“I’m not going to make it to lunch today,” Henry said over the phone.A little of the light inside of me died. It was the one thing that I was looking forward to today. Between the rain, my stepmother, and now the extra workload, lunch with my boyfriend was supposed to be the high point of my day.If he even was my boyfriend. I wasn’t quite sure what we were yet.“I understand,” I told him, trying to keep my voice bright. “It’s okay. I’m totally swamped today anyway.”“No. I promised you lunch and you’ll get lunch,” he replied. I could hear people talking in the background behind him. “It’s just that I won’t be there.”I frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”“I’m having some food delivered,” he explained. “It should be there soon. I wish I could be there in person, but things are a little crazy here right now.”“Tell me about it,” I replied, putting another document on the scanner. I had a file up on my computer that I tried to save to my research folder for Anastasia while the comput
I worked until I couldn't keep my eyes open. There was just too much for me to do and not nearly enough time to do two jobs. I managed to grab five hours of sleep at home before returning to the office the next day. I was coming up short with my research and behind on my scanning all at the same time. It was like doing two full time jobs at the same time and my brain hurt with the effort it took.I worked the entire day, juggling research and my real job. Luckily, Henry kept texting me and making me smile as I worked. Yet again, he had found a way to bring sunshine into my day.I ate leftovers from the day before for lunch. Henry had brought enough food to feed the office twice over. I just munched on amazing macaroni and cheese instead of worrying about finding an actual lunch. It was obviously made from scratch and probably going to clog my arteries, but it was free and tasted good.Five o'clock came and went. I watched from my window as the worker bees filed out of the various buil
His eyes focused on my chest as I pulled my shirt away and tossed it to the side. I went to my knees beside him, and he grabbed my waist, putting me back in the straddle position over him.“Somewhere around here,” he replied, his voice husky with desire. He thrust his hips up and I groaned. Once again, we had too many clothes on.Henry reached behind me and fumbled with the bra strap. It took him a moment, but finally it came free. He growled in approval, making something deep inside of me heat.His hands came up and caressed the swells of my breasts, his fingertips working the pale skin before coming to the taut nipples. The simple graze of his thumb over the erect flesh had me moaning and writhing against his lap.He pushed back on my shoulders, gently lowering me to the floor. I lay, bare chested with my hair spilling around my head as he knelt before me. With careful fingers, he undid my pants and I raised my hips to help him pull them off.I tried not to blush as I lay on the bla
“How was your weekend?” Jaqui asked, poking her head in my office early Monday morning. “Any more dates with your handsome suitor?”I grinned. “I had a wonderful night with him Friday,” I told her, thinking of what we had done in this very room and grinning. “But then he had to work all weekend, so I didn’t get to see him much.”But, we did get to chat through text messages and phone calls. Those were still pretty amazing ways to get to hear from him.“That’s too bad,” Jaqui replied. “He’s easy on the eyes. I still haven’t figured out where I know him from, though. When do you see him again?”“I get to see him Tuesday. We have a fun date planned. I can’t wait. He’s going to work on my cooking skills.”“He is a brave man to put you in the kitchen.” She grinned as she leaned against the door frame.“Yeah, someone has to teach me eventually, right?” I said with a chuckle. “Hopefully I don’t burn down the place. Or poison him. At least the odds are good I’ll only do one or the other.”“Yo
I left work feeling hopeful, but exhausted. I’d worked hard all day. I didn’t take any more pictures of documents for my stepmother. I was done with that. It felt rather liberating. I would record a few more of our conversations and I could go to the authorities with what I had.I was going to win. I wouldn’t end up like that congressman.I talked to Henry on the phone while I rode the train home. It wasn’t very private, but it was good to hear his voice. He was busy with work, but made sure to take time to call me. He was excited to see me on Tuesday.He was tired of hearing me eating out all the time, so he wanted to see if he could teach me how to cook something more than ramen noodles and chicken nuggets. As such, I was responsible for picking up groceries. He’d sent me a list of things I needed to buy for our meal. I had my grocery list ready for tomorrow’s shopping.I had no idea what panko breadcrumbs were, but I was going to find them and buy them.The sky was still light pink
I didn’t take a shower.Instead, I pulled up my phone contact information, wrote them all down on a piece of paper along with any other information that I thought was important in my phone. Then I checked my recording app. It hadn’t taken a thing. All that remained was two recordings of static. If I had given this to the authorities, they would have laughed me out of the room.I had been used. Hacked. Tricked.I thought about just throwing my phone in the garbage. I thought about smashing it with a brick or throwing it in the bathtub or possibly the garbage disposal. Although, I just bought a new garbage disposal and I didn’t want to wreck it.Besides, if I did that, my stepmother would have more power over me. She would ask for my new number so she could contact me. She would be able to find access to me. I shivered at the thought.Better I keep this phone with nothing important on it. It was better to know my weak points and defend them than just make more. So, I put a piece of tape
Henry was absolutely right. I did feel better with some food in my stomach. Things looked a little less bleak when I wasn’t hungry. I began to feel like there might be a chance I could figure something out. It wasn’t the end of the world.Henry kept the conversation light. He told me about his travels to different parts of the world. He made me laugh with funny stories about his military days and the trouble they would get into because there was nothing else to do on base. He kept me laughing and smiling as we ate, my thoughts far from my own troubles.When I was done with dinner, he said, “You start the water for your shower. I’ll take care of the dishes.”“You don’t have to do that,” I told him, already pulling the empty containers together.“Why do you think I said that we weren’t using plates?” he replied with a smile. “Easiest dishes ever, remember?”I chuckled and let him take the empty containers away from me. He quickly collected them and swept them into the trash bin before I
Henry was gone when I woke the next morning, but he’d made coffee and left a heart on a piece of paper underneath an empty cup. It was a good way to wake up and bode well for the rest of the day.At work, I did everything in my power not to read a single document. I knew it was futile, but it was the only thing I could do that didn’t give Audrey power over me.I scanned and probably misfiled half the documents, but I didn’t want to know what was on them. If I knew, then I would have to tell my stepmother. If I honestly had no idea, then I couldn’t tell her.It was a flimsy excuse, but at the moment it was all I had.Guilt about everything clung to me, smothering like smoke.“Hey you,” Jaqui said, stepping into my office.I dropped the stack of papers I was holding in surprise, sending a flurry of paperwork to the floor. I was sure she was there to arrest me. Or fire me. She had to suspect something. It didn’t help how jumpy I was around her lately.“What’s up?” I asked, my voice shaki