-Paulo Coelho
Over the next few weeks, Mark and Karma thoroughly explored each other’s bodies. For the time being, both seemed content to keep the sex simple. Nothing too acrobatic, too wild. Mark explained that first they needed to become comfortable with one another. Then they could become more inventive.
Karma’s relationship with her dad remained strained, but she made it clear she didn’t want her time with Mark to end until it had to. To be honest, Mark didn’t, either. The more time he spent with her, the more time he wanted to spend, and as their affair evolved and she became more comfortable making love to him, the more eager he was to see her.
So, when Mark heard about the Fourth of July celebration in downtown Indianapolis, he decided to make the holiday, which landed on a Saturday this year, even more special and reserved a hotel suite in the Marriott, making sure with the reservation clerk that the room faced the direction of the fireworks.
Everything was set, and the weekend promised to be perfect.
The Thursday before the holiday, after spending the night with Karma, he arrived to work late—something he had never done before meeting her, but which felt perversely thrilling—Mark turned the corner at the top of the stairs, smiling as she came into view.
Her gaze lifted secretively to his, and color touched her cheeks, making her look like she had a sunburn. Even after reaching the pinnacle of intimacy with one another, he could still make her blush.
“Good morning, Karma. You look rested this morning.”
“I feel rested, thank you.”
He smiled, stopped at her desk, and gazed down appreciatively at the ensemble she had put together while he lay in bed and watched her get dressed. Her new skirt revealed more leg than usual, and the blouse she had bought to go with it exposed more of her modest cleavage. A few months ago, he imagined she never would have worn such an outfit.
Lisa appeared from around the corner, carrying a coffee mug. “Good morning, Mark. How are you today?” Lisa had become a stalwart ally in helping them maintain their secret relationship, and he had grown fond of her.
“I’m well this morning,” he said. “You look nice.”
She glanced down at her patterned summer dress, which hung almost to the floor. “Thank you. Karma and I went shopping last weekend.” Lisa winked at Karma as she dropped a file on her desk. “Well, I should be getting back to my office. Just wanted to bring by some paperwork for Don.” She pointed to the folder. “I’ll talk to you two later.”
“Bye, Lisa.” Karma stood and motioned in the direction of the coffee station. “Coffee?” she said to Mark.
“Yes, please.”
Don was already in his office as Mark passed by. “Good morning, Don.” He waved in.
“Morning, Mark.”
Today, he and Don needed to review a few personnel issues. The time to start making some hard decisions was fast approaching.
As he pulled out his laptop, he glanced over as Karma brought in his coffee.
Will that be all?” she said coquettishly.
“No.” He kept his voice quiet.
“What else do you need?” She dropped her voice, as well.
He licked his lips and let his gaze drop to her skirt, which hit above the knee. “I need to know what you’re wearing under your skirt, Miss Mason.”
She bit her bottom lip for an instant before smiling and whispering, “You already know. You watched me put it on this morning.”
He narrowed his eyes and skimmed them down her body. “Well, tell me, anyway.”
With a lick of her lips, she grinned and said, “I’m wearing a thong. A black, lacy one. Does that work for you?”
He leaned in and grinned. “Yes, that works for me just fine, thank you.”
“Thought so.” With that, she turned on her pretty black high heel and swished her slim hips as she returned to her desk.
Don entered the conference room a few minutes later, closed the door, and sat down across from him.
“Okay, so we’re getting to the hard part,” Mark said, shifting his mind from Karma’s black thong to the meeting.
Don nodded. “Yes.”
Mark had been alluding to the pending personnel discussion for over a week.
“This is the least favorite of all my tasks.” Mark tapped a key on his laptop and brought up the report. “And, just as a reminder, this is only a preliminary discussion.”
“I saw that Karma’s name is on the list,” Don said, concerned.
There was no way Karma was going anywhere. After observing her aside from their extracurricular activities, it was clear she was too valuable to the company.
“This report automatically lists administrative staff. You’ll see that Nancy and Jolene are also on the list, as well as Phil’s assistant.” Phil was Solar’s owner, president, and CEO.
Not that the list was long. There were only ten out of nearly a hundred employees pointed out for suggested termination. He figured six of them would need to go. Karma, Nancy, Phil’s assistant, and one other, a member of IT, would stay, so long as Nancy was willing to take on extra responsibilities. Right now, she was under-utilized but more productive than Jolene. And Jolene needed to go for a lot of reasons. Other than making too many mistakes and possessing an atrocious work ethic, she was also too much of a gossip. Karma already did the brunt of Jolene’s job because the sales and marketing staff had little confidence in Jo’s abilities. And if Jo even knew what the term confidential meant, Mark would be surprised. And, lastly, sleeping with your married boss, who happened to be the son-in-law of the company’s president, was too out-of-bounds even for Mark’s tastes, and he thought of himself as pretty nonjudgmental about other people’s personal lives.
Mark leaned forward and threaded his fingers together. “Don, I can see you’re worried. Trust me. Karma’s not going anywhere. I’m very good at what I do, and I can see how valuable she is. Believe me. I know what’s going on. I know she does half, if not more, of Jolene’s job.”
There was a moment of silence before Don spoke again. “You’re going to recommend Jolene’s termination?”
Mark nodded. “Yes. She’s not pulling her weight, she spends too much time stirring up gossip and spreading rumors, and she’s just not contributing. She’s dead weight, Don. She’s dragging the company down.”
“Jake will fight you.”
“He already tried.”
“You’ve already spoken to Jake about this?”
He had stopped by Jake’s office a few weeks ago when Jolene had been exiting. She had looked guilty, and both of them had been flushed, their clothes rumpled. Jake and Jo could take a lesson from him and Karma about how to have a proper office romance. Rule number one was never fuck at work unless you knew you wouldn’t get caught or could hide it well. Jake and Jo had failed on both counts.
“Yes.”
“And…?”
“Like you said, he resisted at first, but he eventually agreed.” All Mark had needed to do was drop a subtle hint that he knew about Jake’s inappropriate relationship with Jolene to convince him that releasing Jo was the right decision. Jake was more worried about not letting his wife and Phil find out he was screwing his admin than he was in sticking his neck out on Jo’s behalf.
So much for those good looks Jolene relied on to get her out of troubled waters.
Don nodded and sighed as he crossed his arms and rocked back in the chair. “He does like Jolene.” He sounded like he was choosing his words carefully, as if he, too, knew about Jake and Jo’s relationship. “But when it comes to getting the job done, he prefers Karma.”
Mark leaned back, his hands still linked in front of his body. “Do you have a problem sharing Karma with Jake’s department?”
Don shook his head. “No. But that’s a lot of work for one person to do.”
Mark explained his idea to redistribute the administrative tasks to incorporate Nancy more in higher level functions, which would loosen Karma’s schedule.
“That could work nicely for all involved,” Don said. “I think that’s more than do-able.”
“Karma’s a valuable employee. She’s smart, efficient, resourceful.” He knew her passion rested in writing, but she was good at her job here. “She’s a real asset.”
“I’ve been very pleased with her,” Don said.
“Likewise.” That sentiment held dual meaning for Mark. “She’s quite capable. I think she just needs a subtle nudge, and the possibilities are endless.”
“I can tell you’ve been working with her,” Don said, his eyes shrewd. “Since you arrived, her confidence has really improved. I’ve never seen her so eager to dig into new projects. You’ve been good for her, Mark.”
He smiled, thinking of all the ways Karma had changed in the last two months. “I just recognize talent, and I enjoy bringing the best out of people. It’s been fulfilling to watch her grow.”
Don nodded emphatically. “Yes, it has. In two years, I’ve not been able to tap in to that talent the way you have in less than two months. She just seems so much more confident now. Everything about her has changed.” Don met Mark’s eyes in such a way that gave Mark pause. He was an expert in body language and nonverbal communications, and he could swear from the look on Don’s face that he was aware of what was going on between him and Karma. If he was, he didn’t pursue it. Maybe Mark was just overreacting.
A bit ill at ease, Mark averted his gaze and quickly forged ahead. “Well, rest assured, I plan on recommending her to stay, and I am also going to suggest a healthy raise. She deserves it, especially since we’ll be loosening up salaries by letting a few others go. Would you agree?”
“Definitely.”
“Good. We can discuss that when the time comes.” Mark glanced down at his report. “Okay, let’s talk about Ken.” Don’s demeanor had unnerved him, and he was eager to move on. “Ken is—” His cell phone rang, cutting him off. One look at the caller ID made him frown. Chicago Police Department? Why would he be getting a call from the CPD?
“Excuse me. I need to take this.” He held up his index finger. “Hello?”
“Hello. Is this Mark Strong?”
“Speaking.”
“Yes, Mr. Strong. This is Captain Cole from the Chicago Police Department. There was an incident earlier at your apartment. How soon can you meet us there?”
Mark stood and paced toward the window. “What kind of incident?”
“Someone broke in. One of your neighbors found the door forced open. Our guys are there now.”
Was this a joke?
“What? Wait a minute. Are you saying someone broke into my apartment?”
“Yes. We’re investigating now, but—”
Mark began gathering his things. “There are officers at my apartment now?”
“Yes.”
Great. His apartment was crawling with police and he was over two hours away. How the hell had someone gotten inside his apartment? His building was secure. “Is everything okay? Is anything missing?”
“We don’t know. Place has been tossed. Can you come home and take a look around?”
“I’m in Indianapolis on business, but yes, I’m leaving right away.”
“I’m sorry about this, Mr. Strong.”
“Not your fault, Captain. Thanks for calling.”
He hung up and continued shoving papers into his bag. “I have to go. Someone broke into my apartment.”
Don was already on his feet. “So I gathered. Everything okay?”
“The police are there now.” He shut down his laptop. “My apologies, but we’ll have to finish this next week.” Damn it! He’d have to cancel his date this weekend with Karma, too. Their special night downtown…and all the planning and reservations…all of it ruined by some idiot who had decided to play cops and robbers.
“Don’t worry about it, Mark. Get home. Make sure everything’s okay.”
With a brisk nod, he hefted his bag over his shoulder and marched toward the door. As soon as he opened it and set eyes on Karma, he knew she could tell something was wrong.
“I’ll see you week after next, Miss Mason,” he said, willing her not to behave out of character.
To Karma’s credit, she adjusted quickly. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
“I’ve got an emergency back in Chicago. Someone broke into my apartment.”
She gasped. “Oh no. Is everything all right?”
“I’m on my way to find out,” he said.
“I’m sorry.” Disappointment touched her pale eyes, but she quickly replaced it with concern.
He paused for just a heartbeat. “I’m sorry, too.”
He was sorry for having to cancel, for not being able to be here, for having to bail on their weekend.
He tore himself away before he revealed too much of his feelings and hurried down the hall.
Once in his car, he typed out a quick text to Karma. So sorry about tonight. Was looking forward to it. Call you later.
He started the engine and pulled out into traffic as his phone dinged. At the stoplight, he read her reply. Was looking forward to it, too. But this is more important. Talk to you later. xo
He smiled at the xo. Before the light turned green, he sent another text. Will make it up to you. Promise. Xoxo.
Then he called Rob to ask him to go over to his place and hold CPD until he got there.
So much for best-laid plans.