“What? What do you want?” He asked, leaning in so that she could see the pulse at his neck jumping. He was just as aroused as she was.
“I can’t do this!” She said, jumping to her feet and knocking him back.
“Lateisha…”
“No, I can’t, Bryce. I just got this job. I need this job. Please just show me the phones so I can get back downstairs.” Lateisha begged him with her eyes as well as her words.
Bryce nodded, the look on his face unreadable. He took the next fifteen minutes to explain the phones, staying as far away from where she sat as he could. Lateisha knew it was to make a point but that didn’t make it any easier for her. When he was finished, she stood, thanking him and turned towards the door. Just as she stepped out she felt his hand on her bicep.
“This isn’t over, Lateisha. Far from it. You can’t run from me forever.” He turned and headed back to his desk.
A chill ran down Lateisha’s spine from anticipation. What did he mean by that?
*****
Bryce followed Lateisha from the room with his eyes. A few months ago he would have balked at a display like that in the office. Today he couldn’t keep his hands, or anything else, away from her. Cursing under his breath, Bryce stood, unable to concentrate on the memo he had been typing when he heard her enter the office space. Actually, it was more like he felt her enter. He couldn’t see the kitchen area from his office but he had the urge to go down there. When he got there he understood why. Lateisha was there. His body, and his mind apparently, wanted to be where she was at all times. Running a hand over his face, Bryce stood and walked to the window. The skyline below never ceased to amaze him. Lateisha never ceased to amaze him. If he had only met her before all of this surrogate nonsense. No, this surrogate nonsense brought her to him. He was a firm believer that everything happened for a reason. Lateisha was the reason for this whole mess and he would do anything to make her understand just how much he wanted her.
*****
“Lateisha, can you get in here please!” John bellowed at her for the fourth time in an hour.
Four hours in and the work was nonstop. She had already taken two memos, ran more copies than she could count, hand collated all of the copies, took a dictation, made fifteen cups of coffee and was working on editing a brief that Mr. Wilson needed to go out before lunch, which was in twenty minutes. It didn’t help that he called her into his office several times an hour and added something new to her tasks, as if he wanted her to stop what she was doing and complete the new task first. Lateisha developed a system the third time he did it. She had an in and out box organizer on her desk and she found another one in the copy room lying abandoned on the counter. The organizers were used to set up a place order for most important and next in line. So far the system was working and kept her from getting confused and off task.
Sighing, Lateisha stood, glancing once more towards her organized files. This job was helping her feel proud of herself for once. She stepped into John’s office, a pen poised over a notebook waiting for him to give her instructions.
“Lateisha, can you please get Nashima in Tokyo on the line? And prepare the conference room for the lunch conference. Did you order the sandwiches?” Mr. Wilson rattled off a list and Lateisha wrote quickly. “And where are the briefs I asked you to edit earlier?”
“I’m editing them right now, Mr. Wilson. The sandwiches will be here in thirty minutes and I’m having them set up in the conference room along with some drinks and other necessities. I typed and sent out the memos and I’m almost done with the dictation as well.”
John looked at her strangely before dismissing her from the room. Shrugging, Lateisha went back to her desk and finished up a few things before shutting down the computer and grabbing her purse. She was oddly surprised at how happy she was with the possibility of seeing Bryce when she went upstairs to get her lunch. It was an obviously stupid thought, especially since she knew she was letting him go. Punching the number for the sixteenth floor harder than she meant, Lateisha tapped her foot with impatience. Her mood went downhill quickly. She started off happy to be seeing Bryce and suddenly she was melancholy and wanted to get the whole thing over with.
The elevator door opened and Lateisha was relieved to see that Rachel wasn’t at her desk. She knew from the fifteenth floor, if she wasn’t there to buzz someone in the door was left unlocked. It seemed like a security flaw but Lateisha wasn’t concerned about it. She pulled the glass doors opened and walked into the office. It was quiet and it seemed most everyone was out to lunch. Lateisha hurried down the hall to the kitchen, looking around for Bryce even though she knew it was a bad idea. Where was everyone? Was there some sort of meeting she wasn’t aware of? Then she remembered the lunch conference downstairs that she had set up. Probably most of the office was there and the rest were out to lunch. Relaxing at the idea of being left alone, by not only Rachel but also Bryce, Lateisha yanked open the fridge and sought out her lunch. Locating it pushed to the back by a large tray of sandwiches, she retrieved it and stood. Lateisha felt a presence behind her and turned around.
“Hey.” It was Bryce.
“I didn’t think anyone was here. All the rest of the associates are downstairs for the lunch meeting.” She looked behind him as if looking for a
way to escape. This was crazy. It was just Bryce.
Bryce smiled his thousand watt smile and Lateisha’s demeanor melted a bit. “John called me. He said you have some sort of filing system that you’ve created. He was pretty impressed. He even told me that you set up the lunch meeting and that everything is great.” He continued to smile at her and Lateisha felt her insides turn to jelly.
She nodded, unable to speak right away. Bryce had never given her a compliment before. It was funny how she felt like a duck out of water in the fast food industry but somehow here she seemed to fit. Maybe she was more suited to Bryce’s world than she had originally thought.
“Well that’s great! I’m so glad that you seem to be getting on well here. I’m pleasantly surprised and so was John. Keep up the good work.” Bryce finished speaking and leaned down, bringing Lateisha in for an unexpected hug. At first, it was awkward but then she relaxed in his embrace, the feeling of his arms around her making her feel secure and other emotions she didn’t want to discuss.
He released her and looked down at her as if waiting for something more. “I’m just going to go back downstairs and eat my lunch in the office,” Lateisha mumbled, not wanting to make a big deal of the fact that she was eating alone.
“What? No, come eat with me in my office. I’m not expected to be at the lunch meeting; that’s what John is for, so I was planning on catching up with some paperwork while I ate. I’d love the company.” Bryce inched closer, and suddenly looked as if he was going to take her hand.
“I, it’s alright. I’m used to eating lunch alone.” Lateisha wasn’t sure why she said that, even if it was the truth. The only person she ever ate lunch with was Becky and that was rare.
Bryce frowned. “What are you afraid of, Lateisha?”
Lateisha sighed, keeping her distance was hard when they worked for the same company and it was only the first day. How would she do it for the next several months?
“It’s okay, really. I need the peace and quiet after how busy John, I mean Mr. Wilson had me all day.”
“Okay. I’ll check in on you later to see if you need a ride home.” Bryce turned, gave her one last look and then walked from the kitchen.