Babysteps: A Few Weeks Later

Apologies, I haven't proofread this yet, but I don't currently have the energy and I'm excited about it. Enjoy.

Edit: Here's an edited version, mostly for spelling, grammar and minor readability issues. I'm still waffling on changing it a bit, so there might be a future edit with some content changes.

*

"Here you go, Mr. Cowall."

Kate arrived at the office five minutes late and placed a piping hot latte on her boss's desk. After a lifetime of being early if not on-time, it still felt so weird to intentionally arrive late, but Kate's boss needed his caffeine and he deserved to have it delivered to him fresh and at his desk. Kate figured she could make the concession of being late if it actually benefited her boss and the company in the long run.

"Thanks, Katie," Mr. Cowall mumbled and he continued to read something on his computer. Kate shrugged off the annoying nickname and took a small sip of her own latte. Coffee had never been her thing, but she had to agree with her boss that a latte first thing in the morning was the perfect pick-me-up. She removed her scarf and jacket, and hung the two up along with her purse.

She glanced at her boss before sitting down at her computer. Lately he liked to chat first thing in the morning, a wellness check he called it, but today he seemed particularly engrossed in whatever he was reading. Kate started up her computer, but decided to wait for him to try and chat with her before she opened anything important. It wasn't as if she was looking forward to talking to him, she knew that any conversation would be littered with subtle come-ons (although, lately he hadn't been so subtle), Kate just knew that there was no use getting started on anything until after their morning repartee.

As if on cue, Mr. Cowall finished whatever he was reading and greeted Kate with more enthusiasm. "Good morning!" he exclaimed loudly, startling Kate, "Thanks for the coffee." He grabbed the cup beside him and took a sip.

"You're very welcome," Kate replied. She knew it was important for him to have coffee so he could be more focused at work. She took a sip from her own latte and leaned back in her chair. Her boss walked around his desk and perched on it for their morning chat. He wasn't looking at her chest, she noticed, he was instead looking at her face. Things had gotten better over the last couple of weeks. Kate had no idea what had gotten into him, but Mr. Cowall definitely seemed more attentive to her as a person, rather than a piece of ass. Sure, he still said the occasional thing that could open him up for a sexual harassment suit, but Kate could just shrug it off. She definitely didn't dread dealing with him anymore.

"How was your night?" he asked.

Kate rolled her hazel eyes and groaned a little, an involuntary response that she immediately regretted. She'd rather not get into her personal problems with Mr. Cowall. Sure, things were better in the office, but she knew he'd still try to drive a wedge between her and Jack if he knew something was wrong. "It was... A little trying," she said, trying to be as vague as possible. She was content to leave it at that, but she knew her boss was going to inquire further, so she tried to be proactive. "How was your night, boss?"

He set his latte down on the desk behind him. "Mine was fine. Just stayed home. What happened with your night?" His cold blue eyes bore into her.

Kate glanced away and set her latte down. "I'd rather not get into it," she said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"Now, Katie," said Mr. Cowall. He had his arms crossed, but he still looked at her with concern. "If something is bugging you, don't you agree that you should be completely open and honest with me?"

Her gut reaction was to wave him off, but something he said resonated within her. If something was bugging her in the office, it would make sense to tell her boss about it. The two of them had to operate in a mutually beneficial environment after all. As much as it was her responsibility as his employee to make his life easier, Mr. Cowall also had the responsibility to make their environment as healthy as possible.

But that only pertained to work-related matters, right? If something was wrong with her personal life, or her relationship with Jake as the case might be, her boss didn't need to know about it. Right? Perhaps it would make her glower in the office and appear sullen, but that wouldn't get in the way of her work. She could absolutely separate her two worlds and focus on the work that needed to get done.

Still, if Mr. Cowall saw that she was upset or angry and felt he'd have to walk on eggshells all day, that might make it hard for him to get work done. He'd avoid asking her to do things he needed, and then she wouldn't be doing her job as an employee... All because he wouldn't know what was bothering her.

"Fuck," she thought, "He's got a point."

Kate took a breath and turned to her boss. "Jake told me that I've been spending too much time in the office..." she mumbled. Looking at her boss for any sort of reaction, Kate found nothing. He just continued to stare at her as if expecting her to continue. His frosty blue eyes remained laser focused.

So she kept talking.

"I've missed out on a couple date nights with him because of all the late nights I've had to put in recently. I tried to tell him that it was what's best for the company and therefore what's best for us, for obvious reasons, but he just wouldn't accept it. He actually half-accused me of cheating on him with you!" The last sentence **** a reaction of surprise from her boss, but Kate continued. "I told him it was just me in the office after five, but... Well, he went to bed angry."

"Wow," said Mr. Cowall. He reached around to grab his coffee and took a small sip. With a sly smile he added, "You know, I keep telling you we should hook up. Don't you agree that we should hook up? It'd be so much easier if you lived with me."

Kate chuckled. "Dream on, boss," she replied. She was pretty pissed off the first time he brought it up a few weeks back, but his joking persistence almost made it a running gag in their office. It could undoubtedly be construed as sexual harassment, but she knew he was just trying to cheer her up. Granted, he did have a point that if she could just work at home with her fiancé, she wouldn't have to worry about little squabbles like the one she had last night.

Kate's smile faded as she thought about her tiff with Jake. "I wish I could have discussed it with him this morning, but he was still asleep when I went to the gym, and I wasn't about to sacrifice that."

"I'm proud of you," he said with a smile, "That's, what, three weeks straight of going to the gym?"

"Yessir!" Kate responded gleefully. It was important to take care of her body daily. Mr. Cowall had told her that and she really took it to heart.

Mr. Cowall set his cup down again and his gaze fell with it. "Well, I'm sure it will all sort itself out," he said while he toyed with his cup, "Still, Jake could be more appreciative of how much you're sacrificing for your shared dreams." He quickly looked back at Kate, "Don't you agree?"

Kate nodded. She did agree! Absolutely! She felt a little bit of anger bubble up, previously hidden by her ocean of guilt. Here she was, sacrificing her own personal time to get enough money so the two of them could buy a house together, and Jake had the nerve to complain about it.

"It's not my place, though," said Mr. Cowall. He made a gesture to indicate he was backing off and began to circle back around his desk. "Still, if you need to chat, I'm here to listen."

Kate gave him a weak smile, her annoyance with Jake was still forefront in her mind. How dare he be upset with her? She'd have to have a word with him about it when she got home. She grabbed her mouse and clicked around her desktop to get all her requisite programs running. Her clicks were unnecessarily louder than usual, but it felt good to do.

**

"Alright, Katie, I'm heading home." Mr. Cowall raised from his desk and began grabbing his jacket.

"Sounds good, Mr. Cowall," said Kate without adjusting her gaze from her monitor.

"Are you planning on staying much later?"

Kate didn't know. In fact, she was really just clicking around between two applications and had been doing so for half an hour or so. She hadn't made too much progress on any of her projects because her mind kept flitting back to her argument with Jake. It really jabbed at her that he was making such a big deal out of her commitment to her job and to their dreams. Truth be told, she didn't really want to go home and confront him the way she needed to.

"Katie?" asked Mr. Cowall. His jacket was already on and he looked ready to walk out the door. He stood near her desk and watched her with his cold gaze. Until that moment, Kate didn't realize how long she had been in her own head.

"Oh... Umm... I don't know," she said, but she knew it was best to be open and honest with her boss. "I'm kinda dreading the fight when I get home."

Mr. Cowall took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he searched for the right thing to say. When he opened his eyes, Kate was staring back. "Problems are only opportunities with thorns on them," he said. Kate's eyes went wide. She was not expecting her sleazy boss to get philosophical on her. He chuckled, "I heard that at a seminar once, but it's true. You have a problem with Jake, but you also have an opportunity. It's clear he doesn't appreciate you and the sacrifice you're putting in."

Kate nodded in agreement. She felt the anger well up within her once again.

"If I were in your situation, I'd make him understand that a relationship is a two-way street. You're making sacrifices to achieve your dream with him, but what sacrifices is he making? He's clearly not staying late at work to pad his pay cheque."

Kate nodded again. It was true. Since they set their goal, Jake had hardly changed anything: he was still working the same job, driving the same truck, and his spending habits had hardly change. Kate, meanwhile, had changed jobs, suffered a sleaze bag of a boss, packed and brought a lunch from home, and worked overtime just to boost their bank account a little more.

"Don't you agree that you should go home and demand he start making some sacrifices too?"

"Ya!" said Kate with a look of determination across her face. Her dread of the upcoming confrontation has completely subsided. She started shutting down her workstation.

"Atta girl. He's not the victim here," exclaimed Mr. Cowall while he grabbed her stuff from the coat rack. "Tell him that he needs to start sacrificing or you're going to place some sanctions on him."

Kate grabbed for her jacket from Mr. Cowall's outstretched hand, but paused in confusion. "Sanctions?" she asked, "Like what?"

Mr. Cowall smiled at her. His cold eyes pierced through her confusion. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, "You need to start withholding sex."

Sex?! That was preposterous. Jake wanted to spend more time with her, not le-

"Don't you agree?"