Chapter 5

“You look happy. Date go well?” The voice was coming from the other side of the cubical wall. The office’s wide-format printer was in a bank of unoccupied cubicles where people sometimes socialized.

“Very well,” came a second voice. “Six times,” he said boastfully.

A woman’s voice joined in. “You had sex six times in one night?” She asked scornfully.

“Six times in a row.”

James had a pretty strong suspicion about who they were talking about. He gestured at the printer as if to convince it to speed up.

“Bullshit. Not humanly possible,” the woman argued.

“It is with this girl,” the first man said. “She has this way of inspiring you sexually. It’s like being sixteen again.”

The second man corrected him: “It’s like being three clones of yourself at sixteen taking turns with her.”

“This is James’ daughter, right?” The woman asked. James sighed to himself.

“Yeah,” the second man said. “I feel bad for him - he’s probably the only guy in this office who hasn’t had a piece. He’s really missing out.”

“Gross,” the woman said.

A third man nervously injected himself into the conversation. “Do you think she’d go out with me? I was trying to work up the nerve to ask her out but then she stopped coming.”

“Oh, she never stops ‘coming’,” the second man said. There was a slapping sound - probably a high five. “Ever do her up the ass? Every time you thrust she makes this high-pitched grunting sound. Not like you hurt her, but like you knocked the wind out of her. Makes you feel powerful, and she obviously loves it.”

“So do you think I’ve lost my chance?” The third man asked.

“No, man. Just call her,” the first man said. “I think she says yes to everyone. And she absolutely will put out, so no need to stress about whether you’re saying the right things. Just be nice to her, take her somewhere private, and enjoy the ride.”

James closed his eyes and shook his head. He shouldn’t be listening to this. But then again, maybe he had a duty to listen - either for Laurel’s sake or the firm’s. He tried to ignore the fact that he was getting hard.

“Do you know if she does three-ways?” The woman asked. “A pretty little thing like that would make a nice one-time treat for my boyfriend.”

“Carol, no,” the second man responded. “Look, I’m sure you’re a competent fuck, but once your boyfriend gets a taste of her, you will forever be a disappointment to him.”

“Piss off,” she dismissed him.

“Any idea if Eric’s wife knows about her?” The first man asked.

“Not yet,” the second one answered.

Eric. Married Eric. One of James’ partners. He’d known Laurel since she was ten.

The printer chimed to announce that it had finished. James sighed and rolled up his printout. He took a path back to his office that avoided his gossiping coworkers and used the printout to obscure the bulge in his pants.