Page 60 of My Boss

I step outside and a blast of cold air hits me. God, the wind is pretty bad. Snow up to my ankles, whiteness everywhere and still coming down.

I pull out a pack of cigarettes from my jacket pocket and give one to Jan.

“You first,” he says.

He doesn’t have to say it twice. I want a smoke to die for. I pull out a cig, fire it up and inhale, almost hitting my diaphragm.

Oh, how good. The first drag is the best. The second one would probably be great, too, but unfortunately, I’m not given a taste of it because Jan takes the cigarette from me and puts it in his mouth. I watch him squint his eyelids as the smoke enters his eye, then take a drag, hold the smoke and let it out through his nose.

Oh, my. He can even smoke sexy.

“Not good,” he states. After a moment, he inhales again and tilts his head back, blowing out a cloud of smoke.

“I can see how bad you think it is,” I snort, pulling a new cigarette out of the pack and lighting it up. “I’m leading you down the wrong path. Ten years of abstinence, and you’re falling off the wagon. And this on a day when people are trying to stay in check. You know what they say: as Christmas Eve goes, so goes the whole year.”

“I don’t believe in superstitions.” Jan looks at me, and I see a shadow in his eyes. “But this one just seems to work.”

“Not really.” I let out a puff of smoke. “If it worked, the entire year would have brought arguments with my parents and getting drunk unconscious on the couch. And I only spent half of it that way.” I laugh; however, he is still serious.

He looks at me and takes a drag on his cigarette. It’s maddening to me what’s in that head of his.

“What are you thinking about?” I ask.

“About you.”

How nice.

“And what did you come up with?” I take a drag.

“That I have to fire you.”

I start choking on the smoke.

“What,” I cough. “You can’t be serious?”

“And how do you imagine it going forward?”

“Easy.” I clear my throat. I have a bad taste in my mouth. “As before.”

Jan lifts his eyebrows.

“Do you really think that after I took you from behind, under the window, in the office… After I fucked you hard in your sexy mouth, in the corridor, in the office… After I fucked your tight pussy with my tongue, also in the corridor, in the office, we will be able to work normally, day after day, for a minimum of eight hours each, in the same damn office?”

God, what is with him and the office? I understand it all, but there’s no need to be so blunt. I bite the inside of my cheek because besides knowing what Jan means, I also have to admit that he is right. Nothing will ever be normal again. Everything is fucked-up.

“But you can’t fire me because of that.”

“I didn’t mean a radical dismissal.” He frowns, as if thinking about something. He looks serious now, mature. He inhales, lets the smoke out and watches it rise higher and higher among the billowing snowflakes.

“Meaning? What exactly did you mean?”

He picks up my gaze.

“I can no longer be your direct supervisor, Maria.” His voice sounds almost like he regrets it. “After Christmas, I will recommend your candidacy to the head of the R&D department. Just as you wanted.”

I feel a stab between my ribs. Just two months ago, I would have jumped with joy and applauded. But I am not at all cheerful. The R&D department is on the second floor, ours on the thirty-third, and that means I won’t be seeing Jan at all. Given the way my boss (soon to be ex) works, the chances that I will see him again at all are slim. Well, unless I make trips to the financial branch to consult on some pressing matters.

I am pulled from my thoughts by the sound of a horn. A passing cab driver does a facepalm, seeing some drunk staggering by the curb. Only now do I notice that the street isempty, oddly quiet and peaceful. Strange, after all, as we are almost in the center of the city.

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