It's Complicated

"Morning Mike," it was Joe, he did a serious double take as we passed in the hall," Hey, wait a minute," it had clicked," damn, was that you on the stairs last night?"

"See you later, Joe," I just kept going, a huge smile on my face, letting him think whatever he wanted about the situation.

The walk to my office was fifteen minutes, twenty if I stopped at the deli for a second cup of coffee, which I did, the lady behind the counter complimented me on the new look and I gave all the credit to the gorgeous redhead that had joined me for lunch on Friday. She smiled, "Good for you, a man needs a good woman," I paid for the coffee and had to fight the urge to skip the last two blocks to my building.

I got a double take from the security guard, but he smiled, so no harm no fowl, I hit the button for my floor when a voice I recognized hollered, "Hold that elevator please."

It took Bill a few seconds, "Mike, Mike Simmons, right?"

"Good morning Bill, how was your weekend?"

'Actually, pretty great, the kids came up with the grandkids," there was a brief pause," new look, I see?"

"Yeah, new girlfriend, she likes it, so I'm going with it for now, the mani-pedi was actually nice," I showed him my nails, and it hit me; I had my chance," by the way," I reached into my briefcase," Steve said you wanted this asap," and I handed him the papers.

"This is Mc Phearson. What the hell are you doing with Mc Phearson," he didn't look happy?

"Steve dropped it on my desk Friday and said you wanted it as soon as possible, so I worked late Friday and over the weekend to get the file organized, it was a real mess, and to do a quick 'A and P'. There's some opportunity there."

"Steve gave 'you' Mc Phearson? Can you follow me to my office for a minute, I think we need to have a chat," the way he emphasized 'Steve' and 'you' told me I had hit a nerve?

I sat quietly as Bill looked over the file and read my 'A and P', "This is your work, you did this over one weekend," he looked worried?

"Well, I actually had a date Saturday night, so I finished it before I went out and reviewed it again this morning. Is there a problem?"

"Has Steve done this before, dropping files on you like that?"

"It's kind of standard operating procedure, I thought that was the way the company worked."

"And what other projects has he given you, do you happen to remember?"

"Um, there was Bellows, First Equity, Masters and Smith, Franklin, a few others. Since I'm so new, Steve reviews them before they get submitted, I'll admit I'd like a little more feedback, but I'm enjoying the work, so I just go with it."

Bill rocked back in his chair, "Can you do me favor and see if you can find copies of any of the reports you did and forward them to me as soon as you can? If they've got a date stamp, that would be helpful."

"Sure, I keep them all in a folder in my company share, I'll just give you access, if that's ok?"

"That would be perfect and one more thing, Let's not let Steve know we talked OK," he handed Mc Phearson back to me.

"Sounds good, is there some kind of problem?"

"Possibly, I want you to drop that on Steve's desk and then take a sick day. When you get back tomorrow, come straight up here to see me, got it?"

I nodded my acknowledgement and got up to leave.

"And Mike, the new look is fine, check with H.R. though if you plan on going much further, I like the haircut," he smiled," I'll see you tomorrow."

"You're late," Steve was waiting at my desk when I got there, the look on his face told me he absolutely did not approve of my new look, but it also told me he didn't connect me with Saturday night," and I told you Bill wanted Mc Phearson as soon as possible, that mean it should have been on his desk," he made a very dramatic display of looking at his watch," fifteen minutes ago.

I handed him the paperwork and apologized, assuring him it would never happen again.

"You're damn right it won't," I knew what he meant but he had no idea why I agreed with him. I just smiled as he stormed away from my desk toward the elevators.

It only took a few minutes to find my share and to give Bill access, my IM pinged," Thanks, now get out of here," it was Bill.

I closed my laptop, put it back in my briefcase and headed to the elevators, passing Carol from H.R. and a security guard in the hall, realizing what was happening I kept walking when they didn't recognize me, out the front door and down the street to the diner to wait until Tanners opened and I could see Carla again. The call to H.R. for the sick day was next, I left a message for Carol, who was probably looking for me somewhere in the building, letting her know I should be in tomorrow if I felt better and asking her to call me if there was anything else she needed.

I dropped my phone back in my purse, smiled at myself and headed for the bathroom, finished my makeup, touching up my base, adding the mascara and pink lipstick that matched my nails, took off my tie, and unbuttoned my shirt a little, putting the collar outside my jacket," sometimes girls need a good woman, too," the lady that ran the diner smiled at me as she filled up my coffee, "very pretty."

Carla was already busy with a customer when I walked in, her associate Bruce, met me half way across the floor," I'm thinking that suit is just a bit too masculine for someone as beautiful as you, would you like to look at some other options," he was very smooth and also obviously very gay. I caught Carla's eye, she waved and gave me a big smile, quickly returning her full attention to her customer.

"Actually, yes, I think I'd like that," I followed him across the showroom.

I spent almost an hour, trying on different suits and flirting with Bruce before Carla finally came and saved me, "Girl," Bruce looked at Carla, "your new girlfriend is a hottie, but she is wearing me out," we all laughed, I thanked him for his help and asked him to hold a few of the suits for me if he could, He said he would absolutely do that, but just for me, and then winked at me. So that Carla could see it.

I explained to Carla what had happened this morning and let her know that I would probably find out in the morning if I even had a job and that I had no idea what was going to happen to Steve but, from Bill's reaction, would be surprised if he made it to the end of the day now that his little scheme had been exposed. She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the back of the store, wrapped her arms around me and kissed me like we hadn't seen each other in months. I slid my arms around her waist and buried myself in the passion of the moment.

"OK, lovebirds, break it up," it was Bruce, "listen, get out of here. Carla, I'll cover for you and if the boss says anything, I'll tell him to fuck off, now shoo," he laughed out loud and Carla grinned from ear to ear.

"Micki, this is Bruce Tanner, he owns the store," now that I was in on the joke, I laughed too.

Carla grabbed her purse, I grabbed her hand, fifteen minutes later, we were naked in my apartment, buried in each other as deep as we could go in as many ways as we could find. We literally made love non-stop all morning, Carla had decided it was ok for me to suck on her 'clit' and got tired enough of my pleading that she fucked me once just to get me to shut up, I was pretty sure she enjoyed it and I knew that I did, but didn't want to push my luck by asking for a repeat performance, just yet.

Carla took back the skirt and top I had borrowed to get home and I chose the sundress with the lavender flowers and some sandals; we both took a few minutes to fix our makeup and headed out to lunch. The diner where we had met was my go-to and Carla was fine with that, we waved at Bruce as we walked by and the lady at the diner just smiled and showed us to our table.

"You know, I tried to call you last night and then again this morning," Carla looked at me a little sideways," I was worried until you came into the shop."

I had officially discovered one downsides of carrying a purse, if you leave your phone on vibrate, you can miss a lot of calls, I pulled out my phone and sure enough, there was a missed call last night and one from the same number this morning. After adding Carla's name to her number I counted twenty fivecalls since I had called Carol about taking the day off, most of them from the same number and a few that looked like they were from the company exchange, it looked like Carol had called me back, and one I didn't recognize at all. I switched to voice mail, deciding to save the two from Carla for later and started listening to messages to see what I had missed. Steve was furious, so much so that he had called me twenty times to vent his rage, leaving six messages in the process, some of which were very intense, I'm not sure some of the things he threatened were even possible. Carol had indeed called me back, once to insist that I contact her as soon as I got back into the office, before I did absolutely anything else and once to tell me to ignore that message and just get better. Bill had called to thank me, letting me know he would explain in the morning and telling me to enjoy my sick day, and an Agent French, from the F.B.I. wanted to talk to me, something about Steve. I called agent French and it turned out he was just leaving Carter-Bergman, I told him where I was and a few minutes later a big man that needed a better suit walked in the door, the lady that ran the diner pointed me out, he looked, said something to her, looked again, shook his head and headed over.

"Jim, Jim French, FBI, you're Michael Simmons?"

"I am," I pulled out my driver's license and showed it to him," this is my girlfriend Carla Evers," I motioned to Carla," how can I help you?"

"Based on what we already know, this should only take a few minutes, may I," he started to sit down and pulled out a small recorder, setting it on the table between us.

"Please do, your message said you had some questions about Steve, what would you like to know?"

He was right, it didn't take long, I had known Steve for only six months, we worked together and that was about it. I had seen him once outside the office, Saturday night when he had made inappropriate comments to Carla and I had run him off, Steve had been a little drunk, so nothing came of it. I suspected he was stealing my work and taking credit for it but never had a way to prove it, I told him about running into Bill on the elevator this morning and about our conversation in his office. Not much else to tell, Steve was an unapologetic ass, a jerk of the highest order, other than that, I didn't know much.

I showed him the messages and offered to forward them to him, he had to show me how to do it and said it would be very helpful in the investigation, Agent French thanked us for our time and got up to leave," off the record," he looked at me and then at Carla, "you - and your boyfriend here - are fucking gorgeous," I'm not sure who blushed more, Agent French, me, or Carla.

Carla and I spent the afternoon wandering around downtown, ducking in and out of shops, window shopping and people watching, talking about the past few days, and stealing kisses when the mood struck, which it seemed to do often, we ended up in a small park not too far from the diner and sat quietly, watching as the sun set and the lights of the city came to life, talking about how curious and wonderful the transformation was, noting how a place, or a person, could be so much of one thing and then without much effort, something completely different, all the while having the same essence, the same soul. We made our way back to my apartment, stopping only to grab some hotdogs from a street vendor and listen to a street musician doing an excellent rendition of Ziggy Marley's 'Changes,' I dropped a twenty in his guitar case and wrapped my arms around Carla thinking about the message of the lyrics, singing 'You can find religion in the freedom you choose' in my head all the way back to the apartment.

Carla and I took our time making love, exploring each other as if it were the first time, relishing each discovery and exploring its depths as the ebb and flow of our passion made the air in the room thick with anticipation, I made Carla the sole focus of the evening, allowing her to kiss and caress me but never letting her take a dominant role in our love making, this was all about letting my girl know just how much I wanted her, showing her just how much her feelings, her pleasure meant to me. I suckled at her breasts as I my hands explored her delicate skin, venturing across her stomach and up and down her thighs around her hips, cupping and then squeezing her luscious ass, taking a moment to trace a line along her crack to gently acknowledge her rose, I teased and sucked her 'clit,' eagerly accepting the reward I received before I climbed between her legs, claiming her womanhood as mine again and again; I would come inside her three times before Carla begged me to stop and I was completely spent, she offered to reciprocate, but the moment was too perfect to disturb, as I softened and slid from her ass, I laid my head on her shoulder and wrapped my arm around her," I love you Carla," I whispered."

"I love you, too, Micki," we were asleep before we knew it.

Tuesday morning found us in a delicate embrace, Carla's head was on my shoulder, her fingers tracing designs on my chest and our legs tangled in the sheets, her breasts rose and fell against my side as she breathed and I could feel her 'clit' large and full against my thigh," good morning, her sweet voice kissed my ears," thank you for last night, that was very special," she looked up at me and I reached down to find her waiting lips, "so do I get a turn now," her hand slid down to my morning wood, standing proud between my legs?

"I'd like that," she hadn't waited for my answer, her lips and tongue had already started to work on my erection as the words left my lips," but we don't have a lot of time," I closed my eyes and relished the feeling of my cock in her beautiful mouth. When she started to probe my ass, I reached for the lube and handed it to her, her fingers were soon thrusting inside me, searching for the spot we both wanted her to find, when she found it and pressed, I erupted down her throat," you don't have to, Carla," I offered a weak protest as she climbed between my legs and pushed my knees toward my shoulders, slathering lube on 'him.'

"But, this time, I want to," she smiled at me and pushed her cock inside me.

We took turns rinsing off in the shower to avoid any more temptation, I stripped the sheets from the bed and made coffee while Carla got dressed, she could wear the same outfit she had worn yesterday, since she had only worn it for about two hours before it found the chair off to the side of my room, I opted for a very feminine and very professional pantsuit I had bought from Carla Friday night and a pair of low heels, today Micki was going to work, I figured that whatever happened yesterday meant today was a whole new game and I should start it as who I really wanted to be.

I talked to Carla about it over breakfast and she described the process, therapy was important to make sure it was more than just a passing phase, then hormones and last would be the surgery, if I wanted to go that far, she suggested strongly that I take some time off and go home to talk to my family before I did anything, reminding me that Mike or Micki, she loved me anyway.

Bill wasn't too surprised at my outfit but reminded me to talk to H.R. before I went any further, I told him Carol was my next stop. Steve and a few others had been fired, some of them, including Steve had even been arrested. It was clear that I had no knowledge of their scheme to defraud the company and its clients, but there was going to be an investigation.

Since it was my analysis they stole, I was going to be on administrative leave for a while until everything settled down, my entire department was being disbanded, me and a couple of other junior analysts that had shown promise were being transferred to other departments and more were being let go with severance, I was going to be reporting directly to Mark Fletcher, one of the companies partners, as a special assistant, evidently, even with my limited experience, my analysis was excellent and Mark wanted to mentor me personally, it also came with a raise in pay, but I would find out more about that later. I was informed I was having lunch with mark at his club at 11:30 sharp, there would be a car for me outside the lobby of my apartment at 11.

Carol, laughed when she saw me," I walked right past you in the hall yesterday and didn't even know it, you look awesome," she motioned to the chair opposite hers," so, Bill filled me in and obviously you are not the one being let go but there will be some paperwork for your new position, and," she slipped a packet of papers across the table," since you are now past your six months' probation, it comes with benefits, junior executives get stock options, there's the 401k, which the company matches, and, you are eligible for full medical and all that stuff. Take your time reviewing this, it all takes effect today, but you'll want to look it over to decide what options you want to elect," she took a breath," and so you know, the medical covers gender issues, too."

I smiled and took the packet," thanks Carol, so I was really going to get fired yesterday?"

"I'm afraid so, I probably shouldn't say this but, Steve had spun a pretty damaging story about you, pretty much blaming you for us losing the customers he and his partners cheated, this whole thing is surreal the way it played out, so is it still going to be Mike," she asked intentionally changing the subject?

"For now, I think so. According to Bill I'm going on administrative leave for a while, until the investigation is over, I think I'm going to go see my parents and my sister, introduce them to my new girlfriend, figure this whole thing out," I pointed to myself, "So, is there anything I need to do right now; before I go home to see my parents, I mean?"

"No, you have forty-five days to make your option selections and everything goes into effect today, so, go see your family, and I'll let you know when you need to come back, and before I forget," she slid an envelope across the table," this is your new salary, Mr. Fletcher was very impressed with your work, to say the least. I think you're going to be very happy with your new deal."

I picked up the envelope, afraid to open it and turned to leave, "thanks for everything Carol, I'll keep in touch and, if anything urgent comes up, you have my number, right?"

"That I do, and one more thing, where did you get that pantsuit, it is beautiful and looks amazing on you?"

"I do most of my shopping at Tanners, just down the street, ask for Carla and tell her Micki sent you, she'll take good care of you," I smiled and walked out of her office.

"Micki, huh," she smiled at me as she wrote 'Tanners' and 'Clara' on a post it?

The Cadillac showed up at exactly 11, the chauffeur got out and opened the back door and I climbed in, exactly thirty minutes later, we arrived at Briarstone Country Club, a nervous man with wireframe glasses opened my door,"Mr. Fletcher is waiting for you, this way please," I got out of the car and followed.

Mark was younger than I expected, I had read about him in the orientation when I first started, a Harvard Business School whiz Kid and somewhat of a maverick, he had come on board and literally saved Carter-Bergman from bankruptcy, he was a full partner in less than five years," Not what I expected but, Ok, have a seat," he motioned me to a chair. He ordered my lunch for me and without much ceremony, started reviewing the detail of every proposal I had done, it turns out there were eleven of them worthy of his attention.