Trying to Throw my Arms Around the World

Office politics

Office politics

When I arrived at work the next Monday I no longer saw Annabelle as Lucy’s ruthless stuck-up assistant. I wondered what she was doing in a dead-end affair with a woman close to retirement. And surely she could find other, more rewarding jobs than PA’ing for Lucy at BTG. Or was Lucy her reason for being there and was I now competing with both her and Joan for the boss’ affections? Despite Lucy’s urgings to leave it alone, I wanted to find out more. Perhaps being uncharacteristically nice to Annabelle would be a good start, even though she would probably see straight through it, but maybe she would be intrigued enough to take the bait.

I casually walked to her corner of the office outside Lucy’s door. Objectively speaking, she was fairly hot, if you like that kind of Stepford clinical nose-job look. I just couldn’t picture her in her empty apartment waiting for a booty call from Mrs Henderson.

“Hey Annabelle,” I said and dug deep to find my most friendly tone. “What are you doing for lunch?”

She peered at me as if I had just asked her to take off all her clothes and run around the office naked for the rest of the day. “Eating a salad, no dressing. You?”

“A new Pret just opened next door. Would you like to get a sandwich with me?”

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want?” Clearly, she wasn’t up for playing games.

“I realise I haven’t always treated you as nice as I could.”

“And you expect one of those avocado chicken things slithering with mayo to make up for that? Look at me, Lee. I don’t do carbs.” She was playing hard to get, which, in fairness, was completely true to her paranoid character. “And it’s not as if I’ve ever been particularly friendly to you.”

“Maybe we can do something about that? How about a drink after work?”

“Would that be at the Starbucks down the road? The one you never go to?”

“I was thinking more in the direction of a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc in the pub.”

The mention of the wine seemed to mellow the hard lines around her mouth a bit, allowing a sparse smile to come through. “Sure Lee, I’ll come out to play. You’re buying.” She liked her booze, that was obvious. I took in her toned but thin frame once more and concluded I could easily drink her under the table, and maybe even elicit some inebriated confessions.

“Any messages, Annabelle?” Lucy asked, out of nowhere. I hadn’t seen her approach. “Is there a problem, Lee?” She pinned her eyes on me, not a flicker of lust seeping through, and I felt something stir in my belly. 

“No,” I replied, meeting her glance with a straight face. “Don’t mind me.” I stalked off feeling more alive than I had in days. Office politics proved to be an excellent distraction from painful affairs of the heart.

The moment I sat down at my desk, my phone rang.

“I told you to leave it alone,” Lucy hissed. “Don’t stir up trouble.”

“I’m just being friendly, boss. Getting to know your PA a bit better.”

“Don’t make me punish you.” By then Lucy had already lost all authority over me.

“Maybe I want to be punished.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked. “How about a threesome with Annabelle?”

That shut me up. But I kept my date with Annabelle, anyway.

To be continued…