh, but I was so close to firing him. Robert and I realized the other week that we’ve given him a few too many chances. There are only so many times you can forgive an employee before it starts becoming your fault. I mean, this whole snafu is going to put our project behind by two weeks! That’s a whole lot of money lost, and even more aggravation. Our marketing team is probably going to have to come up with a new strategy if we can’t make up for lost time. I’m just at my wits’ end.
But I can’t fire the man now. I promised Tammy I wouldn’t. Of course, the second I make that promise, George has to do something that is a fireable offense. Man, oh man, I’ve gotten myself into a pickle.
She’s just so fucking beautiful. I’ve been thinking about Saturday night ever since it happened. I was not supposed to touch her. The whole point was to get myself another tape and wash my hands of the whole situation. I thought I could just watch her do her thing. I’ve been in the room for sex scenes before, and they were mechanical in nature. People never realize that filming those types of scenes requires a lot of choreography, so being there just feels like work.
But with Tammy? That was something else. Before I knew it, I had inserted myself into the action. I felt like a man possessed; I just had to touch her.
Watching her body move and her throat tremble, I couldn’t keep it in my pants like a good boy. And she was so creamy and giving, I didn’t even think to grab a condom. I wanted to come in her so bad, watch my sticky sperm drip down her juicy thighs, have the barrier between us nonexistent.
Fuck!
I can’t be thinking about this at work. There’s so much I need to get done today, and a boner is not something I need to be sporting at the moment.
I lean back in my chair, closing my eyes for a moment. I’ll take a couple of seconds to reminisce before I put this behind me until the end of the day. I’ll probably have to do something about the situation with Tammy soon, but right now is not the time to think about it.
“Brick?” Nancy’s voice comes over the intercom, pulling me out of my thoughts. She isn’t one to randomly interrupt with something unimportant. She’s a good secretary, which is why I’ve kept her on for all of these years. Whatever it is, I really hope that it’s good news. I’ve already had enough bad news for one morning.
I sit up, pressing the button to speak back.
“Yes, Nancy.”
“Um, you have a visitor.” A visitor? I’m not expecting anyone, and it’s rare for someone to just drop in unannounced.
“Who is it?”
“She’s walking into your office right now. She was rather forceful, and I was unable to stop her. My apologies.” The intercom goes off before I can question Nancy any further.
What? Before I can organize my brain, Tammy comes barreling into my office. I abruptly sit up, my back erect. I am rarely surprised, but Tammy has a way of keeping me on my toes, I’ve noticed.
She’s wearing a t-shirt and short shorts, looking as gorgeous as ever. It looks like she rushed here because she’s a little out of breath, and her hair is a bit messy.
“Brick, everything is fucked.”
I almost laugh at how direct she’s being. She isn’t mincing any words. But I adjust my face, making sure to keep hidden my sudden burst of emotion.
I’m sure I can guess what she is talking about, but I’d rather Tammy use her special way with words to let me know how she’s feeling.
“You weren’t supposed to… You weren’t supposed to join me. On Saturday. Why would you do that? Everything is all complicated now. I mean, what are we doing?” The anger she came rushing in here with has dissipated into genuine curiosity. I don’t really have a whole lot of answers for her, though.
“Did you not enjoy it?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Well, guessing from how hard you came, I’d say you had a really good time, yes?” Her face goes almost as red as a tomato, and I laugh because she’s so cute. How could I not want to have sex with her? She’s so damn alluring.
“Well, did you think about protection? Because I’m not on the pill,” she reveals.
Oh. That’s information I did not have before. I lean back in my chair, once again caught off guard.
“I thought all women were on the pill. I had no idea you weren’t.” I truly had no clue. It’s only been a couple of days, so it’s not like we’re in super dangerous territory yet, but is it something I would mind terribly? I barely know Tammy, but we’ve clearly been having fun together.
“That’s obviously not true. If you knew anything about women’s health, you would know that. What you should have done is wear a condom.”
She has a point there. I don’t know a whole lot about birth control, so I shouldn’t have assumed anything. I should know that at least by this point. I’ve gotten as far as I have in my industry because of my shrewd business acumen. But for whatever reason, I’m not able to make a sound decision regarding Tammy.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize. I really am. I never wanted to cause Tammy any stress. It was all a bit of fun that’s now beginning to get super serious – and not just because of the potential pregnancy. It’s serious because I’m having thoughts I’ve never had before. Like getting excited at the thought of this curvy girl being filled with my seed.
But that’s crazy. And it looks like Tammy is feeling some of the crazy herself.
I see Tammy’s mood shift at my apology. She doesn’t seem as angry or annoyed anymore.
“Okay,” she responds.
Her arms cross over her breasts, and I wonder what’s going on in that pretty head of hers right now.
“You should give me the tapes right now,” she demands. Tammy is quite the savvy business lady. She can sense when the tides are turning in her favor, and even when she doesn’t have the upper hand, she still manages to find a bargaining position.
And she truly has the upper hand. So I acquiesce. All four tapes are in my briefcase, so I take them out. Tammy steps back when I get up from my seat. She looks down at my hand as I offer it to her with all four tapes.
“What are you doing?” She sounds suspicious, but I’m not playing any tricks. I’m ready to hand all of these over without a second thought.
“Giving you the tapes. You asked for them.”
She stares at me, open-mouthed.
“Really? You’re going to give them to me?” she asks, astounded.
I grin. She must think I’m a horrible person if she’s this surprised I’m giving the tapes back. Or maybe she’s remembering that moment in the greenhouse and thinks I have some new loophole to reveal.
But I don’t.
“I’m not a monster, despite popular opinion.”
At my words, she seizes the tapes and stuffs them into her bag. The relief on her face is obvious. I feel good; I want Tammy to be happy.
“Thanks. I didn’t think it would as easy as asking. I think I’m going to…” she trails off as she turns to leave.
I didn’t think our conversation was going to end so abruptly; I don’t want her to her to leave just yet.
“Tammy, wait.”
She stops turning away, her eyes zeroing in on me. She looks wary, but I’m not about to try and make another deal. I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a long time: I’m about to ask a girl out on a date.
“What is it?”
“Would you say our relationship has been a whirlwind?”
“That would be one way to put it.”
“True, but we also get along on some level, right? We wouldn’t have gotten this far if we didn’t.”
She bites her bottom lip, looking
down at the ground for a couple seconds.
“I guess so,” she admits. “What are you getting at?”
“What I’m trying to say is that I’d like to get to know you better. I was hoping you’d let me take you out.” Tammy is staring at me like I’ve just grown a second head.
“Are you serious?” she mumbles. I would wager a guess that I’ve totally surprised her with my question.
“Yes, I’d love to take you out on a date like normal people do. And seeing that you have all of the tapes in your possession, I don’t have anything to hold over your head anymore.” I’m banking on Tammy actually liking me. Or at least on me having enough charm to convince her.
“So, a date? Like a date, date?”
“Yeah, like a date, date.”
The corners of her mouth turn up, becoming a smile that she’s trying to contain but failing.
“Okay, I’ll go on a date with you. A date, date,” she nods. I smile back at her. I actually feel the tension leave my body after she says yes. I’ve never been so nervous when it comes to a woman before, but Tammy is something else.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re cute, I guess. And kind of nice,” she admits.
We stare at each other for a few more seconds before she tightens her grip on her bag, as if to steady her emotions. I could throw her onto my desk this instant and have my way with her, but there are way too many people around who would be able to figure out what was going on. “I really should get going. My mom is going to wonder where I am.”
“No problem. I’ll call you or text you.”
“Sounds good.” She gives me a double thumbs-up while awkwardly making her way to the door. On the way, she bumps into the coat rack, almost knocking it over. “Oh shit!” Thankfully, it only teeters a little, and Tammy is good. She looks flustered for a second before pushing her hair out of her face and standing up straight. “Okay, bye!”
She exits quickly after that, clearly a little embarrassed. I chuckle at her clumsiness, getting back to work. The second I sit down, though, Robert walks in. Yet another interruption to my day.
“Robert.”
“Who did I just see walking out of this office?” He has this shit-eating grin on his face.
“It’s not important. Just someone coming by to say hi.”
“To say hi?” Robert’s interest is piqued by this. He fully enters my office, closing the door behind him. “No one just comes in to say hi to you. That means that whatever it was, it isn’t business-related, making it personal. Since she was a young lady, I’m going to guess she’s the one who has you all distracted.”
“Maybe,” I answer.
“You can’t hide this from me forever. I will find out what in the hell is going on with you.”
“You don’t have to figure it out, Robert. When I’m ready to tell you, I’ll tell you. I’m still figuring stuff out is all. Okay?” My friend takes a seat in the chair opposite me on the other side of my desk. He gives me a look, letting me know he’s not going to give up that easily.
“It’s not fun that way. But we can drop it for now because I want to hear about your meeting with George. How did that go?”
I sigh, rubbing my temples. Having Tammy accept my date request almost made me forget that her father is a colossal fuck-up who’s going to set the company back two weeks on one of our biggest projects. Maybe it’s my fault for continuing to give him jobs that are important.
“It did not go well,” I tell Robert.
“What did he mess up this time?”
“He managed to delete the almost finished file for our Untitled Action Project. Thankfully, the raw footage is still on the computer being used to make the edits, so we don’t have to go through the long process of recopying them, but it’ll set us back two weeks.”
“Jesus Christ, really? There was no backup or anything? It’s all gone? He really managed to delete it all?”
“Tyler double-checked, and it’s all gone. They couldn’t find it anywhere. No backup, no restore point, nothing. It’s gone, Robert.”
“Okay. What did you tell him?”
“I told him to run all decisions by Tyler from here on. That way we won’t have another mess like this one. I might just start giving George low-risk tasks. I thought this one was, but apparently, I was wrong.” Robert gives me a weird look. “What is it?”
“So you didn’t fire him.” I was waiting for that. The two of us had agreed that if George had another major fuck-up, we’d let him go. I’m sure Robert is super confused.
“I know we talked about it, but circumstances have changed, and he’s so close to retirement. We can hold onto him for another two or three years, right? That way it doesn’t mess with his benefits. George has been loyal to us for so long; I’d hate to see him go out like this.”
My business partner shifts in his seat. I’m not sure which side of this issue he’s going to fall on, but I really hope it’s on the one of keeping George. If Robert wants to fire him, I could make a unilateral decision as CEO, but that would definitely fracture our working relationship. Something I very much don’t want to do.
“Okay. I see what you’re saying. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all. You’re usually a lot more cutthroat than this. But I’m fine with this plan. We can give George only jobs that we know are low priority and won’t put us in a pickle if he messes them up.”
“That’s great. I’m glad you agree.”
“The only thing is…” he trails off.
“What is it?”
“I would have appreciated a heads-up. We’re business partners. We’ve got to keep each other in the loop about these things. I don’t mind a little secrecy when it comes to your personal love life, but you know, we have to keep all business-related topics on the table, out in the open. That’s what makes this partnership work so well.”
I nod because I agree. I should have let Robert know that about this decision. It did originally come from trying to get Tammy to see things my way, but after thinking about it from her perspective and realizing how devastated her family would be if we did fire George, I became more okay with the idea of keeping him on in a more limited capacity.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind just firing him now and arranging his retirement package myself, but I’m sure George would balk at that idea. Plus, I have no idea how I would explain why I would do that to either George or Robert, so keeping him on is the easiest path, for now.
“I’ll make sure to let you know next time. I just had this idea randomly and didn’t even stop to give it too much thought.”
Robert nods. He clearly wants a more detailed answer, but he’s not going to pursue it. My behavior is out of character, but since I haven’t done anything drastically crazy, my friend is going to go along with it.
For now.
“Good. That’s all I ask. You’re my friend, Barrister. I trust you, don’t forget that.” He straightens his back, cracking it a little. “I’ve got stuff to take care. And knowing that one of our projects has been delayed by two weeks, I have to go make an updated budget. It’s going to be one hell of a week, isn’t it?”
“Probably. I have a lot to take care of today, too, and I’m already behind. But we always manage to get it done.”
“We always get it done. I’ll leave you to it,” Robert responds, standing up from the chair at the same time. “Don’t forget we’ve got the partner dinner coming up. I think Nancy’s already made the reservation, so all you have to do is show up in your suit and tie. This one is pretty low-key, more of a quick check-in.”
“I’ll make sure to check my calendar for the time and location. I’ll see you later.”
Robert departs, leaving me alone to finally work. I login to my computer, ready to go through my emails and whatever else I have planned for the day.
But my mind ends up wandering over to Tammy and our upcoming date. Clearly, our activities have some spillover into our day-to-day lives. But preferably, we can compartmentalize our per
sonal relationship. We’re going to have to go somewhere away from here – some place where we won’t be at risk for running into anyone that we know.
I’m not about to use company time to research date spots, though. I’ve already spent way too much time at Brick Productions focusing on Tammy. And I’ve already messed up business-wise in the George department, even before the deal with Tammy. I really shouldn’t have given him such a high priority job, but I’d honestly thought he could do it. Apparently, I’d made a mistake.
“I’ll look potential date spots up when I get home,” I say to myself.
Right now, I’ve got to email a bunch of people that they’re going to have to wait an additional two more weeks before we can give them access to our latest project.
I know they are going to be pissed. No one likes hearing about delays. Hell, I don’t like hearing about delays, but these guys aren’t as magnanimous as me. If they knew the fault was with George, they’d insist I fire him. Which is why I’m going to have to come up with another excuse for why this happened. I’m sure I’ll come up with something.
I’ve gotten pretty good at crisis control what with being a producer. There’s always a fire that has to put out in this business. That’s something I’m used to. I can think about Tammy later.
11
Tammy
I can’t believe Brick actually asked me out on a date. I never in a million years thought he would do that. I had played out how the confrontation with him could possibly, and I came up with many different versions in my head. Not one of those scenarios involved being asked out and me saying yes.
When I was leaving his office, I did my best not to act like a complete fool, but I bumped my fat ass straight into his coat rack, almost bringing the whole thing down. Luckily, some higher power was on my side because the whole thing didn’t fall to the ground.
I did end up looking like a fucking fool, though. I didn’t even wait to see if he would say anything; I just up and left. Often, the type of confrontation I’m best at is no confrontation at all.
Once I left his office, I drove myself home so I could properly celebrate. I was so fucking excited. No one as hot as Brick has ever given me a second look before. I rarely even get a second glance, and that can definitely be a confidence killer. I just don’t think I’m worth it, really.