Work Tension

"So what do you think of Arabella then?"

The question from Ria, posed as the pair of you walk to the office together, somehow feels ominous. The safest response is probably a vague and uninteresting one.

"She's nice enough. I found her a bit serious at first but she loosens up once you get to know her better."

"Does she now?"

Your girlfriend has folded her arms and is glaring at you.

What?! Surely she can't have taken any issue with that statement? You're going to have to choose your every word in the knowledge you are negotiating a conversational minefield from now on.

"Yeah, and she'd like to get to know you better as well. She was talking about the three of us going for a drink after work some time."

"I don't really like the sound of that, I might not have anything to say to her while you're at the bar or whatever. You can invite her along on one of our nights out with my mates if you'd like, if that kind of thing isn't beneath her."

Now there's an interesting but probably very bad idea.

"Yeah, maybe. I'll mention it at lunch today."

"Are you two going to go out with each other for lunch every single day from now on?" Ria asks you disapprovingly.

"No, only this week while we're working together. Bella suggested it and I didn't want to seem anti-social."

"Oh, it's Bella now is it?"

Ria has cocked her eyebrow at you and is pursing her lips. These suspicions of hers, based on so little evidence, would be pretty bloody outrageous if she wasn't completely right. At least this conversation has tipped you off that your real world interactions with the current literal girl of your dreams are being monitored as if you were dating a detective.

"I think that's just what she prefers people to call her and it's less of a mouthful than her full name. Anyway, don't you have lunch with Felicity?"

"Yeah, right! Like that slave driver gives me any time for a lunch break" Ria laughs bitterly, before going straight back to the subject in hand "You'd better not fancy Arabella, Shane. That would be a very big problem for me."

Shit. This situation has obviously been quietly escalating over the past few days while you were too distracted enjoying Bella's sexual fantasies to notice. Still, while you don't exactly have the moral high ground here you haven't technically done anything wrong. You must stand your ground.

"I don't fancy Arabella! Where the fuck is this coming from, Ria?"

"Don't think I haven't noticed her smiling at you and flicking her hair every single time she walks by your desk, or you giving her that big dopey grin of yours, the one you always used to give me at the old place."

You had no idea you were doing that in either case, but don't doubt what Ria has described is accurate. You're going to have to start playing things much cooler with Bella from now on. If you lose Ria then that's two hot girls who will no longer want to fuck you - the one who actually seems to like being your girlfriend and the one who only wants what she isn't supposed to have.

"We've kind of become friends. Or work friends, at least. But that's all. Look, I'm not going to lie and say I think she's ugly because she very clearly isn't, but Bella isn't my type. She's too posh, too stiff, I couldn't have a laugh with her like I can with you. And you know what these upper class types are like, they only date each other and all seem to be secretly into weird kinky shit."

"Yeah, she probably gets her kicks sucking horse dicks or something" Ria giggles.

Phew! That was the first response of yours this morning that seems to have gone down well with your partner. Judging by her body language you are off the hook, for now at least. Although you're going to be entering Ria's filthy and highly suggestible mind tonight so you'd better get horse dicks out of there just to be on the safe side. What would be fun to replace it with? You have a bit of a plan to try and get more of her sexy friends into her fantasies, and though it might take some finesse, you think you can do it in a way that sounds innocent.

"I had an idea for your birthday treat, but I thought I should run it by you first"

"Probably a smart idea"

"Have you ever heard of something called a naked cabin break?"

She definitely won't have since you just made it up on the spot. That doesn't actually matter though, since she won't want to do this. At least not in real life.

"No, and that sounds more like your birthday treat than mine."

"I wouldn't be going. You'd take a couple of female friends and the three of you would leave your clothes at the entrance and just get down to nature together, au naturel. There's a private spa with a sauna and mud bath, a beautiful lake and some woodlands nearby, and nobody else would be around for miles so you could just bond with each other without any inhibitions. I was thinking you would take Narinder and Beth."

"Huh? Why not Dani?"

Because Dani comes out as a scary dominatrix in your girlfriends fantasies. You much prefer her being your helpless, hypnotised slave in her own.

"I don't think it would be her thing, but I reckon you, Narinder and Beth would have a wonderful time, just the three of you naked together as nature intended. It would be a really intimate experience."

"It would be weird and I'm not doing it, so don't waste your money."

Okay, probably best to end that conversation there and hope the idea sank in. You'll be having sweet dreams tonight if it did, that's for sure.

---

Almost the moment the pair of you arrive at work Felicity steps out of her office and whisks Ria into it. You do feel a bit bad about how this week has gone for your girlfriend, who hasn't been doing the job you thought you had signed her up for. Still, only it's only for a couple more days.

Once you are settled at your desk, Bella strolls over and perches on it.

You can't help but cast your mind back to Ria using that same move when she first decided she was interested in you. Bella seems to have gone a stage further though - she is wearing a short skirt and partially unbuttoned blouse, both of which she has taken to the limit of what she can get away with under the office dress code. she has more make up on than usual and appears to have had her hair done too.

Your ever attentive assistant looks absolutely stunning. You just hope by some miracle Ria doesn't notice.

"I'm afraid I have to start our day with an apology" she tells you, despite the fact she is smiling "I rather put my foot in it with Felicity this morning."

"Oh, in what way?"

"I hadn't realised she didn't already know you and Ria were living together as a couple. She doesn't approve of that sort of thing in the work place, but she likes Ria and is happy for her to continue as her full time assistant rather than yours going forward. That means you're stuck with me permanently now. I hope that isn't too much of a blow and you can forgive me?"

This is the most wonderful disastrous news you have ever been given.

"It's not your fault Bella, she would have found out soon enough anyway. I probably should have mentioned it to Felicity myself. And of course that's not a blow - I'm enjoying working with you."

"I'm very glad to hear you say that because I feel the same way. Since we'll be spending so much time here together and we get on so well I suppose you could start thinking of me as your office girlfriend and Ria as your home one" Bella places her hand to her mouth and laughs a little "Sorry, that was me being accidentally inappropriate again wasn't it? Anyway, for my first act as your full time executive assistant I've taken the initiative to shift some things around in your diary so we can head to this morning's property pretty much now."

"But why? The viewing doesn't start until ten thirty?"

"Exactly! I figured if we get there more than an hour ahead of schedule we'll have time to really get a lay of the land to help with your presentation. It's supposed to be a big and beautiful mansion, it might be fun exploring every nook and cranny of it together. Or we could fantasise we are some rich married couple who have just arrived there for the first time" she giggles and twirls her hair "Apologies once more, that didn't come out how I meant it to! Anyway, I thought it might be a nice idea. What do you say?"

Arabella had allowed her shoe to slip off onto the floor a little earlier and brushed your ankle gently with her foot as she made her proposal. If you agree to this you are effectively conspiring with her to indulge in whatever she is really taking to you to the property early for. You have no choice but to shut this down immediately and unequivocally.

"That actually sounds like a really good idea, Bella. Just give me five minutes."

Shit.

"Wonderful, come over to my desk whenever you're ready" she hops down and strokes your arm before stopping for a moment "Oh, I'll save it until we get to the house, but I had another dream about you last night."