Lonely Hearts by Posy Roberts

Author:Posy Roberts [Roberts, Posy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boho Press

Momo

“Are you kidding?” Gary Nermer said. “Last year at this get-together, Smith bought lap dances for everyone. That was a great night! Hell, it was fun.”

The room burst into laughter, no one willing to call the boss out on the salacious story in a work setting, myself included.

I was the last person who wanted to rock the boat. The man hated me.

“Oh, and Stacy, she played along beautifully when this buxom redhead sat in her lap.” Nermer made a lewd gesture, hands cupped around imaginary breasts he pretended to push together and jiggle. “Right?”

Stacy Lewis set down her sake and pushed her chestnut curls over a shoulder. “That I did, Nermer,” she chewed as if his name tasted like shit in her mouth. “The woman deserved to make a decent living, and she was highly skilled at her job, from what I witnessed.”

Nermer drew in a quick breath and gave her a devious smile. “Are you telling us something?” He was tightrope-walking a line of questioning that could easily get him into legal trouble.

Stacy leaned forward. “I hope the cash I gave her helped put food on the table so her kids didn’t go hungry.”

Nermer’s jaw dropped. He was speechless, which was unusual yet wonderful.

Leave it to Stacy to shine a spotlight on the reality many lived. Her painted lips parted to reveal her perfect smile, and her eyes sparkled in a way Nermer completely missed.

Gotcha, you entitled prick.

All employees from Fred Ros had spent the week packed like sardines in meetings, and now the administrative staff was celebrating the successful week at a Japanese restaurant and teahouse. It had been a few years since the company had the annual meeting at home.

I was thankful for not having to travel far, even if I was forced to put up with the juvenile antics of my boss for longer because I couldn’t easily excuse myself and head up to my hotel room, as I’d done in recent years.

Anyway,” Nermer continued, much to my chagrin, “when they got to Harris, you should’ve seen him.” His attempt at mimicking me was horrid, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and doing his best to project nerd. He failed.

A few disapproving expressions flashed around the table. The sake had loosened Nermer’s tongue enough so his sexist side came out to play, so why not another side? Colleagues glanced from Nermer to me, clearly worried a racist joke would come next. Still, no one stopped him.

“Do you starch your face in the morning when you starch your collars, William?”

Ha. Ha.

Everyone laughed, but for many, it was in relief that he hadn’t crossed that line.

“I bet you’ve never loosened up around a woman in your life, have you?”

I didn’t bother responding.

“Are those dreadlocks of yours wound so tight you can’t appreciate a beautiful, half-naked woman even when she sits in your lap?”

“I appreciate beauty,” I said, wanting the focus off me. Couldn’t he just let it go?

Yes, I’d been uncomfortable with the lap dance and had gone out of my way to maintain my usual stoicism.

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