“Good morning,” she said, and I tried to return her smile, though it probably came out closer to a grimace.
“Hi there.” Jonathan, of course, was right there, next to her desk; they’d been talking about something when I walked in but had stopped when they saw me. “I’ve got some business to take care of this morning.”
I strode on past them and into my office, closing the door behind me. I hadn’t shut the door since Daisy’s first day when I’d been changing my coffee-stained pants; I needed it shut right now, though. With it shut, my office turned into a controlled environment, almost a cocoon of sorts, and as I sat down in my chair and placed my hands on my desk, I felt a sliver of stress slide away. Only a sliver, but I’d take it.
The feeling that wasn’t going anywhere was the fact that Annie had trapped me.
I wasn’t sure exactly how much time had elapsed when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I said.
The door opened slowly and Daisy peeked her head around. “Are you busy?”
“No, come in,” I repeated. She stepped in and closed the door behind her, though she didn’t push it all the way shut.
“I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay,” she said. “You’ve been in here all morning.”
“It is my office. I do have work to do,” I said. But I was touched, actually, that she’d come to check up on me. Which was strange, because if Annie had done the same thing, I would’ve found it completely annoying, overly cloying, kind of pathetic. I smiled. “There’s just some stuff I’ve had to take care of. How’s it going out there?”
“It’s good. Jonathan had to take some stuff to the post office and then was going to meet up with Dan at the civic center, but he said to tell you he’ll be back late afternoon. There was something he wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. He didn’t tell me what it was though.”
“All right. Thanks for letting me know.”
“Sure.” She put her hand on the doorknob and started to pull the door open but then stopped. “Are you sure everything’s okay? You seem a little . . . I don’t know, stressed, maybe.”
She stood there, today wearing a slightly shorter, more form-fitting gray skirt, with a white short-sleeve blouse, the top button undone. There was nothing more I would have rather done at that moment than told her exactly what had happened on the phone with Annie, but that wasn’t the sort of news you shared with the woman you were planning to sleep with next. Was that even a good idea at this point? Maybe taking the path of celibacy would be better for right now.
But no. I’d have to fire her if that was going to be the case, because there was no way I’d be able to have her around like this and not get with her. It was like I could feel it radiating off of her skin, this intense desire that she probably didn’t even know she had. What was it Jonathan had said when he was trying to get me to give her an interview? She’s a freak in bed. She probably was a freak in bed. I’d be the one to bring it out in her.
“Yeah, you know, things can get a little stressful at times,” I said. “But that’s just how it goes. I try not to let it get me down.”
“Of course,” she said. “Well . . . if there’s anything that I can do to help, so you’re not so stressed, just let me know.”
The innuendo was there, but she didn’t realize it. I tried to hide my smile. I probably shouldn’t even go there at this point—my dick had gotten me into enough trouble—but there was just something about her that was completely irresistible.
“You’ve already helped, actually. Thanks.”
“But I didn’t do anything.”
I wanted to get up from my desk, push the door shut all the way, and tear open her blouse, the little iridescent buttons popping off, one by one. I’d lay her across my desk and squeeze her ass a few times before—
No.
Not just yet.
“I appreciate it anyway,” I said. And then the phone started to ring, and Daisy excused herself to go answer it.
At the end of the day, I could tell that Daisy was lingering, thinking that we might hang out, but after I went and saw Pete, I wanted to have some alone time, and if I wasn’t going to suggest we get together, I knew she wouldn’t say anything.
“All right,” she said, slinging her handbag over her shoulder. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Bye, Daisy,” Jonathan said. “Here, let me walk you out.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she said, but he followed her down the hallway like a loyal dog. When he returned, he was looking at me with hopeful eyes. Christ, he was such a fucking Boy Scout. He certainly wouldn’t have gotten a girl pregnant. He’d never find himself in a situation like this. I felt a flare of anger for him, for the fact that his life had always been so fucking easy, yet he didn’t even have the slightest clue.