Chapter 2

Michelle sat down on the comfy black office chair that tilted and swiveled. She opened the small box next to the computer to find freshly printed business cards that read, “Michelle A. Lynch Junior Accountant Audit Division.” She sniffed the box of cards like a fine bottle of wine as she rubbed her thumb over the embossed print. Feeling so giddy about starting her career she spun herself around in the chair two or three times with a subdued little shout of glee.

“I see you’re settling in,” came the velvet voice from over the cubicle partition.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Ms. Covington McGill,” responded Michelle, feeling the heat in her cheeks rise, wondering if anyone has ever been fired 15 minutes into a job before.

“It’s quite alright love,” Julie said with her disarming smile as she peered over the top of the cubicle wall, “I did the exact same thing when I got my first job as well.” She handed Michelle a cup of coffee in a company logo mug, “you’ll need this to stay awake through those files, trust me,” punctuating the remark with a wink.

She took the coffee and sipped it, light and sweet, just like she takes it. “How did she know?” Michelle thought to herself.

“Michelle, I’ll be honest with you,” Julie said while sipping her tea, “we work very hard here at S&M, and sometimes it can be very boring, but I just know you will succeed. You’re smart, beautiful and from what your references told me a very hard worker.”

“Thank you, Julie, I appreciate your faith in me, and I won’t let you down,” Michelle replied while fixating on the word ‘beautiful’ that Julie included in her remark.

“Do you have plans tonight?” Julie inquired.

“Well, I was going to pick something up on the way home to eat and try to get a jump start on these files,” Michelle responded, hoping it was the answer Julie was looking for.

“Nonsense love,” Julie admonished, “you will be my guest for dinner tonight, to properly welcome you to the firm and our town.” She extended a hand-written note to Michelle, “My husband J.J. is a master griller, here’s our address, we’ll see you at 7:30, okay?”

“What can I bring?” queried Michelle, already nervous about dinner with the big boss.

“Just your youthful charms,” replied Julie with a wink, “oh, and dress comfortably, this is pleasure, not business.”

Michelle ignored the tingles she felt from Julie’s comment, and threw herself into her work, busily taking notes as she read through the client files. Before she knew it the clock in the corner of her computer read 6:00 and she could hear the rustle of her coworkers packing up and leaving for the night.

On her way home, Michelle stopped at Caffe Aurora, and picked up an Italian pastry assortment, having been raised to never go to someone’s house empty-handed. She threw her purse and briefcase on the kitchen counter and started undressing as she walked to her bedroom down the hall.

The shower took a while to heat up, and Michelle found herself daydreaming about the statuesque Ms. Covington McGill again, remembering her intoxicating fragrance. She stood under the hot stream and lathered her body thinking about how intelligent sophisticated and beautiful Julie was and how welcome and wonderful she made Michelle feel.