9. It’s Simone… and her girlfriend

You round the corner and see Simone putting her things down. You also see another woman. She’s ethereally tall and willowy, a contrast to Simone’s smaller, curvier stature. She has a mess of frizzy, dark hair that she’s tried to contain in a ponytail and as she turns to see who’s in so early you see she has gorgeous, slate grey eyes.

You give her a little wave, “Hi.”

She returns the waive and you see Simone poke her head around the corner. When she sees it’s you she stands. “Morning Mr. Haggard!” It seems like she’s trying to be peppy for some reason.

You nod at Simone, “Good morning.” You pause for a moment, “Care to introduce me to your friend?”

The other woman laughs and sticks out her hand, “That’s us, gal pals. I’m Nia.”

Simone blushes in embarrassment at the joke, “This is my girlfriend Mr. Haggard.”

“Ah! Lovely to meet you Nia.”

“Simone’s told me a lot about working here.”

“Has she?”

“She mentioned a big project she’s working on for you and she’s real excited about it.”

“Oh good.” You look at Simone and see the stress in her eyes. “Well, I’ll leave you two, gotta get set up. No funny business now.” You wink at Simone and she gags on her coffee.

You enter your office and subtly watch the two women share a parting kiss. Nia walks away and you see Simone wait a beat before getting up and charging to your office. You jump away from the door and make it look like you’ve been getting set up for the morning. She barges in.

“Please don’t rope her into this.”

You look at her from behind your desk, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“‘No funny business’? Come on.”

“I’m not sure what you’re so angry about, Simone. It was a pleasure to meet your girlfriend.”

She pauses, flustered. She’s clearly upset about you meeting Nia, but even she can’t articulate why.

You continue, “afterall, you’re so excited about market research. I’d hate for something to get in the way.”

She blanches, “you wouldn’t.”

You walk around from behind the desk. “Remember Simone, I have the power here.”

“I… I could tell someone.”

“But you won’t. Because you know if it’s your word against mine I’ll win.”

“There’s that intern… C something?”

“Caroline? She’s arguably more dedicated to the company than you are and she’s only been here a day.”

You advance on her. She backs up against the wall and you tower over her. You reach a hand up to cradle her face. Your thumb drifts down her chin and across her throat. She swallows hard.

“Actually, I think I’ll call Nia back and tell her about your extracurricular activities.”

“No you wouldn’t.”

“Oh I would.” You rest your hand across her collar bone. You aren’t literally holding her against the wall, but she’s frozen in place.

She looks away, “I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” She’s mumbling like she knows she doesn’t fully believe her own words.

You take your other hand and begin unbuttoning her blouse. She looks up at you, eyes begging you to stop. You reach inside her blouse and finger one of her nipples. She suppresses some sound. You know it feels good even if she doesn’t want to show it.

“Show me.”

“What?”

“Show me how sorry you are.”