Slipperless (14 page)

Apparently, she had.

Even better, Colin informed me at the close of business yesterday that in spite of her setback she’d logged enough hours playing catch up. With only a couple more days left to go in the competition, it looked as if everyone was doing well, including Fiona. And so it was first thing Friday morning I'd invited Colin to my office to discuss the status of things over breakfast and get his input on the eventual winner.

We spent the better part of two hours covering not only the hands-on lab results but also the intangible qualities needed in a position of leadership. Going on his fifth year at a senior level, Colin’s opinion mattered to me. I had no question I could count on him to be objective and unbiased when it came to issues like this. We were wrapping up breakfast when we got down to business end of things.

“Okay,” he began, as he laid three pieces of paper out in front of us. “We’re down to the last three now. Amanda, Melissa and Fiona.”

“Our three musketeers.”

Colin chuckled. “Hardly.”

Amanda and Melissa had seniority, not to mention nearly three decades of lab experience between them. Of course, Colin and I were both aware of their behavioral issues. Either way, picking between the two of them could just as easily be done with the flip of a coin. Tabling the discussion of them for the moment, we moved on to Fiona, with Colin offering up his perspective first.

“Well, as much as I would like to pick her,” he began, as he slumped back into his chair with an exhale. “I think Fiona is perhaps a bit too young, not to mention inexperienced, for this position.”

I nodded. “She’s resilient as hell though, Colin.”

He nodded. “That she is. But setbacks and stressors are one thing when it’s your own work. When you’re responsible for the work of a team, the errors in judgment tend to get magnified, as does the stress.”

“Mmm, hmm,” I said as he finished his thought. “And you don’t think she’s capable of making the transition yet?”

“No, she may well be. That’s not my point.”

“What is your point then, Colin?”

“Only that given some of the time constraints we’re under with the Link Protocol, why take the risk? She could always be groomed for a management position down the line. You know, once this effort is behind us.”

Colin was being pragmatic, of course. And, he had good reason to be. If I was in his situation, I would likely come to a similar conclusion. Of course, the inside information I had about Fiona put Colin at a disadvantage. Based purely on technical merits, all three women were all fairly equal. Leaving aside the childish antics of Amanda and Melissa for a moment, they did solid lab work. But… with the pressure of her grandmother’s illness, not to mention the mountain of debt associated with it, no one would be more motivated to succeed than Fiona.

Just as I was about to offer a counter to his statement, Colin’s cell phone started to ring. He picked it up from the table and flipped it over.

“It’s our supplier in Hong Kong, Gabe. I’ve been waiting for this call. Do you mind if I take it?”

I shook my head and gestured for him to continue. “No, go ahead.”

“Five minutes,” Colin said, nodding his head. He stood from his chair and made his way out of my office.

While he chatted, I munched a bit. I alternated between crunchy strips of salted bacon and gulps of bittersweet grapefruit juice as I waited for him to return. Leafing through the results, it became clear to me I’d have to trust my instincts. As an entrepreneur, it’s hard to explain hunches to non-risk takers like Colin. He evaluated things based on facts, black and white. And after all, that was his job, so it’s understandable.

Yet, I had the opportunity to mold Fiona, shape her and make her believe in her potential. Even so, I wasn’t a fool. Giving the newest, and youngest, team member that much responsibility would be anything but a hands-off option for me. Her authority would be challenged, there was no question in my mind about it. However, that wasn't an altogether terrible thing.

True growth comes out of adversity. She’d already had her share of it in life and managed to get through it. The real question for me was did I want to take a chance on her getting through even more when it meant my own ass on the line? In the end, Fiona could fail. After all, she’d never been subjected to this level of pressure. And since she’d been here, she’d been vulnerable on a couple of occasions.

It was by no means a done deal with her.

Swallowing down a final sip of coffee, I placed my cup back down in the saucer. I held it by the handle for a moment or two, gently clinking it against the edges of the dish while I mulled my options. As I did, my focus shifted from the pragmatic to the romantic and the moment when I’d complete my seduction of her. Now that the competition was near its end, I’d have ample opportunity to pursue my interest in Fiona.

Frankly, keeping my distance turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated.

What’s more, I wasn’t sure why, but until the other day, I hadn’t considered the possibility she might be a virgin. Now I couldn't seem to shake the suspicion.

The last time I remembered having sex with a virgin was… well, it had been a while. I had mixed emotions about the conquest if that was the case. But in the end I decided I wouldn’t veer from my objective until I found out for sure, one way or the other. Whether she turned out to be a virgin or not, I resolved to let what happened in the moment be my guide.

Around that time, I noticed Colin approach in my peripheral vision.

“Where were we, Gabe?”

Turning my head in his direction, I looked up at him. “I’ll make my decision and inform the team of it on Monday.”

He seemed taken aback by my sudden choice. “Okay, Gabe. I’ll let them know.”

FIONA

I had no idea where I stood in the competition, but based on the fact that Amanda and Melissa weren’t bothering me as much in the past few days, I assumed they were probably struggling with their work. That was fine with me. It couldn’t happen to a nicer couple of people as far as I was concerned. In any case, it was mid-afternoon Friday when I sat in the lab waiting for my last experiment to wrap. Once it finished, I’d be done and with any luck, still in contention.

I still had about a half hour or so until it was finished running though. Under ordinary circumstances, I would fill my time with other busywork or at the very least, organize my current workload. But ever since the ‘mishap’, I had no intention of going anywhere while experiments ran. So instead, I stayed glued to a desk close by and waited. I glanced at my log book and made a few final notes until at last, I found myself with nothing to do.

Like literally,
nothing
.

I exhaled a deep breath, rolling my head around in a couple of small circles, relieved and proud I’d been able to recover from my earlier setback. Of course, I hadn’t won anything yet, but at least I still had a chance, and no one could take that away from me.

Just then, the last discussion I had with Gabe popped into my head. I had no idea if he’d been keeping tabs, although I suspected he did. If he had, would he be pleased with how I’d handled it? Although I'm sure it wasn’t the way he would have done things, I hoped he would.

In spite of his teasing ways, he’d been kind to me. I still had no idea why. I wasn’t anything special and certainly nothing like the women he probably dated. If for that reason alone, what he thought of me mattered.

As to the rest of it… His office dalliances and veiled overtures towards me, well, I’d blocked it out of my mind for the most part. Thinking about him in ‘that way’ would mean nothing but pure distraction for me.

But as I sat there, unoccupied, my mind wandered back to the first night we met. Knowing what I did about him now, I looked on the interaction in a whole new light now. My gaze lingered, out of focus, on the scribbles in my log book as the memory flooded back.

Aside from the obvious, like his thick, dark hair and brilliant blue eyes, the thing I remembered most were his arms. Muscular and lean, they looked as if they belonged on a man who worked the land for living and not one who wielded enormous power in the boardroom. I recalled the warmth of his hand as he wrapped his fingers around mine, swallowing them with a masculine squeeze.

His arms would feel the same, I was certain of it. He’d wrap them around my curves as I vanished into their strength and power. It would be nothing at all for him to sweep me off the ground as if I were weightless, a tiny waif. My breath slowed as the vision intensified. In my mind, I was close enough to smell him. His powerful musk sent my nostrils flaring as I inhaled with all I had before he…

Just then, the sound of a door slamming down the hallway brought me back to awareness. Checking the time, I glanced at my mobile phone. I still had almost twenty minutes left. The pressure of the past few weeks… It was terrible. Some of the worst I could remember.

I just needed some relief, a break, a release…

Looking up between strands of my hair, I noticed the lab was still empty. It wasn’t long, perhaps thirty seconds or so, before my mind once again conjured the image of us together. Soon enough, an urgent need stirred between my thighs. After a hard swallow, I inched my chair closer to my desk, leaving just enough room to slide my arm underneath.

Fiona what the hell are you doing?

All my senses went into overdrive as I battled my urge. In spite of being paranoid to the point of near panic, I found myself suddenly unable to stop. Before I realized it, my fingers slid beneath my lab coat and between my thighs.

Oh God. No, no, no…

I was so sensitive, more than I even realized. I’d neglected my needs, burying them below my awareness. And now I found myself paying the price for it as my index finger took on a life its own, making small circles through the fabric of my clothing. Touching my clit sent fire through my body, nearly paralyzing me in the process. Goosebumps raced to the surface as I intensified my efforts.

My eyes fluttered as they threatened to close. I grew desperate to see what Gabe would do next, and trying to imagine it with my eyes open proved more difficult by the second. I moistened my lips with flick of my tongue and sucked in my lower lip, pinching it with a tender bite. My fingers sped up, as I found myself unable to stop them.

Fiona, oh no… Please stop, stop, stop!

But I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be long now. Any second, less than a minute for sure. Holding my breath, I took one last look, making absolutely certain no one was around. Satisfied, I returned to my release, certain it was within my grasp.

Mmm, hmm… mmm, hmmm…. mmm, hmm. Yes Gabe, yes….

My entire body jerked forward as the wave of my climax approached. There was no turning back. It was coming, coming,
coming…
I gripped at the arm of my chair as the moment approached. And as it did, I yanked my head up and glanced across the room when I noticed it for the first time.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, snatching my hand from between my thighs. I banged it underneath the desk as I withdrew it.

“Ow!” I yelled as I jumped to my feet, colliding with the desk yet again, except this time with my knee. In the process, everything on top of the desk shifted as if it were in a small earthquake. A glass of water I’d poured spilled all over my lab notes.

“Goddamn it!”

Now completely frantic, I tried to clean up and regain my composure at the same time. Because to my horror, what I’d seen across the room,
a tiny camera
, had been trained on me the entire time. I'd never seen that there before, ever.

Who put it there? When? And why?

And then a more terrifying notion occurred to me.

Who was on the other side of it?

Over the next few minutes I worried to the point of near panic. But, it wasn’t long afterward my final experiment completed.

None of it mattered now…

Whoever was on the other side of the camera surely saw what I’d done. The terrible thing I’d done. Before long, I’d be summoned to Colin’s office and that would be it. And Gabe, when he found out…

I collapsed into my chair at my workstation, devastated.

Listless, I wrapped up what would be the end of my career with Hawkins Biotech, not to mention probably any chance I had at getting another job somewhere else.