careless lovers. My skirt was down again, covering my thighs and the tops of my knees. His pants were fine, though tented in the front. The only sign of our near-tryst was my messed up, tousled hair. I thought that if anyone dared so much as look at us funny when we left the elevator, let alone comment on our slightly disheveled appearance, they'd soon have to deal with a job performance review from Asher Landseer, himself, and it probably wouldn't be very friendly.
This floor of Landseer Tower was quiet right now, though. Mostly occupied by the higher ups of Landseer Enterprises, we didn't have to deal with the gawking stares of Asher's employees. Everyone was busy, or somewhere else, or they wouldn't have cared. I glanced to the side and saw Lucent's office, but the door was closed so I didn't know if he was there.
Asher led me to his office. We didn't walk as quickly, nor as hurried as before, but our pace was anything but slow or relaxed. Determined, purposeful, and onwards; we went.
He opened his door and gestured for me to go inside. On shaky, but mostly steady legs, I went. He came in after me, closing and locking the door behind us. We stood there, quiet, just the two of us.
"What happened?" Asher asked. "I want to make sure you're fine. Why didn't you come to me first? Who do you think did it?"
"Asher, I... I don't know. I'm not sure what happened. I'm fine, though. I didn't want to bother you. I wanted to handle it on my own. I don't want anyone to think that I'm incapable or incompetent, or..."
I didn't want anyone to think I was a whore, either. Or a homewrecker. Or a slut.
I could see why people did, though. Asher and I, our elevator escapades, none of that helped matters. No one knew about that, of course, but still. I remembered it. I remembered what they said.
Landseer Tower is home to more than just the day to day affairs of Landseer Enterprises. Asher Landseer, himself, has been overseeing an affair of his own in his corporate building with the as yet unknown Jessika Fevrier.
People didn't make out in elevators. They didn't cling to one another like that. They didn't almost fuck, the man's fingers pressed against the woman's sex, begging to dig in deeper. They didn't straddle one another, pushed against the wall of the elevator, lost in reckless and wild abandon. They didn't...
"You're not," he said. "Jessika, I understand how difficult this is for you. I've dealt with being in the spotlight for most of my life and I've heard all sorts of criticism and spiteful comments. I don't think it should be that way, but sometimes I forget how hard it can be to brush those things off, too. You don't have to deal with someone forcing their way into your office and going through your belongings, though. You don't deserve that. No one deserves that."
I didn't want to tell him this, but the words came out before I could stop myself. "There's more. They... they wrote something on my computer. They typed in whore. It was in bold. Not just once. So many times. I don't know how many. Pages full. More than one. Asher, I... I'm not. I don't mean to be, if I am. I just, I love you. Asher, I love you so much and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a homewrecker or a whore or a slut or any of it. Except, then, on the elevator... I wanted to. I didn't care. I felt so comfortable and safe then and I was lost before and helpless and I..."
"Shh," he said, whispering into my ear and hugging me tight. "Jessika, it's alright. You aren't. You're not any of those things. I don't know why someone would write that, but it's not true."
"Asher, we've done so much. I can't say it's not true, because maybe it is. I don't think you can say it, either." I glanced to the side of his office, gazing at the glass door to his private meeting room. "Don't you remember?" I asked, almost pleading with him. "The first time we