Office Romance

Paul had worked with Mel for 2 years now and had finally managed to work himself up to ask her out. He had taken a shine to her as soon as she arrived, but they had really bonded over their shared hatred of their boss Duncan Reynolds.

The guy was a straight up bully, he worked them all far too hard and then seemed to take pleasure in singling people out and publicly humiliating them when they finally cracked or couldn’t meet his ridiculous standards. 

They had managed to keep it together where most of their colleagues had broken mainly because of their friendship. Keeping one another company when they had to work long nights and helping one another with projects had managed to get them through. 

He was starting to get worried about Mel though, she hadn’t been in the office since last Friday when Reynolds had called her into is office at the end of the day. Paul had been calling her all week, but her phone was just going straight to voicemail. 

He figured he might head over to her place when he finally got off work, maybe pick up a bottle of wine or something. Just to make sure she was OK and hadn’t cracked under the pressure that Reynolds had been putting on them recently.

His thoughts were interrupted when Mr Reynolds called everyone into the boardroom for an impromptu briefing.

Once everyone had filed into the room and was seated Mr Reynolds began the meeting.

“Good afternoon everyone, I know that this is unusual and you all have a lot of work to be getting on with, so I will cut to the chase. The board met last week and voted unanimously to appoint me as the company’s new chief operating officer. As I am sure you can all guess, that means that I will be leaving you all.”

Paul was elated, finally they wouldn’t have to deal with Reynolds anymore. He couldn’t wait to see Mel and tell her the good news, maybe he could even use it as an excuse to ask her out for a celebratory drink.

Reynolds continued “I know you would be lost without me, so with that in mind I would like to introduce you to your new manager, Ms Melanie Jenkins!”  

Paul’s jaw hit the floor as he saw his friend enter the room, she looked like a completely different person. Her hair was no longer tied back in her trademark scraggly ponytail, but instead flowed down in a mane of thick glossy curls. Gone were the dark circles around her eyes, instead her face was adorned with immaculate makeup. She was dressed in a tight skirt, heels and a top that seemed to show cleavage that Paul never knew existed. He couldn’t help but stare as Mr Reynolds continued to address the room.

“Now of course most of you will know Ms Jenkins and I suspect several of you may have noticed her absence this week. Melanie has been a valuable member of our team for several years now, so she knows this department inside and out. In addition she has been away this week attending an intensive management training course, ensuring that she is perfectly equipped to take charge of this department with immediate effect.”

The meeting came to a close and people began to file out, shaking hands and offering polite congratulations to both Mr Reynolds and Mel as they left. When it came to Paul, Mel shook his hand as with everyone else and said “Paul, I will see you in my office in ten minutes” in a very serious and business like tone, without a hint of emotion on her face.

When Paul entered his best friend’s new office ten minutes later he greeted Mel with excitement. “Whoa, Mel what happened to you? You look great! I can’t believe you’re the boss now! ”

Mel gave him a cold glare “Mr Smith, you do realise those comments are wildly inappropriate and I would remind you to address me as Ms Jenkins.”

“What? Mel? You’re kidding right?” Paul asked, not quite believing what he was hearing “Are you serious?”

“Yes, deadly serious.” she said, her glare unwavering.  “I am your superior and you will address me in an appropriate manner. If I have to remind you again I will make sure you are working every weekend for the next month. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes Ms Jenkins” he said meekly.

“Now, where are we with the Wilson account?” She said as she sat down and turned to her computer, not even bothering to look at him anymore.

“About half way” Paul replied “Should be done by the end of next week”

“I want it finished and on my desk first thing Monday”

“Monday? Are you kidding? This has to be a joke, you know how much work needs to go into that report before it is done!” Paul said “ I will have to be here all weekend”

She looked up from her computer and glared at him. “I guess that means that you have plenty to get on with then doesn’t it? Now I am leaving at 4, today because I have a date this evening so you will have to lock up when you are finished. Do you think you can manage that?” she said with complete disdain.

Paul’s heart sank. “OK, no problem” He muttered, looking down at the floor and turning to leave, in a desperate attempt to hide his heartbreak.  

“Oh and Paul? If that report isn’t on my desk first thing Monday, you’re fired.”  Mel said with a sadistic venom in her voice.

As he was leaving there was a knock at the door, followed by the entry of their former Boss 

Paul couldn’t bare to stick around for any more, especially now that Reynolds was here. So he continued towards the door, but his heart sunk even further as her heard Reynolds begin to speak.

“Melanie dear, I just wanted to check that you were looking forward to our date tonight.”

Paul was crushed, he closed the door behind him and stood there a moment as he tried to make sense of what was going on. How could his best friend become such a bitch overnight, and why on earth was she going on a date with the guy who they both hated so much.

Paul trudged back towards his desk feeling completely broken, desperately trying to hide his heartbreak and rid himself of the thought of the two of them together.

Meanwhile…

“What was that about?” Reynolds asked approaching Melanie with a quizzical look.

She smiled wickedly as she rose from her chair “Oh, you know, just making sure to assert my dominance straight away. Plus the pathetic sap has been basically in love with me for years, I needed to make sure to put him in his place early on.”

“And how did it feel?” Reynolds asked, stopping to admire the gorgeous woman that was approaching him.

“Mmmm… it felt so fucking good.” She said, moaning sensually, pressing her breasts up against him and kissing him deeply. “I never knew it could feel so good to break the spirit of one of these losers. Actually its kinda got me all worked up, how about I show you of what you should be looking forward to later on”