Page 12 of The Boardroom: Jonathan
“Mm-hmm,” Kirk said, raising his eyebrows and urging me to continue. “And?”
“Well, back when the Torver Group was starting out, remember how I basically lived in that shed behind my parent’s place? And that’s where I would bring girls to…” I sighed. “So, in the dream, I was living back there, and I brought a girl back, and—”
“Get to the point, Torver.”
“It was Samantha Doyle.”
Kirk’s face morphed into a bizarre combination of joy and shock as he suddenly slapped both his hands down on the steering wheel. “No,” he said cackling. “Nah man, that is too good! SamanthaDoyle! You didn’t!” He was laughing so hard that I was getting concerned about him still being able to operate the car. “Oh my god, you had sex withSamantha Doyle. Damn!”
He kept laughing.
“Let me remind you,” I told Kirk. “That this was completely the work of my subconscious mind and that I had absolutely nothing to do with it, okay?”
Kirk grinned. “So, was it good?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Aw please, even in dream sex you can tell how good it is.”
I looked away from Kirk and shrugged. “It was actually…it was actually pretty good. Really good.” I admitted, and judging by the look on Kirk’s face you would have sworn he’d just won the lottery.
“I knew there was chemistry between you two.”
I scoffed. “We only just got past hating each other, Kirk, I don’t think so.”
Kirk only smiled and shook his head. “The science of chemistry is made up of all kinds of reactions, and maybe some of them don’t start out perfect, but they get there.” He smiled. “Maybe you and Samantha are an element all your own.”
“I’m about five seconds away from punching you in the face, you cheesy bastard.”
Kirk just cracked up even more as we drove into the parking lot. “And as you can see, I don’t really care.”
I swallowed hard as we took the elevator up to the office. Today was a big negotiations day with Wordsworth, which meant I would have to spend an endless day shut in the conference room with Samantha. Of all days. Kirk simply stared up at the screen flashing the numbers of the floors we were ascending with a massive grin on his face.
I rested my head in my hand and sighed, already counting down the hours until I could go back home. “Why do I get the terrible feeling you’re going to enjoy thiswaytoo much?”
Kirk laughed. “I’m already enjoying this.”
I walked into the office to find Sabryna already setting up the pastries and coffee in the conference room.
“Only glazed doughnuts this time,” she said, and I cringed as she winked at me.
“When are the Wordsworth people getting here?”
Sabryna smiled as she arranged the coffee cups. “Any minute now.”
I sighed and took my place at the head of the table. An article I had read about meditation in the workplace last week came to mind, so I decided to take some deep breaths for a few minutes and try to clear my mind before anyone else showed up. I had to focus. I had to clear my mind completely of last night, and that stupid, ridiculous dream. These negotiations were no joke, and I couldn’t let some stupid, dirty fantasy I’d had about the CEO of the company we were in the process of acquiring get in the way of that. I wasn’t that kind of guy. Work and romance were strictly separate areas, I reminded myself, shutting my eyes and inhaling as slowly as I could…and they would need to stay that way. Breathe, Johnathan…just relax and breathe.
“Asleep already?”
I practically jumped as I opened my eyes to the sight of Samantha Doyle standing next to me. I could feel myself blushing deeply as she pulled out the chair next to me to take a seat. “Are you okay, Johnathan? You look a bit…” she bit her lip and repressed a smile. “…frazzled.”
“I just um…” I shook my head as I tried to sit up straighter in my chair. “Didn’t get much sleep…the neighbor’s dog was barking…yeah.”
Samantha was staring at me with a look that seemed to be part victory and part amusement. “Drink your coffee,” she said, and began to pour me a large cup from the carafe placed at the center of the table. Of course, today of all days she had decided to wear her hair down, fastening it at the back of her head with a topaz-encrusted barrette that brought out the golden flecks in her warm brown eyes. She wore a light navy blazer with a white blouse underneath that dipped dangerously low for a work setting. My mind was already flipping back to the sight of what I had supposedly thought she would look like spread out naked on my mattress.
I would have given up my stupid boat to get her to wear a turtleneck, or a chicken costume, or literally anything else for the course of this ridiculous freaking meeting.
I had barely registered that Amy had walked in, wearing a tiny black dress that contrasted against her light blonde hair. She gave me a quick smile and then seated herself next to Samantha. Why wasn’t she the one distracting me? Amy was hot and uncomplicated and would jump into bed with me without a second thought. Life would be so much easier if you could only like the right people…not that IlikedSamantha like that, per se, but—
