The next weeks flew by, a hormone drenched blur of secret glances and surreptitious touching.

We found many excuses to get out of the office for ‘inspections’. They say not to mix business with pleasure but I can’t figure out why. I’m not sure our clients would appreciate our christening each outlet we visited, but I guess what they don’t know won’t hurt them. Georgina left a very clear imprint of her butt on one of the counters, prompting a quick dash to retrieve some wipes and tissues to rectify.

Steve was ever present when we were in the office, guiding and driving us whenever we hit approval milestones. Sometimes Georgina would look at me during these meetings, and I’d be overwhelmed with the urge to start giggling. The corners of my mouth would start to curl upwards and Georgina would get a cheeky twinkle in her eye, enjoying my struggles and seemingly reading my thoughts. Unwanted images of our previous nights would flash through my mind, provoking powerful arousals at the most inopportune moments.

I was slowly settling into my new role, though it took some getting used to. Other people in the office would come to me for guidance or directions for certain decision paths, and my first reaction was ‘ok, why are you coming to me…? Oh, that’s right…’. After the initial weeks I’m getting the hang of it with the help of some coaching from Steve every couple of days. He would often pepper me with questions, forcing me to think about the other aspects outside of my usual department and focus.

Then one Monday morning, everything changed.

I had not heard back from Georgina from the previous night, my text remained unread through to the next morning. I thought nothing of it, figuring that she had gone to bed early as we had been up late several nights during the week. But she didn’t come in to work until quite late, well after ten and looked a mess. Her hair was a bit wild and her eyes bloodshot red as she made a beeline straight to Steve’s office. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding my gaze, and an unsettled feeling of dread began to creep up from my stomach.

Steve and Georgina talked for a few minutes as I tried my very best not to gawk. Steve was mostly listening and nodding, and eventually they stood, and Steve put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. She left in a hurry, almost bolting for the exit and worried questions rose to the surface of my thoughts, and a cold rush swept through me. Steve walked over to my station and sat beside me in Georgina’s chair.

‘Hey Alex, listen – Georgina is going to be off for a few days, something has come up and she’s taking some time. Will you be ok to continue on the contracts flying solo in the meantime?’ He asked me.

‘Uhh, sure.’ I managed, my thoughts a quandary. ‘Everything ok though?’

‘Mmm, hopefully after a few days. Sounds like boy trouble.’ He replied.

Sorry, what now? Disquiet dissolved into alarm.

‘Yeah I’ll be fine on my own for now’ I lied. I felt like I’d been hit by a tonne of bricks and struggled to keep my outward composure. Steve was watching me intently and I took a deep breath to steady myself.

‘Alright, well let me know if you run into any trouble. We’ll make do for now, and can come back to the legal aspects later on.’ He stood, patting my shoulder gently as he made his way back to his office.

My heart was beating as though attempting to escape from my ribcage. I felt sick, confused, crushed. Questions clamoured through my head, bursting like fireworks one after the other. What’s going on? Is she ok? Are we ok? Boy trouble? What boy? My brain frantically rewound through our last interactions, looking for clues or moments where something was off between us.

The day passed at an excruciatingly slow crawl. An hour or so after lunch, Grace came over and sat beside me to go through a couple of the performance reports for the staff. Steve had delegated writing them up to me, but had conducted the interviews for these current quarterlies. I had no idea what the hell I was doing with them, so was grateful to have Grace’s help filling them.

‘You seem a little distracted today, Alex.’ She stated at one point.

‘Yeah, I didn’t get the best sleep last night.’ I tried to cover for my obvious preoccupation.

She gave me a slight evaluating look, and smiled in that consolatory way people do when they don’t really believe you but respect that you don’t want to talk about it.

‘Well, sometimes things don’t work out the way we want them to, no matter how badly we hope they do.’ Her voice was soft and reassuring. ‘It feels at the time that we won’t get through it, but we always do.’

I scratched at my chin, discomfort etched across my face. Does she know about Georgina and I?

‘New roles always take time to adjust to.’ She continued smoothly. ‘Give yourself some time and don’t be too hard on yourself. I’m hearing good things so far from the other staff, you’ve got a good knack with people.’

Oh good, she’s talking about work. I felt some of the tension ease like air slowly escaping from a balloon.

‘Thanks, Grace. I appreciate you saying, that makes me feel much better’. I said.

We spent the next hour going through the staff evaluations, Grace explaining how each section needed to be filled and best uses of wording and criteria’s. It helped to take my mind off Georgina for the time being and as we were finishing up I was feeling much more human again. I thanked Grace again for being patient with me and teaching me so well.

‘Well let me teach you one last thing then. Try to remember that even if someone doesn’t want you, it will not change your value as a human being. Young girls’ hearts can be fickle and not always want the ones best for them, and that’s something everyone has to learn as they mature.’ Her eyes were kind.

I let out a long sighing breath, my face scrunching up as I looked at her squinting through one eye.

‘Ah.’ I simply said.

‘You two aren’t as discrete as you might think - oh don’t look at me like that. Your secret is safe with me.’ She rose to head back over to her desk. ‘All’s not lost, so don’t give into despair just yet. Only time will tell.’

I nodded slowly, both chagrined to discover we were being so obvious, but also relieved to have someone in my corner. I spent the rest of the afternoon filling in the evaluation reports, handing them over to Steve as I was packing up to leave. He skimmed through them quickly, his quick nods like ticks as he went through my work. He thanked me as I made my way out of the office.

Arriving home, my apartment felt overly quiet and empty. I sank into the couch, trying (and failing) to not check my phone every five minutes for an incoming message. A horrible, unshakeable feeling haunted me all throughout the evening. Wanting to know what was going on, but also dreading to find out. Around 8pm a message beeped on my phone but was just a scam message asking me to click on a dodgy link.

I made myself dinner kind of on autopilot and tried to watch a movie, but my thoughts were miles away. My mind was on an endless loop, cycling through concern, confusion, hurt and anger as the not knowing plagued havoc on my soul. Had I said something to upset her? Did I do something? It was like a jigsaw puzzle with too many missing pieces. Around 10pm I relented to writing the day off and made my way to bed, prompting other memories of our time there together.

Boop.

Just as I had drifted off my phone received an incoming message. I flicked the screen on to find Georgina had messaged me. I blinked my eyes several times, becoming suddenly fully awake.

Hey you, sorry about today. Something has come up that I need to deal with, but I hope you’re ok :Georgina

I read the message several times before responding.

Alex: Is everything ok? Are you ok?

My phone stayed silent for several long minutes.

I’m fine, it’s sweet of you to worry. Taylor is here with me and needs my help, I just need a bit of space for the time being :Georgina

Well, that explains things I suppose. My heart sank.

I don’t want you to worry, we’re fine :Georgina

I mulled the last message over. Who was the ‘we’? Did she mean the two of us? Or that Taylor and she were fine. I prevaricated on how to respond, desperately wanting clarification but not wanting to come across as insecure.

Alex: I’m glad to hear it. Let me know if you need any help from me

Her last message slid into the message thread.

<3 :Georgina

So ‘we’re fine’ but Taylor is there? A tornado of thoughts tore through my tired head, dragging everything up in it’s path. What did the love heart at the end mean? Thanks for being a pushover and not causing a scene? Why was her ex-boyfriend there, and what did he need help with? There was no going back to sleep now, as uncertainty took it’s dark hold.

I was awake long into the night, tossing and turning. Suddenly the blankets would be too hot for me and I’d push one leg out from under them, curling around the covers on my side. I couldn’t get comfortable, or calm myself enough to fall asleep. My mind started to play like a movie projector, torturing me with scenes of them being intimate together.

Taylor towers over Georgina, with a big grin on his face as she eagerly pulled him to her. They kiss passionately as she straddles him standing, wrapping her legs around his hips as he begins to thrust himself into her. They moan between kisses, consummating their lust for each other. Her hands clasp behind his neck as he pushes her against the wall and thrusts himself hard into her.

I rolled over onto my other side, my breathing heavy and anguished.

Georgina kneels at Taylor’s feet, worshipping his cock with her lips. She makes begging, whimpering noises as he fills her mouth with his enormous prick. He begins to gyrate his hips, pushes himself deeper as she relinquishes herself to him completely. He begins to crest and –

I sat up in bed, breathing heavily. I tried to settle myself, before easing back down to rest among my pillows.

Georgina on all fours, her riding crop clenched between her teeth. She shimmies like a cat across the floor to deliver her catch to Taylor, who accepts it. He then commences to whip it hard across her backside as she cries out in ecstasy, exhorting him on. He obliges and increases his tempo like a man possessed.

A long sigh escaped my lips, my brow furrowed and my mind in turmoil.

Georgina tied up to the bed, her body shaped like an X. Taylor teases and tortures her with a vibrating wand, bringing her to climax after screaming climax. She writhes and convulses across the sheets, unable to escape and seemingly not really wanting to.

I squeezed my pillow up tight against my neck and cheek.

Taylor and Georgina laying together contently, arm in arm. They laugh mockingly and make cruel jokes about what a fool Alex is. Taylor shakes his head and whispers in Georgina’s ear, making her laugh even harder than before. Their cackles echo out into the night.

I sat up abruptly, kicking my legs off the side of the bed. This was getting out of control, and I needed to get a grip. You’re being silly, I told myself, just relax and try to get some sleep. I got up briefly and poured myself a glass of water. Standing in the light of the kitchen, reality and sanity began to seep back in, my previous ugly fantasies evaporating like bad dreams.

Eventually I drifted off, my dreams were disturbed and tinged with anxiety. The next day at work I felt tired and worn down, struggling to keep my eyes open during the afternoon. Throughout the day my eyes would stray over to Georgina’s empty chair, a physical symbol of my emotions. One such glance caused me to flick my gaze further over my shoulder to find Grace watching me, her lips pressed sympathetically together. Hang in there, she seemed to be saying.

The next few days were spent revising the new contracts, which caused me to miss her in another way. She has a knack with the wording that just doesn’t occur to me naturally, and I did my best to emulate her legalise but it felt like I was trying to write with my off-hand. The days passed slowly, and though I hoped to hear from her, she remained radio silent.

Thursday rolled around and I was starting to feel like my old self, the awful yawning feeling of worry gradually fading. Grace brought me home made cookies, and I made a big show of sharing them out to our other co-workers. Talking around a mouth full of cookie, ohhh you really have to try these – they’re the best! Grace waved it off saying they were just something she whipped up, but I could tell she was glowing from everyone giving her praise. It felt good to give something back since she’d been so kind to me.

Doing effectively a double workload kept me busy throughout the day, and I started delegating tasks to some of the other staff. Steve was tracking me with his eyes the whole time, and though he never said anything, there was a hint of approval in his demeanour. Kicking ass and taking names! The last few hours flew by, and I stretched my arms back behind my neck to relieve the tension in my back.

The office suddenly came alive with greetings, and I spun my chair around to see what the fuss was about. Georgina was standing by the doorway, a very tall and handsome man standing beside her, which could only be Taylor. I felt as though a trap door had opened beneath me.

They progressed through each of the staff, weirdly looking like when royal couples meet and greet with the common folk. I swallowed hard and tried to keep my cool as they made their way over to me. I rose to my feet and attempted my best smile under duress.

‘And this - Is Alex.’ Georgina introduced me, with slightly odd emphasis.

Taylor stepped in and gripped my hand tightly in handshake, nodding in my direction.

‘Hey’ He said.

‘Hey’ I returned, as our antlers clacked hard against each other.

Georgina began to explain to Taylor what we did at work, showing him some documents on her computer screen. As she spoke about how we were paired to find and sort out new acquisitions, Taylor was watching her face closely, never following her finger as she pointed at various items on the screen. And there we stood, me watching Taylor, Taylor watching Georgina, and Georgina seemingly obvious to all. After a few minutes, Taylor excused himself to go to the bathroom.

‘How are you?’ Georgina asked me, her voice oddly tense suddenly. Her eyes took on a different caste, and very difficult to read.

‘Yeah I’m doing ok.’ A hundred questions welling in my throat.

‘That’s good.’ Things felt surreal, as though we were exchanging pleasantries in the middle of a hurricane. Her lips parted as she was about to say something, but then Taylor cut in.

‘Hey, should we head off?’ The man must piss like a fire hydrant.

Georgina nodded, the strange unreadable ambiguous look in her eyes vanished. They made their goodbyes to everyone and started to head off. Georgina dropped her handbag and turned to give me a quick look, the familiar deviousness in her eyes. She gave me a very deliberate wink and faintest of blown kisses. Time stood still.

A few moments passed, my thoughts spinning in a centrifuge as Grace’s voice floated in from above my head.

‘So, how are you going? That must’ve been a bit of a shock.’ Her tone soothing.

‘I wasn’t expecting that.’ I replied, unable to keep how unsettled I felt from showing.

‘Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I think someone was doing a bit of ‘show and tell’ during that little meet and greet.’ She said sagely.

‘Why would she want to show Taylor off to me?’ I asked, confused. Grace deadpanned me.

‘The other way around, you goose. She was showing you off.’

‘What does that mean?’ I asked.

Grace rolled her eyes heavenward.

‘It means you’re still in the game. And I’d put betting money that you have the winning hand, you just might have to play your cards right.’ She smiled enigmatically.

‘But what about-‘ I started, before Grace cut me.

‘Just be patient.’ She said curtly, her tone indicating the discussion was over. ‘Go home and get some rest, big day tomorrow.’

I left for home and navigated the busy peak hour traffic, backtracking through the events of the afternoon. The uneasy knot slowly untangled itself in my stomach, and I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner. I picked up a nice fillet steak to have with roasted onions and garlic, and bashed potato chats. I sat to eat it while watching one of the new shows on Netflix, savouring each juicy bite and feeling like I hadn’t tasted anything in a week.

I settled into bed contentedly later that night, feeling the most wonderful sense of comfort and ease. I drifted for a long while, being taken bit by bit off to sleep on a warm tide. Just as I was almost in dream land, my phone blipped with a new message.

It was from Georgina.

I miss you x