Before he could reply, I got out of the car. By the time I returned, he would be long gone. I used Shaw’s name to get access to the administrative offices. Julieta eyed me warily but said nothing.
Without a word to her, I walked into Shaw’s office. She did nothing to stop me. I closed the door behind me and spun the lock. I pulled the drawer of Shaw’s desk open. The knife was in the same position where Shaw left it. Unlike my notebook, which I was convinced Julieta still had. I hid the knife into my waistband but didn’t leave. I sat in Shaw’s chair instead.
We’d been so happy here. I ran my hand over the desk, where he’d bent me over and spanked me with the ruler. He’d fucked me right here in his office. He’d had me under his table, his cock in my mouth while he worked. A tiny smile tugged at my lips and made me feel better. He would always think about me while he was here. I was positive about it.
With a happy sigh, I got out of the chair, pushed it back beneath the desk, and left.
“How is everything with the house?” she asked. “I called Shaw, but he wouldn’t answer.”
“It’s all gone,” I replied.
“Oh, no.”
“We lost everything.” I paused at her desk and leaned forward. “Can I ask you something, Julieta?”
She swallowed and fidgeted with some papers on her desk. “Sure.”
“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“I-I’m n-not sure I understand exactly what you’re asking.”
“Very simple, really. Do I make you uncomfortable? Like at this moment, are you?”
“This conversation makes me uncomfortable, yes.”
I leaned even closer and lowered my voice. “Does it also make you uncomfortable when you’re thinking of Shaw fucking you, instead of me?”
Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Red suffused her cheeks. Busted. “I d-d-don’t—” she spluttered.
“Oh, come on.” I rolled my eyes. “I can admit that you’re not wrong. I’ve always wanted Shaw. Why can’t you admit the same?”
“Be-because I don’t. We-we have a purely professional relationship.”
“And he and I have a purely father-son relationship.” I gave her a blank stare. “You and I both know that’s not the truth, but let’s settle something now. Shaw will never want you. He’s into me. Me!” I took up the letter opener from her desk. “And another thing, you might want to return my notebook. It’s only the right thing to do after all. It’s not your property.” I twirled the letter opener around my fingers.
“I don’t have your notebook.”
“Don’t insult me, Julieta. I may act like it, but I’m not stupid.” I replaced the opener on her desk and winked. “Unless it comes to math and science. Yeah, I’m not too bright when it comes to those subjects. See you around, Julieta.”
I sauntered out of the office, humming in the back of my throat. I was already feeling better about everything that had happened. Knife. Check. Scare the crap out of Julieta. Check. Now for the next item on my list.
Outside, I trudged past a couple of high school kids smelling of weed. Things never changed. Shaking my head, I fished my phone out of my jeans pocket. A car horn blasted, and a cab backed out of its parking spot and crawled toward me.
How about that? Howard hadn’t left despite me telling him I wouldn’t sleep with him.
“Need a ride?” he asked, leaning over to the open passenger window.
With a smile, I nodded and got into the car. Maybe this wouldn’t turn out to be the shittiest day after all. Shaw’s house might have burned to the ground. All my designs might be gone. He might have yelled at me, but I would fix this, and we would get through it together.
Maybe this was a whole new beginning.