The Office Affair

Completely exhausted, I stared deep into Nicole's eyes and whimpered, "I love you so much honey." Then I fell to my side and was asleep within seconds.

…

The next day at work, I informed everyone that Nicole was pregnant and I was going to be a father. I knew that Alison would not be into work all day because it was Tuesday, so I needed to keep my mind occupied. Most of the day was spent chatting with people in the office about becoming a parent, baby names and things like that.

Around 3pm that afternoon, I received a phone call from Alison. I was so pleased to hear her voice but fearful of what the conversation would lead to. She explained that the reason she slapped me and stormed out the night before was because at that moment she felt like I was just using her as a whore. I explained to her that she caught me at a vulnerable moment and that I would never see her as a whore because I truly cared for her.

Basically, the rest of the phone conversation was her telling me that our affair had to end. She felt that what we were doing was so very wrong and unfair to our significant others, and would be even more wrong to continue with Nicole being pregnant. Though I didn't like hearing it, I did agree. I had an amazing thing going on with Nicole. Why would I want to screw that up?

…

At first, things were slightly awkward between Alison and I, but as time wore on, we were able to return to the friendship bond we had when she first started working for the company. The next few weeks were great. I was friends with Alison again, my relationship with Nicole was getting stronger by the day, and my conscience was becoming clear again.

Life was wonderful, that is, until I showed up for work on Monday, February 28, 2005.

As soon as I pulled into the parking lot that morning, I knew that something strange was going on. I was about 30 minutes early, yet the cars of the entire management staff were already there. That was rare. As I walked up the stairs from the lobby to the second floor where our office was, I had a bad feeling churning in my stomach. When I entered the main door to the office, my immediate supervisor was standing there, waiting to escort me to the conference room. I wasn't even allowed to take my workbag and coat to my desk.

As I entered the conference room, there sat all of my managers and Jeff, the president of the company. Standing off to the side, Mr. Catenger (the owner and Alison's father) was talking to Linda, Faith and one of the building's security guards.

I was instructed to sit in a chair directly across from where everyone else was seated. I knew that this couldn't be good. As soon as I settled into my seat, Jeff cleared his throat and spoke up…

"Mr. Morgan, you may or may not know why you are sitting in front of us today, but an unfavorable situation has been brought to our attention and we need to handle it immediately. I am going to ask you a few questions, so please answer them honestly."

"Alright." I promptly responded.

"Did you go to our company's storage room on the third floor of Building 5 on Monday, February 14?" Jeff inquired.

"Yes, I did." I confidently replied.

"Did you lock the door upon exiting the storage room?" As he finished the question, it occurred to me that I forgot use the key to lock the door when we left the storage room.

"Uh. I'm honestly not sure. Why? The storage room didn't get broken into, did it?"

"Not quite…Yesterday I received a call from the security guard on duty at Building 5 informing me that the door to our storage room was unlocked and partially open. He said that everything looked normal, but asked if I would come check things out to make sure. When I showed up to looke around the room, everything appeared to be in place, but then I found this…" Jeff pulled an unopened condom from beneath his folder and held it in plain sight.

"Is this yours Mr. Morgan?" He asked as he slid the condom across the table to me.

"No. I don't think so." I replied, knowing that it really was mine.

"Mr. Morgan, have you had sexual relations with anyone from this office on company property?"

I wasn't sure where this was all coming from. Were they basing this all on a hunch because they found a condom? I had no choice but to lie.

"No sir. Not at all. Never." I replied.

I could see the disappointment on Jeff's face because he knew I wasn't telling the truth. "Well, Mr. Morgan. The door being left unlocked was not a problem once I realized that nothing seemed to be missing. But when I found the condom, I knew something funny was going on. When I checked the log book with security, you were the last person to sign in for that room. I'm guessing you did not know this, but we have a security camera in the storage room. When I had security check the tape from February 14, this is what we discovered…"

Before Jeff could hit play on the VCR, my heart had sunk. As the tape played, everyone in the room gasped at the sight of me and Alison completely naked in the middle of the room, fucking. I looked around the room to the sight of total disgust on everyone's face, especially Mr. Catenger. I knew what was coming next.

Jeff continued, "I think you know what this mean. This evidence…"

Mr. Catenger interrupted, "I've had enough! MR. MORGAN, YOU ARE FIRED! You have 10 minutes to gather your belongings and get off of company property, never to return."

I promptly stood up to exit the room. I couldn't understand why they couldn't just fire me instead of embarrassing me in front of everyone with all the theatrics.

As I approached the conference room door, Mr. Catenger cornered me and said very angrily, "It is one thing to screw up for this company, but you never, ever fuck with my family!"

I thought he was going to punch me, but the security guard stepped between us. I gathered my things as quick as possible and was escorted off the premises. As soon as I got to my car I called Alison's cell phone to see if she knew anything about this, but she did not answer. The drive home was pretty much a blur. Then same question kept running through my head over and over. What was I going to tell Nicole?

When I arrived home, Nicole had already left for work. I knew that she usually came home for lunch, so I only had a few hours to figure out what to tell her. I knew if I told her the truth of why I was fired, she would surely leave me. I couldn't lose the only thing that truly mattered to me in my life, so I came up with a lie. I ended up telling Nicole that I was fired due to a costly mistake with a client. She completely believed me, though I did not feel good about it.

…

As the weeks wore on, no new job surfaced, so I had no choice but to apply for unemployment. Once spring came around, I was able to get a job with a friend's landscaping company, getting paid under the table so I could still collect my unemployment checks.

Through the summer months, money started to become a struggle as we planned more and more for the baby's arrival. Despite my misfortunes, Nicole stuck by my side the whole way. That is, until July 10^th, the day she bumped into a former coworker, Melissa at the grocery store and the truth to my firing was revealed.

When I arrived home later that evening, all of Nicole's belongings were gone and there was a note explaining why she had left. I was crushed, but accepted that it was 100% my fault. Over the next several months, I dedicated all my time to try and get Nicole back. Though she swore she would never take me back, she promised that she would not shut me out of our child's life. On October 20, 2005, Nicole gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Brianna.

…………………

It is now approaching Valentine's Day 2009, and a lot has changed. Brianna is now 3 and a half years old and growing up so fast. I still get to see her several times throughout the week and every other weekend. Nicole is engaged to marry a successful CPA this summer. I am happy for her, she deserves the best. I will always have a place for her in my heart because she never let up on her promise that she would not shut me out of my daughter's life.

I have not spoken to or seen Alison since before the day I was fired, but I heard through the grapevine that she is still married to Derek and about 2 years ago she gave birth to twin boys. Apparently, what happened between me and her back then was kept secret from her husband, or they were somehow able to work it out. I still think about her often, wondering what I would say if I ran into her. Part of me feels that it is probably best for both of us if we never see each other again.

As for me, I eventually found a new office job in the city doing various marketing tasks for a local clothing designer. Over the past year and a half I have been dating and living with girl that I met through work named Tina. Though I do not feel that deep loving connection with her yet, Tina is good to me and she absolutely loves helping me out with Brianna. Recently, my dumb ass has gone back to my old ways and I have been hooking up with an old flame, Jamie, behind Tina's back. Jamie, who no longer works for Catenger Marketing either, often meets her new coworkers for happy hour at a bar that I also frequent for happy hours. One evening I agreed to give her a ride home from the bar, one thing led to another, and she ended up blowing me along the way. Since then, we have been meeting at various locations basically just to fuck. Though I think Jamie expects the relationship to go somewhere, I am convinced that I am just in it for the sex. In a few weeks, I am going to be put right back into the situation of having to please two women on Valentine's Day. I can already sense that something horrible is going to come of it.

Lord, what is wrong with me? Why can't I just settle for the good things I have going on for myself? I need be a real man and stop letting my dick run my life.