Chapter 5a: Promotions & Proposal

As I left Gina's office, I caught sight of Natalie again. Our eyes met for a moment and I could feel her questions on me from halfway across the office. "Gina's going to be busy packing her stuff. Is there another place I can go for the next couple of meetings? Somewhere without anyone nearby. It might get loud, and I'd rather not have an audience."

"Yeah," Andrew said. "There's a couple of empty rooms down here, but if you're really looking for privacy, I could take you to one of the empty floors."

"Great. Lead the way." I looked at Vikram and pointed out Natalie. "See that woman? In about fifteen minutes, could you bring her with you up to the floor we'll be on? Just explain to her that the company has just come under new management and they would like to speak to her. Andrew will come back down here and escort you.

"Yes sir," Vikram said, and stayed behind as Andrew lead the way back to the elevators. I glanced at Natalie again and saw her looking at me with open curiosity all over her face. She mouthed a question that I interpreted as 'What's going on?' I gave her a fleeting smile in hopes that would assuage some of her concern.

Moments later I found myself and Helen three floors up and in a fully furnished office that felt sterile and unused. The two security specialists stayed in the hallway and Andrew shut the door behind us, telling us he'd back shortly with Vikram. Helen immediately launched herself at me and crushed her lips to mine in a searing kiss. Her tongue invaded my mouth, and I could feel her moan just as much as I could hear it. Her fingers dug into my shoulders. I was momentarily surprised by the kiss, but then slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her into me as I allowed my tongue to meet hers for a quick duel. After a few moments of intense making out, she pulled her head back while maintaining full frontal contact against me and looked up at me, her eyes burning, "God Marcus, that was hot."

"Thanks," I said as I tried to catch my breath. "I mean it Helen. Thanks for everything."

"Of course," she said, giving me what felt like a sincere smile and said, "I have your back, Marcus."

We spent the next few minutes making out and grinding against each other through our clothes. Seeing as we wouldn't have time for more, we parted a few minutes before Vikram returned with Natalie, and I spent that time looking around the office, trying to think about things that would cause my erection to settle down a little. I looked out the window and saw the New York streets below from 10 stories up.

"This floor is empty. Maybe I should make it into an office for myself or something," I said.

"That's not a bad idea," Helen replied, checking her hair with her phone camera to make sure it looked presentable before anyone came in, "Your apartment certainly isn't an appropriate place to run your day-to-day affairs."

"Yeah. I don't like the furniture though. Or the lay-out. It feels a bit claustrophobic in here with all the hallways."

"I'll talk to Andrew and see if there are any other floors available," Helen replied, putting her phone away now that she looked completely professional again. "Maybe see what options are available-"

A soft knock at the door interrupted the conversation. I pulled myself away from the window and made my way over to yet another walnut desk that would be perfect for banging Helen on. I leaned against it and said, "Come in." The door opened and in came Natalie.

She was beautiful as ever - her upturned eyes giving her a slightly exotic, disney princess quality. Her irises were so dark that they were almost indistinguishable from her pupils as she stared up at me through long lashes enhanced tastefully with mascara. Her nose had a slight nubian quality to it and complimented her large, expressive eyes and generous, plump lips. It was all framed by a mass of black that fell around her face in a fashionably messy style. She was sweet, smart, with a transformative smile and a cutting wit. In the entire time that we'd known each other, we'd been good friends, but since the break-up with her ex about a month ago, it'd felt a bit more flirtatious. Had we both been single when we first met, I'd like to think it could have gone somewhere. Now that Jessica and her ex were out of the picture, maybe it still could.

I was surprisingly feeling a lot better about my break-up with Jessica. I suppose inheriting over nine-hundred billion dollars and getting fucked by one of the hottest women I'd ever met is a balm for the soul. Nearly falling in love with Helen was definitely helpful in moving past Jessica, but our conversations throughout Friday and Saturday made it perfectly clear that love wasn't on the table for us. Aside from being married, she had explained that she wasn't the type of woman I needed in a partner, and after a few hours of us being apart on Sunday, the magic spell her vagina cast on me had waned, taking the sharp agony of being dumped along with it. All that was left was a dull ache of desire for companionship, and now that Natalie and I were single, I wanted to explore whatever chemistry existed between us.

Natalie glanced from me to Helen, looking uncertain as she stood half-way through the doorway. She gripped the wood panel in her hands and looked like she was about to retreat, "They told me to come up here?"

"Yeah," I said, brightened by the sight of her and not wanting to chase her away, I gave her a warm smile. "Come on in and shut the door, Nat. Have a seat."

Helen moved toward the door, "I'll be right outside if you need anything, Mr. Upton. Miss Bander" she said, giving Natalie a smile.

"Thanks, Miss..."

"Helen. Just call me Helen," she said.

"Nice to meet you, Helen," Natalie said, shaking hands.

As soon as Natalie looked back at me, Helen threw me another glance that was part professional caution and part sexual heat. I slid a hand in my pocket and adjusted my pants to prevent my dick from being noticeable as my hard-on started to return. I really had no self-control.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Natalie immediately launched into questions, her eyes wide with curiosity, "What the fuck is going on, Marcus?"

I couldn't contain my smile. I wanted more than anything to tell her all the juicy details about how much money I'd fallen into, about how I'd already purchased this building and the company we used to work for... about how my grandfather was none other than Colin Gerrard, the somewhat famous owner of the entertainment company VistaVision and several holding companies that we were very familiar with as a financial firm. I wanted to fill her in about getting security, and how I had an entire army of lawyers at my disposal. I wanted to tell her about how I had way more than 'fuck you' money... that I had the kind of money necessary to buy small countries. I wanted her to pass out from my good fortune... or to throw herself at me and beg me to take her right there on the desk.

But there was part of me that was hesitant to tell her about everything. What if it changed how she felt about me? What if it became the driving force behind her deciding to pursue something with me, if that happened? I really liked this girl, and I wanted it to go somewhere meaningful.

So instead, I decided to be vague about exactly how much I had, and gauge her reaction. "I... ran into some serious money, Nat. A life-changing amount. Enough that I could quit the job, and then buy the entire company."

"You bought the company?" Nat said, as she helped herself to a seat on the couch. I took the seat next to her. This felt less like an owner of the company talking to an employee and more like two friends who had shared countless lunches catching up.

"Yeah. And the building," I replied, unable to contain my grin.

"And Gina? Andrew was escorting her to her office. She looked really confused."

"Yeah," I said, my grin getting bigger. "I fired her."

Natalie covered her mouth with a hand and gasped, "Oh my god, Marcus! Are you serious!?"

"Yeah," I said, unable to stop a grin, "She cried."

Natalie's shock was invaded by a fit of giggles, "I wish I'd been a fly on the wall when you did that. It must have been the best moment of your life."

An image of Helen disrobing in my small apartment and confessing that she belonged to me came to mind.

"One of the best moments for sure," I replied.

"Are you taking her position?" Natalie asked.

"Hell no. I don't want to work here anymore. Actually, I was hoping you would," I said. I couldn't stop smiling as the look of shock returned. She'd gasped even louder, and her dark eyes were huge.

"It comes with nice benefits and a six-figure salary, and-"

Natalie launched herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck and squeezing me tight as she squeeled, "Oh my god yes, Marcus! Oh my god thank you!"

I could feel the warmth of her cheek on mine and enjoyed the feeling of her soft, smooth skin. The smell of her perfume was intoxicating. We'd hugged, but this felt different. I slipped my arms around her slender waist and pulled her infinitesimally closer to me. I wanted to pull her so much closer. I wanted to crush her against me.

We stayed like that for a full fifteen seconds before she finally pulled away. She kept her arms loosely draped over my shoulders and stayed well within my personal bubble, her big, dark eyes staring up at me and breaking my heart with every passing moment. The smile on her face was radiant, and I couldn't help but smile back.

God I wanted to kiss her.

"I can't begin to thank you enough, Marcus," Natalie said.

I shook my head, breaking the spell of that moment, "No need. You deserve it. You're a really hard worker, and you know all our major accounts intimately. Anyway, you're also the only person at this company I genuinely like."

Her eyes suddenly became bright, and I could detect a faint hint of unshed tears in them. Her smile softened, and I felt her arms slightly tense around my neck. She leaned in, closing the distance between the two of us and for a split second, I thought we were going to kiss and then she went for the cheek, pressing her full, warm lips against my skin. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the moment, very aware that we'd never quite been this close physically. The corner of her mouth was just out of reach of mine, and I was fully aware that I could have turned my head a fraction of an inch and our lips would have connected. I didn't want to risk ruining the moment, or making it awkward. Instead, I simply tightened my hand on her back, my fingertips massaging the muscles in the middle of her back over her blouse.

Finally, she pulled back, smiling shyly as she bruised a bit of hair behind her ear. "Thank you. I like you too."

We sat there on the couch grinning at each other goofily for who knows how long, when she finally cleared her throat, "So, what's the plan? What should I do?"

I adjusted myself on the couch and tried to cool myself off, attempting to tamp down the butterflies in my stomach while also wondering if I'd missed an opportunity in that awkward moment of silence. I hope I made the right call.

I tried to switch my brain from breeding mode to business mode, "Take the rest of the day. Get your stuff together. Go home. Mentally prep... whatever you need to do. You'll need to fill out some paperwork, but I'll have them send it to Gina's office - your office - and you can fill it out tomorrow."

"I'll need you to go over the accounts and personnel and make recommendations on how you'd like to tailor things to your oversight. I'd also like to give everyone a pay bump, but I'd like your recommendation on exactly how much. And there are a handful of people we should probably cut loose. My only request is that you not fire Bobbi. At least, not yet."

Natalie was nodding along up until that last request, at which she knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. "Firing her was one of my first thoughts. Why not? Everyone hates that bitch."

I nodded, "I still do, but when I fired Gina, she gave me some information that I can't ignore. Honestly, it's too juicy. I'm going to be speaking to her right after this. I'll fill you in on the details tomorrow."

She grinned at that, "I can't wait to hear how that goes."

"Speaking of which, I'll need to go ahead and speak to her."

We stood up and she straightened her skirt, "Well, thank you again for this Marcus. It means so much to me. You'll fill me in a bit more on some of the details on how this happened." Suddenly, a look of horror came over her, "Oh god, you didn't lose someone, did you?"

Technically, I had, but it wasn't like I'd miss a man I'd never met.

"No... It wasn't anything like that. But I promise, I'll tell you more about it. Maybe tomorrow while you're getting settled in," I replied. We gave each other a hug, our bodies pressing much closer than they'd ever been in the past. When she pulled back to look at me, I swear we almost kissed. I locked eyes with her, and read so much in them. Fondness, camaraderie, and... maybe desire?

She kissed my cheek once more. This time the corner of her mouth actually did brush mine, and I couldn't resist the temptation any longer. I moved my head and our lips were on each other's, and we shared our first kiss. It was closed-mouth and sweet, but held the promise of so much more. Her lips were more soft and pliant than I could have ever imagined, and I could feel my stomach doing backflips while fireworks were going off in my brain. After a few more seconds, we pulled back and both smiled a little awkwardly before stepping apart.

"Thank you," I finally said.

"No, no... thank you," she replied with a sheepish smile.

"I've wondered what that would be like for a while now."

"You have?"

I nodded, "Yeah. For weeks."

"I might have too," she said, her words slightly breathy. She visibly swallowed. "I wouldn't mind another one."

I opened my mouth to tell her the same, when there was a light knock on the door. Both of us jumped a foot away from each other and Natalie was immediately trying to make herself seem as if everything was professional and normal.

A heartbeat later, the door opened several inches and Vikram peered in the room, "Mr. Upton?"

We both looked at him.

"I have Bobbi Nanford with me?"

"Alright," I said, looking back to Natalie.

She gave me a soft smile, "I'll leave you to it. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," I responded, returning the smile. "I'll see you soon."

Vikram stepped aside as Natalie departed. A heartbeat later, Helen slipped into the room past Vikram, "Could you please send in Bobbi, please?"

"Yes ma'am," Vikram said and shut the door behind her..

"Hey," I said. Suddenly the thoughts I'd had for bending Helen over my desk and fucking her was paled in light of the kiss I'd just shared with Natalie. Apparently Helen could tell something had happened.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I said as I circled the desk and sat in the chair.

She eyed me for a moment, "Forgive me, but that wasn't very convincing."

I leaned back in the comfortable office chair and simply stared at her for a long moment as I tried to gather my thoughts. Why did Helen have to be so gorgeous?

"Natalie and I kissed," I finally said. "We've worked together for nearly a year and I've always had a thing for her. She broke up with her boyfriend about a month ago. And now with all of this," I waved my hand around, "All this opportunity... I think I might have a good shot at a great life with an amazing girl, and I don't want to mess it up." I looked up at her with an apology in my eyes.

She crossed her arms under her breasts, "Literally anyone would kill to be where you are, Marcus." She walked over to the desk and sat on the corner of the desk next to me. Her skirt was tight enough to give me an enticing view of the curvature of her hips and ass. "Don't throw it away for a single person. You could end up making very costly mistakes." She leaned across the desk, her blouse falling to give me a mouth-watering view down her front. "You could have an entire bevy of beautiful women who adore you and are devoted to you. Like I am. Why settle for just one?"

"This isn't-"

"Just anyone," she finished my thought. "I know." Helen leaned forward, reached out and ran an index finger down my jawline before cupping my chin gently in her hand. She ran a thumb across my lips. I could feel her gaze on me, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the view down her blouse. She stretched forward a bit more till her lips were less than an inch from mine. I lifted my gaze to hers as her tongue ran across my lips. I opened them and the tips of our tongues barely brushed each other. After the kiss I'd just shared with Natalie and now this, my cock felt like it was going to burst.

"Trust me, Marcus. You don't want to give this up," she whispered, her lips not quite parting from mine.

And then a knock at the door interrupted us before I had a chance to respond. Helen gave me a wicked smile and slid off the desk, straightening her skirt as she retreated to a corner of the office just to the right of the door. Another more insistent knock came.

I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly who it was on the other side. Even her knocking was obnoxious, "Come in!"

Bobbi threw the door open as she strode into the office without even bothering to close it. One of the body guards from YPV stepped into the room, grabbed the door, and closed it quietly behind her. Bobbi glared at me with those cold gray eyes, "What the hell is this?"

I immediately felt on edge as I met her stare. Bobbi was more than half a foot shorter than me, but her domineering attitude, her relationship with Gina, and the way she wielded HR like a cudgel had always given her an aura of intimidation. My knee jerk reaction was to placate her till she went away.

"You're looking at the new owner of Marduke Financial," Helen said behind her. Bobbi looked over her shoulder, her loose, auburn hair flinging through the air to cover the look of disdain she was throwing at Helen. She looked back at me, eyes narrowed into slits.

"Seriously. What's this about? Why the fuck are you up here?"

I stared back at her and thought about all the times she'd threatened to have me fired. How she'd teased me about my crush on Natalie while she was taken. How she'd shamed me for being in a long-distance relationship with Jessica, claiming that I couldn't find anyone close enough to date like a normal human being.

I had to remind myself that things were different now.

I glanced at Helen. Strong, independent Helen who had crushed federal politicians underfoot like they were nothing. She'd submitted herself to me. I had an entire board of lawyers who'd wielded ridiculous power waiting on me hand and foot. I'd had a bombshell like Ashlee throw herself at me just this morning. The world was mine to command and anything in it was mine for the taking. On top of that, I was armed with the information Gina had given me, including who she'd been working with.

"Gina told me everything."

I didn't stand up. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't show any outward sign of anger. I was cool, calm, and collected.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

There was no sign of guilt on her face. No flicker of insecurity in her expression. She just continued to look down her nose as if she had a million better things to do than be here.

My heart was beating furiously, but I did my best to keep a cool exterior. "Gina told me about the money you've been embezzling from the company for the better part of two years. She told me about the bank accounts in Florida. She even provided me recordings of your conversations she made for insurance purposes. I now have them in my possession."

That last part was technically not true. Gina was supposed to show Vikram where they were before she left the building, but close enough.