A Day at the Office Ch. 01

Stephen kicked his car door shut while awkwardly handling a cup of coffee, his briefcase and a dozen donuts he had promised to bring to the 9 o’clock staff meeting. His magnetic identification dangled precariously from his teeth as he made his way to the front doors of Jefferson Williams Insurance Company. The keys to his gray Honda remained locked in his car, waiting to be thought of hours later. His mind was on other matters.

Making his way to the far cubicle he called his office, Stephen put on a smile and said ‘good morning’ to the various members of his customer support team. He knew they hated him. Several forced smiles and canned greetings later, he dropped his things at his desk and began logging on to his computer. Today would be an especially tedious one because he had to conduct quarterly employee reviews with the 10 members of his staff and he had spent approximately 20 minutes looking at each of their productivity reports the night before. The usual people were falling behind in call volume and of course, Sandy Berkhoff would once again ask him if and when other opportunities for advancement might come up and would she be considered. He had nothing. These things were a waste of time for the most part and did more to discourage morale than encourage production. The familiar buzz and whir of his hard drive sounded the start of his business day, like so many days before and the seemingly infinite days to come.

However, there was one thing Stephen did look forward to at J.W. Her name was June and in addition to efficiently and professionally handling disability claims, she made Stephen’s heart skip a beat every day at approximately 12:15. Stephen would watch June walk out to the parking lot from the confines of his “office,” her long blonde hair flowing behind her like some glorious and righteous flag. Stephen met her once at a company business dinner. They sat at a large table together and Stephen could not take his eyes of her and silently mourned the sight of the diamond ring mockingly perched on her “off limits” finger. They exchanged obligatory remarks pertaining to business and she laughed when Stephen tested the waters of her humor with a slightly off color joke. They hadn’t spoken since then and Stephen could not think of a convincing reason to have to talk to her. But seeing her take off for lunch at 12:15 was a little slice of salvation for Stephen. She was exquisite and his life was lacking in beauty.

“So, Stephen. I appreciate your honesty about my work,” said Sandy matter of factly. “You’ve always been straight with me and I feel like, well, I’ve gotten better at my job because of you.” Stephen smiled and gathered in the predictable introduction to Sandy Berkhoff’s request for promotion. She rambled on about her vision of superior customer service and laughed at her won statements, apparent jokes that only she understood. Stephen’s rebuttal was ready. He would tell her that currently there were no positions open and that he’d wait for Clarkson to let him know what would be opening up down the line. Just as he was about to tell her, she said something that he could not believe he heard. “I’m sorry Sandy. What did you say?” “I said that I would do anything for a chance to interview for and receive the assistant manager position.”

Stephen was floored. Not only was he surprised that she had found out about the assistant position opening up in the Internal Customer Support Department, he was caught off guard by the sudden change in her tone. Sandy smiled at him with the unmistakable implication of sex. She has lowered her voice and stressed the word “anything,” drawing it out like a sentence of its own and running her middle finger down her neck, stopping at the line of her cleavage, pressing her finger on her clavicle until a red impression showed on her pale skin.

Sandy was not pretty but she did have a body that Stephen was sure could please any man and maybe some women. She was about 42, had short chestnut hair and wore outdated pastels and white shoes. She always seemed to be engrossed in her work but carried herself with a hint of sexuality that Stephen thought about once or twice during fantasy- starved masturbation sessions. It might’ve been the way she wore too much eye shadow or a tile of her head when she feigned interest in one of his meeting diatribes. He had never considered dating anyone in his department especially one of his employees.

“Sandy…I’m not sure what you’re suggesting but…” before he could finish she quickly interjected.

“Stephen look. I’ve been doing the same thing here for 4 years and I’ve decided either I’m going to get promoted or I’m going to work elsewhere. It does not matter to me how I get this position. I’m not looking to get you into a position that would jeopardize you either. You’ve been, you know, great!”

Stephen nervously attempted to end the meeting as dangerously real premonitions of sexual harassment claims and long and winding unemployment lines danced in his head.

“O.K.” she said with a smile. “I can see that this is something you’ll need to think over. I will do anything you want, any time and any place. This can really work out well for both of us.”

Sandy got up from the boardroom table just as people from underwriting filed in for some other scheduled meeting. Stephen excused himself and wondered what the underwriters would have thought of Sandy’s dirty little offer. He shook his head and almost forgot about his 12:15 window date. Had Sandy meant it or was there a duplicitous calculation going on there. Was she that desperate?

On his way back to his desk, Stephen caught a glimpse of Sandy walking back to her desk. The outline of her panties showed faintly through her baby blue pantsuit. Stephen wondered what her breasts looked like and if he was the first person to whom she’d made such an offer. He wondered if he should report this to Clarkson, a move that would almost certainly get her a verbal warning from his superior and cast him in a demon light. He considered doing nothing. He also considered his vacant love life and thought, for a few clandestine seconds, what her pussy tasted like.

(to be continued)