Page 11 of Havoc and Humor
Then there was the whole singing telegraph thing. Not exactly my best move, especially considering what had transpired thenight before, but any other day it would have been fucking hilarious. After the singers left, Mark had shut his office door and worked from behind the door all day.
That was not like him.
Fuck. I messed things up so badly. He had to know it wasn’t just a one-time thing, right? I mean, right? The whole thing that transpired last night had been life-changing, awe-inspiring, amazingness. No one had ever made me feel that way. No lover had understood me on the same level that he had. Was it not the same for him?
Or did he think it was a colossal mistake since he was my boss and I reported to him?
That did make things complicated.
My stomach rolled, and the slice of cake I’d indulged in during lunch felt like a ball of tar in my gut. Did he not feel the same way?
I never got a chance to ask, nor did I even knowhowto ask.
My lunch hour was spent on the phone with the apartment office, getting my name off the lease on my current apartment. That was pretty easy, considering I wasn’t on there to begin with. And then I had to find a new apartment. Luckily, the place where Evan used to live had an opening. I didn’t need to tour the place, since I was pretty familiar with the layout. I was able to talk with the office manager and sign the papers electronically.
That only left the whole process of moving, which I couldn’t do until Monday. So now I had to find a way to talk with Mark. I put it off for the entire day. He had emailed me a few times requesting reports, status updates, but the two of us hadn’t talked. Usually, we talked several times a day. Not so much this time.
Finally, when five o’clock rolled around and I couldn’t put it off any longer, I went to his office door and knocked.
“Come in,” he shouted from the other side.
I barely heard it through the soundproof walls. That was good to know. I mean, not that Ineededto know how soundproof the walls were in the office. But I supposed it was important knowledge to have. I was surprised Evan had never shared that detail with me. I knew he and Gregory got into plenty of trouble in Gregory’s office. Not that Gregory “Don’t call me Greg” Alton would ever admit it.
I pushed the door open and poked my head in.
“What do you need?” he asked, not looking up from his laptop.
Oh, hell. That was quite the brush-off.
“I have to move,” I said.
He jerked his head up. “You don’t have to move jobs, Sawyer. We can work through this.”
“No, not jobs,” I said. “I’m not moving jobs. Why would your first thought be that I was quitting?”
He blew out a breath. “Oh. You found a place to go?”
“Yeah, I was able to find a new apartment in the complex where Evan used to live, but I can’t get the keys till Monday. I’d like to be out of Jeremiah’s place before then.”
“Right. Of course. Do you need Monday off?”
“Ideally.” That wasn’t really what I was aiming for, but I supposed it would be helpful. I could always flex the time later. It wasn’t as if I didn’t already work late hours when needed.
“Take whatever time you need. I’ll actually be out of town.”
“Really?” I said. “I didn’t know you had travel coming up.” When he traveled I managed the details, and I certainly hadn’t booked anything for next week.
“Gregory asked me to attend a conference with Marissa, so I’ll be gone for four days.”
“Right. Are we going to—” The words died on my lips. I couldn’t even ask if we were going to talk about last night, about the praise he showered me with and the way my body responded to his words and his touch. I couldn’t talk about it.
What the hell would we say?
Next time could you hold me down and fuck me? Yeah, I wasn’t about to go there.
Also, what the hell was the weekend plan? Was I staying at Mark’s house again? If so, where was I sleeping? None of those things were topics I was ready to discuss. Mostly because I didn’t want to be told that it couldn’t happen again. Nor did I want to hear that what had transpired between us was just a rebound. It wasn’t. Not for me.
“Well, it’s karaoke night. I better get out there before…” I didn’t know. I didn’t have anything to say to that either. “Right. See you in a week, then,” I said.
