Cake Love: All Things Payne(35)

I cringe and shuffle off to my desk to place the box down.

"I'm nervous Evaleen. It's not like I really want to be here. Everyone has a nervous tick. Some people fidget, others eat copious amounts of food; I talk to my body parts. It’s soothing, it helps me figure things out. You should try it sometime."

Looking up, I see her hold back a laugh and shake her head. "Uh, no thanks. I think I will stick with normal things like twirling my hair or biting my lip."

I lean back on my desk and look over at the bathroom door hoping the stench dissipates quickly.

"You don't do any of those things Evaleen."

Evaleen backs up so she is standing in Henrik's doorway, most likely to avoid the aroma around us, while folding her arms over her chest.

"I know. That's because I am never nervous."

I lift a brow while pursing my lips. "Never? Really?"

She clears her throat and her eyes fall to the floor. "Well, I'm not here to talk about being nervous, I am here to talk about yesterday."

Damn, I thought I had successfully distracted her. I might as well get this over with. Pushing myself off the desk, I bring the box to the other side of my desk and start to clear out the drawers.

"Let me just clear out my desk and then I can come over to your office to fill out any paperwork you need from me. It should only take me a few minutes."

The box is starting to get heavy as I place items in it from the drawers, so I move it on to the desk and crouch down to dig in the bottom drawer. I can hear Evaleen walk up beside me, but continue my focus on the large object that is stuck at the back of the drawer. I keep yanking at it, wondering what I put back there that would be stuck.

"Okay, I'll be in my office. We already have a copy of your social security card and license for the Executive Development paperwork, so I will just need you to sign some things. And, of course there will be booklets for you to take home to read."

I give one more firm yank and the object breaks free, as I fall on my ass. In a daze, I look up to see Evaleen smirking at me.

"What? Executive Development paperwork? I don't understand." I watch as her eyes fall to what is in my hand and widen in surprise.

"Didn't you take that home? Don't tell me you used that in the office Drake? When I gave it to you for your birthday I thought you would take it home."

I look at my hand to see a slightly crinkled box of what looks like a cupcake, but is in fact a cupcake vibrator.

"Oh, yeah. I mean no! No, I haven't used it yet. I forgot about it."

I scramble to my feet and place the vibrator in the box. Shaking my head, I turn back to Evaleen to focus on what she said before. "No one cares about the vibrator. You brought up the program. Why would I be filling out paperwork for the program?"

My hands go to my hips after pushing my hair out of my face with a frustrated huff.

"I care about that vibrator Drake. Remind me never to buy you anything nice from now on if that's what you think of my gifts." Evaleen lifts the crinkled box and tries to open it.

I wave my hands in the air in front of us and close my eyes while taking a deep breath. After a moment, I open them, feeling a little calmer than before.

"I don't mean I don't care about the gift. I like the gift. I can’t wait to use the gift. It was very thoughtful, thank you. I am just a little more concerned right now about the Executive Development Program paperwork you talked about earlier. Why would I need to fill that out if I’m about to be fired?"

Evaleen freezes and then places the box down before turning to face me. Her perplexed expression makes me start to wonder if yesterday even happened.

"Why would you be fired Drake? Because you had sex with your boss? Oh, no...no...no." She giggles while shaking her head.

Okay…


Evaleen is now sifting through the box I brought and after a minute of silence looks up at me. She’s crinkling her brow and narrowing her eyes. "Why is this a surprise Drake?"

I do a quick headshake as my eyes dart around the area wondering if this is some really late April Fools’ joke I am the butt of.

"Are you kidding me? I had sex with my boss." I grab her hand and drag her into Henrik's office, which is now bare. My breath evaporates in shock as I absorb the bare walls, desk, and anything Henrik ever touched. Almost absentmindedly, I look to where Planty used to be, my eye drawn to the slightly discolored carpet from the water stain.

Hearing Evaleen groan snaps me back from thinking about an old dead plant and a former boss. We stop beside the large desk and I point as if I am giving her a tour. "This is where Henrik and I had sex."

Refusing to let go of her hand, I guide us back to the door and point again. "And this is where you, Mr. Ethan Mimir, and Mr. Jacob Mimir walked in on us."

Finally I let go and turn to face her. "Now you tell me, is that not a case for someone to get fired? Because most people would assume they are fired after that."

Evaleen chuckles as she places her hands on my arms giving me that pity look she does so well when she knows the truth. The awful truth.

"Oh Drake, yeah you are right. Jacob wanted to fire you and Payne. I fought for you and Ethan fought for Payne. Why he fought for him, I don't know, but they are friends so there you go. The Mimir brothers and I were discussing your future with this company when Payne burst into my office not long after we walked in on you two. That's when Payne told us that he specified to you that your job, especially your chances at the Executive Development Program, depended on you two getting together sexually."