“You’re an absolute bitch,” I said to Mandy during our quarrel.
She hired me to assist her in managing the finance department. During the interview, she alluded to the excessive work that she could not handle. I needed the job since mom kicked me out of the house after telling me that I was lazy and would not accomplish anything in life.
“Good morning. I’m Don,” said the CEO’s son, then extended his hand on my first day.
He had thick, brown hair, pale skin, a fit body and attractive facial features. Mandy’s eyes glistened, and her teeth exposed while glaring at him. There’s no hope in hell he could be interested in you. Mandy wore baggy clothing to cover her bulky frame, had dishevelled hair, unshaved arms, dirty nails and often frowned unless in Mr Fieldman’s company.
Mandy was his favorite employee, as she was the only one who knew his birthday, told him he looked handsome almost every day and praised his leadership. Her groveling had worked considering she had received two annual raises.
Although her aura drained my energy, I admit that she was patient in teaching me the responsibilities of the role. Her financial skills were impressive, but her haughtiness was annoying.
“The tax reconciliation is waiting for you after you’re done with the balance sheet,” she said at the end of my second week.
I wondered what work occupied her time since the preparation of the financial statements was supposed to be a team effort.
“What’s Don’s role?” I asked.
“He assists Mr Fieldman in running the company,” she said and smiled.
I flashed my eyebrows. It seems like everyone in the company has an assistant except for me.
“What’s with the smile?” I asked.
Her smile faded, and she shrugged. “He reminds me of someone.”
I compressed a smile, knowing she was referring to a blast from the past. My glance lowered to the balance sheet, and I wrote a few notes.
“Aren’t you gonna ask me who?” said Mandy. I looked at her and raised my eyebrows. “Everything about Don reminds me of Jack. He was my best friend at university and the one who got away.”
“What happened?”
“He was drunk when he professed his feelings to me in my dorm. I couldn’t take him seriously, and he never brought up the matter again.”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“Just before graduation. Shortly after we graduated, he got a job in Switzerland and left.” Her eyelids dropped, and she pursed her lips.
I was surprised at how much she revealed, considering we knew each other for two weeks. I surmised that she wanted to share it with someone since she must’ve suppressed her feelings for years.
“Have you spoken to him since?” I asked.
“He calls me every few weeks.”
My eyebrows raised as I smiled. “What’s the problem? Tell him you feel the same so that he can come back.”
“It’s not that simple.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes while wondering why women complicated falling in love. “Can’t you see that I’m pregnant?” asked Mandy.
I compressed my lips to suppress a burst of laughter. “No. I had no idea.” Her stout body and baggy clothing disguised her four-month pregnancy. Mandy wriggled her fingers to divert my attention to her engagement ring. “Looks like you’re sorted. You got the man, the baby and the job,” I added.
She pursed her lips, lowered her gaze and continued working. Our discussion made me understand the reason for her dismal appearance. Mom had taught me that our appearance was a reflection of our self-image.
The following week, Mandy browsed through the windows on her computer as she showed me the mistakes I had made on the financial statements.
“Who’s that?” I pointed at the picture on her desktop.
“That’s Davey.”
He was short, balding and chubby. Mandy showed me pictures of her graduation ceremony when she was in better shape and smiling in every photo.
“Why don’t you call off the wedding and tell Jack you want to be with him?”
“My parents would never accept that. They’re religious and believe that a woman should be married to the father of her child. Anyway, Jack might not want to be with me because of the pregnancy. There’s too much risk that I’m not prepared to take.”
I felt sorry for her, but that was the last time.
Two days later, she barged into the office. “Why haven’t you finalised the income statement?”
“That’s only due tomorrow,” I said. “I’m busy with the amendments to the budget.”
“Mr Fieldman wants the figures today. You better get on it.”
Instead of helping me complete the statements, Mandy chose to quarrel.
I skipped lunch and also worked at a rapid pace to complete the income statement before Mr Fieldman left for the day. She snatched the income statement off my desk at six o’clock and scampered to his office.
On my way out, I walked past his office and heard him say, “Well done, Mandy. This is great work. I don’t know what we would do without you.”
She forgot to thank me the following day. Before stepping out of the office at ten am, Mandy assigned more work to me and returned around four to check on my progress.
“Gordon, you need to work faster to get this done today,” she said. “Your work is good, but the turnaround time is slow. It also wouldn’t kill you to dress better. I think your attire is too casual.”
Mom had also complained about me not dressing well and being dilatory in my actions. Neither of them understood that I did not have money to buy clothes and needed time to plan before executing tasks. Besides their lack of understanding, I hated that both criticised me and told me what to do. Nobody is going to be my boss.
I had worked through lunch again and stayed until seven in the evening to complete the work that was supposed to be a team effort.
The only good thing about working after hours was that I got to indulge in my fantasies with Tatum. She was the office tea and cleaning lady with whom I hit it off from the beginning, and I gave her a lift after work. We usually had sex at her place when it wasn’t too late in the evening, but on the nights that I worked late, we took advantage of an empty office building.
Tatum squeezed in between my legs at the table, then bent over it. Her ass was practically brushing my face. “What are you doing?” I asked while smiling.
“Giving you what you want, dirty boy.”
“Oh, so I’m a dirty boy.”
“You’re my dirty boy.”
I lifted her dress and saw her black, lace panties. Her stockings reached just above her knees, and her high heels tightened her ass. My chair rolled back as I stood up. I lifted Tatum’s dress up her back more and pressed my boner against her ass. My hands slid under her panties and reached her lower back.
My boner nudged her ass, and she swayed her hips. I pulled down my pants, and my dick popped out as I stretched my jocks. Then, I pulled down Tatum’s panties, pressed the tip of my dick against her legs and slid it down.
“I can feel it, but I want to feel it inside me.”
“All in good time.”
I squeezed her cheeks and parted them, revealing her bright pink pussy. I got on my knees and licked her lips, then heard her moan. My finger slid inside her ass and circled as I licked her pussy. I loved her ass, so I bit a piece, squeezed the other cheek and spanked it. She nudged forward and moaned.
I stood up, grabbed her waist and pulled her towards me. Her ass pressed against my dick, and I parted her right cheek and stuck my dick in. I closed my eyes as I felt her fluid on my dick. My left hand slid down her back and grabbed her shoulder as my right hand held my shirt above my dick.
She bobbed as my dick went in deeper, and I pulled her back towards me while clutching her shoulder. Tatum’s hair hung over her face as she bowed her head and groaned. My shirt dropped as I spanked her ass. She sputtered moans as I sped up the penetration.
I pulled out my dick and saw that it was red, and I was ready to erupt. “Come here,” I said.
Tatum turned around and got on her knees. She grabbed my dick with her left hand and shoved it into her mouth, then looked up at me with droopy eyelids. I pulled her hair up and raised her to her feet. She sat on the table and reclined with her elbows by her side for support.
She opened her legs, and I slid my dick over her clitoris and stuck it into her pussy. As I held her legs apart and penetrated, lines on her forehead formed as she clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. I thrust my dick in all the way and pumped her for about fifteen minutes.
One of her legs was on my shoulder and the other in my hand. I felt that I was about to cum, so I pulled my dick out and shot on her leg. My semen slithered down her leg, past her pussy and into her crack. She wiped some of my cum from her ass with her finger and sucked it.
“That’s my girl.”
When I dropped her off at her place, she asked, “What is this thing between us?”
“What do you mean?”
“Where is it going?”
“It’s an office fling, Tatum. What do you want me to say?”
“It would be nice if you’d say that I mean something to you.”
“I mean, come on. You’re a cleaning lady, and I’m in finance.”
She kept glaring at me, then pushed the door open and stormed out.
The following morning, Mandy walked into my office. “How far are you?”
“I need another couple of hours to complete.”
She pursed her lips and shook her head.
At the end of the day, she came back. “You finished?” I handed her the financial statements. “Good. Try not to disappoint me again.”
I glared at her and wondered how I would get her back for making my life miserable.
The following day, Mandy bickered with Tatum during lunchtime about misplacing the coffee. “You’re nowhere to be seen when I need my coffee. You also weren’t here to help me find the coffee jar.”
She also snapped at the receptionist for neglecting the phone when she stepped out to the bathroom. I avoided her the whole day due to fearing a tongue-lashing.
During our meeting with Mr Fieldman, Mandy agreed to all of the deadlines. I closed my eyes and sighed under my breath, recognising the work onslaught.
She dashed towards my desk on Friday afternoon. Her facial expression conveyed a desire to fight. “How far are you with the tasks?”
“I’d be a lot further if you would do your part.”
“Excuse me? I have so much on my plate, not to mention the pregnancy and the stress of planning a wedding.”
“Seems like you’re using work hours to handle personal affairs.”
“I don’t believe I asked for your opinion. Don’t talk to me in that tone.”
She sounded like mom. I spent another weekend working on completing the quarterly budget before Mandy walked into the office on Monday.
“I know you appreciate honesty, so I thought I’d tell you that I have limited seating and can’t include you in the wedding,” said Mandy after handing out the invitations to the bosses and most co-workers.
That’s the least you could’ve done, considering I did your work while you were planning the wedding. “No problem. Here are the figures you needed. When’s the big day?” I asked.
“In two weeks.”
“I’ve got something I need you to look at,” she said, then turned around and grabbed a file that was in the cabinet behind her.
I saw a vial with tablets and snatched it off her desk as she rummaged through the cabinet.
“This is the audited financials from last year. Make sure the opening balances on our system correspond.”
I took the vial out of my pocket at home. The prescribed tablets were for depression, and the instructions stated that Mandy had to take one during breakfast, lunch and dinner. More than three daily tablets could result in vomiting, nausea and stomach cramps. I kept a few tablets.
Mandy walked into the kitchen in the morning and yelled at Tatum to make her coffee. After she walked out, I went into the kitchen and took the cup from Tatum and went to Mandy’s office. She was checking her draws as I walked in.
“Here you go,” I said to Mandy.
“Why are you bringing me coffee?”
“To make amends. I feel that I need to apologise for my behaviour. From now on, I’ll bring you coffee every morning.” Mandy frowned. “Everything okay?” I asked.
“No. I lost my tab -. Nevermind.”
Mandy stepped out at eleven o’clock. I used the opportunity to put the vial in her laptop bag. Her desk phone rang.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hi. I’m looking for Mandy.”
“She’s not in. Can I take a message?”
“I’m a friend of hers from university… It’s fine. I’ll call back later.”
“Is this Jack?”
“How did you know?”
“I’m Gordon. Mandy and I are best friends. She told me everything about you.”
“Oh. I heard she’s getting married and…”
“And you thought that you’d try to talk her out of it and rekindle an old flame?”
“Yeah. Stupid isn’t it?”
“Sorry, buddy. You’re a few days too late. Mandy already got married. She’s on her honeymoon and comes back in two weeks.” Jack sighed. I smirked, picturing him slumping and shaking his head. “Everything happens for a reason. Maybe you guys weren’t meant to be,” I said.
“I guess. Would you mind telling her that I called and will speak to her when she’s back from the honeymoon?
“Sure.”
The following morning, I popped my head into Mandy’s office to greet. “You’re looking upbeat.”
“Yes. I found what I misplaced. Sorry about everything. I know that I’ve been under the weather. The stress of planning the wedding got to me. I appreciate all the work that you’ve done.”
“No problem. What are colleagues for?”
I monitored her kitchen movement for the next week. She fetched a glass of water every morning and at lunch.
“The annual finance meeting with the board is next Friday,” she said. “I need the figures latest Thursday morning, so I can review your work before I present.”
“Are you gonna help me with compiling the financial statements?” I asked.
“Um…I have other work to do. I trust you to deliver.” My gaze dropped to the floor and steam emitted from my nose. “Oh. Did you hear? I got promoted to Chief Finance Officer,” she added.
I bit my lip and glared at her. To think that I thought about not going through with my plan after she apologised. I clenched my jaw and felt blood rush to my head. My chest expanded as I inhaled through my nose. A fire ignited in my chest, and I sneered before walking off.
Mandy checked on me every second day to ensure the work completion.
“Everything’s on track. No need to worry,” I said every time.
I smiled at her in passing and ensured that my voice tone and choice of words conveyed content with working for her. I slipped two tablets into her coffee on Wednesday morning. She was late to work on Thursday.
“You okay?” I asked when she walked into my office.
“No. I didn’t sleep a wink last night. Felt sick. Was throwing up the whole night.”
“Let me get you some coffee. It will make you feel better.” I slipped in two more tablets and handed her the cup in her office.
“Thanks. When can I get the figures?’
“I need the rest of the day to complete. You’ll have it tomorrow before the meeting.”
She gaped. “You were supposed to be finished. When will I go over the figures?”
“Everything is right like always. Don’t worry,” I said.
Mandy sent me a message in the evening to ensure that I had completed the work, then called after I did not respond. I did not answer.
The following morning during my conversation with a colleague, she stormed up to us and interrupted. “Why the hell didn’t you answer my call last night?” Her eyes were droopy and skin was pale. I kept looking at her and did not respond. “Give me the figures.”
“What figures? There aren’t any.”
“This is not the time to mess with me, Gordon. I’m going into that meeting in half an hour.” I shrugged and pursed my lips. “Where are the damn financial statements?” yelled Mandy.
“I haven’t prepared a single line,” I said.
Her face flushed, and she slammed her fist on the table. “Where are my financial statements, you imbecile?”
“I haven’t -.”
“Mandy. You’re ready?” Mr. Fieldman interrupted.
She frowned, and her lips tightened as she glared at me. A smirk appeared on my face.
On my way out at the end of the day, I walked past Mandy’s office and heard her sob. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to kick her when she was down, I pretended to be concerned by saying, “Everything okay?”
Tears coursed down her cheeks as she shuddered. Mandy sniffled and wiped the tears before saying, “This is all your fault. You’ve ruined my life.”
Her exaggeration did not surprise me. “What happened?”
“The board suspended me for not completing the financial statements. I have a disciplinary hearing when I return in two weeks. To make matters worse, I have to get married tomorrow, and I’m so sick that I can barely keep my head up.”
Game, set and match.
The working environment for the subsequent two weeks was delightful. I was smoking in the basement parking when Mandy scampered towards her car, sobbing. She looked at me and said, “Gloat, you bastard. Hope you’re happy that I’m fired.”
“I can’t say you didn’t deserve it. Not only did you not contribute, but you had the audacity to disrespect the hand that was feeding you. You didn’t even have the decency to invite me to your wedding.”
“I gave you a job when you were desperate, so I had the right to treat you any way I pleased.”
“You’re an absolute bitch.” Mandy dunked her face into her palms and sobbed. I sensed more to the story than she revealed, so I asked, “Something else is also bothering you.”
“Jack called me on my honeymoon and said that he spoke to you. Why didn’t you tell me that he called? You really are evil.”
I sneered. “Bye, Mandy. All the best with your miserable life.”
A week later, I was making coffee in the kitchen when Don walked in and asked, “Did you hear about Mandy?”
“What about her?”
“She committed suicide.”
“What?” I asked.
“Her parents said she stopped taking her depression pills because they made her sick, and she suffered a miscarriage due to overwhelming distress. Apparently, she’s been suicidal since graduating from university. I guess this was the last straw.”
I went to my desk and thought about Mandy’s death for the rest of the day. It was on my mind for the next two days as well.
Two weeks later, two policemen walked into my office. “Gordon Wyatt?”
“Yes. That’s me.”
“Sir, we need you to come to the station with us.”
“What’s this all about?”
“Mandy Van Dijk’s death. We received a tip-off about her condition and decided to do an autopsy on her. We found an irregular amount of pills in her system, even though she stopped taking them.”
“What’s that got to do with me?”
“We believe you’re involved. Sir, please come with us.”
I frowned and stood up. Who the hell could’ve tipped them off about me? We walked past the kitchen, and Tatum’s arms were folded as she sneered at me.