Her Best Friend's Dad

“Oh, he’s available for me, Lia.” Jean pushes past her and lets herself in, reminding me why I’m glad she can’t get past security without permission each time.

“Jean—” Lia sounds exasperated as she stomps after Jean into my office. “I’m sorry, Mr. Huntsworth.” The professional tone is a one-eighty from when she first came in a few hours ago. Her ability to project the right persona as the secretary to the CEO of my corporation means a lot to me. I need someone who can provide the correct image.

“It’s okay, Lia. If you want to go for lunch, it would be great to head down to the cafeteria now or go out if you prefer. My food will be sent up from the cafeteria in about an hour. If you could be back by then, it would be great. I have some things to go over with you for while I’ll be away.” I can get back to work (or to fantasizing about Lia) depending on how quickly I am able to rid myself of my impromptu visitor.

Lia gives me a bright grin, one rich with more than a little mischief. “I know about your lunch. The chef called up to see if I wanted a grilled chicken salad when he sent up yours, or if I wanted something else. I’m going to go see what they are serving everyone else. It would probably be good for me to meet the factory employees while I’m at it. Second floor, right?” she asks me. “If your tray is ready, I’ll see if I can just bring it up with me to save the kitchen staff the effort. See you in a bit.”

I wave as she disappears, and then I turn my attention to the woman in front of me. “How can I help you, Jean?” She’s dressed in a short suit dress, one considerably shorter than what I would consider professional. Her shirt has a low neckline, and she leans over my desk, daring me to look at what her husband likely paid to have enhanced. I don’t take the bait.

Jean is beautiful, but she is far too greedy for prestige and money aside from her being married. She toys with her necklace, a red fingernail dropping below my peripheral vision.

“I am busy, Jean. Is there something wrong?”

“No, Beck.” I hate the way she purrs out my name. “I just wanted to check in and see how Lia is working out for you.” She comes around and leans against the corner of my desk, one toned leg stretched out only inches away from me. Her act could be seen as innocent flirtation by anyone else. I know the truth.

“She’s great; thanks for recommending her.” I keep my eyes on hers or on my computer as I type in an order sheet for inventory to get moved from one warehouse to the factory for additional work. “Did you manage to fix that error with how the generator converts the solar powered energy?” Jean is excellent at her job most of the time, but when she makes a mistake, it’s a big one. Even before she married Lia’s dad, Jean had pursued me to the point of it being laughable.

Jean nods, her chin rising and falling like one of those bobble heads lined up along a car’s dashboard. “Weeks ago, Beck. Really, I don’t have any problems. It’s my lunch break, so I thought I would come up here, see if Lia’s doing okay, and if there’s anything I can do for you.” One fingertip dances across my desk and touches the side of my hand.

It’s too much, and I’m done with the conversation. I can only be polite for a short time in the face of such blatant disregard for my boundaries. A swift keystroke triggers my own security protocol, and my phone rings five seconds later, appearing to be from the main reception desk downstairs instead of being a fake proxy call through the computer.

“Sorry, Jean. I have to take this.” I pick up the receiver and hold it to my ear as a recorded voice begins questioning me about our upcoming releases. “This is Beck. How may I help you?” This truly was one of my more brilliant additions to my phone system. I’ll have to come up with something like this for Lia’s computer, too.

I listen for a few more seconds. “Hold on just a moment. I’ll be right back.” I place the fake call on hold. “I really am sorry, Jean. This call is about my upcoming trip. I leave in the morning for several weeks. I’ll drop by Research and Development later today when I give Lia a full tour of the site. I want to introduce her to all the department heads before I leave in case she needs anything for me while I’m gone. We can catch up when Lia and I are down there. Okay?”