“I’m sorry, Rory. I didn’t think it was going to be this hard. How could they do this to me?” He raised his head and I grabbed tissue from the box on his desk and blotted his eyes. I’d been doing that a lot lately for those I loved. We’d certainly found a lot of reasons to cry.
“I don’t know, Daddy. I wish you didn’t have to go through this. I wish I could fire them all for you.” That made him laugh and he took another tissue and blew his nose. I rubbed his shoulder, wishing I could do more than hand him tissues. Wished that words were like magic and could fix everything.
“You don’t have to do that, but thanks for the offer. I had a brief image of whacking Hal with a golf club, but the club would probably break on his hard skull.” We both laughed this time.
“So many years and he could turn on me like that. Makes it hard to trust people, doesn’t it?”
“You can trust me,” I said, tossing the tissues in the wastebasket.
He cupped my cheek. “I know, sweetheart. I trust you above everyone else. And not only because you’re my daughter. Sometimes it’s astounding that I get to call myself your father. I’m a blessed man indeed.” He managed to smile and I smiled as well. I was blessed to get to call him my Dad. I had so many amazing men in my life. How did I get so lucky?
It made me think of Lucah, and how he’d lost his parents, but at least he still had Ryder and Tate. And me. He’d always have me.
“I love you, Dad. And if they f**k with you again? They’re going to have me to deal with.” I almost never cursed in front of my father, but it seemed like an appropriate time.
“Language, Rory. But I appreciate the sentiment.” I gave him one last hug and stood up.
“Team Clarke!” I said, holding my hand up for a high five. I didn’t think he would understand the more modern fist bump.
“Team Clarke,” he said, smacking his hand with mine. “I wouldn’t want to be on any other team.”
“Me neither. So what are you going to do in the meantime? You know, instead of smashing in skulls with golf clubs?”
He shook his head.
“Well, we’re going to have to have yet another meeting to discuss what happened at this meeting and get everyone to air their grievances. That way I can give anyone who wants to a chance to leave gracefully and judge where we need to go next. I just sent Hal an email. No response yet.” He glanced at his computer, waiting for that little window to come up to tell him he had a new email.
“That sounds like a good plan. If you need any help with it, need me to talk to anyone, you know I’m here.” He nodded, glancing at something on his computer.
“We’ll get this sorted out. If it comes down to having to find new Board members and losing Hal, I guess that’s what we have to do. I need a drink.” He took a key out of his upper drawer and unlocked his bottom drawer.
“This is only for emergencies, and this feels like one.” Pulling out a bottle of Scotch and two glasses, he plunked them down on the desk. It was a good thing the door was locked.
He poured a little bit of the amber liquid into each glass and handed one to me.
“Bottoms up,” he said and we both sipped. I choked a little on my sip, but he swallowed with incident. It took me a little longer to drink the rest of my glass.
“If anyone busts me for being drunk at work, it’s all your fault,” I said, handing him back the glass.
“I have some friends in high places. Your secret is safe with me,” he said with a wink. “We’ll get through this.”
“Yes, we will.”
I wanted to call Lucah, but I didn’t think his voice would be enough for me. I wanted to see him. To touch him. To explain what had happened. And it was time to give him something he’d been asking for and I’d been wanting for a while. So I picked up the phone and dialed his extension.
“Lucah Blythe, how may I help you?”
“I need you. Right now,” I said. There was a pause on his end.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Yes. I’ll text you when I’m there.” I hung up without saying anything else. The only other thing I needed to do was ask Lilia to cover for me. Just this once.
I grabbed my purse and walked out of my office.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I whispered, leaning over her desk. “If anyone asks where I am, I had to run an errand and I’ll be back soon.”
She raised one eyebrow, and I couldn’t help but grin at her.
“Consider it done, Miss Clarke. Your whereabouts are safe with me. Enjoy.” She sort of sang the last word and winked as I dashed to the stairs and down two floors. To prevent people from stealing supplies, we’d put a keypad on our supply room. There had been talk of installing a camera, but that was voted down, which was the only reason I was willing to meet Lucah here. I punched in the code and went into the room and waited. I kept the lights off and rested against a shelf of paper and other items.
My heart was going a million miles a minute, and my skin tingled in anticipation of Lucah’s touch. I sent up a quick prayer to whomever would listen for us not to get caught. Not that I cared much at the moment, which was why I’d finally given in.
The door clicked, letting in light and illuminating Lucah from behind. I’d kept the lights off in the room on purpose.
“Why, Miss Clarke. Fancy meeting you here. I have come for some paperclips.” He shut the door and walked slowly toward me.
“Hello, Mr. Blythe. I’m here for paper,” I said, patting the shelf behind me. “But there’s something else I might want,” I said meeting him.
“And what’s that?” His lips hovered inches from mine and I could feel his breath on my skin.
“You.” I grabbed his lapels and crushed his mouth onto mine. We only kissed for a moment before he was moving his mouth down my neck. His hands went to lift up my shirt and pull down my panties, my hands went to work on his belt, pants and boxers.
We made short work of the clothes and then his hands were on my bare ass, lifting me up on a shelf as I fitted my legs around him.
“Quick and hard,” he said as he positioned himself.
“Quick and hard,” I agreed and he thrust into me so hard, the shelf rattled and a few boxes of staples clattered to the floor. Neither of us cared as he pulled nearly all the way out and thrust again, causing more things to fall. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him as he slammed into me, over and over. We both cried out and I knew that if someone walked in, there was no way we could pretend we were doing anything other than f**king each other’s brains out.