Author’s note: Seeing we’re coming up on a time that’s all about tradition. One of those is the company Secret Santa event. Usually safe boring cheap gifts. But not in this story. Enjoy, LC68
Tyler leaned back in his chair and removed his glasses to rub his eyes. Despite having blue light anti-glare lenses he’d been staring at the screen for hours and fatigue was taking its toll.
He reached for the mouse and clicked the browser open to his e-mails. He’d received three since his last check, one a phishing test the company periodically ran which told him his I-tunes account had been hacked.
He didn’t even have an I-tunes account, who the hell fell for these things? He deleted it, which brought him to the next e-mail discussing the Thursday deadline for the new mockups for Magnus Designs pitch to provide point of purchase displays for Ace audio.
“I know, I know,” he mumbled.
Not sure why he cared so much being he’d just given his two week notice after accepting a job at Designtech the largest display company in the state. Then again, the last e-mail left to click on was the reminder of why.
It was from Tamara Wilcox; VP of Design of Magnus who also happened to be his best friend Jeff’s mother and the person who had gotten him a job here. First as an intern while he was in his third year at RISD, then hiring him full time when he graduated last year.
Those were also the reasons he felt like an asshole for leaving Magnus, and why he was trying so hard on what would be his final project for the firm, to try to land them a new client on his way out the door.
On paper, he was doing the right thing, Designtech started at 10k a year more than he was making at his entry level salary, and the medical cheaper by $20 a week which put another 2k a year in his pocket.
Being a much bigger company there was more room for advancement and better job security. They even offered free gym memberships and a variety of physical and mental health programs.
It was a “real job” in every sense, and unlike this one where he’d gotten a foot in the door because of Jeff and Tamara, he’d earned this one all on his own and based on the merit of his grades at RISD and his portfolio from his work here.
Yet he still felt like he was doing the company, and more so Tamara, dirty. Jeff not so much as he was also leaving, having taken a new job last month but with an agreement he’d stay until the end of the year.
So if her own son could leave, why not him? But when he discussed it with his parents, they were also split. His mother felt he should reward Tamara’s getting him a job and place to gain experience by staying for at least a few years, after all he was only twenty two.
His father, on the other hand, felt he needed to be his own man and go somewhere that he didn’t feel obligated to anyone. He then extolled all the financial benefits, adding that if Tyler wanted to move out and have his own life, well, he needed to be able to afford to do so.
Technically he could afford a small place on his current salary, but things would be kind of tight, and why make it harder on himself than it had to be? Mom seemed disappointed when he leaned dad’s way but ended the talk by saying he was a man now and needed to do whatever he felt right for him.
He’d put his notice in yesterday, an admittedly cheap move because Tamara had taken the day off and he went to Andrea in HR. He justified it by wanting to put in the full two weeks and not a day less.
By giving notice now he’d get this Friday and upcoming Monday off for Christmas, get his bonus, and after two four day work weeks he’d start his new job right after the first of the year.
That was why his stomach tightened when he opened the e-mail from Tamara which simply read. “Come see me when you have a few minutes.”
Well, seeing he considered himself a man now, going in to face his boss and do right by her in the way of being able to have a direct conversation about his leaving, should be easy. The issue was that when it came to dealing with Jeff’s mom not only weren’t things easy for him…
They were usually hard.
Best friend’s mom or not, boss or not, fact remained Tamara was a hot as fuck milf who had unknowingly been the source of inspiration for close to a decade of nasty thoughts and even nastier dreams.
Even though Tyler had been enamored with her since he’d met Jeff in middle school, his one sided crush on her had grown in intensity. He knew the reason, she’d divorced Jeff’s father two years ago and the idea she was now single had his fantasies in overdrive.
Not that it mattered, he had no more chance with her now than when she was married. What was he going to do, walk up to her and ask her out? ‘Hey Miss Wilcox seeing I can legally drink now, want to have one with me?’
Yeah…no, that wasn’t going to happen. Tyler knew her being single did remove the barrier of desiring a married woman, but there was a lot more than that in his way. Pesky details like her being twice his age, the mother of his best friend, his boss, and totally out of his league.
Tyler supposed his leaving would erase the boss taboo, but the other problems were going nowhere. Tamara didn’t strike him as being the cougar type and even if she was, she’d known him since he was a kid and because of that would always see him that way.
He remembered the day she’d spoken to him about the opportunity at her company and how he’d be working under her. His mind had immediately been filled with visions of what being under her could entail. He’d lost focus and realized she’d asked him a question while he’d been staring off into space imagining a whole new meaning to the phrase working hard.
Tyler considered himself fairly confident, but whenever he was alone with Tamara he felt like a love-or lust-struck kid. He wasn’t like that with girls his age. Not that he’d had a lot of girlfriends, but he’d dated enough to not be worried about his looks, personality or anything else.
Key there was Tamara wasn’t a girl; she was a woman. A beautiful, mature, sexually experienced woman who had probably forgotten more about life, let alone sex, than he knew now.
So his fantasies about her would stay just that, and sometimes he was fine with it, even laughing at himself and making internal jokes about it. At other times he felt oddly frustrated, as if a part of him really thought something could happen.
He’d lost track of how many times he’d played out asking her out, but as much as he’d give anything for a yes, in no scenario did he come out looking anything other than a fool.
In some cases she’d be flattered and let him down easy. In others she refused to believe him and thought it was a joke. In the worst she laughed at him and asked what the hell he’d been smoking.
Although he didn’t fully factor it into his decision to leave, he knew that even though part of him would miss getting his daily Tamara fix it would be a good thing to not see her. Let her fade from his mind and get over his stupid obsession with a woman he had no chance in hell with.
It had even affected his dating life. Since Hannah had broken up with him close to a year ago all he’d done is work, hang around the house, or with Jeff, and think about Tamara.
He currently had no interest in any girls his age, then again, now that he was out of school, he’d have to get out to a club or other places to meet them, and he hadn’t been doing that.
Instead of looking for a girl to have some actual fun with just about every night ended with him spanking it to Milf porn during which the actress inevitable became Tamara, or just his own never ending, and vivid, fantasies of her.
Well, fantasies would be all he’d have soon, and hopefully they’d fade as time went on and he’d slip back into a social life with girls he had a chance with. In the meantime he wasn’t looking forward to discussing his departure with her.
Leaning forward, he typed a quick reply of “Okay, will do.”, and sent it off. Slipping his glasses back on, Tyler picked up his now lukewarm Starbucks dark roast and took a sip while clicking back to his image search.
His concept for the display was seeing the speakers for cars, why not have the side of the display resemble one? He’d started searching for images of the back ends of cars, and of course, no car had a cooler rear design than a corvette, both new and classic.
Tyler also thought the overhead of the display could be shaped as a spoiler to match the bottom, and add to the theme and his second monitor was open to an image search of those.
“Bro, no wonder you’re single,” Jeff spoke from over his shoulder, making him flinch. “Those aren’t the kind of rear ends you should be staring at.”
“Funny,” Tyler replied, turning in his chair to face his best friend. “What’s your deal? You’re leaving soon so you don’t have to work?”
“I finished my last project two days ago, not going to start anything new” He shrugged, and didn’t say anything until two coworkers who had briefly stopped outside Tyler’s cube moved on.
“You tell my mom yet or you still being a little bitch?”
“Going to talk to her right after you’re done loafing here, as a matter of fact,” he gave a decisive nod. “What do you think about that?”
“I think she probably sent you an e-mail telling you to get in her office.”
“And because she sent me an e-mail.” He folded his arms over his chest and raised his chin defiantly causing Jeff to laugh and smack him on the arm.
“You’re really sticking it to her! Only speaking to her when she asked you to,” he shook his head. “My man.”
Tyler nodded, wisely not voicing the thought he’d love to be sticking it to Jeff’s mother. But his friend’s next comment made it seem like a meaningless victory.
“Speaking of rear ends,” he gestured to the screen. “How are you going to handle not being able to stare at hers anymore?”
“Come on,” Tyler waved his hand. “I’m not that bad.”
“Tyler, you’ve been perving on my mom since the first time you came over my house.” He leaned on the edge of his desk and lowered his voice. “Bet you even remember what she was wearing.”
“I do not,” he shook his head vigorously. “Nope, don’t remember those cut off shorts or bikini top at all.” He looked away. “Blue bikini top.”
“Yeah, we were supposed to go to baseball practice first, but they cancelled, she didn’t expect us.”
“I know, never got to see her in anything like that again,” he sighed dramatically.
“Made a lasting impression, didn’t it, perv boy?” Jeff teased.
“It did, but hey, what can I say. Your mom’s hot and I know I’m not the only kid who thought so.”
“Truth.” Jeff rolled his eyes. “Think it’s easy having the milf mom? Sucks to know your friends,” he stared pointedly at him. “Your best friend jacks off to her while seeing her as some kind of horny cougar from pornhub?”
“You mad at me or something? Tyler asked. “You usually don’t make a big deal over this.”
“No, well…kind of mad at you, but not really about that.”
“You’re mad I’m leaving.”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, I feel like you used my mother. She gets you in, you get all this training which got you ahead of the game in school. You work here for a year to have something solid on the resume, then you bail. Not cool.”
“You’re leaving and you’re her damn son!” Tyler remarked defensively. “Glass houses and stones there, pal.”
“I’m leaving because I’m her son,” he explained. “I do a good job here, but all that gets said behind my back is I have a job because of who I am. No matter what I do here, I’m the son of the boss.”
“But you know you’re good at what you do, why does it matter what these idiots say?”
“Because it’s not just about now, but down the line. I ever get a promotion it will be because of her. If I get chosen to work with a big client, and all down the line. I had a long talk with her about it, and she gets it.”
“She says she does,” Tyler told him. “But I bet she doesn’t.”
“No, she believes it, and right now we’re leaving it that I go somewhere else for four or five years, then maybe come back. I’ll always hear some shit, but if I proved myself somewhere else, then I’ll know its shit and so will anyone with a brain.”
“Short list here,” Tyler joked. “But it’s kind of the same for me. People here know we went to school together, and your mom’s known me for a long time. I’m seen the same way you are.”
“Not even close, you’re not her kid.” Jeff put his hand up to cut off any further protest. “Look, Tyler, this is a small company and there’s not a lot of young people here. Mom sees you and I as the future, which is why I promised I’ll come back, but losing you too really hurts this place, and her.”
“I have to do what’s best for me.” Tyler went with his father’s argument.
“Key word there is me,” Jeff said with uncharacteristic seriousness. “I think you forget that three years ago Designtech offered me an internship. I could have already been working there. But my mom needed me here, got you in here too.”
“And I appreciate it, but…”
“Tell me something,” Jeff cut him off. “How many offers did you have for an internship before my mother took you in here?”
“None,” Tyler said softly.
“Think about that.” Jeff pushed away from the edge of the desk and left the cubicle without another word.
*****
Tyler looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror while washing his hands. Right after Jeff walked away he figured it was time to bite the bullet and take his second beating right after the first and get it over with.
He’d stopped by the bathroom on his way to Tamara’s office not only because his nerves created the need for a pit stop, but being the smitten idiot he was, he needed to check himself out first.
Tyler wasn’t vain by nature but always wanted to try and look his best when dealing with the object of his unattainable fantasies. He straightened the collar of his grey button down shirt then debated whether or not he should leave the top button open.
It showed off a bit of the hair on his chest and was comfortable as opposed to the slightly tight fit around his neck if he buttoned it. Tyler no longer wrestled as he had in high school but still enjoyed lifting weights and had the build to prove it.
The only issue was he’d found himself in between shirt sizes, especially around the neck. Some, like this one, were on the tighter side. The positive was it showed off his wide shoulders and chest as well as hugging his thick upper arms.
The downside was if he had to have it buttoned all the way it was tight around his neck, and if he wore a tie it was even worse. But if he went a size up the neck tended to be too big and the way the open collar looked to wide and moved drove him crazy.
He decided to leave it open figuring he didn’t need any help turning red or feeling uncomfortable around his hot boss. Tyler finger combed his dirty blonde hair, pushing back a few strands that were falling across his forehead.
The next major, yet meaningless, decision was the glasses. Leave them on for a more serious professional look? The glasses also made him look a bit older and weren’t the geeky type that were somehow cool for some reason, but thin framed and stylish; the slight tint a nice touch.
But they did cover up his eyes which were one of his best features. Tyler had his mother’s eyes. Not just blue but so bright they looked as if they were lit from within. Electric blue his mom joked while his father referred to them as coke eyes because of their intense shade.
Aside from his eyes, Tyler considered himself fairly average. He would never call himself pretty, but he also not unattractive. He had a solid jaw and as his mother said “good cheek bones”.
His jaw was currently covered with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache slightly lighter than his hair. He grew and maintained the beard to try and hide the fact that despite being 22 he could pass for younger and even with it, constantly carded at the bars.
In general, he’d never struggled with girls. Not exactly a stud, but he did have a nice build and easy enough on the eyes to get some attention. The only reason he’d been single the last few months was mostly by choice, trying to focus on work and hone his craft to get the better job.
Tamara was also part of it. Seeing her every day was distracting and kept his longtime fixation going to where he felt bad dating someone because at some point, they would become Jeff’s mom in his mind, especially during sex, and that wasn’t fair to them, in fact it was pretty shitty.
The new job would end that. He’d only see Tamara when he swung by the house to see Jeff, and these days with them both working and Jeff with a steady girlfriend, they didn’t hang out as much as they used to.
Once she was out of his everyday life, Tyler had no doubt he’d be able to give a girl his undivided attention and not use her as a substitute for a longtime high school crush that had turned into an adult crush with no sign of going away unless he put some distance between them.
After waffling a few more seconds, Tyler realized he was spending more time in the mirror than a girl would, and removing his glasses, tucked them into his pocket. He gave himself a thumbs up in the mirror and feeling as confident as he was going to get, he turned to leave the bathroom.
“Hey, kid,” Peter from engineering greeted him as he entered the bathroom, then pointed. “Flying low.”
Tyler looked down at his black Dockers and sure enough his zipper was all the way down. God, what an idiot he would have looked like. Only way his zipper should be down in front of Tamara is if she pulled it down.
“Grow up,” he berated himself as he made his way down the stretch of carpet that ran between two rows of cubicles before heading into the main office. Tamara’s office was in the corner, and when he saw the door shut was going to turn away, but sucked it up and softly knocked, he needed to get this over with.
“Come in,” Tamara called out from inside, and taking a deep breath, entered her office, closing the door behind him.
When Tyler turned from the door, Tamara wasn’t behind her desk but standing in front of the window overlooking the stand of woods behind the building. She briefly turned and gestured to the chairs in front of her desk, then faced away from him.
“It’s over eighty in here, and I need you to fix the thermostat now.” There was a brief pause and her voice rose. “No, I am not going to go work in another office or the conference room. You’re maintenance, so how about you do your job?”
Tyler cringed at her tone, one he’d heard for years before he’d started working here. She’d used it on Jeff when he didn’t listen to her and unfortunately overheard it in arguments with her ex which towards the end happened more and more often and loud enough to be able to be heard in Jeff’s room.
The thought she was going to be in a bad mood before the conversation started wasn’t a good one. He sank into one of the expensive leather chairs in front of her large desk, and braced himself for the worst.
“That’s better, see you in a half hour,” she lowered her phone, but it immediately rang and she looked at it before glancing over at him. “Sorry, need to take this, but I’ll only be a minute. There’s water in the fridge if you want one.”
Tyler nodded, but she’d already looked away. He glanced at the small fridge beneath a table that held a large plant along the wall to his right, but decided against it. Instead he turned his attention to Tamara and for a moment his mood brightened as while she looked out over the woods, he had a chance to look her over.
She wasn’t exaggerating about the room; he’d been in there two minutes and could already feel sweat gathering on his forehead. But he wasn’t complaining because its why Tamara had her blouse off, and wore just a snug fitting black sleeveless shirt.
Her long black hair was up, exposing the smooth skin of her elegant neck, the one he’d kissed countless times in his mind over the years. It also showed off the colorful butterfly tattoo on the back of her neck her hair usually covered.
Likewise, the shirt she normally only wore under a blouse or blazer didn’t quite make it to her waist and he could see a portion of the dream catcher tattoo across her lower back.
Tyler had only seen the entire thing once and it had been the first time he’d met her that Jeff had just mentioned. They had come back to his house three hours earlier than expected and his first glimpse of Tamara had left an indelible impression on both his teenage mind and libido.
Working in the garden, she had been squatting while watering some recently planted seeds. Her ass looked incredible in the shorts which were painted on to begin with stretched even tighter in that position.
As amazing as her ass looked, Tyler couldn’t help notice how toned her thighs were as her legs were spread wide, and ever since that day he’d imagined her giving him head in that position.
Wearing just the blue bikini top and with her hair up, the smooth and sun kissed skin of her back and shoulders were on display as well as the tattoo. The Dream Catcher itself featured bright blue and purple feathers hanging from the intricately shaped pattern within the circle.
Stretching out on both sides was a tribal pattern of intertwined thick black lines that made their way across her back, ending just before her hip and curving slightly to trace the shape of the well-rounded ass beneath it.
When Jeff called out to her, she’d risen and turned, showing off a pair of glorious breasts which were large and barely contained in the somewhat skimpy top. The visible inner halves of those luscious globes were as tanned as the rest of her and glistening with the tanning oil she’d applied to her chest and arms.
Her stomach was perfectly flat and just as oiled up as her chest, but as good as it looked, what caught his attention was the black barbell piercing in her naval. As soon as she realized Jeff wasn’t alone, she crossed her arms over her chest, gave Tyler an awkward hello, and excused herself.
Tyler’s eyes were glued to her ass as she hurried across the yard and into the house. The way her cheeks moved beneath the shorts, the sway of her hips and the supple backs of her long shapely legs accompanied by her glistening back was like something out of a movie, but Tamara was all too real.
In the years since he’d never seen her in anything even close to as revealing, but she did dress to impress so to speak. Nothing that could be construed as outright inappropriate, but Tamara’s slacks, jeans and shorts tended to be on the tighter side, and her skirts at work were often a few inches above her knees as well as form fitting enough to flatter her killer ass.
Her sweaters in the winter, and T-shirts in the warm weather were snug enough to display her well-endowed chest and her blouses often featured an extra button undone, just enough to show a hint of cleavage and if she were leaning over, just a tease of whatever color bra she wore.
Not slutty by any means, but far from frigid, Tamara had mastered the look of ‘business sexy’ and Tyler was sure he wasn’t the only guy at work who appreciated her for it.
He fully appreciated her style at this very moment. In addition to being down to her undershirt in the heat-he noticed her red blouse draped over the back of her chair-her black slacks hugged the sweet curve of her ass and as she stood with her legs spread apart, he couldn’t help but notice how well they outlined her firm thighs.
They did the same for her lower legs and when his eyes reached the floor he noticed she had taken off the knee high black boots he’d seen her in when she came in this morning.
Her feet were encased in sheer black stockings he imagined were knee highs, and when she turned to lean against the ledge along the window, Tyler could make out her toes which were alternately painted red and green for Christmas.
The words “Follow your dreams” were inked along the curve of the arch of her foot. Not that he could see it from where he sat, but he knew it was there because every part of his absurdly hot boss was etched into his lust addled mind.
Tyler would like to follow his dreams by starting at her feet, because even her damn feet were sexy, and work his way up and down her fine as fuck body. As he often did, he wondered how often someone got to live his dream and enjoy that body.
As far as he knew from Jeff, Tamara hadn’t had anything in the way of a relationship since the divorce, but had also mentioned how every once in a while, she’d tell him she wouldn’t be coming home and would be spending the night with a ‘friend”
Jeff had alluded said friend was of the one night variety and although he hadn’t been happy about it, Tyler got a sick thrill out of imaging her out on the prowl, getting picked up and taking some lucky bastard for a wild ride.
She’d chew him up and spit him out then go home with her hair and make up a mess and her thong in her pocketbook, or maybe still on the guy’s floor as a souvenir. Tyler had no doubt Tamara would be wild, and it wasn’t just because he wanted her to be, but when they were younger Jeff would tell him how he had to put in ear buds so he didn’t have to hear his parents fucking.
Jeff had said it with a tone of disgust, but when Tyler would sleep over, he’d go to the bathroom during the night and linger by the bedroom door hoping to hear Tamara in action.
He’d never heard her, maybe they toned it down when Jeff had company. Not for the first time he wondered what Jeff’s father had been thinking. Tamara was beautiful, sexy, had a great job and outside of work seemed easy going enough.
Apparently that, along with Jeff’s claims of a good sex life, wasn’t enough because Tom, Jeff’s father, was caught having an affair with a fellow professor at URI. Tyler was smart enough not to ask questions, but his rightfully pissed off friend had commented the affair had been going on for two years before Tamara found out.
How she found out was the other woman, tired of Tom stringing her along that he was going to leave his wife, showed up at their house and told Tamara herself so she’d force the divorce, and she’d have Tom all to himself.
As bad as it was it worked and Jeff was so angry at his father when he married the woman last year he wouldn’t go to the wedding and barely spoke to him. Tyler never understood cheating, if you wanted to screw around then just don’t get married.
But to cheat on someone like Tamara who had so much to offer? Granted, Tyler’s fixation with her was mostly sexual and who knew what she’d be like to deal with every day, but he could imagine he’d be able to put up with her daily shit to be able to have her every night.
“Sorry about that,” Tamara turned to face him, and before he could help himself his eyes went right to her chest.
Her breasts were prominent in the slinky top and like the back he was able to see a couple inches of her still tight stomach including a brief flash of silver indicating whatever she currently had pierced through it.
No woman in her forties who had, and could still rock, a naval piercing, could be anything but a good time. Not that he had proof of that theory, but he’d love to put it to the test.
“No worries,” he told her as he pulled his eyes from her chest, but not before he saw how flushed her upper chest was from the heat.
Although she caught a lot of sun in the summer and was always deeply tanned, Tamara’s natural complexion was fair to the point of white, and being he’d always been a sucker for that look he found it as exciting as everything else about her.
Fair skin with piercing dark eyes that flashed and smoldered when she was angry, and he felt would do the same in the bedroom. That intense gaze focused on him as she looked up at him while she…
“I’m on your time,” he finished the sentence to keep his mind from going all the way with the image he was forming.
“Not for much longer it seems,” she said.
Her tone was neutral, as was the look on her face as she slid into her seat.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I…”
“Before you say anything, Tyler, I want you to know that I’m hurt that I had to hear this from Andrea. I’m your supervisor.”
“I know, but you were out and policy is you need to give two full weeks to qualify to get the vacation time I didn’t use this year.”
“If you think I’d screw you out of a few days’ pay over one less day of notice I’m even more hurt.”
Her gaze met his and he was unable to hold it.
“You’re right,” he said softly. “I was afraid to tell you.”
“Did you think you wouldn’t have to? That I’d just say, oh, okay, I’ll just say goodbye on his last day?”
“I, well,” his shoulders slumped. “Guess I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, you were thinking,” she sat back in her chair and folded her hands across her stomach. “Thinking about how you didn’t want to have to tell me to my face you’re doing me dirty.”
Great, he was getting bitchy boss Tamara, but why wouldn’t he? That’s what she was at the moment, and she also had his motivation dead to rights.
“I’m sorry,” even as he spoke his gaze had drifted to her hands, her long nails painted the same alternate red and green for Christmas. “Not very professional of me.”
“Then let me be unprofessional and just call it the dick move it is.” Tamara’s eyes flashed and there was nothing sexy about it at the moment.
“That’s kind of harsh, Miss Wilcox.” Tyler hadn’t expected well wished, but this was getting nasty.
“Life is harsh, Tyler. At least for adults, but it’s obvious you’re not one of those yet.”
“I’m twenty two years old,” he responded indignantly. “I know you’ve known me since I was a kid, but I’m a man now.”
“I know forty year old’s who still act like boys. Being a man has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with owning your own shit.”
“Tough crowd,” he tried to joke, but her lips turned down into a scowl and his forced smile quickly fell away.
“Honestly, Tyler, I was going to let this go. I was going to be the bigger person, act like the VP of the company and a mature person and just wish you well.” She shrugged, and he couldn’t help notice the way her breasts lifted when she did.
“That’s what I should be doing, but then I thought you didn’t do what you should have done, so why should I?” she grunted. “That whole being the bigger person thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Guess not.”
“Thing is, this hurts, Tyler,” she’d lowered her voice and stared down at her hands. “It really does. We have a relationship outside of this company, and I never thought you’d do this to me.”
“I’m not trying to do anything to you,” he told her. “I’m trying to do something for me.”
“And what would that be?”
“Better myself. Deigntech pays more, they have better benefits and there’s more room to move up there.”
“Right for the first two, wrong on the third,” Tamara replied. “The fact it’s a big company means more competition. You’re good at what you do at this point in your career, but over there you’re a guppy swimming with the sharks.”
“Maybe at first, but…”
“You’re no one there, and you’re not good enough to stand out.”
“Thanks.” He bristled. Hot or not, she was pissing him off.
“Back to harsh reality,” she countered. “Because they’re the biggest around they tend to get a lot of the top talent. You’ll be competing with people who are older and have more experience than you and more time there. You’re starting rock bottom.”
“But rock bottom there pays ten grand more than here.”
“Five.”
“No,” he shook his head. “Its…”
“Five because I’m offering to give you a five thousand dollar a year raise in your salary if you stay.”
He blinked in surprise and she sighed, and leaned forward, folding her forearms on her desk.
“I want to keep you, Tyler. I need to keep you.”
“You need me?” It wasn’t the way he wanted her to need him, but this was reality, not fantasy.
“We don’t get a lot of young talent here that sticks around. Over the years I can’t tell you how often this has happened. We hire interns, we offer them jobs like we did with you, and then they leave and more often than not to Designtech.”
“They are a good company.”
“They are, and they’re the biggest and can pay the most. But sometimes money isn’t everything. Loyalty should count for something. Friendship should count for something. We’re a smaller company, but we treat people like people. You’re just a number there, Tyler.”
“Maybe, but as long as I work hard, I’ll get ahead there, and I’m already starting at more money, even with what you offered.”
“Back to money again,” she muttered. “But I get it, you’re young and that’s all you see. I’d like to think meeting you halfway with salary would help you stay.”
“It’s only half of what I could make.”
“How much do you need? You live at home.”
“I don’t want to live at home my whole life,” Tyler protested.
“My god,” Tamara laughed, and it was a sincere one, a rich throaty laugh that was normally infectious, and a sound Tyler enjoyed hearing, but being she was laughing at him, he didn’t find it endearing.
“What’s so funny?” he asked defensively.
“You. You’re twenty two and making it sound like you’ll never leave the nest if you don’t take this job.”
“Okay,” he conceded. “I was being dramatic, but I had this out with my parents, and my mother said I should show loyalty.”
“Smart woman.”
“My dad said to take care of me.”
“Typical man,” Tamara rolled her eyes. “They name streets after a lot of you.”
“My dad’s a good guy,” Tyler’s temper flared. “They’re not all assholes like Jeff’s dad.”
“Wow,” Tamara whistled then slowly clapped her hands. “There is a man in there.”
“You’re being kind of rude,” Tyler accused her. “I know I disappointed you, but you’re really making this personal.”
“You’re right,” she nodded. “Because it is personal.”
“No, it’s just a decision I have to make,” Tyler explained. “It’s nothing against you, Miss….”
“Just call me Tamara,” she waved her hand. “You’re an adult and I’m not your boss much longer so we may as well not be formal.”
“Its not about you, Tamara, promise.” As pathetic as it was he liked saying her name. In the ten years he’d known her she’d always been Miss Wilcox to him.
“To you its not, but for me it is.” She pushed her chair back and rose to her feet.
“That damn company pillages us and other companies like we’re their damn minor league farm team.” She walked towards the window as she spoke, and since she couldn’t see him, his gaze lingered on her ass.
“We get kids from college, we invest time and effort into them. We train them and we either lose them right after graduation or like you they reach out to them after a year or so,” she turned back to him and he made sure to keep his eyes on her face.
“They did, didn’t they? You didn’t apply, they sent you an e-mail and asked if you’d be interested in an interview, right?”
“Right,” he nodded.
“We do the work, they get the reward. Their owner is a goddamn multimillionaire who comes from generations of money. Entitled little shit never worked a day in his life and only know how to write and cash checks.
“And everyone runs to them for more money and to say they work there.” Tamara was now pacing, taking a few steps to her left, then spinning on her stockinged heel and walking the other way.
“So tired of it, Tyler. They’re a damn machine and all their employees are to them is cogs in that machine. They take people from other companies not just because they need people, but to stick it to us.
“A few stay with us and long term we’ve made it worth it for them. Try to show loyalty and a place that feels like we’re a team and a family can be better than taking top dollar and working for a an asshole who you’ll never meet because you’re so far beneath him.
“But I thought you’d be different, Tyler, I really did.” She stopped to face him.
“I know this is work, but I’ve known you since you were a boy, you’re my son’s best friend, and when I got you the internship it was because of those things because fact is? You weren’t that good back then.”
“Back to rude,” he sighed.
“Its true and you know it. You weren’t a natural like Jeff and others, and you had no offers. But I saw you had potential and just needed someone to work with you to bring it out.
“I did that. Or did you forget how you’re first summer here I worked almost every day with you?”
How could he forget, it was both the best, and most frustrating summer of his life. But she was right, and he knew it. Tyler had struggled his first year at RISD barely pulling a C, which, considering what his parents were paying even after financial aid, had his father telling him if he didn’t do better year two he was going to have to go to another school.
“I took you under my wing that summer, then after that I put you with Bill Thomas and he worked with you for months. You listened and you learned and you went from lost at sea to being a damn good designer.”
“Thank you.”
“Good enough I was able to get Joe to agree to let me offer you the raise. But even as I talked you up I was upset you’d do this to me, just run for the money instead of repaying me for the opportunity I gave you.”
Tyler looked away, she was making him feel like a bigger asshole than his mother and Jeff had.
“We need you here, and if you stay you’ll be far more appreciated than you’ll ever be there. Here you can rise through the ranks just like I did. Other than when I bartended my way through school this is the only job I’ve had and I’m VP of design making great money doing what I love and for a great company that treats me like family.”
She took a deep breath and wiped at her flushed face.
“God its hot in here,” she reached up to tuck a few strands of black hair that had escaped the clip and fallen across her face.
When she did her shirt rose, exposing a few more inches of her maddeningly smooth stomach and displayed the small silver chain dangling from her naval. The move also pushed her breasts out, and he shifted in his seat as his cock showed its appreciation for her soon to be former boss.
“Excuse me for a second,” she removed the clip from her hair and shook it out.
Tyler watched her long curly black hair cascade down her shoulders, some of it flowing over her breasts, and had to remind himself to breathe while his mind filled with thoughts of that hair on his hands as he fucked her doggy style, of it fanned out on the pillow as she looked up at him, moaning as he lowered himself into her.
Across his chest and thighs as she blew him. The feeling of it on his body, how soft it would be, how sweet it would smell. Tamara lowered her head, then tossed it back, sending her hair flying behind her.
She gathered it back on top of her head while holding the clip between her soft sensual red painted lips, and once she had it under control, put the clip back in.
“I’m sorry I was so bitchy to you when you came in,” she leaned back against the ledge. “I was so hurt when Andrea told me when I called in to check on something yesterday. Then I come in here and the heat’s broken and I’m hot and sweaty and miserable, then I find out those bastards at Designtech are reaching out to Ace and trying to pitch them before we’ve even finished our presentation.”
She folded her arms under her chest, lifting her breasts and he had to struggle to keep his eyes off them as well as the sweat glistening on her chest. How he wanted to be responsible for her being that red and sweaty.
“Not to mention all but going to war with Joe to give you a large pay increase even though you’ve only been a full time employee for a year.”
