Queenie(50)

THE CORGIS

Queenie

Guess where I am



Kyazike

LOL. Happy Christmas. Where are you? You’re lucky you ain’t in Staines, nothing to do here, fam



Darcy

In bed. You’re almost always in bed



Queenie

I’m at the office, THANKS



Darcy

People don’t usually start with the New Year’s resolutions the day after Christmas. Where has this dedication come from?



Queenie

Gina made me come in to sort out something Chuck did. It’s not bad, actually. Unlike you normal people, my family are mainly intolerable. My granddad made us watch the news while we ate dinner



Queenie

Anyway, text company is appreciated while I’m here, thanks



Queenie

Please. Stories, memes, pictures of what you got, anything



Silent Jean kept gliding past my desk silently to go and make tea. What did she achieve by staring at me? After my second hour of trying to make sense of Chuck’s madness and shoving 1K miniature Snickers down my throat, I heard the lift doors open.

Thankful to have the company of somebody who wasn’t Jean, I turned around to see Ted striding through the doors. “What are you doing here?” I asked, less thankful that it was him.

“I needed to file something. ‘Best Boxing Day Goals.’?” He looked oddly proud of that headline, as though it contained any wordplay. “Quiet down here,” Ted observed. “What are you doing here?” He sat in the chair next to mine.

“Gina asked me to come in and fix something. She can’t do it herself because she’s ‘stuck in Suffolk,’?” I said breezily. “Anyway, I should just get on with this.” I turned to my screen, so thrown by Ted appearing suddenly that I couldn’t remember what I needed to do. What can you do in this situation but pretend to type? What if heartbreak had made me genuinely mentally unwell?

“You’re pretending to type,” Ted assessed.

“I’m doing very important work here,” I assured him. “Please leave me in peace.”

“You didn’t reply to my e-mail.”

I didn’t say anything.

“Queenie.” Ted put a hand on mine. “I’ve missed you.”

“Don’t do this again.” I pulled my hand away and carried on looking at my screen. “Do I need to remind you that there’s CCTV in this office? And Jean is over there!”

“Can I convince you to go for a little, er, jaunt with me?” Ted asked quietly.

I got up and walked toward the bathroom. I could hear Ted following me, and sped up. Silent Jean looked up from her desk, scared as though I were charging toward her. I crossed the office and made it into the disabled loo. I locked myself in.

“Queenie, come on,” Ted whispered through the door.

“Come on nothing. Leave me alone, please. What you’re technically doing is stalking. I could get Jean to call the police.”

“What, that woman who haunts the building? That’s a bit dramatic. Come out of there, please. I need to explain.”

I unlocked the door and tried to push it open, but felt something against it. I shoved against it with my whole weight.

“Ow!” It only opened partway. I put my head around the door and saw Ted on the floor leaning against it. I remembered when Tom used to console me outside the bathroom door, and shook my head to chase the memory away.

“I didn’t think you’d open it, stubborn as you are,” Ted said, standing up slowly and making a big thing about stretching his legs out. “I’m an old man, Queenie.” He forced a laugh.

“You’re only six years older than me, Ted. And I’m only coming out because I need to finish my work.”

I stepped past him and walked over to my desk. He must have finally got the message because he didn’t follow me.

I finished correcting Chuck’s numerous errors at five, filed the new version, e-mailed Gina, and grabbed my stuff to head out of the office. I was close to the lift when someone grabbed my hand. I snatched my whole body out of their reach.

Ted placed his hands on my waist and pulled me up and into the lift.

“Cameras!” I reminded him. “What if someone is watching!?”

He stood directly behind me and kissed my neck. “Let them see,” he whispered into my ear.

“Fuck it,” I purred, melting into him.

We got up to Ted’s floor, and as soon as we stepped through the lift doors he took a sharp right and opened the door to the disabled bathroom.

“After you,” he said. My heart beginning to beat faster, I walked in like some sort of idiot incapable of independent thought. Ted followed and locked the door behind him. He kissed me and pushed me against the wall, unbuttoning my shirt with confident hands. I undid his coat and he shrugged it onto the floor. I tried to undo his shirt, but he took my hands and moved them down by my sides.

“No, stop, leave it. I need to keep it on.” He tore my shirt off and threw it on the floor before unhooking my bra and dropping it at my feet. He took my breasts in his hands and squeezed them roughly, staring at me as he sucked one nipple and then the other. I guess it’s like that thing when a woman is meant to maintain eye contact with a man while she sucks his dick? I’ve never done it because I think that it’s weird. When you’re on the receiving end of the stare, it’s just as weird.