Kenneth
Ifollow her back out to her desk, scoping the area to see if anyone is nearby. I’m blown away by the sex that we had back in the conference room. Blowing out a puff of held-in air, an air of relief that she didn’t slap me after my unsolicited kiss. It could’ve gone any number of ways, but the way it did go, is just fine for me.
I watch as she packs up the office to close for the evening. “Can I help with anything?” I ask seeing her fly around in order to finish.
“You could take that stack of boxes and kick them under my desk,” she says, carrying several stacks of paper and arranging them on the sideboard against the wall. “Thanks, that’s a big help.”
“No problem,” I reply, seeing her grab her keys, the so-called death traps, and her bag. “Ready?”
I walk toward her wanting nothing more than to help her with something. “Can I carry your death traps?”
She laughs at my mocking of her hating her shoes. She hands them over and asks, “Why don’t you try them on, I think it would be a good look for you.”
“If they did that to you,” pointing a finger at her ankle, “I want nothing to do with them.”
I help her into her car and waving goodbye, I hop on my bike to go home. While riding, the cool breeze wears off the sweat from the day, and from the sex. Recalling it, she works me over pretty well. But I think she releases some pent-up frustration.
That leads me to another thought. Why did I do that? It’s not like me. I also haven’t had any sex since Kelly’s incident. Don’t get me wrong, the sex on the conference table at work is taboo. Bending the rules for a moment.
Since my wife is no longer in the picture, I guess I just haven’t found anyone that seems interesting. In all the places I’ve been over the years, this is the only place I found someone interesting. Tamara is more than interesting though.
She loves life and has a strong sense of family. Her smile is always big and genuine and she always puts people before the job.
Yeah, she’s a special kind of interesting and I can’t get her out of my head.
At home, I settle for the evening by kicking my shoes off and watching TV.
The next morning, I wake to the home screen on the television, and still in the same chair. Noticing the time, I rush to change and leave for work. Can’t be late.
At the site, I find that one of the rigs I had been working on was messed up. I go to the office to talk to Tamara about it.
“Hey,” I lean into her office and continue, “Gotta minute?”
“For you, I have two. What’s up?” she says, acting as if nothing happened between us yesterday.
“The rig is broken and I think someone’s doing it on purpose,” I step inside the room.
“What?” that definitely rings her ears.
As she asks the question, Jason rushes in, breathing fast, like he’s trying to escape a loose tiger. “I’ll tell you who’s behind this shit,” he bends over in an effort to regain his breath. He stands straight and looks at me. “It’s probably this guy,” he points a thumb at me.
Tamara stands up from her desk, and pushes her chair back. “Why do you say that? Do you have evidence?”
“Well, no. Not yet,” he stares at her in disbelief. “Because he’s a spy for another company and he’s sabotaging the rigs.”
Tamara sucks in air, gasping at Jason’s accusation.
My blood boils and I can barely contain it. “You better take that back, or I’ll be breaking you,” I raise my fists for a one-two punch.
“I can’t and won’t,” Jason looks me up and down, sizing me up. “Let’s just say that I don’t trust you.”
“I don’t give a damn what you think. What I do care about, is a jealous man making nonsense judgements,” I say as he sends a punch to my jaw.
“That’s it, and don’t say that I didn’t warn you,” I pull my arm back, getting ready to clock him, but Tamara comes between us, trying to stop the fight.
Jason and I lock arms, knocking Tamara to the floor by accident. We let go of our egos in order to help her up. “I’m so sorry,” I say over Jason’s muttering apology. “Can I get you anything?” I ask, trying to help.
She stands and wipes her skirt off, Glaring at the two of us. “I’m filing a report on this, and after Ken gives me details, I want you both to work together to get the rig back in working order.” She eyes Jason suspiciously. “That means you too, Jason.”