Office Politics: Part Five
http://www.interracialerotica.net/erotica/articles/149/1/Office-Politics-Part-Five/Page1.html
By Tracy Ames
Published on December 8, 2009
Four days into their five day trip and all Paula and the guys wanted to do was leave DC before being summoned to the Pentagon. Being that their current mission was the Y2K rollover project, they were often asked to give impromptu briefings; this is where the three of them shined. Charlie, the highest ranking, was most conversant on the project; Shawn was the color commentator, bringing his wit to an all to often dry circle jerk.
And then there was Paula.
Being a Department of Defense contractor, Paula was somewhat of an anomaly. Her duties mirrored Charlie and Shawn’s; she worked along side them and shared their headaches. Yet given the xenophobic attitudes of the DoD, she often disappeared into background until called upon. In the confines of their world at Gunter, all things were equal. The brass treated the enlisted and contractors the same. The guys were aware the stark contrast in perception drove Paula mad and they went out of their way to include her in their discussion not for sake of fairness but because her input was imperative. She knew the source code like the back of her hand—she was their equal in all but dress, and they made sure everyone damn well knew it.
There were some crumbs of comfort: Paula ran into a fighter pilot, Captain Rhodes, whom she’d been corresponding with since her first week on the job. At the time he’d been nursing a sprain wrist and commuted to light desk work. He was a married father of eight who lived in Boston and flew an F-22 for Otis Air National Guard. For a fighter pilot he didn’t have the trademarked God-like complex, he was upbeat and approachable. There were many days when his phone call or email kept her from strangling her colleagues especially when Charlie and Shawn were out of the office.
In their close quarters Paula and Charlie managed to keep their relationship concealed from Shawn. No sleeping together, no touchy-feely action…just friends as they’d always been. But things were literally coming to a head. She’d never understood why some women denied themselves sex or the intimacy that it brought. In comparison, men had no problem acting on the desires that beset most women. But why, why fight it? There were times when her pussy registered images of a feral cat pacing quiet paths in anxious patience for Charlie’s attention. And if he took too long satisfying her needs, she’d take him as she saw fit; coercing a begrudged bellowing orgasm from him, leaving him slumped and spent against her breasts.
She and Charlie fed on one another. Sex for them wasn’t merely two-stepping toward orgasm; it was a wild unabashed need of epic proportion. For most women, being awoken to her body being held protracted between her lover hands while being screwed without thought of how she felt would’ve been a civil matter---but for Paula, it was Charlie’s way of saying good morning.
However, that was the physical aspect of their relationship. In the long days and somber nights that passed, it was his presence and those the gray sweatpants, no makeup, ‘baby come and read to me’ moments that she missed. Here, they playacted with benign reserve and satisfied by a few stolen glances. These brief glimpses of their private life sustained them but couldn’t compare to the metaphysical sublimity they found in one another touch.
But the hundreds on miles that separated Paula and Lisa were no match for Lisa’s dogged determination to pull Paula kicking and screaming into her wedding plans. The wedding was less then a month away and Lisa hadn’t found a dress. Her willingness to label her blind ambivalent as being selective was enough to send Paula into a white-hot rage. Yet this is where Paula found herself, tied to her laptop, combing eBay and local bridal websites while Charlie and Shawn went bar hopping with guys from the office.
“What about that one?” Lisa said.
“Which one?”
“Half way down the page, the one with the two foot train and lace bodice.”
Paula scrolled down the page. “Lisa, this is horrible! You do want to get married don’t you? Try to find a dress that covers more flesh. Your mother will be there for goodness sake.”
“Tony wanted me to wear something sexy.”
“Sexy and trashy are polar opposites. This dress is two seconds away from slutty.”
“Well you find one,” Lisa sighed. “My eyes are going cross.”
“Lisa, you need to take a break and focus on something else. Mo and I will find the dress.” Paula said.
Charlie walked in and began undressing at the foot of her bed. He knew she was trapped and couldn’t protest his advances with Lisa on the phone. Carefully he moved her laptop to the nightstand, removed her night gown and panties and ignored the “what are you doing?” look she gave.
Lisa was still rambling on and Paula pretended to listen attentively as Charlie spread her thighs and licked slow lazy circles down the center of her abdomen. “I’m still here,” she lamented as Charlie, lying prostate between her legs, cupped her ass, palming a cheek in each hand. “We need Tony’s guest list before we begin working on the sitting chart.” She said anticipating his oral assault.
He placed one tiny wet lick on her pussy lips, educing a faint sigh from Paula. “Shhhhh, someone will hear you,” he breathed against her lip while smiling up at her. With her ass cupped in hand, her wet quivering slit pulsating before him, he licked and sucked at her lips, tasted and savored her girlie juices and rhythmically moved her ass in a way that ensured his tongue, his suckling mouth, his gripping hands worked in quiet concert.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Paula observed, trying to keep her senses focused on the conversation rather then the raging tsunami Charlie’s insistent lap-lap-sucking was invoking. “Lisa, can I call you back?”
“Wait, one last thing. I should’ve asked you earlier,” There was a pregnant pause. “Paula, are you there?”
Paula breathlessly watched Charlie’s head bobbing between her thighs, tonguing her clit. “Yes, I’m here. What were you saying?”
“I wanted to ask you if you’d be my maid of honor. My sister and I are on bad terms and I’d like you to take her place.”
Paula’s orgasm unrelentingly swelled under Charlie’s oral craftsmanship. His pleading words pass over his lips and caressed the nether regions of her aching core. “Cum,” he implored looking straight into Paula’s eyes.
“Okay Paula, enough hemming and hawing. Are you in or not?” Lisa interrupted.
Stuck in a virtual foursome: Shawn in the next room, Lisa on the telephone and she lying spread-eagle under Charlie’s unanticipated tongue fuckery, Paula limped towards her orgasm, unable to scream out in the evangelical tongues she was accustomed.
“Cum,” he said, locked eyed and suckling. “Cum.”
Paula nodded teary eyed “Yes, I’ll do it.”
“Great!” Lisa said giddily. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow and we’ll go from there!”
Paula clicked the phone off, dropped it on the bed and fisted the sheets, the pillows, and the mattress…anything and everything to keep from calling attention mind-bending orgasm. Her head back, her mouth open, and her body arrested with tension, Charlie gripping her ass---she came with such intensity sounds, words, time and space failed her.
Charlie lingered between her legs lapping the last remains of her sanity. “Hey baby,”
Without a word Paula pull him on top of her and kissed him deeply. His cock entered her slowly and deliberately, pausing to make her feel his fullness. Her lips open like the pages of a book, her desires written in cryptographic symbols that only he could decode.
“Charlie, I’m cumming” she moaned and slowly surrender to his prowess. She basted in the feel of his weight against her, his muted pleasure groaning in her ear, his breath on her neck. And then it happened---in one sweet breathless moment she felt him cum inside of her for the first time. They both exhaled a long hot breath cementing their bond.
They lie holding one another and fell fast asleep.
*******
The next morning Shawn, still half drunk, awoke and started breakfast. Paula and Charlie emerged from their rooms shortly after noon to find him collapsed facedown on the living room sofa, shades drawn.
“Fucking hell man,” Charlie plopped in the recliner and covered his face. “What did we drink last night?”
“The hell if I know. I can’t feel my tongue. I vaguely remember a round of shot at one point but…was that before or after the beer?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember a thing. How did we get home?” Charlie asked.
Paula pushed Shawn’s legs off the sofa and sat down. “What, you guys are kidding right?”
“No, I don’t remember anything.” Charlie leaned back, his stomach boiled with regret. “Seriously Shawn, how did we get home?”
“I was hoping you’d know. The car’s not outside so I’m assuming neither of us drove. Maybe one of the guys brought us back, who know.”
Paula stared quizzically at both men. Clearly their were in agony. “You’re not kidding are you? You really don’t remember anything?”
“No!” Shawn labored. “I recall leaving the NCO club and heading into DC but nothing else afterward.”
“Shawn!” Paula slapped his leg playfully. “I gave you the best sex of my life last night and you don’t even remember it.”
Aware that her comment might have been meant for him, Charlie’s eyes flew open.
“Well I’m glad you enjoyed it because I don’t remember a damn thing.” Shawn staggered from the sofa. “I’m going back to bed. What time does our flight leave?”
Office Politics: Part Five
Paula, a new employee at the Department of Defense, has a kill in her cross-hairs. Charles, a God in uniform has pledged to have her calling him Daddy by the end of the night....
Office Politics: Part Five
Four days into their five day trip and all Paula and the guys wanted to do was leave DC before being summoned to the Pentagon. Being that their current mission was the Y2K rollover project, they were often asked to give impromptu briefings; this is where the three of them shined. Charlie, the highest ranking, was most conversant on the project; Shawn was the color commentator, bringing his wit to an all to often dry circle jerk.
And then there was Paula.
Being a Department of Defense contractor, Paula was somewhat of an anomaly. Her duties mirrored Charlie and Shawn’s; she worked along side them and shared their headaches. Yet given the xenophobic attitudes of the DoD, she often disappeared into background until called upon. In the confines of their world at Gunter, all things were equal. The brass treated the enlisted and contractors the same. The guys were aware the stark contrast in perception drove Paula mad and they went out of their way to include her in their discussion not for sake of fairness but because her input was imperative. She knew the source code like the back of her hand—she was their equal in all but dress, and they made sure everyone damn well knew it.
There were some crumbs of comfort: Paula ran into a fighter pilot, Captain Rhodes, whom she’d been corresponding with since her first week on the job. At the time he’d been nursing a sprain wrist and commuted to light desk work. He was a married father of eight who lived in Boston and flew an F-22 for Otis Air National Guard. For a fighter pilot he didn’t have the trademarked God-like complex, he was upbeat and approachable. There were many days when his phone call or email kept her from strangling her colleagues especially when Charlie and Shawn were out of the office.
In their close quarters Paula and Charlie managed to keep their relationship concealed from Shawn. No sleeping together, no touchy-feely action…just friends as they’d always been. But things were literally coming to a head. She’d never understood why some women denied themselves sex or the intimacy that it brought. In comparison, men had no problem acting on the desires that beset most women. But why, why fight it? There were times when her pussy registered images of a feral cat pacing quiet paths in anxious patience for Charlie’s attention. And if he took too long satisfying her needs, she’d take him as she saw fit; coercing a begrudged bellowing orgasm from him, leaving him slumped and spent against her breasts.
She and Charlie fed on one another. Sex for them wasn’t merely two-stepping toward orgasm; it was a wild unabashed need of epic proportion. For most women, being awoken to her body being held protracted between her lover hands while being screwed without thought of how she felt would’ve been a civil matter---but for Paula, it was Charlie’s way of saying good morning.
However, that was the physical aspect of their relationship. In the long days and somber nights that passed, it was his presence and those the gray sweatpants, no makeup, ‘baby come and read to me’ moments that she missed. Here, they playacted with benign reserve and satisfied by a few stolen glances. These brief glimpses of their private life sustained them but couldn’t compare to the metaphysical sublimity they found in one another touch.
But the hundreds on miles that separated Paula and Lisa were no match for Lisa’s dogged determination to pull Paula kicking and screaming into her wedding plans. The wedding was less then a month away and Lisa hadn’t found a dress. Her willingness to label her blind ambivalent as being selective was enough to send Paula into a white-hot rage. Yet this is where Paula found herself, tied to her laptop, combing eBay and local bridal websites while Charlie and Shawn went bar hopping with guys from the office.
“What about that one?” Lisa said.
“Which one?”
“Half way down the page, the one with the two foot train and lace bodice.”
Paula scrolled down the page. “Lisa, this is horrible! You do want to get married don’t you? Try to find a dress that covers more flesh. Your mother will be there for goodness sake.”
“Tony wanted me to wear something sexy.”
“Sexy and trashy are polar opposites. This dress is two seconds away from slutty.”
“Well you find one,” Lisa sighed. “My eyes are going cross.”
“Lisa, you need to take a break and focus on something else. Mo and I will find the dress.” Paula said.
Charlie walked in and began undressing at the foot of her bed. He knew she was trapped and couldn’t protest his advances with Lisa on the phone. Carefully he moved her laptop to the nightstand, removed her night gown and panties and ignored the “what are you doing?” look she gave.
Lisa was still rambling on and Paula pretended to listen attentively as Charlie spread her thighs and licked slow lazy circles down the center of her abdomen. “I’m still here,” she lamented as Charlie, lying prostate between her legs, cupped her ass, palming a cheek in each hand. “We need Tony’s guest list before we begin working on the sitting chart.” She said anticipating his oral assault.
He placed one tiny wet lick on her pussy lips, educing a faint sigh from Paula. “Shhhhh, someone will hear you,” he breathed against her lip while smiling up at her. With her ass cupped in hand, her wet quivering slit pulsating before him, he licked and sucked at her lips, tasted and savored her girlie juices and rhythmically moved her ass in a way that ensured his tongue, his suckling mouth, his gripping hands worked in quiet concert.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Paula observed, trying to keep her senses focused on the conversation rather then the raging tsunami Charlie’s insistent lap-lap-sucking was invoking. “Lisa, can I call you back?”
“Wait, one last thing. I should’ve asked you earlier,” There was a pregnant pause. “Paula, are you there?”
Paula breathlessly watched Charlie’s head bobbing between her thighs, tonguing her clit. “Yes, I’m here. What were you saying?”
“I wanted to ask you if you’d be my maid of honor. My sister and I are on bad terms and I’d like you to take her place.”
Paula’s orgasm unrelentingly swelled under Charlie’s oral craftsmanship. His pleading words pass over his lips and caressed the nether regions of her aching core. “Cum,” he implored looking straight into Paula’s eyes.
“Okay Paula, enough hemming and hawing. Are you in or not?” Lisa interrupted.
Stuck in a virtual foursome: Shawn in the next room, Lisa on the telephone and she lying spread-eagle under Charlie’s unanticipated tongue fuckery, Paula limped towards her orgasm, unable to scream out in the evangelical tongues she was accustomed.
“Cum,” he said, locked eyed and suckling. “Cum.”
Paula nodded teary eyed “Yes, I’ll do it.”
“Great!” Lisa said giddily. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow and we’ll go from there!”
Paula clicked the phone off, dropped it on the bed and fisted the sheets, the pillows, and the mattress…anything and everything to keep from calling attention mind-bending orgasm. Her head back, her mouth open, and her body arrested with tension, Charlie gripping her ass---she came with such intensity sounds, words, time and space failed her.
Charlie lingered between her legs lapping the last remains of her sanity. “Hey baby,”
Without a word Paula pull him on top of her and kissed him deeply. His cock entered her slowly and deliberately, pausing to make her feel his fullness. Her lips open like the pages of a book, her desires written in cryptographic symbols that only he could decode.
“Charlie, I’m cumming” she moaned and slowly surrender to his prowess. She basted in the feel of his weight against her, his muted pleasure groaning in her ear, his breath on her neck. And then it happened---in one sweet breathless moment she felt him cum inside of her for the first time. They both exhaled a long hot breath cementing their bond.
They lie holding one another and fell fast asleep.
*******
The next morning Shawn, still half drunk, awoke and started breakfast. Paula and Charlie emerged from their rooms shortly after noon to find him collapsed facedown on the living room sofa, shades drawn.
“Fucking hell man,” Charlie plopped in the recliner and covered his face. “What did we drink last night?”
“The hell if I know. I can’t feel my tongue. I vaguely remember a round of shot at one point but…was that before or after the beer?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember a thing. How did we get home?” Charlie asked.
Paula pushed Shawn’s legs off the sofa and sat down. “What, you guys are kidding right?”
“No, I don’t remember anything.” Charlie leaned back, his stomach boiled with regret. “Seriously Shawn, how did we get home?”
“I was hoping you’d know. The car’s not outside so I’m assuming neither of us drove. Maybe one of the guys brought us back, who know.”
Paula stared quizzically at both men. Clearly their were in agony. “You’re not kidding are you? You really don’t remember anything?”
“No!” Shawn labored. “I recall leaving the NCO club and heading into DC but nothing else afterward.”
“Shawn!” Paula slapped his leg playfully. “I gave you the best sex of my life last night and you don’t even remember it.”
Aware that her comment might have been meant for him, Charlie’s eyes flew open.
“Well I’m glad you enjoyed it because I don’t remember a damn thing.” Shawn staggered from the sofa. “I’m going back to bed. What time does our flight leave?”
Office Politics: Part Five
“Seven o’clock.” Paula answered. “Peggy is stopping by before hand so try to pull yourself together and make sure your bags are packed.”
“Yes ma’am. He replied and closed his door.
Paula turned on Charlie. He came and took Shawn’s place beside her but avoided her eye contact. “What the hell did you guys get into last night?”
“Your guess is as good as mine”
“You don’t remember what we did last night?”
“Do you wanna lie or the truth?” Charlie snorted.
If he didn’t look so damn cute and equally sick, she would’ve been angry with him. “The truth.” She grinned.
He frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry babe, I don’t. I remember you waking me up this morning and pushing me to my room before Shawn woke up.”
“You and Shawn need to stay away from one another. You guys can’t go out drinking like that.”
“You’re preaching to the choir. I won’t do it again. God, I haven’t been this hung-over in years.”
“It’s because you don’t drink like everyone else.” Paula rolled her eyes.
“I’m a lightweight compared to Tony. And we have his stag party coming up.”
Paula forced a smile.
Charlie felt the pains of guilt rise in his gut. “Did I do something wrong?” He sat up. “You would tell me if I did something wrong, right?”
She scanned his beautiful face and said tenderly. “Yeah, I’d tell you.”
“So what did I miss?”
“Well, we had amazing sex.” Paula fell onto his arms.
“Really?” Charlie perked up.
“Oh yeah! You went down on me while I was on the phone with Lisa and then you came inside of me.”
Anxiety scissored across Charlie’s face. “I did what? What the fuck? I’m sorry.”
“I’m on the pill but we shouldn’t do that again. Not until….” She was interrupted by the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi Paula, it’s Peggy. Is Charlie around?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s right here. Hold on.”
“No, don’t bother. Tell him I’m on my way. See ya in a minute.”
She hung up before Paula could say goodbye. “That was your mom. She’s on her way.”
“I’d better wake Sleeping Beauty,” he rolled from the sofa and went to rouse Shawn.
Ten minutes later, Peggy arrived in full uniform. “What were you two thinking last night?” she asked coming through the door.
“Glad you could make it, mom” Charlie said closing the door behind her.
“Don’t be cute, Charlie.” She greeted Paula and sat on the sofa. “Where’s your partner in crime?”
Charlie laid flat on the floor. “He’ll out in a bit. How the hell did you find out about last night?”
“How‘d you think you got home?” her drawl was thicker than Mississippi mud. “You called round three o’clock this morning lookin’ for a ride. Rose dropped your rental car off this morning. Do you have any idea how hard it was to pour the two of you into her car?”
Paula hushed a laugh as Shawn greeted Peggy and took a seat.
“Paula, you should have seen these two,” Peggy giggled. “Rose and I struggled for at least twenty minutes with Shawn alone.” She threw up her hands. “That’s it! I’m too old to be getting drunk dialed by my son.”
“Sorry ma’am.” Shawn said his face resting in his hand in shame.
“Don’t apologize. I’m glad you called---better to call than get behind the wheel.”
“Thanks momma.” Charlie rose from the floor, kissed Peggy on the top of her head and went back to bed.
“Did he just leave me sitting here?” Peggy turned to Paula laughing.
They heard his door close.
******
Arriving home close to ten o’clock and immediately slipped into their domestic routines: Shawn went home to his husk of a marriage and the couple spent the night at Charlie’s apartment.
Before Paula could get into the office the next day, she was hijacked by Stacy, Mo, and Cathy squawking about the wedding and bachelorette party that Paula now found herself hosting. She silently cursed Charlie’s name for getting her into this. If she’d been in her right frame of mind she would never have agreed to be Lisa’s maid of honor.
In short order, Paula delegated the party’s details to her three new helpers and made a dash for the Fusion Center. Jeanette stood talking over the shoulder of a pretty young white girl with ginger hued hair and dangerous green eyes. She was a civilian and from what she could make out from her seated position, ‘ginger’ had a nice figure. Paula took her seat and went to work without disturbing them. There was only a brief window of real work hours still available seeing that there was a three star General touring the facility. Paula found it amusing that even the top ranking brass had limited access to the Fusion Center yet here she was with unlimited access to the backend codes.
Charlie and Shawn came in after lunch to ensure all classified documentation had been removed. Charlie immediately caught the eye of the young ginger girl. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He smiled politely and went about his business, not giving her a second glance. Their exchange wasn’t lost on Paula. As he left, Charlie brushed his hand across Paula’s shoulders, letting her know she need not be concerned.
“We’d better it going. The tour’s starting in twenty minutes” Jeanette said. “Paula, I’d like you to meet Tess Simons. Today’s her third day.”
Paula smiled genuinely and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Tess. How do you like the place so far?”
“So far, so good,” Tess beamed. “It’s gonna be awhile before I grasp all of the Military stuff but the coding aspect I completely understand.”
“Don’t worry. I went through the same pains. I’ve only been here a few months.”
“I have a meeting with Msgt. Kirksey. Paula, do you mind showing Tess the ropes?” Jeanette asked.
“Not at all,” Paula grinned. “Come on, let’s vacate the premises before we’re kicked out.” They gathered their laptops and exited onto the main floor.
Tess eyes combed through the staff busy at their desk. Her eyes fell on Charlie. “Paula,” she called under her breath. “Who’s that guy?”
Paula stopped and traced the room. “Who?”
“The tall dark haired guy. He came into the Fusion Center,” she gave a sly point in Charlie’s direction.
Paula gave a short laugh. “That’s Sgt Willis.”
“Is he seeing anyone?”
Paula shrugged, a proud half cocked smirk inched across her lips. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?” What she really wanted to say was, “Yes, he’s taken. He’s mine. Keep your paws off of him.”
“I could never approach him,” Tess said. “He probably has woman chasing him all the time.”
No, she spends most of his nights between my legs, is what Paula self-avowed inner bitch said. “No, I think you’d be surprised.” She replied demurely.
“Yes ma’am. He replied and closed his door.
Paula turned on Charlie. He came and took Shawn’s place beside her but avoided her eye contact. “What the hell did you guys get into last night?”
“Your guess is as good as mine”
“You don’t remember what we did last night?”
“Do you wanna lie or the truth?” Charlie snorted.
If he didn’t look so damn cute and equally sick, she would’ve been angry with him. “The truth.” She grinned.
He frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry babe, I don’t. I remember you waking me up this morning and pushing me to my room before Shawn woke up.”
“You and Shawn need to stay away from one another. You guys can’t go out drinking like that.”
“You’re preaching to the choir. I won’t do it again. God, I haven’t been this hung-over in years.”
“It’s because you don’t drink like everyone else.” Paula rolled her eyes.
“I’m a lightweight compared to Tony. And we have his stag party coming up.”
Paula forced a smile.
Charlie felt the pains of guilt rise in his gut. “Did I do something wrong?” He sat up. “You would tell me if I did something wrong, right?”
She scanned his beautiful face and said tenderly. “Yeah, I’d tell you.”
“So what did I miss?”
“Well, we had amazing sex.” Paula fell onto his arms.
“Really?” Charlie perked up.
“Oh yeah! You went down on me while I was on the phone with Lisa and then you came inside of me.”
Anxiety scissored across Charlie’s face. “I did what? What the fuck? I’m sorry.”
“I’m on the pill but we shouldn’t do that again. Not until….” She was interrupted by the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi Paula, it’s Peggy. Is Charlie around?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s right here. Hold on.”
“No, don’t bother. Tell him I’m on my way. See ya in a minute.”
She hung up before Paula could say goodbye. “That was your mom. She’s on her way.”
“I’d better wake Sleeping Beauty,” he rolled from the sofa and went to rouse Shawn.
Ten minutes later, Peggy arrived in full uniform. “What were you two thinking last night?” she asked coming through the door.
“Glad you could make it, mom” Charlie said closing the door behind her.
“Don’t be cute, Charlie.” She greeted Paula and sat on the sofa. “Where’s your partner in crime?”
Charlie laid flat on the floor. “He’ll out in a bit. How the hell did you find out about last night?”
“How‘d you think you got home?” her drawl was thicker than Mississippi mud. “You called round three o’clock this morning lookin’ for a ride. Rose dropped your rental car off this morning. Do you have any idea how hard it was to pour the two of you into her car?”
Paula hushed a laugh as Shawn greeted Peggy and took a seat.
“Paula, you should have seen these two,” Peggy giggled. “Rose and I struggled for at least twenty minutes with Shawn alone.” She threw up her hands. “That’s it! I’m too old to be getting drunk dialed by my son.”
“Sorry ma’am.” Shawn said his face resting in his hand in shame.
“Don’t apologize. I’m glad you called---better to call than get behind the wheel.”
“Thanks momma.” Charlie rose from the floor, kissed Peggy on the top of her head and went back to bed.
“Did he just leave me sitting here?” Peggy turned to Paula laughing.
They heard his door close.
******
Arriving home close to ten o’clock and immediately slipped into their domestic routines: Shawn went home to his husk of a marriage and the couple spent the night at Charlie’s apartment.
Before Paula could get into the office the next day, she was hijacked by Stacy, Mo, and Cathy squawking about the wedding and bachelorette party that Paula now found herself hosting. She silently cursed Charlie’s name for getting her into this. If she’d been in her right frame of mind she would never have agreed to be Lisa’s maid of honor.
In short order, Paula delegated the party’s details to her three new helpers and made a dash for the Fusion Center. Jeanette stood talking over the shoulder of a pretty young white girl with ginger hued hair and dangerous green eyes. She was a civilian and from what she could make out from her seated position, ‘ginger’ had a nice figure. Paula took her seat and went to work without disturbing them. There was only a brief window of real work hours still available seeing that there was a three star General touring the facility. Paula found it amusing that even the top ranking brass had limited access to the Fusion Center yet here she was with unlimited access to the backend codes.
Charlie and Shawn came in after lunch to ensure all classified documentation had been removed. Charlie immediately caught the eye of the young ginger girl. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He smiled politely and went about his business, not giving her a second glance. Their exchange wasn’t lost on Paula. As he left, Charlie brushed his hand across Paula’s shoulders, letting her know she need not be concerned.
“We’d better it going. The tour’s starting in twenty minutes” Jeanette said. “Paula, I’d like you to meet Tess Simons. Today’s her third day.”
Paula smiled genuinely and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Tess. How do you like the place so far?”
“So far, so good,” Tess beamed. “It’s gonna be awhile before I grasp all of the Military stuff but the coding aspect I completely understand.”
“Don’t worry. I went through the same pains. I’ve only been here a few months.”
“I have a meeting with Msgt. Kirksey. Paula, do you mind showing Tess the ropes?” Jeanette asked.
“Not at all,” Paula grinned. “Come on, let’s vacate the premises before we’re kicked out.” They gathered their laptops and exited onto the main floor.
Tess eyes combed through the staff busy at their desk. Her eyes fell on Charlie. “Paula,” she called under her breath. “Who’s that guy?”
Paula stopped and traced the room. “Who?”
“The tall dark haired guy. He came into the Fusion Center,” she gave a sly point in Charlie’s direction.
Paula gave a short laugh. “That’s Sgt Willis.”
“Is he seeing anyone?”
Paula shrugged, a proud half cocked smirk inched across her lips. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?” What she really wanted to say was, “Yes, he’s taken. He’s mine. Keep your paws off of him.”
“I could never approach him,” Tess said. “He probably has woman chasing him all the time.”
No, she spends most of his nights between my legs, is what Paula self-avowed inner bitch said. “No, I think you’d be surprised.” She replied demurely.