I felt calm and relaxed, but my hands kept shaking. Almost jittery, like I'd drank too much coffee and was suffering for it. When the elevator came, dinging its arrival, I stumbled inside and braced myself against the back wall. No one else was here with me. The doors closed, but without directions on where to go, the elevator stayed put.
I finally hit the button for the floor I wanted. Leaning against the wall, I watched the numbers pass by above the door as I rose past floor after floor. It was late, but not too late, so apparently no one was using the elevators right now; not time to go home, but every time sensitive issue involving walking through the office had already been dealt with.
The elevator chimed my arrival and the doors slid open. No one was coming in, so I scurried out and into the open hallway. Nothing. Strange? This didn't seem right, but I blamed it on my anxiety more than anything else. Just an excuse, Jessika, I told myself. Why are you making excuses? Go and do this and be done with it.
I hurried down the hallway, nearly tripping on the carpets. To Solomon's office, fast, quicker, my heels thudding against the carpeted floor in frenzied strikes. Once I arrived, I nearly opened the door without thinking.
"Calm down!" I hissed to myself. Then I knocked on the door to Solomon Royce's office.
Nothing. No one. I waited and knocked again, but no one answered. When I knocked a third time with still no answer, I decided it was safe. Twisting the knob to his office, hoping beyond hope he hadn't locked the door before he left, I winced and expected the worst.
The door opened easily enough. I pushed inwards and stepped inside. The light in the corner, the one I needed to look under, lit up the room. No one was inside though, nothing unusual. I scampered in, closed the door behind me, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Well, that was easy. What was I worried about? And, anyways, it wasn't like something could happen. I knew this, but I'd gotten myself worked up and nervous anyways. What would Solomon do? I'd warded off his advances before, so I could do it again. And his usual assistant, Daphne? I had no idea who she was, but I doubted she'd be an issue.
With all that settled, no longer panicking, I hurried to the lamp. When I went to lift it up and steal whatever lay beneath it, it wouldn't budge. I pulled harder, yanking on the thing, but no. Checking carefully, I noticed it was bolted into the floor. Nothing too high tech, just screws, but who did that? I didn't have a screwdriver, either.
Solomon must have one, in his desk or something. How else would he fit something under the lamp? Maybe he wanted to just leave it there, but I doubted it. Rushing to his desk, I opened the drawers and rifled through his belongings. It didn't take long to find a tiny screwdriver, so my hunch must have been right.
And then I went to do what needed to be done. Unscrewing the screws, I left them on the side of the carpet and then lifted up the base of the lamp. Hidden beneath it I found a small USB flash drive. I grabbed it, tossed it into the front pocket of my shirt, and started screwing the base of the lamp back into the floor.
Before I finished, I heard someone at the door. Argh! Could I not get a break? Oh well, it didn't matter. I swept the rest of the screws, along with the screwdriver, under the couch and got up. Whomever it was, I'd just run right past them, make up some excuse, apologize for being here because I must have had the wrong room, then leave.
That all mostly went according to plans, except when Solomon entered his own office. Before I could hurry past him, apologizing for intruding and telling him my excuse, he grabbed my forearm and pulled me back in. Closing the door behind him, he pushed the button on the knob to lock it, then hauled me to his couch.
"You, again," he said, smiling. "To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?"
I murmured my answer, the words coming out in a garbled mess of nonsense.
"What?" he asked. "Speak up. Calm down."
I repeated myself. "I'm sorry, Mr. Royce. I must have had the wrong room."
"What were you looking for?" he asked.
"The weekly reports," I muttered. "Joel Newgood asked me to get them for him."
"Did he?"
"Yes. I thought he said they'd be on your desk, and since you weren't here I figured it wouldn't be any trouble if I just grabbed them, but..."
"Joel Newgood went on vacation yesterday," Solomon said. "He won't be back for two weeks."
I stared at Solomon blankly. Was he serious, or trying to catch me in a lie? The look on his face seemed deadly serious, but I really had no way to tell. Either way, I didn't belong here. I could deny it, continue on with my false excuse, and dig myself deeper, or...
Or what? I had no other options.
"I've been thinking about you," Solomon said. "The other day, on the couch. Do you remember, Jessika?"
I gulped and nodded. "Yes, sir."
He squeezed my arm in his fingers, leaving thin red marks, then threw me onto the couch. "I'd like to re-enact that little scene, if you don't mind. I wasn't entirely satisfied with your work performance then, and I think you owe me something."
I stammered. "I-I, no, it's... I don't feel comfortable with that."
"Why are you really here?" he asked.
"I was trying to do my job," I said, sticking with some general excuse. Joel Newgood or not, I still looked like I worked here.
"You realize, Jessika, that everyone's left for the day. Almost everyone, that is. Mr. Landseer decided to allow a rare early leave from work to celebrate an especially sweet accomplishment. Landseer Enterprises has just made a deal with another company that's previously been very reluctant to work with us. The future is looking bright."
"No one told me," I whimpered. Trying to escape his seething gaze, I pressed myself against the back of the cool leather couch.
"That's funny. First, no one told you that Joel Newgood went on vacation, and next no one told you that you could've left the office a bit over an hour ago? That's quite a coincidence, don't you think?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. I'm sorry."
"I think you wanted to be here for some other reason. I think you saw something you liked when you were my assistant the other day, and you decided to wait until the other office workers left so you could sneak in and grab it. Was it the perfume? Sweet, isn't it? Unfortunately I've already given it away. To my lover."
I remembered now. Of course I knew of the perfume, the citrusy smelling one with a hint of vanilla and something else, but I realized now that I knew it from two places. Solomon's office, yes, but then I'd smelled it on Beatrice that night, too. When she wore it, it must have settled and mixed with her natural scent, giving it a slightly different aroma. Still, I should have recognized it!
If I did, if... What? There was nothing I could do.
"I," Solomon said, "have a wonderful idea. Let's forget all about this. I don't want to get you into trouble, you know. I'm sure we can come up with a better solution, one that works in both of our favors."
"Yes." I nodded fast. "Yes, let's do that."
And then he was on me. His mouth latched onto mine and he pressed himself atop me on the couch. Caught off guard, I stared at him in shock. Only when he'd managed to undo half of the buttons on my blouse did I regain some of my composure.
"Solomon!" I said through his kisses. "What are you...?"
"Quiet, whore," he said. "That's what you're going to be if you don't want me to expose you as a thief and have you fired on the spot. Just stay quiet and enjoy this, or I will completely ruin any chance you have at working for Landseer Enterprises in the future. Not just that, but I have contacts in many places. Please don't make me do that to you."
He continued unbuttoning my shirt while I tried to slap his hands away. Forceful and with no regard for me or my thoughts, he grabbed my hands in one arm and thrust them over my head, pinning them to the wall behind his office couch. With his free hand, he yanked open my blouse and admired my bra-covered br**sts.
"Nice," he said. "I wish you were more cooperative. I'd like to take off the rest of your clothes, but I'm afraid you're just going to do or say something unnecessary."
"Please," I said. "You can't do..."
Before I could say more, he spread my legs open and jammed his hand between my thighs. I sputtered and coughed, surprised at the suddenness of it. Without a care in the world, Solomon pulled aside my panties and palmed my bare, hot sex.
"Mmm," he said. "You're so warm. Not wet, yet, but I'll fix that. You'll get into the mood very fast."
He moved his hand and I tried to scream, but before I could he shoved me onto the couch. Disoriented, I blinked away my surprise and tried to recompose myself. Before I could, he heaved himself on top of me and pinned me to the couch, covering my mouth with his hand.
"Don't scream," he said. "Just accept this. You know you want it. I felt your heat and your passion. You're struggling, but that's all a part of the game, isn't it?"
I only saw his eyes, his face, up close and blocking my view of everything else. What I heard frightened me, though. A zipper, his, coming undone. He ostensibly fumbled with his pants, unbuttoning them and pulling out his cock. He pulled my thighs apart, ready to drive himself into me, and...
"Ahem!" someone said from the doorway.
Solomon panicked and jumped to his feet, up and away from me, off of me. He stood at attention and looked to the figure standing in his office doorway, calmly replacing his shaft inside his pants and zipping them up.
Asher Landseer. It was Asher. I blinked away tears, ashamed at myself, and hurried to button up my blouse. Asher stared at me, frowning, looking so very disappointed.
"I see you've found my assistant," Asher said. "Thank you, Solomon. I wasn't sure where she'd gone off to."
"Your assistant?" Solomon asked, brow furrowed. "She said she was helping Joel Newgood."
"She must have been confused. I told her to go to Joel's office."
"For what?" Solomon asked, suspicious.
"The weekly reports? What else would she go there for?"
Solomon cursed under his breath and stomped his foot on the carpet. "This isn't what it looks like, Asher. I thought she was off the clock. She was coming on to me rather strong."
"She does that," Asher said. "She doesn't mean to, though. We're working on it. Right, Jessika?"
I staggered to my feet and nodded, nearly in tears. "Yes, I'm sorry. I was mistaken. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to do it."
Solomon brushed it off, scoffing. "I don't care, really. Just tell her to keep her hormones in check next time."
Asher nodded. "Of course. Sorry for the inconvenience."
With that, as I stumbled towards the door, towards Asher, he grabbed me. Asher pulled me out of Solomon's office, glaring and gritting his teeth. We left without closing the door, and a moment later I heard it slam shut. Looking down the hallway while Asher dragged me along, I saw Solomon walking the other way, away from us.
"My f**king God," Asher said, barely above a whisper. "You. Are. Seriously... My f**king God!"
"I'm so sorry," I said, sobbing. Tears streamed down my face. "I'm so sorry, Asher. I'm so sorry."