Sudden Devotion (17 page)

“Oh, Mitch.” Sara wrapped her arms around him. “So, did the firm you worked for make you quit?”

“No. Nothing like that. It’s just hard to work with people when they know your innermost secrets. Suddenly, everyone in that office knew I was adventurous in my sexual life. They knew I was into role playing, and the worst part is, some of the women seemed afraid to be around me. I mean, if I was willing to ‘pretend’ to rape someone, then I must get off on it right? I never looked at it as rape, though.

“Even when I read back through her emails, she always made it sound more like a forced seduction. But never did I think that I was going there to play out a rape fantasy. I’m not into that. That’s why I pulled back when things got weird.”

“It must have been hard on you.” Sara placed a hand on his cheek and rubbed it with her fingertips.

“Yeah. The weird looks I got for willing to be a part of a sexual game was one thing. But, when women I knew for years looked at me like they didn’t want to be left alone with me, well that sucked. They only knew what they heard in the grapevine. And if that were to be believed, then I sounded like a sexual sadist who got off on forcing women.” He shrugged. “So, I started looking and found the opening here and moved. I needed a fresh start. Somewhere that no one knew about what happened, and I wasn’t looked at like some sort of monster.”

“You are not a monster. And when it comes to your sexual preferences, I’d say you are perfect.” After a long moment of holding each other, Sara whispered against his chest. “Thank you for telling me, Mitch. I love you.”

He squeezed his eyes tight and fought the need to smother her with his kisses. Just holding her was enough. He thought he would never be able to tell anyone that story. What was worse
,
he thought no one would actually believe him. But she did. Sara did. His sweet, beautiful, loving, and sexy Sara.

“Come on. Let’s get some of your stuff together, start a huge load of laundry, and I’ll buy you lunch,” Sara said as she began sorting the clothes again.

“You’re gonna buy me lunch?” He looked incredulous.

She picked up a huge amount of blue jeans and t-shirts and headed for the hall closet that held the stackable washer and dryer. “What can I say? You are always so good at making me feel better, I’d like to be the one to make you feel better.”

Mitch came up behind her and rested his head on top of hers as she started the washing machine. “
You
make me feel better, Sara. I’m sure you’re going to get sick of hearing this, but I love you.”

“Mitch?” Her sharp tone surprised him.

“What honey?”

“You don’t have any laundry soap, do you?” she said, disgusted. There were at least eight loads of laundry that needed washed.

“Nope.” He smiled at the little domestic situation that was playing out.

“How do you wash your…have you even done any laundry since you moved here?”

“Does dry cleaning count?”

“Not a chance.”

“Well then, if I tell you the truth, do you promise you’ll still love me despite my answer?” He kissed her on her cheek.

She laughed. “Oh, Mitch. I will love you
in spite
of your answer. That’s probably the real reason why you want to live with me. You’re running out of clean clothes. You need a maid.”

“Now, Sara, that’s not true. I am truly offended. I mean, what we have goes deeper than laundry.”

With a glint in her eye, she smirked. “I don’t do windows, Mitch.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I think you should have disclosed that and been up front about it. But, I guess I will still love you in spite of the fact that you’re lazy.”

“Watch it, mister.” She pinched his arm, hard, until he yelped. “Go back over to my place and grab the laundry soap. I’ll keep sorting through this, and hopefully, I won’t find any dead bodies buried underneath this mess. Hurry up,” she said as she pushed him through the door.

Walking across the courtyard, Mitch lifted his head to bask in the sunlight. He just had his first nagging from the woman he was going to marry. It had been over laundry and his housekeeping skills. It was trivial and boring, and it made him happier than he’d ever been.

Chapter Thirteen

The following week wore Mitch out. He spent his days in Arbitration for the
Jennings
case and his evenings preparing for an upcoming trial. Completely exhausted and cranky, the only thing that kept him going every night was going home and crawling in bed with Sara.

As he sat drinking a cup of coffee while they waited for the Arbitrator to reach a decision, he wondered if they would have time the coming weekend to look for houses again. The selections that were viewed last weekend didn’t get them excited. Sara had found them a realtor through one of the girls at the office, so maybe they would find something soon.

Besides, he knew they had to move soon, because Sara had called him at the office last night after she ran into the man that they had watched having sex. While her embarrassment was adorable, he knew she was ready to snap from running into him three times in this past week. He chuckled to himself as he took another swig of coffee.

“Something funny?” Alan looked up from the newspaper.

Mitch shook his head. “No. Hey, you know we’re going to lose this, right?”

Alan smirked. “Yeah, well, when your own client holds back on discovery documents, it tends to sink the case.” With a shrug, Alan reached for his coffee. “It’s his own fault. We did our job.”

“True.” Mitch glanced at his watch. Hating wasting time here. Normally, they would have headed back to the office until a decision was reached. But the Arbitrator had specified that he wouldn’t take long to reach a decision. That had been nearly two hours ago.

“So, things going well with Sara?” Alan asked, more as a friend than a co-worker.

Mitch couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. We’re trying to keep things mellow around the office, though. We don’t want to cause any trouble.” Taking another drink of his coffee, he asked, “Does everyone know?”

Alan nodded. “Pretty much. It was kind of hard to miss since you go the long way to the break room to get your coffee just so you can pass by her desk and wink at her.”

“That obvious, huh?”

“Totally, not to mention the way she lights up every time you do it. But, don’t worry about it. You guys have handled it well. I’ve seen a lot of office romances get complicated from people not acting professional while at work.”

Mitch held in his laughter. If only Alan knew what had gone on in his office. Just last night, before Sara went home, she brought him in a sandwich from the deli. She gave him a kiss. But, before she left, she dropped to her knees and told him she wanted him to have a reminder of what he got to come home to. Boy, did he. She gave him quite the reminder.

“Gentlemen, the Arbitrator has reached his decision.” A small, portly gentleman with a comb-over said from the doorway.

Alan stood up and walked over to Mr. Jennings who had been slumped in a chair in the corner, sulking. He slapped a hand to the man’s shoulder, and said, “Come on, Mr. Jennings. Let’s go see how badly you screwed yourself.”

The look in Mr. Jennings’s eyes told that he did not see the humor in it at all. “It might not be that bad,” he stated in complete denial.

Walking in the room behind Alan and Jennings, Mitch whispered to Alan, “How sad. He totally blew this case, he would have won.”

* * * *

Sara sat in the chair across from Donna, the Office Manager, wondering what she had done. No one ever got called to Donna’s office unless they were in some sort of trouble. She waited patiently as Donna finished with her phone call. Once Donna hung up the phone, she turned her grim expression to Sara.

Folding her hands across her desk blotter, she looked like a cobra ready to attack. “Sara, I have received some rather disturbing complaints regarding your...well, let’s call it professionalism. Or rather, lack thereof.”

Sara sat solemnly and responded to the accusation. “I don’t know what you mean, Donna.”

“Look, let’s not be coy, all right? We’re both adults here. It’s no secret that this office is rather laid back. I mean, we all call each other by our first names. There’s no mister or missus. We don’t even refer to the partners by their last name. However, no matter how lax we might be in certain formalities, we still have a job to do.” Reaching for a sheet of paper that was on her credenza, she perused it before continuing. “I have a complaint from someone who claims that at least twice, that they are aware of, mind you, they have heard you and Mitch engaging in rather illicit behavior.”

That bitch! “Donna. With all due respect, I’m sure I know where this complaint comes from. And while I can appreciate your concern for the potential problems that can arise from office romances, I also feel it necessary to point out to you that you are not within your rights as my employer to ask me such personal questions.”

Donna’s eyes glazed over, and her mouth became set in a very thin white line. “I will ask you anything I feel.”

“Donna…”

“No. Now you listen to me. She said you thought you were a step above everyone else, and I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. But obviously, you are just as bad as she said. First, let me make it abundantly clear that if you are going to screw one of our attorneys on the clock than it is most certainly my business, and I will not have such tempestuous behavior affect the business.” It seemed Donna had brought out the fangs, and had every intention of using them to draw blood.

Sara sat silent as she listened to Donna ridicule and judge her. She knew that she and Mitch had been wrong to do the things they did in the office. But, no matter how wrong it was professionally, it pissed her off to think of the double standard that happening. The same woman who made the complaint had probably done it on nearly every desk in this office.

“Donna, if I may. I feel a bit like the poor schmuck that is being used as an example. While I may be guilty of partaking in some less than professional conduct, I can assure you I’m not the only one. And quite honestly, it offends me that you are speaking to me with a tone of such disappointment when the same person who filed this complaint is guilty of much more than a couple of liaisons.” Sara was proud of herself for speaking her mind so eloquently.

 
Donna stood up from her chair and leaned across the desk. Pointing her finger at Sara, she screamed. “Rumors are just that, young lady. Do you have any proof? No! I didn’t think so. Now get out of my office and back to work before I fire you.”

Sara stood up, her face now white with fear as Donna continued to scream. “And another thing missy, if it happens again, you’ll be gone faster than you can blink. So, don’t test me, you’ll lose! Now get out!”

* * * *

Mitch and Alan had just walked back into the office when they heard the screams. Mitch looked at Alan and then noticed Claudia standing there with a smug smile on her face. “Sara.”

Mitch walked toward the office around the corner and ran right into a trembling and tearful Sara. “What happened?” Mitch asked her, but Sara didn’t respond. “Come to my office.”

“No, I can’t. I have to get back to work.” Alan had come up then, and Sara looked at him before returning to Mitch. “I don’t want to lose my job. If we’re going to live together, I don’t want to be dependent on you. I have to get back to work.” Sara walked away from him as she dried her tears with the backs of her hands.

“What was that about?” Mitch bit out the words to Donna who was still seething in the open doorway.

“Don’t you take that tone with me. I am her manager. She did something that affected her work. I dealt with her accordingly.” Donna pointed out in a curt manner.

Alan put a restraining hand on Mitch’s shoulder. “It didn’t sound like you dealt with it accordingly, Donna. It sounded like you were bullying her.”

Mitch turned to Alan. “I want a meeting with the partners. Now! And I want her there, too.” Stalking off, Mitch yelled back, “Call me when it’s set up.”

Alan turned a fierce eye to Donna. He had never liked the woman. She seemed to be in cohorts with the boys club that seemed to act so vile. It was strange because she was a woman, but there was just something about her that made her seem just as bad as the other sleaze balls.

“You will have some explaining to do Donna, mark my words.” Alan walked to his office.

Donna came completely out of her office and shouted back to him. “Gladly!” She stomped back into her office and slammed the door so hard, the picture on the outer wall shook.

* * * *

Mitch had tried to call Sara’s desk several times, but she just kept telling him that she couldn’t talk. She said she would explain everything tonight when she wasn’t on the clock. He was pissed. He didn’t know how, but he was sure that Claudia was behind this. The look of triumph on her face when Donna screamed at Sara could not have been a coincidence.

Mitch picked up his phone on the first ring. He saw it was Alan’s extension. “Yeah.”

“Meet me in Peter’s office now,” Alan told him before hanging up.

Mitch slid out from his desk and walked to Peter’s office like a man on a mission. Passing Sara’s desk, he didn’t see her sitting there. God, he hoped she was okay. If she hadn’t have seemed so scared about losing her job, he would have pushed her harder to tell him what happened.