Chapter 7

My coworkers were looking at me strangely. The walk to my desk felt longer than normal. I'd finally let Kameron and Elizabeth drive me in. They were quiet for the whole ride. It clued me that everyone I knew probably saw the video postings of my sorority orgy weekend.

My desk wasn't my desk!

"What happened?" I asked Ana.

Ana wasn't where Ana usually was either!

"Over here, Michael," I heard Ana say from a couple of rows over.

I liked my spot!

I walked around until ... Someone had emptied most of the first row. There were only two desks in the front: one on the left where Ana presently sat and one on the right.

"That one is yours," Ana said. "I guess that back there is yours too!"

At the back of the row was a bed--the fucking thing was huge!

Ana didn't look at me.

"Ana, we don't have to..."

She sprang up and put her hand on my arm. Leaning into me, she whispered, "Not back there, okay? Not around other people!"

"You need to move," I told her. "Jonathan's daycare is down the road and Abby's young enough not to mind changing schools, especially if it's a cool private school. There are a couple of nice complexes nearby."

"Those are for houses," Ana said, meeting my eyes. "The raise was great, but I can't afford something in this neighborhood."

"What are you guys talking about?" Angela asked before hopping up on my desk.

"Michael thinks I should move closer to work," Ana replied. "It's too expensive!"

Angela looked at Ana and then at me. "He can afford it."

"What?" I asked stunned.

"I can't let him buy me a house!" Ana squealed.

Angela stared at Ana before deliberately looking at the end of the row. Ana's head dropped as she blushed.

"Ana, give us a couple of minutes," I said.

Ana couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"Are you insane?" I asked Angela.

Kameron and Elizabeth walked up to us. Elizabeth looked annoyed as she spoke, "You're late to a meeting."

"I was ambushed by someone moving my desk and this crazy woman telling Ana that I was going to buy her a house!"

"You already have a house," Kameron said looking at Angela.

"That I was going to buy ANA a house," I corrected.

"Great idea!" Elizabeth said to Angela. "If it's his house, Ana will be more willing."

"I thought I was making her willing," I said.

"Baby, there's willing and there's being the MAN in her life," Angela told me. "If it's your house, she is not going to let the douchebag set a foot inside it. If it's your bed, you for damn sure have a right to the woman sleeping in it."

"That's crap!" I replied.

"Not in Ana's mind," Angela said with a snap of her fingers.

"If you're buying Ana a house, you're paying my rent," Kameron told me pointedly.

"I'd go with a condo," Elizabeth told Kameron. "I could move in with you."

"Are you people insane?" I asked. "I can't afford this shit! And why the fuck did somebody move my desk?"

"Most popular entrance," Kameron said, pointing from my desk to the building entrance that was in the direct line of sight. "It was my idea; you'll dose more people as part of the workday. It really is a lot easier with each new girl! Buying Ana a house though ... I don't know about that!"

"A condo for you," Elizabeth said. "Until you're ready to go from girlfriend to ring."

"I thought we couldn't get married," Kameron said with some big time intensity in her eyes.

"I'm standing right here," I said to no one in particular.

Elizabeth looked me up and down. "Michael looks like the white picket fence type! He can marry you; the vows just aren't going to say anything about his fidelity."

"It would make Ana the kept mistress," Angela said. "The poor woman will melt from the embarrassment!"

Elizabeth leaned Angela over so she could give her a spank on a buttcheek. "Be nice!"

"I did my part for my new besty," Angela said with her nose turned up. "Two parts actually! I got her to the divorce lawyer on Saturday and I convinced Michael to buy her a house."

"I'm not convinced," I said. "I can't afford it and..."

"You can afford it," Elizabeth told me. "Your salary got tripled! You're getting the Institute stipend. Your pet sorority pretty much guaranteed you will max your baby bonus for the month. Hell, if the Institute allowed rollover babies, they'd have maxed you for the rest of the year."

I pressed my lips together.

Kameron giggled. "Rollover babies!"

We lost it. Ana came back and sat at her desk before we were done laughing.

"I'm not..." I shook my head and took a deep breath. "Is it really that much money?"

Ana stood up but sat back down when I looked at her.

"The Institute will lend you the money for home purchases," Elizabeth said. "Zero percent interest rate. They like Positives to settle down ... and take lots of vacations!"

"Seriously?" Kameron asked Elizabeth.

The blonde nodded slowly.

Kameron turned Angela. "Get him on the bed and fuck him until he says he'll buy a house for Ana and a condo for Elizabeth and me."

Kameron met Ana's eyes. "We're women so we can be honest with each other. This is the way the world is now. I accept that I have to share Michael. It hurts me, but I think it only hurts me because I can smell him right now. He's inside me so I'm alive!"

Ana raised her hand. She met my eyes before looking at Kameron. "Let me pretend that I'm saying yes so that my children can have a better life, Kameron."

"Until the divorce is final," Elizabeth told Ana. "After that, Michael needs to know that it's about him and not about your children or the money or the job or his power."

Ana nodded before sitting down and typing away at her keyboard.

"So I believe I heard someone say I need to help Michael break in the bed," Angela said.

"It's out in the middle of where everyone can see," I said looking around. Considering the last few days, I really had no room to protest, but it was in the direct line of sight of anyone walking by.

"Hey baby, it's all you," Angela told me. "If I don't have shame, it's on you!"

Elizabeth looked at the bed.

"We're still having problems with other departments taking over Michael's work," Kameron said to Elizabeth. "The meetings are pointless until we get that finalized."

"No," Elizabeth said with a sigh. "I want the first time to be special."

"Blowjobs don't count," Angela told the blonde, hopping off my desk and taking my hand. "I'm just saying!"

I looked out the back car window again; the truck was still following us.

"First off," I said to Kameron and Elizabeth who were in the front seats of the car. "This whole spontaneous 'going house shopping for Ana' during lunch would be more believable if the furniture truck weren't following us."

"Bed truck," Elizabeth said.

"Say what?"

"It's only got the bed in it," she told me.

"So you admit that the house hunting expedition was planned before I even walked in today," I said.

"Angela does distract you easily," Kameron said a little huffily.

"Secondly," I said, ignoring her tone of voice. "That bed by my desk really needs to go!"

"Not going to happen!" Elizabeth said. "It's part of living up to the Institute policies."

"The Institute can't be telling vendors that they need to install a bed in high traffic areas for Positives to fuck on display."

"The Director prefers the word 'accommodate'," Elizabeth replied. "People working with or for the Institute must accommodate a Positive's needs and the Institute's mission."

I thought about it for a minute. "A billion dollars goes very far, doesn't it?"

"Actually, the baby thing goes even farther," Kameron said. "HR is getting flooded with resumes! There's a mini-lottery for who gets to take the sheets home every night."

"Do I want to ask?" I sighed.

"Fresh sheets by the time we get back." Kameron turn to smile at me. "Multiple winners!"

"Who has the job of making my bed? I'm pretty sure it's not on the facilities job description."

Kameron giggled.

We turned into a housing complex. The houses looked to all have the same footprint, albeit very large footprints.

"Seriously!" I said, leaning forward. "This place has to be expensive. Ana already has issues with me buying a house for her."

"It is a buyer's market," Elizabeth said.

"Not by this much," I said. "How much is the stipend and the baby bonus? Because even with my raise, I can't afford something in here."

"You're too conservative," Elizabeth said, stepping out of the car.

I opened the car door and joined the girls outside. Elizabeth parked in a corner lot.

"You can afford to buy any house in town on a year's worth of baby bonuses," Elizabeth told me.

"I want a nice condo!" Kameron said, staring at the house. She was pressing her lips together so tightly they were turning white.

"Really?" I asked Elizabeth.

"In this market, you could pay off this house and condo in a year," she replied.

"I like my apartment," I said. "I don't want to move."

"You don't have to, Michael," Elizabeth said. "The girls upstairs. Close to a major University. It's good enough for now."

"I want a very nice condo," Kameron said, poking me in the arm. "Say it!"

"You want a very nice condo."

She poked me again.

"After I confirm that everything Elizabeth said is true, I'll buy you a nice condo," I told her.

Kameron narrowed her eyes at me before nodding. "The real estate agent is inside."

"I have your Institute authorization here." Elizabeth patted her purse. "Say the word and the house is yours."