Office Affair

The kitchen incident

Trigger warning: this chapter mentions direct verbal sexual intimidation. Feel free to skip this chapter if that's not something you feel comfortable about.

Anya

Anya closed the door and sat at her desk as soon as Dominic left her room after giving her an assignment. It took her a moment to get used to what looked to be a brand new chair that nicely supported her back. She never sat in such a good chair. It was firm, and it forced her to sit upright, which was something that she struggled with while working at her kitchen chair at home.

She looked at the desk in front of her. It was clear that someone, undoubtedly Michelle because she could see her neat, almost pedantic 'footprint' all over it, had decluttered it, dusted it off, and only left a big monitor, as well as a laptop that was connected to it, some pens, pencils, an eraser and pencil sharpener. She opened up the laptop, logged into it with a password which was written on a post-it note. She opened up a photo manipulation software and started playing with color palettes, to warm up. Dominic gave her a task to create a simple wedding-related book, a planner of sorts. She didn't want just the typical white-rosy pink combination. She wanted something fresh. She didn't know how long she was working when she started feeling hungry and in need of another coffee. She walked to the kitchen. It was full of light, and decorated with mahogany wood counters and cupboards. It even had a big fridge and a microwave. Her own kitchen was subpar to this one, so she enjoyed herself for a few moments while coffee was boiling. She was wondering if taking something from the fridge is really free of charge, so she resisted the temptation. She only took the milk to put in her coffee. Suddenly there was a shift in the atmosphere, so she turned around and found herself face to face with another man that she wasn't so interested to get to know.

"I heard we have a new colleague. What can I say, Dominic has an acquired taste. I just wanted to welcome you to our team. I'm Duncan Carr, I work in sales. Rita Boynton is my assistant." He took her free hand and held it for too long.

"I am happy to have met you." Anya said awkwardly. Something in her gut was screaming at her that she should stay away from him as soon as possible, and hopefully never to see him again. "I would love to stay and chat but I really need to get on with my job."

"Oh come now, don't be so shy. I wonder why Dominic didn't put you in our room. We would have much more fun, you look very...well...shall we just say passionate about your work."

"Can you please let go of my hand. I do not want to be touched." She said, trying to pull it out of his grip, but he was intimidatingly strong, and he didn't budge.

"What's the matter? Am I making you uncomfortable? A pretty little girl like you..."

"I am not a little girl, and I demand you let me go at once!" She almost yelled, trying to get away but also not to attract any unwanted attention. Duncan sighed.

"Fine, I will let you go for now, but I know where your room is. My close friend is working just on the other side of that door. I will see you around." He slowly released her, and Anya tried to control her body just enough so she could haste back to the safety of her room. When she did, she started shaking so much that some of the coffee got spilled on the floor.

"Oh, shit....shit, shit, shit." She cursed while she looked for a tissue paper. She knelt down and started scrubbing the floor with fervor when she heard a new knock on the door. She jumped.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

"Michelle...no, you didn't. Come in, sit."

"Anya, what happened?" Michelle asked as she went down on her knees as well, to hold Anya's hands. Anya avoided her questioning gaze because she didn't want to accuse anyone of anything, especially because she believed she had nothing to go off of. Yet somehow it seemed like Michelle read her mind.