25
Linda leaned over, “So tell me,” she continued. “What’s it like to working for the handsome Scott McCall?”
George and Betty laughed while Michael rolled his eyes and sighed. He looked like he was tired of hearing Linda talk about Scott.
Vivian shrugged. “I could ask you the same question,” she replied. “You work for him too”
“You know what I mean. Yeah I know I also work for him, but I meant being so close to him. You’re his personal assistant so you gotta know some things about him apart from work. Is he dating anyone? You know he used to date this woman, Elizabeth Smith…she’s a model, and she thinks she’s so special. She used to come to the office to see him then…. Urggh… she was the worst.”NôvelDrama.Org owns this.
“Hmhmmm” Betty nodded in agreement.
“I’m so glad they broke up… and I know it makes no difference because I can’t date him either, but she doesn’t deserve him.”
“And you do?” Michael chipped in.
“Shut up, Michael!” Linda shot back.
Vivian watched Betty and George giggling as they always did. Betty had confirmed that they were a couple. Apparently there were no rules against dating a coworker as long as it didn’t affect work at the company. Her thoughts drifted to Scott.
She had the weirdest reaction whenever she was with him. Yes she had noticed and dated other men in the past, but no one ever made her feel the way he did. She was so attracted to him, but she knew it was stupid because he was her boss and even if he’d kissed her, it didn’t matter to him. If he did, he would have talked to her about it.
“Hellooooo” Linda called, interrupting her thoughts. “You just… zoned out.”
“I’m sorry I was thinking about something I had to do after work.”
“Is Mr McCall seeing anyone? Going on dates? Anyone special visiting him in the office?”
Vivian sighed. “I don’t know, Linda,” she replied. “I try to focus on my job and I don’t really care if Mr McCall is seeing someone… or if anyone is visiting him in his office. Also I don’t think I even want to know”
She felt like she was talking to herself instead of Linda but the thought of seeing him with another woman made her ache in a way that was both unfamiliar and annoying.
“You will come with me as my date tomorrow night, right?” Michael asked Vivian. “You know I’ve been serious about going out with you but you always seem so busy. I guess I finally got a chance. Please don’t say no”
Vivian smiled at him. “Sure. Whatever you say, Michael” she replied. “But it’s more like two friends hanging out at the party… not dates.”
“You call it whatever you want. It’s a date to me.”
Vivian laughed at his comment.
She stopped at the mall before going to the cheesecake shop that evening to get Linda a birthday present. She had no idea what to get but she finally settled on a beautiful, gold colored bracelet she thought Linda would love. She also got a small wrapper to wrap the box in, then she headed out to the cheesecake shop.
________
Vivian hurriedly brushed her hair as she heard the second knock on her front door. She ran out of her bedroom and across the living room to answer the door.
She opened the door to reveal Michael, standing on the other side with a huge smile on his face and a wrapped box in one hand which Vivian assumed was a present for Linda. She returned his smile.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I was getting ready.”
“That’s alright” Micheal replied, as his eyes took her in. “I can wait. You look stunning by the way.”
Vivian blushed. “Come in” she said, “I’ll go grab my bag and I’ll be out in a second. Please sit down.”
She rushed back into her room and threw the things she’d be needing into her tiny bag. A small powder, lip gloss, a small pack of wet wipes, her debit card and phone. She put her hair in a high ponytail and adjusted her lipstick, then grabbed the bag. She was missing something, she thought, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. There was just this nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. Micheal was already waiting and she didn’t want to waste anymore time, so she just hoped that whatever it was, it wasn’t too important.
She took one last look at herself in the mirror. She had chosen to wear a long, black jumpsuit that hugged her body and enhanced her curves. The brown, knee high boots she wore made her appear taller than she was and she smiled at herself. It had been a while since she’d attended a party and dressed up this good and sexy.
Time to go, she told herself and hurried out of the room. Michael was sitting patiently on the couch and he looked up at her with a grin on his face.
“I’m going to have the most beautiful woman by my side at that party” he said and grinned even more.
“Thanks, but if we get there late, Betty is going to kill us. Let’s go.”
They went out of the house and into Michael’s car. It was only when they were two minutes into the journey that Vivian suddenly remembered what she was missing, and it was the most important thing.
“Oh my God, Mike” she said, as she cast a glance in his direction.
“What’s wrong?”
“I forgot Linda’s gift.” she replied. “The gift I got for Linda. I don’t have it… Oh… now we’re definitely going to be late.”
“It’s okay. No need to panic” Michael assured her, “We can just go back and get it. So what if we are a few minutes late to the party.”
“It’s not there. I left it in the office. I wanted to give it to her this morning but I figured it would be better to do it at her party so I kept it with me. Oh… now I’ve forgotten it.”
“That’s okay. We can go to the office. I’m sure the security guards will recognize us and let us in.”
They hurried to the office and while Michael stayed at Betty’s seat, Vivian dashed to her office to get Linda’s gift. She pushed the door open and switched on the light, then rushed to her drawer and took out the wrapped box.
“Got ya!” she said triumphantly and closed the drawer.
“What’s going on?” a voice said at the door.
Vivian screamed and looked up, only to see Scott standing at her office door. He was still wearing the same clothes he’d worn to work that morning, but his tie and suit were gone. His sleeves were rolled up to his ankles and his hair was messy, as if he’d run his hands through it multiple times.
“Mr McCall,” she said breathlessly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you were… still… here.”
Scott wasn’t listening. He couldn’t.
How could he? When she looked so damn breathtaking. Scott couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman look so sexy that he was speechless. But she was so fucking beautiful, so damn sexy that he had to fight to urge to walk into the office and pull her into his arms.
Since they’d met, he’d imagined what she’d look like out of her clothes, but judging by the way she looked, he realized that his imagination didn’t even do justice to the work of art standing in front of him. He’d known that she was curvy, and that damn jumpsuit proved it, but yet he wasn’t prepared for the rush of desire that welled up inside him. The jumpsuit hugged that body of hers and outlined every damn curve… from the curves of her breasts to her slim waist and wide hips… and then those damn boots. When she took two steps forward, the scent of her perfume drifted up to him and he stifled a groan.
“Mr McCall?” she called, bringing him back to the present, but the naughty images in his head stayed. In fact, he didn’t think that anything could erase them.
“Why are you here this late?” he finally brought himself to ask and even he noticed that his voice was husky. He cleared his throat.
“I…. I forgot something” Vivian replied. “It’s a birthday present for Linda and I couldn’t go to the party without it. I didn’t know you were still here. I’m sorry if I distracted you Mr McCall.”
Sorry? Yeah, she’d definitely distracted him, but this was a distraction he welcomed with open arms and he didn’t want her to be sorry one bit. The words almost slipped from his mouth, but he held them back, knowing that it would be inappropriate.
“A birthday party you say,” he said, and walked into the room.
Vivian froze. It suddenly seemed like all the air had been sucked out of the room and as he got closer to her, she felt this urge to take a step back, but her feet seemed rooted to the spot.