Riding the Corporate Ladder (Indigo) (18 page)

“What is he, a dog whisperer?” Deena kidded.

“No,” Yesenia said, “but he knew what he was doing. They tried to jump up on him, but he made them get down with no treats, no leash, or anything.”

“How?” Deena asked. She hated Yesenia’s slobbering pooches and was very interested in the solution.

“He said, ‘Get down!’ and stepped on their back foot a little.”

“That worked?”

“Yeah. After a while, all he had to do was say, ‘Get down!’ ”

“Damn,” Deena said. “I didn’t know all I had to do was stomp their foot.”

“Not stomp! He barely stepped on it; just enough to make them uncomfortable, but not enough to hurt.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Deena said. “If they ever jump on me again, I’m stomping the shit outta their feet.”

Yesenia laughed. “We went and walked the dogs,” she said.

Deena couldn’t believe it. “More walking?”

“Yeah. I was telling him about how they tear up my yard, and Darren said I should probably walk them more often. You know sometimes I go a whole week without walking them. You’re not supposed to do that.”

Deena was pleased Yesenia scored such a find. She didn’t think she’d ever had a date like that.

“When we got back, I made some coffee,” Yesenia said. “We ate some cheesecake and talked some more. Then we looked up and realized what time it was.”

Deena’s smile was genuine. “I’m so happy for you. Sounds like y’all had a great time.”

“Oh, we did. Especially when he kissed me.”

“Y’all kissed?”

“It’s okay to kiss on the second date,” Yesenia said. “I’m not a nun.”

“Was it nice?” Deena asked with a chuckle. “Tell me about it. Where were his hands? Any tongue? Was it a peck, or a bunch of little kisses? Come on; talk to me, girl.”

Yesenia laughed. “It’s eleven-thirty. I gotta go.”

“You’d better tell me!”

“It was nice,” Yesenia said. “It was two pecks, and he had his hand on my side. Now I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Deena said and disconnected. Her heart was light in her chest. She didn’t know if Yesenia forgot about being mad earlier or if she just didn’t want to bring it up, but it was all good either way. Things had apparently gone well despite the friction, and Deena didn’t feel so guilty anymore.

She put her reports away and headed for bed. When the phone rang again, she thought her friend was going to give her the sticky details after all, but it wasn’t Yesenia on the line. It was Keshaun.

“Hello?”

“Hey, what’s up, girl.”

“Nothing much.”

“You got company?” he asked.

“Nope, it’s just me.” She yawned. “Getting ready to go to bed.”

“Why don’t you stay up for a minute,” he suggested. “Let me come over there and knock that off.”

Keshaun was definitely packing, so that was always a welcome venture, but Deena was still thinking about Yesenia’s day. She liked fancy restaurants and street-side art shows, too. And Keshaun never once offered to go on a walk with her and Boogie.

“No. I think I’d better get some sleep,” she decided. “Tomorrow’s the beginning of the work week for some people.”

“Aww, don’t be like that, girl. My mouth is already watering. I wanna suck those pretty lips.”

Deena’s pubic hairs started to tingle, but her mind was made up. “Which lips?”

“The ones that don’t smile,” he said. “I’ll let you cum in my face if you want.”

“Damn.” Deena stopped in the restroom to leave her robe on the back of the door. She stepped into her bedroom wearing only a bra and panties, and she discarded those undergarments quickly. She went to the dresser in search of her favorite battery-operated toy.

“Maybe if you lay on your back,” she said. “And let me climb on top.”

“You wanna get on top?”

“Of your face.” She found her vibrator amidst a pile of rolled socks. She stroked it a little on the way to the bed. The dildo was only six inches long, but that was Deena’s preference. She didn’t want to play with something so big it would make all of the real dicks out there look inadequate.

She lay flat on the bed and found herself already moist.

“Yeah, you can sit on my face,” Keshaun said.

“No, I want to squat,” Deena said. “I’ll hold the headboard for support.” She flipped the switch on her toy and hoped the slight buzz wasn’t audible over the phone. She inserted the head slowly and shuddered a little.

“So I can co—”

“When I come down on top of your face,” Deena said, “what are you going to be thinking?”

“What you mean?”

“Talk me through it,” she urged.

“I’m going to look up at it,” Keshaun said. “I’m going to spread the lips with my fingers so I can see that pretty pink. I like the way it smells. I want to smell it.”

“Hmmm,” Deena moaned. “I’m gonna be wet.” She worked the head of her vibrator in and out, and that was really all she needed. If her toy was only four inches, she could still get off.

“I hope you’re dripping,” Keshaun said. “I want to open my mouth and catch a drop on my tongue. I want it to slide down my throat. I want to taste it.”

“And then what?”

“And then you’d have to come down lower, baby. I wanna lick you hard and suck your pearl tongue. I want to stick my tongue in as far as it will go, and then you can ride up and down on it.”

“You want me to ride your face?”

“Yeah, baby. And if you ain’t doing it right, I’ll grab your ass and move your hips like I want them to go.”

“Oooh. Oh, man.”

“I wanna…”

“Hmmm.”

“I’ma—say, what the hell you doing?”

“Don’t stop, baby. I’m almost there.”

“What the…you…you jacking off or something?”

“Girls don’t jack off, baby.”

“So, so what that mean? You playing with yourself?”

“I’m trying, but you’re messing it up.”

“Man, forget that shit. I thought you wanted me to come over.”

“I’ll be ’sleep in five minutes,” Deena said.

“Well I ain’t finna help you with that shit. Why don’t you call me when you want some real dick?”

He hung up, but that was okay. Deena only needed about thirty more seconds before she had the problem solved all by herself. She would’ve been up until two in the morning messing around with Keshaun’s trifling ass. But taking care of her own business had her fast asleep before midnight.

And she wasn’t even thinking about Keshaun anymore when she came.

* * *

On Monday morning Deena woke up fresh and energized, so she stepped into her closet looking for something easy and breezy. She selected an outfit that was probably better suited for casual Friday, but she didn’t have to be in court today, so she went for it. The blouse was white and short-sleeved with a portrait collar. The slacks were black and cropped, coming to a stop just under her calves. She put on round-toed pumps and looped a skinny belt around her waist.

When she was done, Deena modeled the outfit in her full-length mirror. She knew she looked good. She felt good, too, and that was always the best way to start the week.

* * *

When she got to the office, Deena had a couple of surprises waiting for her. She ran into the first one as soon as she stepped off of the elevator. Her manager, Shelton Murray, was back from vacation. She saw him congregating with a small group of attorneys near the boardroom. He separated himself from the crowd and made his way to Deena as soon as they made eye contact.

She greeted him with an eager smile. “Well, welcome back, counselor. How was France?”

“It’s good to be back,” Mr. Murray said. “And France was beautiful.” He stood with his hands in his pockets, admiring Deena unabashedly. “I hear you wowed that Blood Money rep.”

“I’ve been on a roll,” Deena admitted. “I thought you were going to call me from the airport.”

Shelton grinned. He had the cutest little crow’s feet. “I couldn’t shake the missus. But I think she’s on to me, truth be told.”

“Well, you’re going to have to be more careful.” She gave her boss a flirty grin, and he smiled back.

“You got time to stop by my office?” he asked.

“Sure.”

* * *

The director had a beautiful corner office that was the envy of every lawyer on the floor. Not only did he have a huge window on two separate walls, but his space was almost twice the size of Deena’s. He had captivating impressionist paintings on the walls and ceramic vases with beautiful silk floral arrangements.

Deena went to the window to stare down at the populace below. It was a great view. She could see all the way to the Convention Center. There were so many people hustling and bustling to and fro. Deena thought everyone should just stop what they were doing and find someone to screw. If that happened, the whole world would become a better place overnight.

Mr. Murray closed the door behind himself and went to the window with Deena. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her front. Deena smiled and leaned her head against his. Today his fragrance was Christian Dior.

“You just want to squash ’em all like bugs, don’t you?” he asked.

“Squash who?”

“The people.”

Deena realized he was talking about the pedestrians below, and she was also reminded of a fundamental difference between herself and the powerful men at the firm: people like Shelton only wanted to conquer and control. It was in his Anglo-Saxon blood. Deena knew it would benefit her to pick up a few of those traits.

“How was your vacation?” she asked again.

“It’s always the same. The wife plans the whole damned thing. She had me on a schedule tighter than the one here at work: Tour of the Eiffel Tower at one, wine tasting at three, dinner at five, and the opera at seven. The only time she left me alone is when she was out spending my money.”

“You should take me next time,” Deena said. “I want to spend some of your money.”

He laughed and kissed her on the side of the neck. “And you’re welcome to it.” He let go of her and went around to his desk. “Deena, you’ve really been making waves here—good ones. Your name’s coming up in some memos.”

Deena turned with her hands on her hips. “What kinds of memos?”

Mr. Murray took a seat and crossed his legs. “Important memos. Memos to the higher-ups, you know: the ones you don’t get.”

Deena came and stood in front of his desk. “Bruce says I shouldn’t get excited just because my name was in a few emails last week.”

“Bruce is a smart man,” Shelton said. “These fat cats only care about who’s putting money in their pockets today. Next week it’ll be somebody else bringing in the big accounts.”

Deena nodded. “I guess I need to be more memorable if I want to get promoted…”

Mr. Murray grinned. “Deena, you’re pretty damned memorable as it is.” His eyes narrowed. “Did you say ‘promoted?’ ”

She took a seat on the corner of his desk. His eyes immediately went to her butt.

“There’s a junior partner position coming up.”

He chuckled. “Oh, you saw that, did you?”

“Yes, I saw it,” Deena said, and then she saw something odd in the director’s eyes. She leaned over the desk and studied his features. “Wait a minute…What do you know?”

Mr. Murray laughed and threw his hands up. “Deena, you know that’s not my deal. I have absolutely no control—”

“Yeah, but you know something,” she said, nodding. “Don’t make me come over there…”

“All right,” Shelton said, still chuckling. “All right. I do know something. But you didn’t hear this from me—matter of fact, you’d better not tell anyone…”

“All right.” Deena was already giddy.

“They’ve narrowed the choices down to ten attorneys, and your name did come up.”

Deena was so shocked she nearly jumped off the desk.

“Wait.” The director put a hand up. “Hold on now. You need to know that you are not the strongest name on that list. As a matter of fact, the other nine are much better candidates.”

But that did little to quell Deena’s excitement. Her eyes were wide and her jaw hung ajar.

“You are not the likely choice,” Mr. Murray reiterated. “But the fact that your name is even on the list should make you very pleased, Miss Newman. You should be really proud of yourself.”

“I can’t believe it!” She jumped up and ran around the desk and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Oh, my God! I can’t believe it!”

“Deena, Deena…” He realized he wasn’t getting through to her. “You’re not going to get it,” he said plainly. “It’s quite an honor, but don’t go overboard.”

Deena heard him, but her brain was racing, already coming up with its own conclusions. Quite an honor, my ass. This is what she’d been dreaming of for the last ten years. This was the position she could make her millions in and retire from. The hardest part was getting on that list. And if she was on it, Deena knew she would get that promotion. It was almost guaranteed.