Luckily Marcus didn’t notice as he entered a room. When I walked into the oversized office with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city, I was in awe. Marcus’ office was completely different from the rest of the building. It had a masculine, antique look to it. His desk looked like it was a dining room table that had been used at a ranch. He had a rustic style coffee table with oversized chairs and a large bookcase which held numerous volumes of law books, both of which had the same wooden texture as his desk. I loved it; it felt warm and peaceful. There was a small bar on the right side of the office, small antique statues on the tables, and artwork on the walls.
He closed and locked the door behind me and sat at one of the oversized chairs by the coffee table. He motioned with his hand for me to join him. I slowly walked over and sat across from him. He was quiet for a while longer. I wasn’t sure if I should break the silence, but when I was going to, he cleared his throat. I watched as he placed his elbows on his knees, then he joined his hands together and slightly lowered his head as if it were difficult for him to speak. “It’s not like me to be a jealous man, Mia. Fuck, I’m never jealous. Though for some reason, when you walked into the conference room with Jeremy’s arm around your waist and when he slapped your ass, it took every part of me to not stand up and knock him the fuck out.”
“Marcus,” I breathed his name so low I’m not sure if he heard me.
“No, let me finish.” I leaned back against the plush chair and allowed him to continue. He remained with his head lowered. “See, even if it weren’t Jeremy, if it was a total stranger, I would’ve still felt the same because, for some reason, you make feel that way, and now that I know the history between you and him, it made it that much harder to control myself. I’m telling you now that I didn’t like it.” He lifted his head finally, his eyes meeting mine.
I swallowed before speaking. “I’m sorry you feel that way, and I would never want to make you feel uncomfortable or jealous, but I cannot stress this enough to you: Jeremy and I are just friends. That’s how we goof around Marcus, it was completely innocent. If you want whatever this is between us to work, you will have to trust me.”
“Trust?” He said the word as if testing how it sounds. I stood up and walked over to him and bravely sat on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. He didn’t flinch away from me; that was a good sign. He just stared at me confused by something, maybe his own feelings?
“Marcus, this weekend was absolutely perfect. Let’s not ruin it?” I leaned in and kissed him long and hard. At first he stiffened as if he were going to pull away from the kiss, but he didn’t. He slid his hand up my thigh, feeling underneath my skirt, making his way to my hips. His touch made my skin burn with heat. I changed my position so that I was straddling him. I kneeled, enclosing his thighs between my legs. He leaned back on the chair and lifted my skirt up to my waist. I ran my fingers through his hair, allowing him to unbutton my blouse.
One minute I was in his arms kissing him, touching him, and the next I was standing up, and he was quickly adjusting his clothing. He looked up at me and waved his hand to indicate my appearance. I was confused until I heard a knock on his door and a man’s voice yelling for him to open it up. I was so lost again in our kiss, I didn’t hear the knock on the door the first time.
Marcus yelled to give him a minute when he marched over to me and began to quickly re-button my blouse. It took me all but a few seconds to shake the trance and adjust my skirt. I smacked his hand off and tucked the shirt back into my skirt. He walked over to the door and glanced back at me. Once he saw that I was back in order, he opened the door. A man stormed inside and walked passed him.
“What the fuck is going on with you, Marc?”
The man was so upset he was pacing back and forth and didn’t notice my presence. Marcus slammed the door and walked over to him. I examined them as they faced each other. The man was slightly taller than Marcus; he had an athletic built. He looked like he worked out but was more slender than Marcus. He had a buzz haircut and green eyes. His complexion was lighter than Marcus’. He was very good-looking. After careful observation, I recognized him from the photos in Marcus’ shore house. It was Jimmie, his brother. He was older than in the pictures and his hair was shorter, but it was definitely him.
“I’m busy. What do you want?” Neither of them looked my way.
“What do I want? I get a fucking phone call from you on Friday with important information. When I tell you to back down from it, you said you would, but you go anyways!” Marcus’ eyes grew bigger, and slowly he turned his head in my direction. His brother followed his eyes. When he saw me, he looked back at Marcus and rolled his eyes.
“Um, hi, I’m Mia, the new extern.” I didn’t know what else to say. This was beyond awkward, and what made it worse was the long silence within the room.
“She works with you? That’s just fucking great!” His brother threw his arms in the air. I’m completely unaware of the reasoning behind this reaction. I was also offended. Does he know about me and our weekend? Does he think of me as the kind of girl who always sleeps with her boss? He glared at Marcus before walking towards me. Extending his hand, he gave me a tight smile.
“Hi, I’m Jimmie, Marc’s brother.” I looked up at him and then looked at his hand, questioning if I should take it. He impatiently extended his arm further which, in turn, gave me no choice but to grab his hand. He lightly tightened his grip and shook it twice before releasing my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mia. Do you mind giving my brother and me a minute?”
Swallowing, I nodded lightly. “Sure.” I grabbed my belongings from on top of the coffee table and walked towards the door.
“Mia,” Marcus said. I turned to face him. “Uh you can take the office next door on the right. It’s one of the attorney’s, but she’ll be out the remainder of the summer for maternity leave. So you can work from there.” I nodded and walked out of his office. When I shut the door behind me, I let out a deep breath, not realizing I was holding one in. I quickly walked to the door on the right of Marcus’ office. I entered and swiftly made my way behind the wooden desk and sat in the chair.
Whoa that was weird! I steadied my breath and glanced around the room. It was spacious but way smaller than Marcus’ office. It felt empty as well: no art work, no pictures, and no personalization. It only had a desk, a table in the corner with two chairs, and an empty vase in the center of the table. A bookcase that was semi-filled with legal books occupied half of the one wall. That was it. I turned my chair to look out the window. At least there was a beautiful view to the city skyline.