Personal Possessions (42 page)

“Good girl.” I whispered
to myself.

“
Come on Elleny….you’re a
beautiful woman. You’ve known I was attracted to you, you had to
know.”

“See, that’s where you’re
wrong, Sam. I don’t have time for soap opera drama, I’m here to do
a job and go…that’s it. I don’t know where you ever got the idea I
was interested but you are way off on that.”

I saw that he started
walking back to the living area and Elle stayed right where she
was, I could see her perfectly. All the sudden I noticed Elle’s
eyes got big. I couldn’t see what he was doing but it had to be
something that was not good.

I opened the door and
stepped out, they couldn’t see me from the wall dividing the
rooms.

“
Sam…”

I heard Elle
squeal

“What the fuck are you
doing?”

“
Well, if that’s not what
you’re interested in then maybe we could fuck a few times and be
done.”

Did he just seriously say
that to her…is that how he gets these women because I don’t think
that line would work.

“
Get the fuck out,
Sam.”

I gleamed with pride,
there was my girl. I heard Elle’s command and it made me fill with
pride. That sparkle that appeared in her eye brought back my
girl…my woman.

“Did you hear what I
said…. I said get the fuck out!”

Now it’s my time to make
myself known. She’s asked several times and obviously his old age
had made him hard of hearing…but yet he could “fuck a few
times”…yeah…right!

“You don’t mean that…just
wait til you see the size of my…“

“I think you heard what
she said Sam, get your shit and get the fuck out!”

I made my presence known
and there was no way, if he was smart would he make me ask
twice.

“Trevor, what are
you…“

He didn’t finish. He
looked at me then at Elle; he understood what was going on. He
quickly began buttoning up his pants.

“
Don’t like soap opera
drama huh, Elleny? Well, you sure as fuck know how to pick ‘em
then…he’s the main character. Goin’ through women like outfits.
Don’t worry honey… by tomorrow you’ll be yesterday’s news and then
you’ll come running to me but by then it will be too late. Ask him
about Natasha…see if he tells you about the only woman he’s ever
given his heart to.”

It took everything in me
to stand there and listen to him talk shit. I thought about hitting
him, but I had given away enough money in the last week…I wasn’t
wanting to hand out anymore. I would hit him where it counted;
professionally. That was how he had a social life…not anymore. He
would never work in this state again, I would make sure of
that.

“That’s fuckin enough,
Sam!”

I demanded. Elle’s eyes
went between the two of us, I wasn’t sure if she was waiting to
break up a fight or if she was waiting for more shit on
me.

”
Sam, if you want to keep
your job for one more day, I suggest you get the fuck out now. I
will see you in my office first thing tomorrow morning to discuss
your misconduct here today.”

He didn’t say another
word. He fixed his pants as best he could and hauled ass out of our
hotel room.

Elle shut the door behind
him. Her eyes came to me, but she didn’t say a word.

“
Ell…“

“Don’t you fucking
dare!”

Elle whispered.

“
I’m going over here to
this table and we’re going to pretend this, in addition to this
whole fucking weekend never happened. Oh yeah, and if you ever feel
the need to prop one of the other women, that you supposedly love
with all your heart, up against the wall and fuck her until she
says what you want to hear, use those same words….they’ll be eating
out of your hand in no time.”

Elle walked back over to
the table grabbed all the information, the laptop and headed back
into her room….and locked the door.

I wanted to smash my head
in. This was the biggest clusterfuck of a week I had ever been a
part of. It was as if we were on a human game board. I would move
ahead three spaces and then pick a “fuck you” card and have to go
all the way back to the beginning.

I ended up sleeping alone
that night…and it sucked fucking huge.

I missed her beside me. I
couldn’t wait to get back to Richland where she would be in her
hometown, her kids would be with her and they all would be safe;
with me.

I think that would take a
lot off of her; having her kids and being home.

I woke up before the alarm
but yet when I headed to the kitchen to make coffee, I noticed Elle
was already gone. Again, I was ready to smash my head in. She
wasn’t even giving me a chance here. I had come to the conclusion
that I was going to have to tell Elle about Tasha and it was going
to have to be tonight.

I went straight to the
office; I didn’t even worry about coffee. I knew that my girl was
back, but I didn’t trust Sam and I sure as shit didn’t trust Sara.
I had an early meeting with Sam, I had decided that I wasn’t doing
anything, as in firing the two of them until all contracts were
signed. I couldn’t afford to lose any of the team members right
now; especially that high up.

I stepped in my office and
Sam wasn’t far behind. He knew he was in deep shit with me, so he
was quiet and well-mannered today…I knew how he really acted; as
did Elle.

I was signing contracts
when he came into my office. My head didn’t even lift up as I
spoke.

“You know I can tell you
to just turn around and walk back out to that car that will be
repossessed by the end of the week when they find out you don’t
have a job…do you not?

He didn’t even try to
bullshit me…he knew he fucked up, big time.

“I’m sorry Trevor…I wasn’t
thinking. I have no idea what had come over me.”

My head came up, as well
as my body as I stood up behind my desk.

“Don’t give me that
bullshit, Sam…you know exactly what you were doing. You scared the
shit outta her…you’re lucky that she didn’t call the police for not
only harassment but for indecent exposure. You want to be known as
a sexual predator the rest of your life?”

I could see the shame
written all over his face…it didn’t bother me one bit. What if I
wouldn’t have been there, would he really have stopped. I didn’t
want to think about that anymore. It was
done…finished…over.

“You’re suspended, without
pay for two weeks. And there will be a permanent write up in your
file.”

Sam’s head came up to look
at me and that look was not of shame anymore; it was anger. There
he was; the real Sam Fordham. He didn’t say another word as he
walked out and down the hallway, right out of my building which he
would never step foot in again.

I picked up my phone and
called Mary in. Immediately she was at my door with a smile on her
face. I hadn’t been able to have a cup of coffee yet so I wasn’t
fully prepared to deal with optimistic Mary just yet.

I had found out one thing
about Mary, she was married, her husband was retired military…that
woman was devoted. She wasn’t like Sara who was eager to cut your
throat over who got to the printer first.

“Have a seat, Mary…I
haven’t had a cup of coffee yet…would you like one?”

You would’ve thought I
asked her if she wanted to share the winnings of the lottery that I
just won. She stared all starry-eyed and speechless.

“It’s just a yes or no
answer, Mary.”

“Oh…I’m so sorry…yes.
Black, no sugar.”

I nodded in acceptance as
I walked over to the coffee pot and stuck the small container in to
make a single cup of coffee.

“We have some things to go
over and what we talk about in this meeting, Mary doesn’t leave
this office. Understood?”

I said as I handed her the
fresh cup of coffee.

“Oh…yes sir.”

Mary concurred. I grabbed
my cup of coffee and headed back to my desk, hitting the button
underneath to sound proof my office.

“First off, Sara is being
demoted. She doesn’t know it yet, but by the end of the day if you
need copies run…buzz her; she’s your gal. Second, she is not privy
to anything confidential from this day forward. She has signed a
contract on confidentiality but as I found out yesterday, some
employees don’t take that contract seriously. Third, I need
termination papers drawn up on Sam Fordham but they are to remain
in the safe. Have them all typed up…don’t date them, I will do
that. Just have everything filled out, also…I want you and Elle to
meet in here and I want a full incident report done on what
happened with her yesterday so that I can work on getting the
permanent write up in his file.”

I know she is dying to
know, but she will hear it enough when Elle goes to write the
report. Two reports have to be done. First, Elle will have to tell
her everything that happened and Mary will write it then Elle will
have to write her own copy.

No story can be told the
same way twice.

“I also want the same done
up on Sara…both even the incident report.”

Mary is flying with her
pen getting everything down.

I finish with Mary and
check another to do off of my list. Looking down at my watch I see
that our first meeting is in just a bit. I looked up when I heard
the knock on my office door.

It was Elle.

“Come in.”

She steps in but I could
see the hesitation in her walk.

“Shut the door behind you,
please.”

I was at my desk,
finishing up some of the other paperwork that had been lying there
for some time.

“
Sir, we don’t have
time…the first cl…“

Did she just call me sir?
I raised my head slowly to look at her; she won’t meet my eyes. I
was stunned and insulted.

“I don’t give a fuck about
the client!”

I could see the fear in
Elle’s eyes. For the first time I was glad she saw it. She caused
it, I had put up with this shit for long enough. Everything that I
was doing was for her and me. She was going to deny
this…still.

Quickly Elle turned and
shut the door. I turned the glass opaque and raised the music on
but I doubt that was going to cover up the sound of my
voice.

“Sir…”

“Did you just call me
sir?” I asked as I walked around my desk to stand in front of
her.

Elle looked directly down
at her papers but she wouldn’t answer me.

“I just asked you a
question, Elle.”

“I think you heard what I
called you…Mr. McHale. I don’t feel comfortable calling you
anything else.” Elle whispered.

I chuckled ominously. She
was fucking kidding, right? Two days ago, I just had her pinned up
against the wall finger fucking her until she screamed, but yet she
doesn’t feel comfortable calling me anything other than sir. Did I
enter the Twilight Zone somewhere?

“
You don’t feel
comfortable calling me anything else, huh.”

Just as fast as I finished
my statement I was over at my desk, throwing everything off of it.
None of this was anything to me. I didn’t want any of it, if I
didn’t have her beside me. She was getting this, when was it going
to sink in that nothing had ever mattered to me other than what was
mine; my personal possessions.

“
You feel comfortable
now?”

I asked. I wanted to make
sure that she was right where she needed to be to feel right at
home. Everything around her chaotic and a fucking disaster since
peace and love wasn’t enough to bring her to me, maybe this
would.

I was losing my mind. I
couldn’t think straight now. All I thought about was how I was
supposed to keep Elle with me. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks
or a bullet straight shot…right between the fuckin’
eyes.

I was my
mother.

I was pleading for someone
who was never going to accept my love for what it truly would
be…unconditional. Life had come full circle. I may have promised
myself that I would never wind up in that kind of dysfunctional
relationship, here I was…running in a hamster wheel that would
never stop spinning.

Elle’s voice brought me
from my thoughts.

“
Ya bout dun,
hun.”

Her Georgia accent was
thick…it brought me back to when we were in high school. I looked
at her and allowed her to catch my eyes. That spark was still as
bright as a midnight star.

“
Ya bout dun throwin yer
fit, TJ.”

“Elle…. I can’t do this
again. I can’t have ya turn your back on me again. You won’t let me
explain about Natasha and I feel you’re gonna walk away from me for
no reason at all….again.”

“
TJ, we’ll talk about
this, ok baby….later. Honey, we gotta get through these signings so
that you can get down to Richland. So, I need you to take a deep
breath and let’s go in there and do this, ok?”