parking lot two minutes behind schedule. A tree had come down overnight, blocking the closest route from Samantha’s school to his office. As he splashed through the puddles, he felt the urgency of being tardy slowly close in on him. He did not want to give Schworst an opportunity to jump on his back—Dave was not in the headspace to deal with that sort of confrontation this morning.
He smiled weakly and nodded to a few of his coworkers as he made his way swiftly to his desk. He shrugged out of his jacket and cast a quick look towards the main office. It was still dark—the glass windows reflected emptily back at him. Schworst had probably been drinking hard last night and that meant he wouldn’t be showing his face until at least noon. As much as this made for a nice peaceful morning, when Schworst did finally surface accompanied by a hangover, he was explosive with rage towards anyone who even looked in his direction. Dave dreaded these occurrences, not because he couldn’t take the unfounded humiliation, but because of how pathetic his boss revealed himself to be when he chose to demean someone the rest of the office respected. He shrugged it off and took a deep breath.
The moment Dave sat down he felt some of the tension leave his body. Here, he was away from the house and his family. Here he could focus, complete his tasks, and find his inner balance once again.
He worked steadily through the morning, as precisely and efficiently as he could. He completed double what he would have in a normal day. Dave felt such vigor, a burst of adrenaline that allowed him to attack the work in a way that would leave no place in his mind for bad energy.
He didn’t look up until he heard the front doors slamming open at half-past two. In stormed Kyle Schworst looking haggard and enraged. Confront the beast before it confronts you! The thought immediately jumped into Dave’s mind as he swept up all the motions, subpoenas, contracts and messages and sprung from his desk. He strode purposely towards Schworst, ready to meet him head on.
“Good Afternoon, Sir,” Dave began in a clipped though polite tone. “I think you’ll find everything you need here for the next three days or so.”
Schworst stared at him through wide, bleary eyes before ripping the stack of papers out of his hands with a snarl and storming off towards his office.
Dave felt a surge of satisfaction, maybe something would go right today after all.
The rest of the afternoon was busy. Dave spent most of the time on the phone. But whenever he stopped for a moment to take a breath, he felt eyes on him. He wasn’t sure who it was since he’d not looked up from his work since Schworst came in. He didn’t have to wait too long to find out.
At ten to five a set of long, sharp, crimson fingernails rapped against the top of his desk—directly on top of the contract he was currently reading. Dave glanced up to be confronted with a set of startlingly blue eyes and a pair of pouty red lips to match the nails.
“Hi there,” her voice was smooth like honey.
Dave cleared his throat, feeling as if he swallowed sandpaper.
“Can I help you?” he asked politely.
She leaned closer over the desk, allowing him an ample view of her very generous cleavage.
“Actually yes,” she purred, sliding her toned thigh onto the side of his desk so she could perch above him. Dave did not miss the line of her garters before they slipped back beneath her tight pencil skirt as she shifted her hips seductively.
He raised his eyebrows at her and waited. Her smile deepened with interest before she continued. “I was wondering how I’ve been here for two weeks and have still not been introduced to you.”
“I didn’t want to crowd you, um—“ Dave pretended as if he did not know her name.
“Desiree,” she whispered smoothly, extending her hand towards him. “Desiree DeLongo.”
“Pleasure,” Dave assured her with a tight smile and quick shake, before turning back to his work.
“You’re Dave, right?” she continued, clearly unbothered by his dismissal of her.
“That’s right,” he frowned in concentration, focusing on the words in front of him.
“Well, David,” she drawled, “How is it that every man in this firm has tried to fuck me except you?”
If Dave had been drinking his coffee, he would have spit it everywhere. He glanced around terrified that one of his coworkers might overhear this suddenly lewd conversation.
He accidentally locked eyes with Schworst, who was watching the two of them through his office windows with pure malevolence. Desiree followed his sight line and gave Kyle a mocking little wave before turning back to her prey.
“So? Why is that?” she prompted him.
Dave realized he was going to have to be strong with her, it was obvious to him that Desiree very rarely heard the word no.
“I’m married. Happily married,” he included, leaving no room for her to push forward.
Instead she let out a big yawn.
“Well if you ever get bored of that...” She slid a card out from under her sleeve like a magician and dropped it on his desk.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, his tone suggesting he was done playing her game.
“Pleasure was all mine, David. I hope it continues to be.”
For some reason her voice made Dave feel an increase of the dread he thought dissipated—it returned to him now in full force. Desiree sauntered away, swinging her alluring hips, he was sure, for his distinct pleasure. But Dave felt no pleasure, and with good reason.
He began to pack up his things, the desperate need for fresh air overtaking him when Schworst bellowed his name. With a deep breath, Dave turned and headed into his boss’s office. Schworst was smiling, which was never a good sign. It only took Dave three seconds to identify his glee. All of the paperwork Dave had given him only a few hours before was now covered in what looked like a half-eaten Sloppy Joe.
“Spilled my lunch,” Schworst explained, looking anything but sorry. “Guess you’ll have to stay late tonight Davey—redo all of this crap.” He gestured to the pile of ruined papers.
With a nod of his head, Dave grabbed his ruined work off the desk and turned back out into the office. The feeling of injustice made his chest tight with the words he longed to say to his boss. He sent a quick text to Georgette as the office emptied, letting her know he would be late. As he sat back down at his desk, Desiree strolled by and sent him a sly wink as she left. With a firm frown, Dave tossed her card into the trash and got down to it.