Page 5 of The Status Situation

When he realizes I’m not backing down, he chuckles and raises his hands. “Okay, okay. I get it. Listen, I’m only here for the paperwork that I had Wynita put on your desk last night. Did you get to it?”

“I took care of all that this morning and gave it back to her already,” I reply with a frown. “Did she not get it to you?”

Sean’s lips twitch as he attempts to hide a smile. “Would I be here if she did?”

We both know that he probably would be, whether he got the paperwork or not, but I don’t say that. Instead, I pick up the phone and dial Wynita’s desk number. My frown deepens when I don’t get an answer.

With a huff of frustration, I slam the phone back down onto the receiver and rise to my feet, determined to hunt her down. Just as I take a step around the corner of my desk, my door opens again, and Wynia comes rushing through it. She hands the folder to Sean immediately.

“Sorry, sorry. Time completely got away from me today,” she says quickly, pushing her black hair out of her face.

Her light gray pantsuit is a stark contrast to her chocolate skin, and her high heels do nothing to hide how short she is. She’s beautiful in her own right, but she’s too much of a disorganized mess for me to see her as attractive. Things like this are always happening with her, but I don’t have the heart to fire her. She needs this job because she’s helping to support her aging mother.

“It’s fine,” I mutter, waving off her apology. I’m used to all this anyway because it happens often.

She dips her head and moves to leave my office, but Sean stops her.

“Wynita, are you aware that your boss is single?” he asks suddenly.

An uncomfortable silence engulfs the room as we process his question, and my eyes suddenly snap to his, narrowing in warning. If looks could kill, he’d be dead ten times over by now for pulling this shit.

“I am,” Wynita answers quickly. A blush rises to her cheeks as she glances down at her shoes. She is clearly just as uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation as I am.

“What the hell are you doing?” I hiss under my breath.

Sean ignores me, either oblivious to our uncomfortable situation or not caring. “Would you ever go on a date with him?”

“I’m sorry, but no, I wouldn’t.” Her voice is quiet, and I can tell she’s worried about offending me. However, I’m not the least bit offended; in fact, I’m relieved. “It’s nothing against you, sir. I just… I don’t date people I work with.”

“Surely, you can make an exception!” Sean teases. “Have you seen how attractive he is, with that chiseled jaw and eight-pack underneath that suit? Not to mention those deep brown eyes and blond hair so thick you could run your fingers through it.”

Wynita shifts her weight from one foot to the other as she wrings her hands in front of her. “This is inappropriate.”

“I have to agree,” I snap angrily. I don’t know what the hell Sean thinks he’s doing, but I’m determined to put an end to it.

Wynita turns her hazel eyes to me pleadingly. “Can I go now?”

“Yes. And I’m really sorry about this, Wynita. Please believe me when I say that it won’t happen again.” I pin Sean with another glare to ensure he gets the message.

With another quick dip of her head, she rushes from the room and closes the door behind her.

The moment she does, I turn my glare at Sean. “What the hell was that?”

He proceeds to brush me off, seemingly unfazed, as if my anger is merely an inconvenience to him. “Oh, come on. I’m just having a little fun.”

“Fun? Are you looking for a sexual harassment lawsuit? That was so inappropriate it’s not even funny!”

“Look,” he begins with a sigh. “I’m sorry, alright? But I’m worried about you! I have known you for a whole year, and I’ve never seen you with a woman. And you turn down everyone who asks you out!”

I start to protest this, but find myself stopping because… he’s right. At least to an extent. The reason he hasn’t seen me with a woman before is because nothing has gone past the ‘hook-up’ stage, and I don’t even do that very often. But I can’t blame my lack of a dating life on a lack of female attention. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that I’m asked out quite a lot. And, just like Sean said, I always turn them down because I want to feel that spark: the one that comes from having such a deep connection with something that the tension is instantaneous.

“That’s not entirely true,” I say after a while. “I just… I know what I want, and I haven’t found it yet. But that’s not the point here. Even if I wanted to date Wynita, do you have any idea how much trouble I would be in if the bosses found out?”

Sean shrugs. “If they find out.”

“Oh, they’ll find out,” I snort, tapping my finger on the desk in front of me. “Gossip spreads through this place faster than the fucking plague. Remember the janitor? I almost had to fire you for hooking up with her.”

“And I thank you for sticking up for me the way you did, but we weren’t exactly keeping it a secret. You could. It would spice up your life.”