I N S T I N C T I V E

(Thirty-Two.)

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Two Weeks Later

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Ramona sat on Dwight's couch with a huff, tossing down her handbag and sighing. She turned to the side slightly, readying her elbow above the couch and rubbing her forehead.

Dwight sat across at on the other couch, and he stared up at her with a single chuckle. "You've been coming over here a lot, lately." He said. "I need to get away from my mother. Does that bother you?" Ramona asked. "No, not at all. I love having you around." He said, giving a small smile. She flattened her lips slightly.

"Long day?" He asked. "Extremely long day. I was running around everywhere. Helping with designs, which we are backed up on. About four people called in 'sick', someone damaged a prototype, and someone spilled coffee all over the table in one of the break rooms and just left it there. I'm going to send a mass email. I don't know what was happening today. The only person who kept me sane was my assistant." Ramona fussed, crossing her arms afterwards.

She looked over at the amount of paper he was handling. A small stack sat on the side of the table along with many sheets spread out. "What are you doing? It seems like you have a lot of work on your hands too." She said. "Oh, this is audit stuff. I have one coming up from my brokerage for a store in River North, so I need to go over a lot of the rules and regulations before doing a small inspection of the place so when the audit happens, nothing is astray." He said.

"What exactly would they be looking for?" Ramona asked. "Real estate agents and salespeople finally have something in common. We both fear auditors." He joked. Ramona chuckled.

"I also get audited every now and then. I don't think it's that bad for me, personally." She said. "That's because perfect is your bare minimum." Dwight smiled. "I know you'll do great. You work very well under pressure so I'm sure that this is a simple process for you." She said. "You're so sweet." He said.

"Sweet, and sore. My feet have been killing me all day. Maybe I need to experiment with flats, but I've never thought they looked good on me." Ramona said, kicking off her heels and stretching her toes. She massaged the side of one of her feet.

Dwight looked down at her feet for a moment, then back at his paperwork. She stared at him after a few moments, an idea filling her mind that she would have been embarrassed to think in the past. Her voice suddenly came out smooth and sultry.

"Dwight..." She said. "Have you taken a break yet?" She asked. He looked over the paperwork and up at her. "No...not for the past two hours or so..." He said. "Well, if you'd like to take one...you can spend it helping me with something if you like..." She said.

"Something like...?" He asked. "Well, you see, I've been walking around in heels all day. And my feet have been so sore. I just don't know what to do to make them feel better. I could use your help." She said.

He tried to suppress a faint grin appearing on the side of his face. He slowly sat down the papers. He looked down at her feet and licked his lips for a brief moment. She could see him gulp slightly, his urge to serve her growing before her very eyes. "I'd be happy to help." He said.

She tried not to feel embarrassed to ask him to do the following thing she said. Sometimes things that were this vulgar or strange felt so peculiar coming out of her mouth. It was such an unnatural thing to request.