They’d finally coerced her into going out to lunch. Larry was away at a business meeting for most of the day so she was freer. A relative term since he loved to constantly harass her via text message or email.
Jake threatened to toss her cell phone more than once. He acted as if he was joking, but she had a feeling he was dead serious.
And for once, the idea appealed. The thought of being free of Larry’s constant barrage of terse commands sounded blissful.
But again, she needed it. She couldn’t give up her job. She’d checked online to see if there was anything available in their city but nothing great. And certainly nothing that paid as well as this.
She was stuck.
“So, this guy…Jake. You really like him?” Jenna asked, interrupting Mia’s thoughts.
“I do.” Mia didn’t even hesitate. She did really like Jake. A lot. More than she wanted to admit. They were so intense, her feelings for him. He was all she thought about. The moment she saw him after work, it was as if she could forget all her troubles. All she wanted was him. She didn’t care about food or sleep. Watching TV or reading a book. She just wanted to spend time with him. In bed, out of bed, it didn’t m
atter.
“He’s nice? Has a good job? Is good in bed?” Morgan ticked off the questions as if she read them from a list.
“Yes, yes and yes,” Mia answered with a smile, taking a sip from her drink. They were at a sandwich shop not too far from work, in walking distance and the place was packed with the usual lunchtime crowd.
“We’ll have to all go out sometime,” Jenna said, casting a worried glance in Morgan’s direction. She’d blundered again though Morgan didn’t really notice.
“I can’t believe you’re ditching your nighttime work schedule to hang out with a guy,” Morgan mused with a slight shake of her head. “He really must be something to tear you away from Larry.”
“Larry met him.” Mia took a bite of her sandwich, amused at the expressions of disbelief of her friends’ faces.
“When?” Morgan asked incredulously.
Mia shrugged, going for casual. What she was about to admit would probably look stupid but they were her friends. Hopefully they wouldn’t judge. “At his house on Sunday. He was hosting a barbecue and invited me to come. I’ve, uh, been avoiding those types of situations because out of the office he makes me uncomfortable. And so I invented a—fake boyfriend to keep me otherwise occupied on the weekends.”
Both Morgan’s and Jenna’s mouths dropped open. “Are you serious?” Jenna squeaked.
Mia shrugged, feeling foolish. She set her sandwich down on the paper wrapper. “He can be kind of creepy. He invited me to his house once before for one of those afternoon party things. I was practically the only guest. His wife treated me awful. Larry acted as if he wanted to get me alone, and I don’t mean to discuss business. I finally escaped. Never went back until a few days ago. With Jake on my arm.”
“How did it go?”
“It was still weird. But at least I had Jake with me.”
Morgan slowly shook her head. “I can’t believe you never told us this. You need to report him.”
“Report Larry? Yeah, right.” Mia didn’t feel very hungry anymore. All the talk of Larry zapped her appetite.
“Seriously, what a creep. He can’t get away with this. No wonder he can’t keep an assistant to save his life.” Morgan waved a finger at her. “You need to tell someone and soon. What if he does something inappropriate? Attacks you? You need to put a stop to it.”
“Who’s going to believe me? It’s my word against his. And he’s never actually done anything overtly creepy. He’s never touched me inappropriately.” Well, not really. “He just gives off a bad vibe.”
“Well, that bad vibe is going to grab your ass one day and then what will happen? Please report his ass and quick.”
“You really should,” Jenna added, concern glowing in her eyes. “It’s not right. I’m sure he’s done this before. Like Morgan said, he’s never been able to keep an assistant as long as you. I bet he’s just biding his time until he does something bad.”
Mia sighed. She should’ve never told them. She could handle this on her own. In fact, she was determined more than ever to find another job. It was true. Larry had never actually touched her in a rude manner. Yes, his hand lingered on her arm or around her shoulder just a touch too long but nothing wildly vulgar. He joked and made sexual references but nothing too overt. She could handle it.
But not for much longer. Who needed that sort of misery? She was the happiest she’d ever been. She had good friends and Jake. The only downfall was her job. So she needed to make a change.
She vowed to do it by month’s end.
“Jake, I want you to come back and work for me.”
Jake stared at his father from across the kitchen table. “I don’t know, Dad…”