L'Affaire C. 04

Carly stared down at the papers in her hand, dumbfounded. He'd had her served at work. Was he trying to humiliate her? It's okay Carly, she told herself, you just have to get through this last year of law school and then you can move away from this God-forsaken place.

"Whatcha got, Barbie? You look perturbed."

Carly looked up to watch Liam approach. He looked gorgeous. Again. Still. His suit was grey today, but he wore a white shirt with thin pink stripes and a pink tie. He made it work, but then, he could probably make a Santa tie work.

"Nothing." Carly sighed and slipped the papers under some files on her desk. Undeterred, Liam retrieved them. "Hey, what are you—"

Liam's eyes scanned the documents. "You're married?" he asked, flipping through the paperwork. "I didn't know you were married." He glanced at her left hand.

"You are the nosiest man I've ever met," Carly told him, swiping the papers and opening a drawer to drop them into.

"We all have our perks. For instance, you have the smartest mouth I've ever come across."

"Oh, I doubt that," Carly said, sitting down and turning to her desktop computer. "You seem to understand me just fine."

Liam laughed. "Jack in yet?"

Carly nodded as she opened the web browser. "He was here before me, and I got here at five so I could do some reading. I'm not convinced he went home last night, he looks like he didn't sleep at all."

"Nah, he went home."

"And how would you know? Did you spend the night at the office?"

"Nah, I called him. He was with She Who Won't Come Near the Office."

Carly smiled, despite herself. Now there was a couple that was doing something right. Jack had started seeing Ally shortly after she started work as an assistant at the office and had quickly seemed to settle. As if his life had shifted to a smoother track. It hardly made any sense, since the same work kept piling up and the same shit kept going wrong, but he breezed through it as if it were nothing. More than anything, Carly wanted to breeze through her problems as if they were nothing.

"You called him? What did 'they' do this time? Switch brands of staples?"

"Cute." Liam said, striding toward Jack's door. Liam had only recently come back from Hong Kong and the office had seemed to turn itself inside out while he was gone. It was nothing he could put his finger on, things just felt different.

"He's with a client." Carly said, and began typing.

Liam stopped short. "Dammit."

Heglanced at his watch, it was nearly noon and he was starving. The clicking of keys distracted him from his hunger and he glanced over to watch Carly typing away. She was a beautiful woman. And snotty, too. That might have been the best part. He was sick of ass-kissers and fakes. It was nice to be around someone genuine, even though she genuinely disliked him. At least you're honest, he wanted to tell her. God, she typed fast.

While her attention was on her computer he took the opportunity to watch her. She was beautiful. Long legs and tanned skin and thick blond hair hanging down straight, but cut so that it just brushed against her shoulders as her head moved. Big, blue eyes and big round breasts. Okay, maybe he shouldn't be quite as aware of her breasts as he was, but he couldn't help it. Even underneath the fabric of her suit they were glorious. He was pretty sure they weren't real, (how could they be?), but he didn't even care. They suited her. She was Barbie. Tall and blond. She just looked like California, what she was doing up here was a mystery to him, as was how she stayed so tan. She must go tanning, he thought absently, watching her fingers fly over the keys. The woman even typed confidently. Long fingers and long nails. Those were fake, too, but painted to look natural. And she smelled like—well, he didn't know what she smelled like but she smelled good. She probably tasted just as good. And he was hungry.

Liam made his way away from his desk and back to his office. He did not need to worry about how she tasted.

When he got back to his office rather than starting in on work he pulled out the yellow pages and started flipping. She looked so defeated, today. Almost sad. And it was only almost because he wasn't sure she actually had feelings. She had plenty of sarcasm and derision, but feelings, he wasn't sure.

After making the calls he needed to make Liam slid the phone book back into his desk. When he did he noticed the pair of binoculars he sometimes used for people watching on those few moments when there was time to waste.

He tapped his foot against the floor, trying to decide what to do. But he had to look. Liam went over to the window and found the familiar window. Some sort of conference room, though he'd only ever seen it used for X-Rated activities between some exhibitionists who obviously weren't worried about losing their jobs. The room was empty today. He felt a bit disappointed, but then decided he'd check again later and picked up his phone. This time when he dialed Jack's extension, Jack picked up.

"Jack Moreau."

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Got time for lunch?"

"Ah, man, I'm eating at my desk today. I'm brown bagging it."

Liam chuckled. "You actually made yourself a lunch? Now I'll bet that's some tasty goodness."

Jack's voice was suddenly soft, and Liam could tell he was smiling when he spoke next. "Ally made it."

"I should've guessed. Alright, I'll just grab something at the coffee place."

"Later."

Liam pushed back from his desk and slid back into the jacket of his suit. He made his way back to Carly's desk. She was typing again, though this time not an email. "Can you go get me a cup of coffee?"

"What's your assistant doing?"

"Sick kid today. So how about it?" he asked, waiting for her to snap at him. To his surprise she stopped and started going through one of her drawers. "Let me check," she said, picking up a piece of paper and scanning it intently.

"What's that?" "My job description. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Get assholes coffee isn't on here."

Liam clucked his tongue and gave her a wink. "Well, my black ass is headed down there. You want something, Barbie?"

Carly was already typing again. "No," she told her computer monitor. **

By two p.m. when Carly was packing up her briefcase she was ready to lock herself in the bathroom and cry. Nothing had gone right today. She'd emailed her mom to tell her about the divorce and her mom had responded by leaving a voicemail on her phone asking if she was sure she'd done all she could to save the marriage. It was as if John hadn't cheated and she should be trying to get him back. Worse, it was as if John had cheated and she should be trying to get him back.

The chatter in the office seemed to die off and Carly's found herself looking around to see what was going on. She watched as a huge arrangement of flowers seemed to make it's way to the reception desk. The batch was so large that the delivery person's head was completely out of view. "I have a delivery for Barbie Harmon." Carly's heart jumped and she felt her eyes start to sting.

LeAnn, the receptionist, looked baffled. "We have a Carly Harmon?" LeAnn's voice rose at the end of nearly every sentence, turning statements into questions. Completely irritated by her at first, Carly had soon gotten used to the woman's speech pattern and come to like LeAnn.

"No, he said Barbie. I took the call, he definitely said Barbie."

"It's for me," Carly called out and started making her way to the front to sign for the flowers. "Thanks, LeAnn, I've got it."

"Oh. If you're sure they're—"

"They're for me."

Carly signed for the flowers and pulled an envelope from the arrangement. She slid her finger underneath the seal to open in and pulled out the card. Her hands were shaking a little. She read the short message on the card and found herself walking away from the reception desk, toward Liam's office. She walked past his assistant's desk. Kevin, Mr. Mom, was the one who stayed home when the kids got sick. His kids were often sick but things were often calmer around the office when he wasn't hear because he and Liam disagreed about pretty much everything.

Carly turned the doorknob quietly, trying to be discreet in case he had clients in the office. All was quiet beyond the door so she pushed it in further. Liam was standing at the window. The product of a biracial union (his mom was white, of the pale-skinned irish variety) he wasn't particularly dark but there was no mistaking him for a black man. His hair was short--always short, it never seemed to be in need of a trim. And he was tall and lean with broad shoulders. He could have been an imposing presence but he had such a relaxed nature that it seemed nothing could ruffle his feathers, though she'd been trying. His office was probably only a few degrees warmer than the rest of the office suite but it was noticeable. He had his suit jacket off, draped over the back of his chair. She let her eyes scan over him, pausing at his slim hips where his shirt was neatly tucked into his trousers, before she realized he was holding something. Binoculars.

Carly closed the door softly, but it was still loud enough to get Liam's attention. He turned, focused those dark eyes on her, and nodded. If he was surprised she had let herself in he didn't show it.

"It's hot in here," Carly said.

Liam continued looking out the window. "You have no idea."

Carly unbuttoned her jacket and stepped closer. "What are you looking at? Can I see?"

Liam lowered the binoculars and shook his head. "No. I think it would actually be illegal if I told you to look."

Carly frowned and continued moving until she was next to him. "You're not telling me to look," she said, taking the binoculars out of his hand. Their fingers hers closed around the binoculars and Carly's body reacted. She was surprised at her reaction, a heat flaring through her stomach and down between her legs. It made no sense, she'd barely brushed his fingers. "I'm telling you to give me these."

Liam let go of the binoculars when their skin touched and Carly could tell he had felt something, too. "Which window is it?"

Liam pointed and watched as Carly brought the binoculars to her eyes and focused on the building across the street. "I don't see anyth—oh...oh!"

Liam knew he should get her out of the office, take the binoculars from her and make sure that they weren't the only two people in a room ever again. He didn't need a sexual harassment suit on top of all his other cases, especially if he was the defendant. But he couldn't help but watch the way her full red lips (shiny from freshly applied lipgloss) parted when she let out the sound of surprise.

"How often do they—"

"Seems like it's pretty often, but it never lasts very long."

Carly lowered the binoculars and looked up at him. She was tall but he was tall enough that she did have to let her head fall back to look at his face when they were standing this close. "Do you think they know we're watching?" she asked.

Liam chuckled. "I think that's the point, Barbie."

Hearing him call her Barbie suddenly reminded her of why she had come into his office in the first place. She felt herself getting warmer and, trying to avoid perspiration, slipped out of the jacket of her suit. Under the fitted jacket she wore a sleeveless top that showed of plenty of back and shoulders and collar bone. The exhibition show had already given Liam the beginnings of an erection but when Carly removed her jacket her smell seemed to jump out at him. It had to be an act of God that was holding her shirt up, but then, her breasts had to be an act of God, too. He'd never seen her without a jacket before and her breasts looked even better than he could have ever imagined.

Carly saw his eyes on her chest and felt her nipples tighten. Blushing, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small card. Trying not to think about the fact that he could probably see the outline of her nipples, Carly opened the card.

"Barbie," she began to read, and Liam finally managed to drag his eyes back up to her face. Focusing on her lips as she spoke wasn't doing much to tame his erection, though. "Forget about him. There's plenty other plastic white guys in the sea."

Liam grinned broadly, loving the expression on her face as she read the words, as if she couldn't quite believe what the note said.

"Yes?" Liam asked, tugging on his tie. He looked like he was having fun. A cat with a mouse, he was teasing her, happy that she was playing his game. Carly suddenly felt bold. She didn't want to play his game. She wanted to know what had made him think of her, what had made him order flowers for her, why it mattered that her life was in the toilet.

Carly looked up at him, her eyes searching his. "What if I don't want any more white guys?"

It was Liam's turn to be caught off guard. "I, uh, they make Kens of color, don't they?" He swallowed hard and found his eyes on her breasts again, he nipples straining against the silky red shirt, her slim waist and the curve of her ass. A real ass, not an eating disorder ass.

Carly had lifted the binoculars to her eyes again and was peering at the couple across the street. "Oh my—I think he's---it looks like he's," Carly squinted, trying to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. "He's fucking her in the ass."

Liam grew even harder, if that was possible, to hear her talk like that. She looked to proper to be talking about women getting ass-fucked, much less women getting ass-fucked while she—they!—watched.

Carly pushed the binoculars at Liam. He took them and peered through the lens. Sure enough, the woman was bent over the conference table. Her partner was standing behind her, holding her ass cheeks open and watching the action. He could feel Carly beside him, feel her breasts pressing against his arm through the thin fabric of his shirt. His dick was aching. He was dying to pull it out and jack off until all thoughts of Carly and anal sex were out of his mind. He'd never been so aroused by the exhibitionists that he'd wanted to masturbate, but this time he needed release. He let his arm fall to his side, taking the binocular away from his face.

"It was nice of you, to send flowers," Carly said softly. "It was a really nice gesture." Liam nodded. All he could do was nod. If she looked down she would see, plain as day, that he was as hard as a rock.

"It was nice to have someone think about me, about how I'm doing."

Liam nodded.

"Look at me," Carly said. He did. "Thank you."

Liam nodded. They stood looking at each other for awhile, neither of them moving except to breathe, until the phone on his desk let out a shrill ring. Carly stepped away. "I should let you get that. I'm headed out. Have a good night, Liam." She pulled on her jacket and buttoned it, hiding her nipples under another layer of fabric. "Thanks again."

With those words she breezed out of his office, closing the door lightly behind him. What had just happened? He was going to lose his job. If he managed to keep his job, he was still going to be disgraced as the office pervert. He sank down into his chair and buried his face in his hands. His erection still ached and it seemed like his whole body was begging for release. He needed to go splash cold water on his face, but he couldn't leave his office until his groin was behaving. He sat a few minutes, willing himself to calm down, and tried not to think about bendy Carly Harmon over his desk.