my one ni-ght bo-ss episode 14 & 15

my one ni-ght bo-ss ??

Chapter 14

It takes every ounce of my strength to leave his office. But I do, because I’ve never seen his eyes so cold. I get my things and head for the elevators, trying to hold myself together until I can be truly alone. It’s not working. My face is crumpling in spite of my efforts and I clench my hands to stop the tears. The paper Charles handed me crumples in my hand. I unfold it to find just three sentences, but they stop the flow of tears.

You’re not fired.

I love you.

I’m sorry.

Charles

I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my che-st as I watch Alyssa walk out in tears. I can only hope that she reads that paper soon enough to undo any damage I might have just done. Now I just have to deal with the problem in front of me. A problem that’s bothered me for far too long.

Jennifer laughs when Alyssa disappears. “Good riddance. You can do so much better.”

“Like you?” I ask, pretending a calm that I do not feel.

“If you like.”

I clear my throat. “Jennifer, you’ve worked here for five years. And in five years, you have taken every opportunity to make it clear that you’re interested. If I had any interest, believe me, I would have shown it by now. And all you’ve done here is make sure that you will never, ever, have my kindness or consideration again.”

She grits her teeth. “I did you a favor.”

“No, you blackmailed me. You’re right, I don’t want this company to fail. But if you think at all for one second that I am going to thank you for blackmailing me, you’re more delusional than I thought. Now get the hell out of my office.”

I’m glad that looks have no power, because if they did my death wouldn’t be a kind one. I follow her to the door and close it. Then I lock it behind her. I move away from the door and to the furthest corner of my office and pull out my cell phone to call Alyssa. She answers on the first ring and I don’t wait for her to speak. “I’m sorry, I love you.”

“Why did you do that?” Her voice is still teary, though I don’t think she’s crying anymore.

“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t think of another way to buy us some time.”

“Time for what?”

I lean against the window. “First, I have to know if you forgive me.”

“Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“Never.” I make it a vow to myself that I won’t.

“I forgive you.” She says softly. “Why do we nee-d time?”

“Jennifer is hiding something, and I think we can use it. But I nee-d you to help me find out what it is. She has no reason to be so ‘invested’ in the company as she says.”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Alyssa’s voice so serious, “Do I get to slap her in the process?”

I smile in spite of myself, “I think that can be arranged.”

“Then I’m in.”

Alyssa

I wait outside the office building, and it’s almost dark when Jennifer comes out. “You know, I thought you wanted to be my friend, but it turns out you’re just a bitc-h.”

Jennifer stops in her tracks and turns. She sees me and smiles slowly like something about to hunt prey. “You shouldn’t be on this property anymore. I could have you arrested for tresp@$$ing.”

“But you won’t.” I say.

“How do you know that?”

I roll my eyes, “I won’t even be here long enough for that. I just want to ask you a question, for my own knowledge. Do you really want him that much? Or do you just hate me?”

“Hate you?” She huffs a laugh, “God, I wish. I envy you.”

“I can’t believe that’s how you’re going to pla-y this.”

She gets in my face, “I have been throwing myself at that man for five years. I worked ha-rd, I got every promotion I applied for. I made sure I was the smartest, most dedicated person at the company and he still didn’t see me. Then you show up and he’s fu-cking you within a month, telling you he loves you? Such bullshit.”

“So it is true then. You’re doing all of this because you’re jealous.”

“If I did all this purely for jealousy, I’d be just as stupid as you. Everything I said in there was true. This boat is sinking, and since I am the smartest, most dedicated employee, I’m going to make sure I get a goddamn life raft.”

Her proximity is making me nervous, so I take a step back. “What are you talking about?” She smiles, “What the hell, you were just fired. Nobody is going to believe you when you accuse me of anything. Let’s just say that there are larger hotel companies in the world, and there’s a good position for me when I deliver Saxon Hotels, Inc. to them. I sent off copies of our financials today. There will be a bidding war in progress by the end of this week. So did I do it all for jealousy? No. I did it for piles of money. But screwing you out of a job and screwing Charles out of his investors is just icing on the cake.”

There it is, everything I nee-ded to hear. Now I can do whatever I want. I step forward and slap Jennifer across the face. She’s so shocked that she doesn’t move. So I do it again, ha-rder.

“The first slap was for Charles. The second slap was for me. I’m not going to slap you a third time, because I know that the world already has that in sto-re for you in the future.”

my one ni-ght bo-ss ??

Chapter 15

“The first slap was for Charles. The second slap was for me. I’m not going to slap you a third time, because I know that the world already has that in sto-re for you in the future.”

The look on her face almost feels better than the slap. As I walk away I reach into my pocket and stop my phone’s recording.

Charles

The wait is excruciating. I’ve been pacing the hall in front of my doorway for the better pa-rt of an hour, unwilling to sit in case she knocks. I nee-d to be here when she arrives. I nee-d to tell her I’m sorry again, I nee-d to tell her that I love her.

When the buzzer finally sounds I nearly fall over myself to open the door. She’s really standing there, and she’s smiling at me. Even after she said she’d forgiven me there was a pa-rt of me that worried I’d never see that smile on her face again.

“You look messy.” She says, “It’s se-x y.”

I pull her inside and press her against the door, kizzing her as ha-rd as I dare. “I’m sorry.” I say, when I manage to pull myself away between kizzes, “I’m so sorry.” “Don’t you want to know what happened?”

“No.” I say, and it comes out as a growl. “Right now I want to kizz you until you forget what happened.”

She places a hand on my face, p-ulling me back gently. “As much as I love kizzing you, and you really don’t have any idea how much I do, you nee-d to hear this.”

Fine. I pull her into the living room with me and down onto the couch, arranging her on my lap. She pulls the phone out of her pocket and pla-ys the recording. A steely rage takes over my mind. Jennifer wants other companies to take apa-rt Saxon piece by piece. That’s not going to happen. I retrieve my own cell phone and call the building. I talk to security and make sure that Jennifer Hayes’ p@$$ into the building is cancelled, and that she is to be escorted off the premises immediately. Now that I have cause, firing her is the first thing I’m
going to do in the morning.

When I hang up Alyssa is beaming at me. “I bet that felt almost as good as me getting to slap her.”

“No, but I think getting the security footage of her being escorted out of the building will definitely feel that good.”

Alyssa giggles. “Can I watch?”

“Of course.”

We’ve snuggled together on the couch, her legs propped over mine, her head leaning against my shoulder. “I really am sorry, Alyssa.”

“Please stop apologizing. It all worked out. We’re here. We’re together. But we still have to figure out a solution for Heely and the company. Even if Jennifer is fired there’s nothing to keep her from spinning things the way she did in your office. I don’t want things to fall apa-rt because people think you were too busy with me.”

I smile, “I’ve already figured that out.”

“You have? When?”

“While I was pacing the apa-rtment waiting for you to get here.”

She looks at me expectantly, “Well, are you going to tell me?”

“No.” I lean down and kizz her. “Not yet, anyway.”

She huffs, “Why not?”

“Because we won, and I don’t want to talk about business for a while. I want to talk about us.”

“Okay,” she says, relaxing further into me.

“Are you hungry?”

She pla-ys with the bu-ttons on my shirt, “Not really, why?”

“Just wondering.”

“No,” She sits up straighter, “You’re hedging. What do you want to say?” “Well, it’s actually more like something I want to ask.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes, “I’m waiting.”

“Do you remember when I asked you to trust me?”

She pulls her hands away, “Yes.”

“We took one big step in our relationship today, and I’d like it if we took another.”

“You want to tie me up.” She says quietly. It’s not a sad quiet, more contemplative, and I feel a spark of hope.

“I do want that. If you’re not ready for it, that’s fine. I’m not going to pressure you into it by making it into a fantasy you can’t resist. I’m not going to manipulate you that way. Although, I will tell you I do find it unbelievably se-x y.”

“Why now?” She says, ru-b-bing her palms together.

“Because I want you to know that you can trust me. de-ep trust. In here.” I press my hand against her stomach. “I can’t think of a better way to show you that.”

She takes my face in her hands and pulls me closer, looking into my eyes. Looking for something. She must find it, because she says “Yes.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

I close the space between our two faces. “You’re not just saying that to make me happy, right?”

“No.” She bursts out laughing. “It’s something I’ve thought about. I wanted to be sure. This is a good time. And if I’m not actually ready, there’s always rule number three.”

“Yes there is.” I say, p-ulling her to her feet and towards my bedroom.

“Hang on a second, when you asked me if I was hungry you were asking because—” “It’s going to be a while until we’re finished. You nee-d to keep your strength up.” I pull her into my bedroom and spin her so her back is against my che-st and she gets of the view of the bed. The very large bed that I’ve always been a little bit proud of. She covers my hands with hers. “I already said yes. Are you going to tell me how se-x y it is now?”

“It is se-x y.” I whisper in her ear, “You’re going to be spr-ead open for me, unable to move while I take you whatever way I want.” I feel the shiver that runs throu-ghher, and I kizz her ne-ck. “Get undressed.”

Tbc