When I finally came to my senses, I quickly said, "I'm sorry. Mark, this is my friend, Tia. Tia, this is my former boss, Mark Tanchen."
They both nodded and said their hellos, but I could practically feel the tension grow among us. Tia looked over at me for a sign for what to do, so I gave her my best look that said, "I promise to tell you everything, but I need you to leave now, okay?"
A second later, she jumped up off the couch like a jack-in-the-box and hit her leg off the coffee table, nearly knocking her glass of wine over. She caught it before it spilled everywhere and let out a nervous laugh.
"I'm like a bull in a china shop. That's a thing, right? Sure, it's a thing. Oh, well. I better go. Nice to meet you, Mark. Em, I'm going to go now. I'll talk to you later, okay? Okay."
By the time she finished rambling, she was heading out the door. Tia hugged me on her way out and whispered in my ear, "I want to know every detail. Oh, my God, is he delicious! Okay, I'm going. Call me."
She slammed the door behind her, leaving Mark and me awkwardly looking at one another. I had a feeling he'd heard every word she said, but I didn't care. Whatever he came to talk to me about had nothing to do with the girl code Tia and I kept to in situations like this.
"Your friend seems nice," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to intrude on anything."
"You weren't. The two of us are unemployed at the moment, so we decided to do some day drinking and watch some shows on stalkers."
Mark gave me a strange look that said he didn't share our interest in either of those activities. "About that. I was hoping we could talk."
I walked past him and grabbed my glass of wine off the coffee table. Taking a drink, I gulped down a mouthful of Cabernet and then asked, "Which did you want to talk about, stalkers or day drinking?"
Whether it was the fact that I was no longer his employee, we weren't at his home, or that I'd had nearly a glass of wine in a matter of minutes, I felt bolder than usual around him at that moment. I liked it too.
He smiled at my teasing him and shook his head. "Neither, to be honest. I don't know much about either topic. I wanted to talk to you about working for me."
I walked back to the coffee table and grabbed Tia's glass of wine as a rush of nervousness ran through me. Had Mark actually decided to stand up and fight for me?
"I can't, remember? I signed that contract with Louis DeVille. I guess I have you to thank for making him bump me up to the next salary level on my next assignment, so thanks."
Mark didn't say anything for a few moments, which only served to make me more nervous, so I took a drink of Tia's wine. When he finally spoke again, I nearly spit it all over.
"About that. I paid him the ten grand. I just need you to please listen to me before you get all upset like you did the other day," he said as he walked toward me, his eyes pleading for me to give him a chance to explain.
I didn't know if it was the wine's effect on me or that I was just so happy that he had understood he needed to do something if he didn't want to lose me, but I didn't want to tell him to fuck off this time. Now, I felt like I could listen.
It must have been my midday wine buzz.
"I'm listening."
Mark's entire body relaxed as he realized I wasn't going to order him out of my apartment. With the chance to tell me what he came to say, he took a deep breath and began.
"I paid him the money because I don't want to lose you from my life. All of it. I miss having you there with me in the office, and I don't want another secretary, and not just because training someone new every month is stupid and typical Josh bullshit that he thought would be great but in reality only causes more work for me. I miss seeing you there across the hall. I miss your smile and the way you look at me when I talk to you. I don't talk to anyone, but when you're around, I want to tell you things."
He stopped speaking for a moment, so I asked the biggest question I needed the answer to. "So it isn't just about sex? Because if that's the case, I can't help you. I mean, I loved sleeping with you, but I won't be someone's whore. No thanks."
Mark shook his head as I spoke, and when I finished, he said, "No. I'm not going to lie. It definitely started out being about sex with you. I didn't know you, but I couldn't stop thinking about you from the moment you started working for me. I guess maybe in retrospect how things happened wasn't the best way to start off between us, but I can't change that now. All I can say is I didn't pay that DeVille guy to get you out of your contract so you can be my in-house whore or anything like that. I broke my contract with him and paid the ten grand I had to so you can come back to work. I'm crazy about you, Emma. Since you've been gone from the office, the place feels empty and lifeless. Pretty much like it did when I was the only person there before you came along."
As he spoke, he began to sound lost, like he didn't think what he was saying was convincing me that he was the kind of man I'd want to work for and be with. But he was wrong. Every word made me realize how crazy I was about him too.
"So what are you saying, Mark? You want me to come back to work for you to liven up the office?"
"No. I mean, yes, but that's not the only reason I came here today. I've been so focused on making my company a success that I never cared about anything having to do with what happened after work. Relationships were for other men. Since you came into my life, though, I want more. I want more with you."
His expression twisted in a look of anguish. I didn't want to see Mark like this, so I gently took his hand in mine and lifted to my mouth to kiss it.
"I know what you're trying to say, I think. You want me to come back to work as your secretary. I can do that. But if we're going to be anything other than employer and employee, I need to know that isn't what I'm being paid for. I need to know that even if I didn't come back to work for you that you'd still want to be with me. Can you say that honestly, Mark?"
He frowned and let out a sigh. "If that's what you want, then I can do that. But I would still miss working with you, Emma. You might not realize it, but you were the reason I wanted to be in the office most days."
"Mark, you're a workaholic. You like being in the office because of that, not me."