Lauren and Bonnie

"Wonderful," Bonnie exclaimed in a hushed voice, clapping her hands together and attracting attention to them throughout the cafeteria.

"Now you've done it," Zach said with mock disgust. "Everyone will know our private business after that."

"You don't think they don't already know, do you?" she laughed lightly. "We aren't fooling anyone, Zach. Everyone knows. It's just a matter of the details that they will never know," she smirked.

"Oh, what kind of details?"

"Oh, let's see. The way you make love to me. All that wonderful foreplay that you insist on teasing me with. Some of the kinky places we do it in your apartment. Those kinds of details."

"I've got to admit, Bonnie, you make me feel young again. That first time we made love was incredible. It was so completely different for me."

"You mean, different from your ex-wife?"

"Yes. I wasn't going to mention her. I'm afraid I didn't know what I was missing all these years until you came along."

"It took you long enough. Almost a year in fact. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to make a move on me."

"Actually, I planned that long before I had the nerve to actually ask you."

"Think of all that time we wasted, not telling each other how we felt," Bonnie said with a hint of sadness.

Zach was shaking his head. "No ... don't think like that. We needed to take the time to get to know each other. I needed time to get over losing my marriage and feeling like a failure. You needed time to be sure I was the right guy for you. No ... we didn't waste time."

"Well, I don't totally agree with you, but now that we've moved on, I'm a very happy woman and, from what I can tell, you are quite happy as well."

"Oh, yes. Very happy indeed. So, back to the subject at hand. We have from Friday night to Monday morning to do whatever we want. Any suggestions?"

Bonnie leaned over the table so that her head was almost touching Zach's.

"I'm going to tie you to the bed and have my way with you for the whole time. When Monday morning rolls around, you're going to need a wheelchair to get to work, Zachary."

"And what about you?" he laughed.

"I'll be carted off to the funny farm. I'll be curled up in a ball, giggling like an idiot. I'll be unable to stop," she said with a stupid smile.

Once again, Zach was shaking his head. "No ... no ... that won't do. I need you around longer than just the weekend. We'll just have to pace ourselves so that you have the strength to pack up your stuff and move in with me."

"Move in! Are you serious?" she exclaimed. This time there was no doubt a number of nearby staff had heard her outburst.

"Very serious. I hope you will," he said with a loving smile.

"I'll go home now and pack," she said, wide-eyed.

He grabbed her hand. "Why don't you wait until after work? We'll go together and I'll help you pack and move. We don't have to wait for the weekend if you don't want to."

"Are you kidding? You're really serious about this? I can move in with you?"

He nodded, smiling at her astonishment. "You didn't think this was going to happen, did you."

"I hoped it would, but I was afraid to ask or even mention it. I'm so excited I know I'm not going to get a lick of work done this afternoon."

"That wouldn't be good for the new assistant manager of human resources. After all, you're management now. There are standards expected of you," he teased.

"We'll celebrate my new job later on. Right now, I've got something much more important to celebrate. You are going to get so well looked after tonight," she promised with a sultry smile.

"I'll be waiting for it with bated breath."

~*~

Lauren Thurlow was steaming mad when she got home. She picked up the house phone and called Zach's cell.

"You just had to do it, didn't you? Your jealousy just wouldn't let you leave it alone," Lauren snarled.

"Lauren, you brought this on yourself. You cheated and withheld your true earnings and forced me to pay a totally unreasonable amount of alimony. As a result of that and your mean-spirited tactics during the divorce proceedings, I owe my lawyer one hell of a lot of money. Surely you didn't expect me to just ignore that."

"You are such a selfish bastard, Zach. You just couldn't stand to see me succeed. Well, when this is all over with, I'll still be making great money and you will still be wandering around that factory, worrying about some stupid machine."

"Is there a point to this call, Lauren?"

"I just wanted you to know that you've ruined any chance of our ever getting back together again," she snapped.

"What the hell gave you the idea I'd ever want to be back with you. I can't think of anything I'd like less. You're a nasty, sour, foul-mouthed woman and I don't know you any more, thank God. Have a nice day, Lauren," he said, ending the conversation.

~*~

Bonnie sat at the lunch table, gazing at the ring on her finger and shaking her head.

"I still can't believe it," she said with a dreamy smile. "Mrs. Zach Thurlow. It's almost unreal."

"I thought the ring would convince you," Zach chuckled.

"Have you told the boys?"

"Yes, and they're both happy for me ... for us, actually. You've made a very positive impression on them. Of course, they're pretty impressed that you made manager before I did."

Bonnie harrumphed her distain. "You weren't far behind me, Mister Manager of Equipment Procurement. Besides, you turned the job down long before I made manager."

"I'm trying to think of a better title for my job. This one is cumbersome and I'll need an oversized card to get it all on."

"Well, you work on that and I'll work on your reward for your promotion."

"What kind of reward," he grinned.

"You know perfectly well what kind of reward, Mister. Your loving wife is going to turn you into a blob of silly putty tonight."

"You do that to me every night," he smiled.

"And I intend to keep doing it, too," she said, kissing him passionately for everyone in the cafeteria to see.

END