Page 39 of The Boss Upstairs
“Hey girl,” she says. “What’s up?”
“You need to come over. Now!”
“Why? What’s up?” she asks, curious.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“When do you want me over?”
“In an hour. Ethan will be in bed by then.”
“I’ll be there with bells on.”
I’m smiling as I end the call. I haven’t even signed the agreement yet, and I’m already breaking rules. But how can I possibly be expected to handle something this big all by myself?
I’ve chosen Abigail as my confidante because she’s my most level-headed friend. Mischa is too uptight, and Claudia is too wild. Mischa wouldn’t approve. She’d probably tell me that having a sexual relationship with the boss is a terrible idea. Claudia would most likely encourage me to move into his penthouse and become his sex slave. And the fact that Abigail is a social worker doesn’t hurt either. She listens and advises on people’s personal issues for a living. She’s basically a professional listener.
* * *
Abigail is wearing pajama pants,an oversized t-shirt and fuzzy slippers when she shows up. And I’m pretty sure she’s not wearing a bra.
“What?” She shrugs. “I wanted to be comfy. Here you go.” She hands me a bottle of Pinot Noir, which I gladly accept. I could really use a nice glass of wine.
She makes herself comfortable on my sofa, and I pour us both a glass. “What is Abe up to?”
“Oh, he’s working on a new gig, a jingle for a vacation company. He keeps playing the same tune over and over, and it’s driving me crazy.”
I hand her a glass. “Trouble in paradise?”
She smiles. “No… not at all. I just need to get out once in a while. Or sometimes I just put my noise cancelling headphones on. Or I’ll watch TV or listen to music on my headphones. And closed doors are a godsend.”
I settle in next to her. “The perils of being engaged to a musician, I guess.”
She laughs. “He’s so worth it though.”
“I’m so happy for you,” I tell her. “You deserve it.”
She smiles and blows me a kiss. “Enough about me. What’s going on, Gretch? Why did you want me to come over?”
I’m excited. I’m scared. I don’t know where to start.
“Well… you know how I almost kissed my boss last week—”
“I knew it was about him,” she squeals. “Keep going.”
“Wow, I’m glad to be entertaining you so, my friend.”
She giggles. “You are… now stop being a tease, and tell me everything.”
I trace circles around the rim of my wineglass. “Well, I thought I might get fired or something after what happened, because he didn’t seem very happy about it all. But I could tell that he really wanted to…”
“To bang you?”
I shake my head, embarrassed. “Yes. Anyway, I show up at work this morning, and he immediately calls me into his office.”
“Uh-oh.”
I smile. “So I get in there, and I’m scared out of my mind. And then he hands me this four page agreement.”
