The Office Affair
Chapter Twelve
A/N: I was so excited to get to this chapter! It needed a whole heap of rewriting and structuring but I enjoyed re-reading it, mainly because this is where things started to get a little out of control. I love drama :) Please enjoy.
The appalling heat in the underground car park was the final straw as Tenten searched in every comer of her bag for the keys to her car. She looked and looked, even emptied the contents of the bag out onto the bonnet of the car—but the keys simply weren't there. It had been an exhausting last couple of days and she would have preferred nothing more than to go to the gym and swim off the week's stress. What with the latest development of the alleged baby drama and her fair share of office scandal, she needed the few bullshit-free hours to find herself.
But no, instead her boss had her sitting in for him at a lunch appointment with the queen bitch herself and an obstetrician he had put in charge of guiding the witch through her pregnancy. Tenten swore he was called the meeting with his investors solely to avoid the confrontation. If he didn't want to endure the torture of Ino's company for a couple hours she failed to see how he thought she would.
And if her memory served her right it was he, Uchiha Sasuke who had so rudely pointed out the word personal in her title did not give her entitlement to interfere with his private life. So why the hell had she agreed to the preposterous proposal he made to have her sit through the same meeting that he bailed on with his very pregnant and soon to be very pissed girlfriend?
Oh yeah, that's right, he had promised her a bonus.
Riveting in that knowledge she began stuffing things back into her handbag and decided that she would walk to the restaurant. She'd get her car later; after all it was probably safer where it was now than when it was parked at home.
Gritting her teeth she bristled, it was all stupid Sasuke's fault, suggesting that she stopped by the office to pick up the doctor's cheque before she went to lunch with Ino. She probably left her car keys in his damned office and she wasn't about to climb twenty-three flights of stairs because the elevators went out of service on the weekends.
Apologizing to her six and a half inch heel stiletto adorned feet for the journey ahead, she set off downtown, the Konohan sun hot in her back.
By the time she got to the restaurant, her pulse pounded beneath skin which felt so hot from outside's heat that it hurt to move. Her head felt loose upon her neck. A trickle of perspiration made a slow, hot trail down her spine. She felt like collapsing.
She looked around dumbly for a moment, her mind disengaging from everything, the ambient sounds of the restaurant mute to her senses, the soft murmur of voices, the whisper of footstep on expensive carpet and the chime of cutlery dinner plates.
Then she saw Ino sitting at a table to the far end of the restaurant and everything came back in focus, the couples dinning, lovers holding hands and men having business lunch. Cautiously she made her way over to where the blonde sat, feeling very self-conscious as she approached and studied Ino's silk linen outfit. It was a softly styled cream skirt teamed with a toning strappy top under a wrap cardigan. She completed the look with a pair of designer sunglasses and a fashionably large leather bag. Her blonde hair was haloed around her head in haphazard wisps, her red lips puckered in a pout.
The woman could dress, she'd give her that, she thought smoothing out her skirt.
"Good afternoon Miss Yamanaka," Tenten said stretching her arm out casually upon arriving at the table.
Ino looked her up and down, never once regarding the woman's outstretched arm. "It was a good evening," she said looking behind Tenten, "Until you showed up."
This bitch!
Straightening the bag on her shoulders, she tried to keep her voice polite, "How unfortunate, I'm sorry but it looks as if I'll be ruining the rest of your afternoon because I'll be sitting for Sasuke."
Ino looked as if the wind had been knocked out of her, "What?"
"He had an urgent meeting to attend and send his most sincere apologies," Tenten doubt Ino bought that, because Tenten herself thought she sounded like a worn out recording.
"This is just great," with a silent intake of breath, as if to make her anger recede, she took up the leather-bound menu and scanned through it. "Send a woman to do a man's work, why am I not surprised," she muttered.
"I don't like this anymore than you do, but I'm just doing my job," Tenten offered.
"And what exactly is that?" Ino asked tartly, setting the menu aside to reach idly for the little card that sat within the centrepiece of the table, flanked by pepper and salt and a tastefully arranged spray of flowers. "Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?"
"I suppose," Tenten answered willing herself not turn on her heels and leave.
A waiter materialized beside the table, ready to take orders.
"Sit down," Ino instructed reluctantly, surprising Tenten when she ordered for both of them. "You haven't lived until you tried the Soba and Smoked Salmon Salad," she said rather monotonously.
"What's Korokke?" Tenten asked having recalled hearing Ino required two servings of it.
She laughed a bit correcting Tenten's pronunciation of the word. "It's a part of the appetizer, Korokke consists of a filling that is breaded and deep fried and is eaten with Worcestershire Tonkatsu sauce and shredded cabbage. They come in many varieties but I ordered the one with a mix of minced meat and mashed potatoes filling."
Tenten glanced through the menu, "It's a rather expensive combination for a mere appetizer," she noted.
Ino snorted. "Sasuke's footing the bill," she responded as if to make it seem like no big deal. "We'll have the Teriyaki Glazed Hamachi served with rice and a side of pickles."
"And what about beverages?" the waiter asked running his pen across his notepad.
"Lemonade would be fine," Ino said looking at Tenten to see if there was any objection.
There wasn't any.
"Would you like to go ahead and order dessert as well?"
Ino tossed through the pages with a skeptic look on her face, "I think we'll go with something a little less traditional. What do you think?" she asked her guest, whom she apparently forgot that she loathed.
Tenten nodded dumbly. A three course lunch was unheard of in her world.
"Black forest cake it is then," Ino finalized shutting the menu and passing it back to the waiter with Tenten following suit.
"Do you mind if I run your order over by you ma'am?" the waiter asked shifting his weight to one leg. After revising the order the waiter left returning with their Soba and Smoked Salmon Salads and a frowned. "According to our list, reservations were made for three, am I to assume that the third party will be joining you soon?" he asked pouring them glasses of mineral water.
As if on cue a tall busty blonde lady who looked to be around mid thirties came by their table, inquiring as to whether they were seated at the right table. "I'm afraid that you're at the wrong table."
"Well I don't see your name on it," Ino pounced.
Tenten recognizing the lady immediately from Sasuke's description of her stood up extending her hand, the lady took it. "You must be Lady Tsunade, we have been anxiously awaiting your arrival," Tenten said dropping another rehearsed line.
"Yes we have," Ino said jamming her fork ill-temperedly into her salad.
Sending a disapproving glare in Ino's direction Tenten indicated the unoccupied seat to Tsunade, "Please join us," she said sitting back down.
"I take it Sasuke will be joining us shortly?" the older woman asked casually taking up her menu and skimming through it.
"Actually he's out on business," Ino said as though she didn't want to be reminded of his absence.
Tenten took a sip of her water, growing anxious for some unapparent reason. Chilled water had never tasted so good.
"When he said that he got himself into a bit of situation, I didn't think that he meant double trouble," Tsunade commented looking over the top of her menu at both girls.
Tenten flushed, "It's nothing like that at all, only one of us is pregnant."
Tsunade scratched her throat, "So how far along are you?"
She almost swallowed her fork, "I'm no-not pre-pregnant, she is," she stuttered, pointing at Ino.
Tsunade's brows drew together in puzzlement, "If you're not pregnant then what are you?"
Ino felt emotion surge inside her again—convulsing, turbid. Filled with annoyance. She tried to find use for her hand by smoothing out the napkin that rested in her lap, anything to stop her from reaching for the neck of the brunette who had worked her way up unto her number one enemy list.
"I'm Sasuke's sit-in," Tenten responded unsure of a better way to put it.
Shoving her plate aside, Ino tossed her napkin aside, "She's here to pry."
Confused but not surprised by Ino's sudden change of mood towards her, Tenten hissed, "I'm merely doing my job. Sasuke is my boss if he asks me to sit in for him then I'm obligated to do so."
"When you lie on your back for him, is that an obligation too?" she said beneath her breath.
Tenten shot her a look of disgust, barely able to savour the delicate flavour of her smoked salmon. "What did you say?"
Ino shrugged her shoulders and turned up her nose, "You really wouldn't like it if I repeated it in front of our guest, so stop asking."
The tension was biting at Tenten, fraying her calm, her strength.
Tsunade eyed both girl curiously, "Is something the matter?"
"That's putting it lightly," Tenten responded, thinking that she wasn't paid nearly as much as she deserved for having to put up with all the bullshit that came along with Sasuke.
And by bullshit she meant Yamanaka Ino, who, in the hour spent in her presence cost Tenten her appetite and the respect of yet another associate.
OoOoOoOo
Tenten stood at the window of Sasuke's office, moonlight washed over her. A cold, damp breeze blew in through the open panes. Hugging her arms for warmth, she filled her lungs with the sharp night air. After the less than appetizing lunch with Ino she had returned to the office in search of her keys but they had been nowhere in sight. Giving into her exhaustion, she had fallen asleep in the black leather couch stylishly position in the corner of the room.
Tenten stole a scowling, frustrated glance at the clock and raked her fingers through her hair.
9:45 p.m.
She wouldn't dare attempt to walk home at this hour, especially in those shoes! And she hadn't money for a cab either because she didn't normally walk with cash. She gave a cry of utter annoyance when she flipped out her cell phone to call Hinata and realized that it was dead. Her frustration peaked when she tried calling her home phone on Sasuke's office line and all it did was ring until it went to voicemail.
Deciding that she wasn't going to be left stranded at work, she retrieved her hand bag and gathered her shoes in her hands. Someone had to be around that could help her out of her plight, she thought, deciding to check the lobby. And well if there was no one around, there certainly had to be security guard on duty.
Someone was however around, she collided with him mere seconds after her attempt to exit the office, scattering the contents of her handbag and dropping her shoes in the process. Her eyes widened at the sight of Sasuke's eyebrows raised in an amused question.
"What are you doing here so late?" she asked the figure standing in front of her, a towering presence that sucked the breath out of her. Surprise filtered across her face when she noticed him.
"I own the place," his gaze shuttered as he studying her, standing in front of him like a rabbit caught in the headlights, her blouse buttoned tight across her body and her bust spilled beyond its confines, revealing a generous amount of her feminine assets. He quickly refocused on her face, now tinged pink with embarrassment, although she seemed unaware of her disheveled state. "What are you doing here?"
"I can't find my key; I haven't been able to find them since lunch time. And if you must know lunch went fine, and by fine I mean it was a complete disaster," she could feel herself rambling and made an effort to stop, to act normally. As if she suddenly remembered her situation she asked without giving much thought to the notion it would evoke, "Can you take me home?"
She instantly realized the error in her phrasing because he chuckled, "Be careful what you wish for."
"Don't make me gag," she rolled her eyes stooping to collect her things. "I work my butt off for you the least you could do is spare me a little respect."
"Hn."
"Look," she said stuffing a bottle of sleeping pills in her bag. "I need to get home, I'm exhausted and hungry and I'd really appreciate a lift, one that doesn't entail me being manhandled," she said in a choked whisper.
She could almost feel the smirk that formed on his lips, but he offered no retort.
"You owe me after all, so I want a ride home. One that is free of your hands attempting to go up my skirt," she shrugged her shoulders. "You're awfully quiet," she noted while stretching to retrieve her shoes.
His reply came as candid as it could have, "That's because I'm staring at your fanny."
Tenten stumbled to her feet almost instantly, "You sick—" she hissed, her voice cracking like a whip in the still air.
"Would you have preferred if I lied?"
She surprised herself by flushing, "Well I would have preferred you kept that to yourself." Her eyes grew serious. "I fear for your child, there will be no proper role model in its life for it to emulate."
His brows knitted in a frown, just a tiny bit thrown by her lack of suitably tactful response. "Well that's no concern of yours now is it?" he bit back.
Tenten blinked.
"How is she?" he asked turning his face away from her gaze.
She closed her eyes briefly, feeling something warm creep into her chest, "She's Ino," a smile curved her lips, when he looked at her she added, "She's fine."
"Good," he said dismissing the topic as if it were a suggestion put forward by some incompetent member of the board. "I'll wire your bonus to your account."
Tenten was appalled, "I don't appreciate the way you're handling this as if it were any trivial matter."
"Hn?"
"I know it isn't my place to say but—"
"—that's right, it isn't your place," he said cutting her off.
Tenten compressed her lips and stared down at her bare feet.
There was a moment of stifling silence until Sasuke broke it with an initial sigh and then following up with, "I came to recover the new product design plan file folder so I'll be ready in a minute."
She scoffed, "No thank you, I'll walk," she adjusted the handbag on her arm.
"Suit yourself," he pushed pass her into his office. Then he turned around almost helplessly, "Don't be ridiculous!"
"When are you going to realize that this is neither about you nor Ino?" she gave out.
He muttered a curse beneath his breath, "When are you going to realize that this hasn't got anything to do with you," he countered.
"That's where you are wrong, because whether or not you care to acknowledge it, your personal life filters out into your business life."
"I thought you'd be half way home by now," he snarled slapping down a folder on his desk. "Who do you think you are trying to lecture me on things which you have no prior experience in or with."
Her brown eyes lit up fiercely, "This child isn't going to go away—"
"—if there is a child," he pointed out.
She threw up her hands in exasperation, "What do you mean if there is a child? To question its paternity is understandable but to question its existence is plain…" she shook her head in dismay, "…fucked up, especially since you made it your appointed duty to find her the best obstetrician in town."
"It's called bait."
She slanted him a sort of what-the-fuck look, "You really are two of a kind."
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Yeah, a match made in hell."
She shook her head and grinned, "Which is precisely why you complement each other so well."
"Must you take everything for a joke?" he suddenly snapped.
Tenten flinched, "That's my line."
"Ino has had a long chain of lovers; any man could have fathered her child," the fact that Sasuke made air quotes when he said the word child did not go unnoticed by Tenten who resorted to rolling her eyes instead of retorting with a verbal comment.
"The fact that you think so little of Ino and still mess around with her is a little baffling. But don't be stupid Sasuke; if Ino really was trying to trap you in a marriage, getting pregnant by some random hook-up would not have helped her cause very much."
He shot her a look of complete fascination, "You're handy to keep around."
Tenten turned her face away and flushed having read too much into the comment.
Sasuke chuckled, "Don't flatter yourself, I meant that your knack for seeing things from a twisted feminist perspective sheds light on this situation with Ino."
"Should I take it as a compliment or feel insulted?" She swung back round only to find Sasuke had come around the desk so quickly and silently she hadn't heard him move. Now he was leaning against it with his arms folded across his chest, the folder discarded on the desk behind him.
Surprise brought a soft gasp whispering from her throat. And a new kind of tension flared in the pit of her stomach at the way he was studying her. "Whatever floats your boat," he told her dismissively.
"Are you going to drop me home? I'm starving?" Tenten looked away from him then back again unsure why she suddenly felt so giddy.
"We should probably grab a bite before I take you home."
"Its fine," she suggested a little too quickly. "I mean, I already have dinner plans," she swallowed. Liar.
Sasuke gave his wristwatch a curious glance and arched a brow, "At this hour?" Then he saw a flash of something silver at one of the foot of his desk. "Aren't those the keys to your sloppy jalopy?"
Sparing him the rude remark that formed on her tongue she rushed to retrieve her keys. But in all her excitement she bumped her head against the edge of the desk.
"Shit!"
"As long as it's in your pants and not on my floors…" Sasuke laughed.
"You're an ass, has anyone ever told you that before?"
"Yup, all the women I've slept with," he answered, helping her to her feet. "So now you've jinxed your fate."
"What are you implying?" the answer to that was all too clear.
He smirked at her.
"Your bed would be the most unfortunate place on this earth to fall in; I'd rather fall off a cliff. At least then I would—"
"—I'm not fixated on beds Tenten, the way I'm feeling right now, anywhere would do," he savored softly, heightening her colour with his intimate tone.
"Let go of me," she blushed.
"Hold still let me have a look at that bruise," he instructed sternly.
A tiny shudder went through Tenten when he cupped her face in his hand, his threat resonating in her head.
"Now it'll look like I got into a fight," she joked, tried to take her mind off the fact that she could feel his body heat meshing with hers.
"Or just fell and hit your head," he reasoned removing his hand from her face.
Their gazed locked and something flared between them, something indefinable chemistry that caused her heart to thud painfully beneath her ribcage.
"I should go now," she stuttered, faltering beneath his stare.
Sasuke hadn't even realized that he was holding on to her wrist, but when he did his free arm swept around her and suddenly his mouth covers hers in a hard kiss. The shock of it had Tenten whimpering and slamming her hands against his chest, but he only pulled her closer against him until she could feel the full length of his body pressing against hers. And then just as suddenly as the kiss begun, it ended.
"Yes, you should," he said grasping her shoulders and thrusting her from him.
She stared at him, quite unsure of how to react, not that she got the chance as her heart was sent racing again when his mouth helplessly came down on her once more, claiming her mouth in a hot, hungry kiss that demolished any thoughts she might have had of resisting him.
His lips parted hers with bold assurance, and his tongue slid firmly between them to explore her with an eroticism that left her trembling. From the moment he touched her Tenten was lost to his skilled mastery.
The heat of the anger that this sort of behaviour usually sparked in her was nothing compared to the meltdown she was undergoing in the pit of her stomach. She could not fight the feelings he aroused in her that made her breasts ache for his touch and caused molten heat to pool between her thighs. As if they had a mind of their own her lips parted even more this time and her eyes closed. Behind her closed lids, reality was being transformed by sensation, the man holding her was big, strong and utterly male, and if he knew nothing else in this fucked up world, he knew how to kiss.
Sasuke's arms relented and instead of slapping his face when her hands were freed, Tenten lifted them to his neck and ran her hands through the mass of rippling charcoal silk. This he took as an invitation to unbutton her blouse and when he received no objection he proceeded to undoing the others until her top was nearly falling off her shoulders.
Suddenly, his lips were pressing feather-light kisses down her throat to the curve of her breasts. She could feel his hot breath across her breast as her nipples hardened into tight peaks within her bra. His tongue darted out; leaving a trail of moisture that caused a spasm to rocket throughout her being.
Her groan was swallowed by his insistent mouth, his searching tongue which claimed her lips once more.
His curious hands began to roam, seemingly greedy, cupping her bottom one moment. She felt them suddenly rest upon hard wood. She vaguely registered the sound of her car keys falling to the floor once more.
Rationality tried to lift her mouth from his to speak but Sasuke caught her bottom lip between his teeth and kissed away every ounce of willpower she had left. Then he nudged her thighs apart and stood between them doing wonderful things with his hands on her back.
In the hushed office the only sounds that could be heard were that of their harsh breathing, the friction of clothing on clothing, and soft, wordless vocalizations of pleasure.
Tenten struggled, panting, consumed by fire as his tongue thrust into her mouth as she was crushed against the broad, unyielding chest. A moment of aggressive hunger seized her and she pressed into him, her mouth accepting the dominance of his tongue, her belly melting against him. The force of her tug on him had his hands retreating from beneath her skirt to clasp the desk to prevent him from falling atop her on the desk.
But she couldn't bear there to be any barriers between them. She wanted his hands on her body. She wanted his full possession of her, for him to explore and caress her body. Those feelings were like a form of madness in her blood that she couldn't withstand. They filled her head with images of them together and turned her body into an aching mass of yearning nerve-endings and willing flesh, created only for this man and this moment. Inside her head she could already see his hands covering their nakedness, feel the fierce tug of his mouth against her.
She shuddered violently in reaction to her own thoughts. A sharp spike of shock pierced through her, only to be overwhelmed by a fresh wave of aching longing as Sasuke pressed her even more closely to him. She could feel the damp softness between her legs, and the quick fierce pulse that went with it. She didn't understand why she so desperately wanted for him to touch her there, to caress her there. A small moan bubbled in her throat, followed by a shuddering gasp in acknowledgement of his accuracy in reading her mind when his hand found its way over her thigh and beneath her skirt.
It wasn't until she felt his fingers probing the edge of her thin silky knickers that she understood where this was really going. She should have known immediately, she realized, but then she'd never been swept like this before. Yet how could she have allowed this to get this far? What was she thinking? She wasn't thinking at all.
With a jerk of shock Tenten flicked her eyes open, slapped Sasuke's hand away and pulled back her head. Dismay instantly curled its way through her body accompanied by a wave of mortified embarrassment that flooded her like a fire into her face when she realized what she had done.
How could she have allowed him to get so close to accomplishing what he had initially set out to do? That was to destroy her innocence and claim it as his own. She was absolutely appalled at the thought that for a moment she had wanted him to defile her body in the most shameful and dirty act ever. Certainly she had never felt the curiosity about sex that had consumed the other girls at school, and as an adult she had been relieved to realize that she had scant interest in men.
But all that had changed when she had walked into the office and came face to face with the most breathtakingly handsome male she had ever laid eyes upon. Sasuke only had to touch her, kiss her and she would obediently roll over and beg him to take her like a common slut.
It was unacceptable.
"Stop it! Stop touching me!" she hissed at him, scarlet cheeked.
Sasuke fixed her a look, "We're passed that stage already."
"Fuck you!" Tenten erupted, scrambling to her feet.
"In due time, you will," he smirked at her, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
A/N: LOL, Sasuke is way too forward sometimes. I hope the quality was a step up from that of its previous. I will rewrite the next couple of chapters when I can. Hey it never hurts to get reviews A few would be nice.
