Back to work

Cheryl rises to her feet, smooths her skirt, and meets your eyes with a small, satisfied expression.

“Thank you,” she says, simple and direct.

The words land harder than they should. Your cock, still half-hard and exposed, twitches visibly at the unexpected courtesy. Cheryl notices. The corner of her mouth lifts. She steps in, cups the back of your neck, and kisses you once, firm and unhurried, the taste of yourself still faint on her lips. Then she steps back, waits while you tuck yourself away and fasten your trousers, and opens the office door.

The two of you walk out into the corridor together. The ordinary noise of the floor returns. As you turn toward your section you catch movement in the periphery. Ruby is standing near the HR desks, body angled just enough that she can see the corridor. Her eyes track the two of you for a fraction of a second before she looks back down at the file in her hands.

You do not know if she knows that you know yet. The thought flickers that you could have some fun with the uncertainty, let her wonder what was said behind the closed door of Matt’s office, but the assumption settles quickly underneath it. Natasha will have told her by now. The morning confrontation was too raw, too detailed, for it to stay contained. Whatever game might have been possible is already closing.

You return to your desk, sit, and open the laptop again. The folder of revised projections Cheryl left earlier is still there. The numbers for Duncan are still waiting. Across the floor Ruby remains at her station, posture unchanged, and the quiet knowledge of everything that has shifted this morning sits between the three of you like a third presence no one has acknowledged out loud.