Chapter 3

David Derrelli was the first to arrive at his store, though his employees came soon after him. It took no time for him to dole out the various tasks that he wanted accomplished before the store opened and had just sat down in his office when, Tracy, one of his newest employees knocked on the door. She didn't wait for him to invite her in. She just gave a little knock, opened the door and walked in saying, "It's early, and I thought you'd like a cup of coffee Mr. Derrelli."

He was about to double check everyone's hours and paychecks for the last few months. That was the task he'd given himself for that morning. He looked up into the smiling face of the young girl and accepted the coffee with a smile of his own. She, of course, wasn't the first employee who began her career at the store by sucking up to him. Such antics never got them anywhere, but he never told them that it wouldn't. He just figured that if they wanted to bring him coffee and run extra errands for him and such, that was their business. By the time they figured out that it wasn't going to get them anywhere, there would always be another new employee willing to kiss his ass and take their place.

"Thank you; that's nice of you," was all he said. It was just enough to be polite and just enough to encourage her to keep it up, yet nothing more.

The girl was dressed appropriately for her position in the store, though her dress was a just a bit too tight, and it was cut just a bit too low in the front. Still, it fit her figure well and didn't look sleazy. Besides, her job was to keep the clothes folded or hung in the right place while assisting the customers in that department, and she needed to look more the model type since most of the customers in her department were in her age group.

Tracy showed a lot of cleavage as she placed the coffee cup on his desk, and she knew she looked good with her long light brown hair framing her oval face and makeup. She made certain to make eye contact with him and flashed him a coy smile before leaving.

"At least this one's pretty to look at," he thought.

The day was grueling for everyone. It turned out that they were pretty busy that day, and even though everyone was tired, David insisted that they all stay after to continue with their cleaning and organizing. Everyone grumbled, but no one complained too loudly. David was known to be a no nonsense manager, and he had no qualms about firing anyone that gave him a hard time.

Everyone was upset though ... except for Tracy. She just flashed him her cute smile, cheerfully shrugged her shoulders and asked, "Well as long as we have to work late, is there anything I can get for you Mr. Derrelli ... you know, like soda or something?"

David grinned inwardly, but kept a professional look on his face and answered with a simple, "No." Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "Thank you for asking though."

It was enough. Tracy happily turned about, and giving her pert ass just a little exaggerated wiggle, she walked back to her department.

The move wasn't missed by David, but he made no outward appearance of noticing it.

Bonnie already had a second cup of coffee that morning and didn't need to stop for any more, but the closer she got to the gas station, the more she thought about Greg. By the time she'd guided her car onto the exit ramp, she decided that she should probably stop and pick up some mint gum. "Just in case I have coffee breath," she told herself.

She told herself that she'd been thinking about the kind gentleman way too much and that she was only going to go in and buy the gum. "I'm not even going to look around to see if he's there."

"Well hello there!"

He was standing just inside the doorway, and she not only recognized his face, but would have recognized his voice as well. He also held out a cup of coffee to her.

"I was hoping you would come by. I'd hate to have to drink this myself! It would have been my third cup, and it would have been simply sacrilegious to waste it."

Bonnie didn't know what to say. Truth be known, she was actually stunned to see him just standing there holding a cup of coffee for her in his hands, and for a moment she wondered how ridiculous he looked. "A well dressed man who drives an expensive car, standing in a gas station waiting like that," she thought. "But then again, such a man probably doesn't care what other people think about him." Those were her first thoughts. Then she thought about how he thought enough about her to buy her the coffee and wait long enough to give it to her ... and they had only just briefly met before.

"I wonder if maybe he's thinking as much about me as I've been about him!" she thought. Then she began wondering why such a man would even be interested in just a plain, ordinary housewife anyway.

"Well, are you going to accept my offer, or make me stand here until the coffee gets cold?"

David would have said something like that out of sheer sarcasm, but Greg said it with sparkling eyes and a light laugh, and there wasn't even the slightest hint of sarcasm in it.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little preoccupied I guess. Thank you so much for the coffee. It was really nice of you."

"Oh, that's all right, no need to apologize. We all get like that now and again, and you are quite welcome."

Bonnie took the coffee asking, "Have you really been here waiting for me?" She instantly regretted asking the question. "What a stupid thing to ask!" she thought. "What else would he be doing here holding a cup of coffee for me!"

Greg didn't seem to notice the obvious and replied, "Actually, I was just waiting to ask you what time you take lunch, and if you would consider joining me?"

Bonnie couldn't suppress a smile, and Greg picked up on it immediately.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"I usually take an hour for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00."

"Good, that'll work for me. I know where there's a fantastic little café on the north side. Where can I pick you up?"

Bonnie knew that it would be reckless to meet him like that. After all, she didn't know anything about this man. For all she knew, he might be some kind of serial killer! "How stupid can you be?" She could almost here David's voice shouting at her in her head. "I thought you had more sense than that when I married you!"

It was actually the last thought that made her agree, and in the next moment, she found herself telling Greg where she worked and that she would meet him at the bench just outside the front of the office building!

"Why did I agree to go to lunch with him," she mumbled, as she pulled out of the gas station. Even after she'd parked her car in the office garage, she was still wondering why she'd consented to him picking her up. "Well, what's done is done," she thought, and taking a deep breath, she stepped into the elevator that would take her up to the seventh floor where she worked. "Well, at least I have something to take my mind off from my work today!" she breathed.

Unfortunately, Cornelius called out to her before she even got five steps from the elevator.

This time, Bonnie didn't know which was worse, the work he piled on her, or him crowding her as if they were close friends ... or lovers. On at least two occasions, she could have sworn he was trying to look down her blouse. What irritated her the most though, was the way he said things like, "Be a good girl and..." or, "Thanks Honey, I knew you could do it."

By the time lunch came, she was almost a nervous wreck and had no idea what she was going to do. On the one hand, she desperately wished she could just slap the shit out of him, yet she really needed her job and had just gotten comfortable in it. Mr. Simmons may have been fair, but he was strictly a professional too, and she didn't want to chance making any waves with him!

She was so distraught, that she thought to forgo lunch altogether but wasn't sure how she could break her engagement with Greg.

"I'm certainly under no obligation to actually go with him," she told herself. "After all, it's only lunch, and we'd only loosely agreed upon having it together." Then shooting a dark look towards Cornelius' office, she breathed, "Besides, I'm under enough stress this morning already!"

Still, she did tell Greg that she'd go with him, and she suspected he could be a very good friend to have. "Perhaps I should at least meet him and explain that I can't go to lunch with him today. It would be the decent thing to do anyway."

That's what she told herself, but once she'd made up her mind to see him, she knew she would end up having lunch with him, and that gave her a thrill that almost scared her. This was big, and she knew it. Not since she was in high school had she felt so girlish about meeting a man, and she briefly wondered what she was doing and where it would all lead.

"Don't be silly!" she told herself. "You are a married woman with a loving husband and two kids!"

"Going to lunch?"

It was Little Junior. He'd only been with the agency for a few days, and already she hated the very sound of his voice! Oh what she would give to be able to slap the pimples right off his face!

"Yes Mr. Penton."

"Well come and see me as soon as you get back. I have some memos I want you to type up and a couple of phone calls to make."

"Yes Mr. Penton." It was all she trusted herself to say.

"Well, have a good lunch, but don't forget to see me as soon as you get back."

There was that look again. The one where he made sure that she knew he was looking her up and down. The one used by college boys when they wanted a girl to know that they were interested in them.

"Did he touch my ass?" She screamed the question in her mind. "It felt like he did. Still, it was only a light touch."

By the time the elevator reached the bottom floor, Bonnie had convinced herself that he probably just brushed by her and that the touch was unintentional. "But he's always so damned close!"

Greg was already waiting for her at the curb in front of the bench which was a good thing since she didn't know how much more stress she could handle. "It would have been just too much if I had to sit here and wait while wondering if he was actually going to show up or not," she thought.

Bonnie was surprised that he didn't wait for her to approach the car before getting out and opening the door for her. Actually, she was fairly stunned by the gesture. Dave hadn't bothered to open a door for her since shortly after they were married.

"Are you all right?"

She stopped short upon hearing the question.

"Why? Do I look alright? With her pocket book in her right hand, she involuntarily reached up with her left and touched her face as if she could feel anything that might be wrong with it.

Greg chuckled and said, "You look fine. You just seem a little flushed, that's all."

There was no way anyone could have taken offense by his laugh no matter how bad a mood they were in. With the look on his face and the way he sounded, it was easy to tell that he was as lighthearted as he was sincere.

"Oh; I'm sorry. I guess I'm not having a very good day today; that's all."

"Well now, why don't you just come along and tell me all about it."

The way he'd said it made her feel so much at ease that the next thing she knew, he was driving down the boulevard towards the north side of the city with her sitting there beside him. She didn't even remember getting into the car! Not only that, but she found herself just rattling on, telling him everything. She couldn't stop herself from talking until after he'd pulled into the parking lot of the little café.

Greg went around the car, opened the door for her and offered his hand to help her out without a word.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" she exclaimed, getting out of the car. "I don't know what came over me. I never carry on like that, not even to my friends, and I hardly even know you!"

Once again, Greg let out one of his light chuckles and said, "Don't worry about it. I've been told that I can have that effect on people sometimes. I'm just glad you had a chance to let it all out. It's not good for you to keep all that stress bottled up inside. It will make you old before your time, and you are much too pretty to let that happen!"

Bonnie was visibly relieved. She was afraid her little rant would have ended anything before it ever had a chance to start. In fact, she wouldn't have blamed him if he'd done a "u" turn right in the middle of the boulevard and took her back to her office building! She also liked hearing his compliment even though she didn't believe that she was nearly pretty enough to warrant it.

That was her first thought, and she almost brought her hands to her face with her next thought. "Exactly what is it that I am starting?" and that brought her back to reality.

The café turned out to be just a quaint little diner with a long counter for patrons to sit at and several open booths along the opposite wall. There was no one to seat them, so Greg led the way to a booth that was situated towards the center of the room. No out of the way corner booth, not that it would have afforded any privacy anyway since the whole place was well lit. He showed her to one side of the booth, and once she was seated, he seated himself across from her.

"He's keeping a respectful distance from me," she thought, and that helped put her even more at ease.

They had just begun looking at the menus that were already on the table when a waitress came by asking what they wanted to drink.

"I'd like some iced tea, no sugar, and since we don't have much time I'll have a couple of slices of light rye toast with a fried hard egg on the side."

"Good choice for a first get together," thought Bonnie. "Nothing messy, nothing to give you bad breath and no salad where green lettuce will be sticking to your teeth while you talk." Then looking at the waitress, she said, "I'll have the same, but I'd like Italian toast."

"Well, I think you should talk to Mr. Simmons about Little Junior," began Greg, once the waitress had left. "Not only has he been around for a long time, but he's a lawyer and knows all about sexual harassment."

"Do you really think I should? I mean, I really hadn't been working there that long, and I don't want to take a chance on being labeled a trouble maker."

"Well, I happen to know some people who know your Mr. Simmons quite well. In fact, I could probably take care of this for you, but it would be better if you did it yourself. Besides, if you let Little Junior there drive you from your job, he'll be just as hard on the next person that comes along, and you might be saving the agency from a serious lawsuit later on down the road."

"I hadn't thought of that."

"Well, it's always a lot easier to see things with outside eyes. You're an intelligent woman though. I'm sure you would have thought of it yourself eventually."

Bonnie wasn't so sure she would have, but what was important to her was that Greg thought she was smart! It had been a long time since anyone said they thought she was smart. That is, anyone besides her six year old! In fact, when she thought about it, it had been a long time since she even thought of herself as being smart!

"Why can't David see me in that light!" she thought. "All I get from him are insults and, "You're only a secretary," and such. Then looking up from the table, she said, "I don't know Greg."

"What don't you know? That you could sit down and talk about it to Mr. Simmons? Of course you can! Do you have any children?"

The question took her completely by surprise, and it caused a whole series of thoughts to quickly flash through her mind such as: "Why would he ask me that? Is that his way of trying to find out how tied down I am? Is he some kind of pervert that likes kids?" But before she could answer him, he said, "Because if you have to face all the trouble children can cause, then you can certainly face your Mr. Simmons!"

Bonnie suddenly felt foolish for thinking all of those things. "Besides, I'm wearing my wedding ring! Of course he knows I'm tied down!" and she laughed lightly before saying, "Two. I have two boys ten and six."