Part 7: THE BOSS' SECRETARY
1998
Crealite Offices
"Mr. Logan?...Mr. Logan?" Sean's secretary peeked through his office door and tried unsuccessfully to get his attention. "MR. LOGAN, SIR..."
"Yeah ---Yeah, I'm sorry. What is it Charlotte? " Sean shook himself out of his daydream and scantily directed his attention to his secretary.
"Um, sir, I contacted all of the companies as you asked, and I have finished the additional paperwork you needed me to do. It's getting kind of late and I just wanted to let you know that I'm going home. Everyone else has left for the day so you'll have to lock up." She said as she wondered what had kept her young, handsome boss so tied up all afternoon in his office after the board meeting earlier that day. He seemed to be just sitting there staring out at the city through the large window which expanded the length of the wall.
"You know what Charlotte, wait for me. I'll leave with you and walk you to your car. Can you give me a few minutes?" He asked with his signature smile.
'I'll give you whatever you want, you fine specimen of a man.' Charlotte thought to herself. "Um, sure. I'll just go to the ladies room and meet you at the front desk in a few." She said as she smiled back at him.
Charlotte Braumly had been attracted to Sean Logan since the day he interviewed her six years ago for his personal secretary position. After the interview with Crealite, she had cancelled another interview because she was so taken with Sean Logan. He was the embodiment of tall, dark and handsome with his crystal-blue eyes and dark brown, short, wavy hair and perfectly tanned skin. The tan almost looked natural to her, but Charlotte knew it had to be the results of time well spent in a tanning booth or long hours in the sun. Charlotte was hired a week after her interview. Ever since that first interview, Charlotte had fantasized that one day Sean would ask her out; and she knew that if he did, she would do everything in her power to make him hers.
She always seized every opportunity to subtly flirt with him and now with his offering to walk her to her car, another opportunity was presenting itself and she would take full advantage of it. Charlotte practically ran to the restroom to straighten her makeup, comb her hair and pull her already revealing black skirt up a little higher and open her blouse a little wider. Examining her image in the mirror, she surmised that she was an attractive woman, standing at 5'5", with thick curly auburn hair that hung to the middle of her back and sea green eyes a man could get lost in and a body formed by relentless nights at the gym. She attracted many of the executives at Crealite and had intimate interludes with a few of them, but she was holding out for the prize, Sean Logan, a young, single, handsome and wealthy president of a major firm. As she adjusted her makeup and clothing, she devised a plan for their short walk to the parking lot and made her way back to the reception area.
Several minutes later Sean emerged from the main offices of the company and spotted Charlotte standing with her profile toward him and her long shapely leg hiked up in a chair while bending over to attend to her ankle that rested above her two inch heels.
"Is everything alright?" Sean mused knowing what Charlotte was trying to do. He really was not in the mood for her games tonight, but he couldn't help but chuckle as she left little to the imagination with the height of her skirt and her blouse was open just enough for him to see the fullness of her breasts.
"Oh, this darn shoe. I don't know why I wear these things. They always give me so much trouble." She said rubbing her ankles.
"Maybe, you're wearing your shoes too high Ms. Braumly." He said thinking that it was a bad idea to offer to walk her to her car knowing she would have something up her sleeve.
Sean had become all too aware of her endless schemes to get him in compromising situations, but he had managed to thwart them all. On several occasions he had thought about replacing her because she emitted too much sexual energy in the office among the young interns and the executives alike, but she was good at her job. Sean found her efficient and she made him look good first as a new Executive Vice President and then President who always put out his correspondence in record time and distributed flawless reports along with other written documents. The only problem was her constant coming on to him. She was very beautiful, but just a little too loose for his taste.
"Please call me Charlotte, Mr. Logan and maybe you're right about my heels. Every time I wear them this high, I usually end up going home, taking my clothes off and soaking in a long hot bath just to get my ankles to feel better." Looking directly at Sean she continued, "It would be nice if I had someone at home to rub my ankles for me." She smiled slyly giving him a hint that she had no one at home waiting for her and hoping he was picturing her in that bath tub.
Sean tried to ignore her flirtatious comment and suddenly just wanted to get going. He saw a flash of the words 'sexual harassment' move across his eyes. "We should get going. Are you going to be able to walk or should I call the cleaning lady to help you out? Because I gotta go." He said sternly.
Not wanting to try his patience, Charlotte straightened up quickly, and said she would be ok. She walked in front of him with an exaggerated wiggle of her hips toward the glass doors leading to the elevators.
In the parking lot Charlotte intentionally went at the wrong parking level and pretended that someone had stolen her car.
"OH, NO! WHERE IS IT?" She screamed while walking out of the elevator and eyeing an empty parking spot. "It was parked right here! Oh, that's what I get for leaving the doors unlocked!"
"Why would you leave your doors unlocked in New York City?"
"I don't know. I guess I'm still one of the ones who believes in people and besides I didn't think I had anything to worry about with the security guards scanning the place over. Now what am I going to do?"
"Maybe you should go back into the office and call the police." Sean suggested.
""OH NO!!!" She said quickly "I mean, no I want to wait until I get home. I don't want to have to wait here that long. You know that if it's not a murder or robbery, the police will take their time in getting here. I would prefer if you took me home and I can call them from there."
"Well, I was really looking forward to getting home." He commented trying to think of some way he could get out of this.
"You got somebody waiting for you? Are you and Sheridan going out tonight?" She questioned.
Charlotte knew Sheridan Winthrop to be Sean's steady girlfriend for the past two years. She would come to the office sometimes to take Sean to lunch or meet him for dinner. She was all class and fluff, Charlotte thought. If he ever married her she would be the ideal executive's wife. Her father was the District Attorney in Connecticut and had run for governor several years ago, so it seemed that all Sheridan did was host charity events for him along with her mother. She was always seen gracing the Style section of the newspapers whenever her father had some big event in the city. Charlotte did know that Sheridan Winthrop was no competition. Sean seemed to tolerate her and keep her around because he did not have anyone else to fill his time with, but she intended to change that, soon.
"No, Sheridan and I have no plans tonight, I just have some business to take care of for a board meeting tomorrow, but I guess I can take you home." Sean reluctantly led her back into the elevator and they went to his car.
Charlotte made sure the ride to her house took as long as possible with the directions she recited to him so that they would have more time to talk. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of listening to Charlotte chatter away about nothing, to Sean's relief, they parked in front of her door.
"Here we are!" Sean said happily now that he could let her out and get on about his business.
Charlotte sat there and stared at her brownstone apartment.
"What' wrong? Is everything ok? You did say that this is your place didn't you?" Sean was curious as to why she wasn't motioning to get out of the car.
"Well, yes this is my place, but I know I didn't leave my living room light on this morning. I don't know why it's on. I usually only cut on the porch light." Charlotte turned forward and feigned a frightened look on her face.
"Maybe your family or some friend came by or something."
"No, my family is in Ohio and none of my friends have a key, except..."
"Except what?"
"Well I -- I had this old boyfriend who I broke up with a few months ago because he was too possessive, but after that he started stalking me and showing up everywhere I went. Sometimes he would show up in my apartment, but usually I would come home with a girlfriend and he would get lost..."
"Why, didn't you have the locks changed?"
"I figured he'd go away eventually and stop harassing me, and he did for a while, but lately I have been getting phone calls with no one on the other end. I think it may be him. He also had a key to my car so he may have taken it from the garage. Oh man" She sighed and put her face in her hands.
"Would you like me to go up with you and check things out before I leave?"
"Oh would you please? Thank you so much." She said as she quickly opened the door and stood on the corner until Sean found a nearby parking spot and met her in front of her door.
As they entered Charlotte was cautious and looked around in all directions. "Could you check upstairs in the bedrooms and bathrooms? I'll check down here."
Sean obediently climbed the stairs and hunted for the lights as he entered each room while Charlotte scurried around downstairs removing her shoes and blazer. She knew it would take Sean some time to find all the lights and do a thorough search of the second floor. After enough time had lapsed, she ran up the stairs and found Sean inspecting her closets.
"Did you find anything?"
"No, everything seems ok up here" Sean said turning around and relieved that no danger was pending.
"I guess I left that light on after all, huh?" She said while walking toward him with her hands cupped behind her back.
"Yeah, I guess so." Sean realized he was trapped and needed to get out of her bedroom without running over her, but also thought that running over her may be his only option. "Look, since everything is ok here, I'm gonna go." He tried to walk around her, but she stood in his way.
Sliding her finger down his arm, she spoke to him in a low tone "I appreciate your concern. Would you like a drink? I could tell how stressed you were after the board meeting this afternoon." She flashed her perfect smile at him and stared waiting for a reaction.
Sean felt his heart beat faster at the possibility of spending the evening with her and at that moment, he thought to himself that she was looking pretty good, especially since he hadn't been with a woman for a while. He and Sheridan's relationship had turned platonic within the past eight months when he realized that his feelings were not as deep for her as, she constantly reminded him, hers were for him, and their love making had always been mechanical. Before Sheridan, there had been one woman he met through a dating service and before that, when he was trying to get over Elana, there were several college girls he dated, but nothing ever developed. He always compared them to Elana and eventually he just stopped calling and that was that. He got a reputation in his later college years as the 'Hit 'em & Quit em' man never attaching himself to any one woman. As these thoughts flooded his mind, common sense stepped in and let Sean know that he needed to get out of Charlotte's grip because sleeping with her would complicate matters and he wasn't about to loose his best secretary or get caught up in a law suit over sex.
"Charlotte, I'm glad everything is alright here..." He said as he brushed by her and headed out of the room toward the staircase. "...but, like I told you, I have a lot of work to do when I get home." He made his way down the steps and to the front door. Opening it and stepping out he looked back in and peering at Charlotte at the top of the steps he reminded her "Make sure you call the police about your car and lock up. If you need to take off tomorrow to handle any of this, just call and leave a message on my machine. I'll get someone to fill in for you." He slammed the door and sprinted to his car, got in quickly and headed home.
An hour later, Sean stepped into his penthouse apartment and headed straight for the wet bar. Putting his brief case and other paperwork down on the dining room table and pulling off his suit jacket, he spread it on the back of the bar stool as he searched for the bottle of vodka he kept stocked. Upon finding it, he took a shot glass out of the holster above his head, slammed it on the bar and poured the vodka, spilling some on the counter. He quickly turned the glass up and swallowed it then stood at the bar facing his living room with both hands spread equidistant from his body and resting on the counter. He looked at his large elaborately furnished surroundings and felt an emptiness that he had known all too well for some time now. Straightening himself up, he poured another shot of vodka and walked through his dining room picking up the RFP proposals on his way to the large sunken living room.
He slumped down in his black leather couch with the shot glass in his hand staring at his surroundings. He had done well for himself. Even though his family had money, everything he had was earned from working and investing his salary in high risk stock options, which eventually made him more money than he was earning. He had the best of everything. He was in good health and at 32 he headed a Fortune 1000 company, but sitting there in his spacious condominium, he felt alone and at that moment he realized that there was no love in his life. Even though he and Sheridan had been dating for two years there were no sparks, and he knew he would never really love her. His family and her family had met when he was still in high school and she would come over often with her family for dinner. She constantly called the house and invited him to go places with her, but he always refused instead opting to spend time studying with Elana at the library or tagging along with her to wherever she went. After graduate school, he got another call from Sheridan and agreed to go out with her, but again nothing happened.
Eventually, after constant nudging from his father who never ceased to remind him that he needed to think about settling down, Sean began to consider Sheridan as a viable mate. After all, he admired her persistence and she seemed to be the best candidate for the job because she was smart and bewitchingly beautiful and knew all there was to know about being the daughter of a prominent businessman, which would suit her well as his wife. Sean had settled on marrying her one day and reasoned that he did not need love, all he needed was to carry on the Logan legacy of big business and big money, then pass it on to his son. This was what he had concentrated on for the past nine years after loosing Elana, but now as he sat alone he remembered the love they had for each other and he drifted off again to the day he had argued with his father about her. The day he and Elana realized how much they wanted to be together, but could not because of things they could not control.
1998
Crealite Offices
"Mr. Logan?...Mr. Logan?" Sean's secretary peeked through his office door and tried unsuccessfully to get his attention. "MR. LOGAN, SIR..."
"Yeah ---Yeah, I'm sorry. What is it Charlotte? " Sean shook himself out of his daydream and scantily directed his attention to his secretary.
"Um, sir, I contacted all of the companies as you asked, and I have finished the additional paperwork you needed me to do. It's getting kind of late and I just wanted to let you know that I'm going home. Everyone else has left for the day so you'll have to lock up." She said as she wondered what had kept her young, handsome boss so tied up all afternoon in his office after the board meeting earlier that day. He seemed to be just sitting there staring out at the city through the large window which expanded the length of the wall.
"You know what Charlotte, wait for me. I'll leave with you and walk you to your car. Can you give me a few minutes?" He asked with his signature smile.
'I'll give you whatever you want, you fine specimen of a man.' Charlotte thought to herself. "Um, sure. I'll just go to the ladies room and meet you at the front desk in a few." She said as she smiled back at him.
Charlotte Braumly had been attracted to Sean Logan since the day he interviewed her six years ago for his personal secretary position. After the interview with Crealite, she had cancelled another interview because she was so taken with Sean Logan. He was the embodiment of tall, dark and handsome with his crystal-blue eyes and dark brown, short, wavy hair and perfectly tanned skin. The tan almost looked natural to her, but Charlotte knew it had to be the results of time well spent in a tanning booth or long hours in the sun. Charlotte was hired a week after her interview. Ever since that first interview, Charlotte had fantasized that one day Sean would ask her out; and she knew that if he did, she would do everything in her power to make him hers.
She always seized every opportunity to subtly flirt with him and now with his offering to walk her to her car, another opportunity was presenting itself and she would take full advantage of it. Charlotte practically ran to the restroom to straighten her makeup, comb her hair and pull her already revealing black skirt up a little higher and open her blouse a little wider. Examining her image in the mirror, she surmised that she was an attractive woman, standing at 5'5", with thick curly auburn hair that hung to the middle of her back and sea green eyes a man could get lost in and a body formed by relentless nights at the gym. She attracted many of the executives at Crealite and had intimate interludes with a few of them, but she was holding out for the prize, Sean Logan, a young, single, handsome and wealthy president of a major firm. As she adjusted her makeup and clothing, she devised a plan for their short walk to the parking lot and made her way back to the reception area.
Several minutes later Sean emerged from the main offices of the company and spotted Charlotte standing with her profile toward him and her long shapely leg hiked up in a chair while bending over to attend to her ankle that rested above her two inch heels.
"Is everything alright?" Sean mused knowing what Charlotte was trying to do. He really was not in the mood for her games tonight, but he couldn't help but chuckle as she left little to the imagination with the height of her skirt and her blouse was open just enough for him to see the fullness of her breasts.
"Oh, this darn shoe. I don't know why I wear these things. They always give me so much trouble." She said rubbing her ankles.
"Maybe, you're wearing your shoes too high Ms. Braumly." He said thinking that it was a bad idea to offer to walk her to her car knowing she would have something up her sleeve.
Sean had become all too aware of her endless schemes to get him in compromising situations, but he had managed to thwart them all. On several occasions he had thought about replacing her because she emitted too much sexual energy in the office among the young interns and the executives alike, but she was good at her job. Sean found her efficient and she made him look good first as a new Executive Vice President and then President who always put out his correspondence in record time and distributed flawless reports along with other written documents. The only problem was her constant coming on to him. She was very beautiful, but just a little too loose for his taste.
"Please call me Charlotte, Mr. Logan and maybe you're right about my heels. Every time I wear them this high, I usually end up going home, taking my clothes off and soaking in a long hot bath just to get my ankles to feel better." Looking directly at Sean she continued, "It would be nice if I had someone at home to rub my ankles for me." She smiled slyly giving him a hint that she had no one at home waiting for her and hoping he was picturing her in that bath tub.
Sean tried to ignore her flirtatious comment and suddenly just wanted to get going. He saw a flash of the words 'sexual harassment' move across his eyes. "We should get going. Are you going to be able to walk or should I call the cleaning lady to help you out? Because I gotta go." He said sternly.
Not wanting to try his patience, Charlotte straightened up quickly, and said she would be ok. She walked in front of him with an exaggerated wiggle of her hips toward the glass doors leading to the elevators.
In the parking lot Charlotte intentionally went at the wrong parking level and pretended that someone had stolen her car.
"OH, NO! WHERE IS IT?" She screamed while walking out of the elevator and eyeing an empty parking spot. "It was parked right here! Oh, that's what I get for leaving the doors unlocked!"
"Why would you leave your doors unlocked in New York City?"
"I don't know. I guess I'm still one of the ones who believes in people and besides I didn't think I had anything to worry about with the security guards scanning the place over. Now what am I going to do?"
"Maybe you should go back into the office and call the police." Sean suggested.
""OH NO!!!" She said quickly "I mean, no I want to wait until I get home. I don't want to have to wait here that long. You know that if it's not a murder or robbery, the police will take their time in getting here. I would prefer if you took me home and I can call them from there."
"Well, I was really looking forward to getting home." He commented trying to think of some way he could get out of this.
"You got somebody waiting for you? Are you and Sheridan going out tonight?" She questioned.
Charlotte knew Sheridan Winthrop to be Sean's steady girlfriend for the past two years. She would come to the office sometimes to take Sean to lunch or meet him for dinner. She was all class and fluff, Charlotte thought. If he ever married her she would be the ideal executive's wife. Her father was the District Attorney in Connecticut and had run for governor several years ago, so it seemed that all Sheridan did was host charity events for him along with her mother. She was always seen gracing the Style section of the newspapers whenever her father had some big event in the city. Charlotte did know that Sheridan Winthrop was no competition. Sean seemed to tolerate her and keep her around because he did not have anyone else to fill his time with, but she intended to change that, soon.
"No, Sheridan and I have no plans tonight, I just have some business to take care of for a board meeting tomorrow, but I guess I can take you home." Sean reluctantly led her back into the elevator and they went to his car.
Charlotte made sure the ride to her house took as long as possible with the directions she recited to him so that they would have more time to talk. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of listening to Charlotte chatter away about nothing, to Sean's relief, they parked in front of her door.
"Here we are!" Sean said happily now that he could let her out and get on about his business.
Charlotte sat there and stared at her brownstone apartment.
"What' wrong? Is everything ok? You did say that this is your place didn't you?" Sean was curious as to why she wasn't motioning to get out of the car.
"Well, yes this is my place, but I know I didn't leave my living room light on this morning. I don't know why it's on. I usually only cut on the porch light." Charlotte turned forward and feigned a frightened look on her face.
"Maybe your family or some friend came by or something."
"No, my family is in Ohio and none of my friends have a key, except..."
"Except what?"
"Well I -- I had this old boyfriend who I broke up with a few months ago because he was too possessive, but after that he started stalking me and showing up everywhere I went. Sometimes he would show up in my apartment, but usually I would come home with a girlfriend and he would get lost..."
"Why, didn't you have the locks changed?"
"I figured he'd go away eventually and stop harassing me, and he did for a while, but lately I have been getting phone calls with no one on the other end. I think it may be him. He also had a key to my car so he may have taken it from the garage. Oh man" She sighed and put her face in her hands.
"Would you like me to go up with you and check things out before I leave?"
"Oh would you please? Thank you so much." She said as she quickly opened the door and stood on the corner until Sean found a nearby parking spot and met her in front of her door.
As they entered Charlotte was cautious and looked around in all directions. "Could you check upstairs in the bedrooms and bathrooms? I'll check down here."
Sean obediently climbed the stairs and hunted for the lights as he entered each room while Charlotte scurried around downstairs removing her shoes and blazer. She knew it would take Sean some time to find all the lights and do a thorough search of the second floor. After enough time had lapsed, she ran up the stairs and found Sean inspecting her closets.
"Did you find anything?"
"No, everything seems ok up here" Sean said turning around and relieved that no danger was pending.
"I guess I left that light on after all, huh?" She said while walking toward him with her hands cupped behind her back.
"Yeah, I guess so." Sean realized he was trapped and needed to get out of her bedroom without running over her, but also thought that running over her may be his only option. "Look, since everything is ok here, I'm gonna go." He tried to walk around her, but she stood in his way.
Sliding her finger down his arm, she spoke to him in a low tone "I appreciate your concern. Would you like a drink? I could tell how stressed you were after the board meeting this afternoon." She flashed her perfect smile at him and stared waiting for a reaction.
Sean felt his heart beat faster at the possibility of spending the evening with her and at that moment, he thought to himself that she was looking pretty good, especially since he hadn't been with a woman for a while. He and Sheridan's relationship had turned platonic within the past eight months when he realized that his feelings were not as deep for her as, she constantly reminded him, hers were for him, and their love making had always been mechanical. Before Sheridan, there had been one woman he met through a dating service and before that, when he was trying to get over Elana, there were several college girls he dated, but nothing ever developed. He always compared them to Elana and eventually he just stopped calling and that was that. He got a reputation in his later college years as the 'Hit 'em & Quit em' man never attaching himself to any one woman. As these thoughts flooded his mind, common sense stepped in and let Sean know that he needed to get out of Charlotte's grip because sleeping with her would complicate matters and he wasn't about to loose his best secretary or get caught up in a law suit over sex.
"Charlotte, I'm glad everything is alright here..." He said as he brushed by her and headed out of the room toward the staircase. "...but, like I told you, I have a lot of work to do when I get home." He made his way down the steps and to the front door. Opening it and stepping out he looked back in and peering at Charlotte at the top of the steps he reminded her "Make sure you call the police about your car and lock up. If you need to take off tomorrow to handle any of this, just call and leave a message on my machine. I'll get someone to fill in for you." He slammed the door and sprinted to his car, got in quickly and headed home.
An hour later, Sean stepped into his penthouse apartment and headed straight for the wet bar. Putting his brief case and other paperwork down on the dining room table and pulling off his suit jacket, he spread it on the back of the bar stool as he searched for the bottle of vodka he kept stocked. Upon finding it, he took a shot glass out of the holster above his head, slammed it on the bar and poured the vodka, spilling some on the counter. He quickly turned the glass up and swallowed it then stood at the bar facing his living room with both hands spread equidistant from his body and resting on the counter. He looked at his large elaborately furnished surroundings and felt an emptiness that he had known all too well for some time now. Straightening himself up, he poured another shot of vodka and walked through his dining room picking up the RFP proposals on his way to the large sunken living room.
He slumped down in his black leather couch with the shot glass in his hand staring at his surroundings. He had done well for himself. Even though his family had money, everything he had was earned from working and investing his salary in high risk stock options, which eventually made him more money than he was earning. He had the best of everything. He was in good health and at 32 he headed a Fortune 1000 company, but sitting there in his spacious condominium, he felt alone and at that moment he realized that there was no love in his life. Even though he and Sheridan had been dating for two years there were no sparks, and he knew he would never really love her. His family and her family had met when he was still in high school and she would come over often with her family for dinner. She constantly called the house and invited him to go places with her, but he always refused instead opting to spend time studying with Elana at the library or tagging along with her to wherever she went. After graduate school, he got another call from Sheridan and agreed to go out with her, but again nothing happened.
Eventually, after constant nudging from his father who never ceased to remind him that he needed to think about settling down, Sean began to consider Sheridan as a viable mate. After all, he admired her persistence and she seemed to be the best candidate for the job because she was smart and bewitchingly beautiful and knew all there was to know about being the daughter of a prominent businessman, which would suit her well as his wife. Sean had settled on marrying her one day and reasoned that he did not need love, all he needed was to carry on the Logan legacy of big business and big money, then pass it on to his son. This was what he had concentrated on for the past nine years after loosing Elana, but now as he sat alone he remembered the love they had for each other and he drifted off again to the day he had argued with his father about her. The day he and Elana realized how much they wanted to be together, but could not because of things they could not control.