I'm like a deer in headlights. He growls and brings his hand to his face rubbing the stubbled skin in irritation. Suddenly he freezes and bringing his fingers closer to his nose, taking a whiff. Uh, oh!
His eyes widen and he looks at me in confusion. Lowering his hand he places it in his pocket and his eyes grow bigger if that is even possible. Lifting his arm he pulls out my panties and holds them up in the air.
"Ms. Drake, what is this?"
Chapter 9 - THE Payneful Reminder ...
He is holding my lace panties in his hand staring at me in utter confusion. Mr. Payne doesn't remember a thing. Of course he doesn't he was wasted. While the shock of adrenaline has obviously sobered him up from the zipper incident (I seem to have a lot of sex related incidents in my life.) I feel it isn't enough to trigger his memory.
"Ms. Drake, answer me. What is this?"
"Looks like underwear to me, sir."
He rolls his eyes and points to the chair for me to sit. Mr. Payne walks to his door, shutting it and turns on a few more lights. Looking around the room at his clothing everywhere he has the same confused expression as he did while pulling my undies from his pocket.
I settle into the chair across from his desk, carefully removing his socks from the seat and handing them back to him as he walks by. He grabs them roughly and shoves them into his pocket. Suddenly he stops just before he turns the corner of his desk to get to his chair. His back is to me and I can't help but wonder what is he thinking.
After a few moments he moves again and comes to his chair. Placing the panties on the desk, he stares at them while addressing me.
"Ms. Drake, what happened tonight?" He asks in a low voice full of worry.
Do I tell him the truth? What if I explain things and he is so mortified he has me transferred to Accounting permanently or another department where I can't enter the Executive Development Program? The only way to enter is to have an Executive recommend me, so working directly with one is imperative. I really should have listened to my Brain this evening.
Maybe I should lie. Yeah, a little white lie can't hurt. He won't be embarrassed to be around me and we can continue as boss and assistant (if I ever get to be his actual assistant instead of floor hopping every week.).
"You came and got me in Accounting and told me you had to speak to me, Mr. Payne. By the time I got to your office you had taken off your clothes. I saw you were passed out on the couch, so I tried to rearrange your body so you were lying on your side in case you became sick. Your zipper got caught on my sleeve and well, I think you can guess what happened after that."
Wow, I'm good at thinking on my feet. Thank you Brain and a round of applause for you. I am sorry I didn't listen to you to begin with.
"Apology accepted, Morgana. Now, let's hope he buys the shit your selling."
Mr. Payne clears his throat, still not looking at me.
"Umm, was there anything else that happened, Ms. Drake?"
I shake my head. Not going to tell him. Nope! Not going to do it.
"I apologize for my behavior Ms. Drake. If you are worried I might become angry or your job is at stake if you tell me the truth then please understand nothing could be further from the truth. I normally don't drink, but this day is always a bad day for me and, well ... that's not important. What is important is for you to understand if I did anything that made you uncomfortable I need to know in order to rectify it."
I am sucking in my lips to prevent them from talking. He looks so scared and helpless right now. Like a little fawn lost in the woods. I just want to reach over and pet him, maybe take his shirt off too.
"Ms. Drake I need to explain something to you. About a year ago I had an assistant who ... umm ... tried her best to seduce me. I kept telling her no. Finally her actions, along with her need to constantly be on her cell phone, caused me to fire her. Normally I would never discuss a former or current employee's issues but I feel tonight warrants it. She felt the need to retaliate by filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against me. It never went anywhere because her accusations were unfounded. So, it's important to me to find out exactly what occurred tonight. Please understand when I say my behavior tonight was a mistake. I may have taken advantage of you in a way that is highly inappropriate. You have my sincerest apologies."
Well shit! Guess sex is definitely not on the menu with Mr. Payne. Crap, crap, double crap.
"You fingered me." I blurt out. So much for not telling him.
"Morgana, in order to tell a lie one must not tell the truth right after, it defeats the purpose." My Brain explains to me.
"Shut up, Brain. I thought you drove off anyway."
I tell her. She shrugs her squiggly shoulders at me, "Got stuck at a light and looked in the rear view mirror to witness the craptastic hole you have created."
I roll my eyes.