The Working Man

It had been a week since his hiring and they'd been right. The PR boost had been amazing. Tyr turned out to be a good worker, into work on time and never cutting out early. His popularity also opened doors to PR releases that they otherwise would not have gotten. It was a win-win for the company. Sandra was frustrated though. Her plan had been a simple one; hire him and seduce him away from her boss. But the man just wasn't cooperating. He somehow managed to keep someone around so she couldn't see him alone and when he was around all conversations gravitated towards his old wife. What was so interesting about the virginal bitch anyway? She was as vanilla as they came despite her dark skin and creepily unemotional most of the time. Sandra wasn't an idiot, she knew that Tyr was sincere in his pursuit of the icicle. She just thought he might want a little… fun on the side. Oh well, she'd just have to double her efforts. She'd already made it clear to the man that she was the reason he had a job in the first place despite his scant experience and shoddy references. Eventually, he would have to express his gratitude.

"Hey, boss."

"Yeah, Tyr."

"I'm heading off for lunch."

"Oh, well I was just about to go on break myself. We can get lunch together."

"Actually, I was headed upstairs to talk to Mrs. Grady. It's about time I started plugging in some time with my lady."

"Oh, well… That's great."

"Something wrong?"

"It's just that… you barely seem interested in your team down here. You're always going to see the head honcho and such. Some of us are starting to feel pretty lonely…"

"I'll be back in an hour," he said, walking away. Sandra growled in frustration, pushing her skirt back down. Wasn't he supposed to be some big-time player? How was he not picking up on her signals? She grabbed her purse and headed for the cafeteria. She'd have him in her bed eventually.

… …

Meanwhile, Tyr was making his own plans. He was fully aware of Sandra's plans for him, he simply had no interest in them. He'd give it another few weeks, if she didn't lay off by then, he'd file a sexual harassment suit against her. That would cool her jets.

"Mrs. G. How are you?" he said

"She's filing paperwork right now. You might not want to disturb her," the woman responded, not looking up from her work.

"Actually, I came to speak to you. I wanted to plug a lunch date into her schedule."

"I was wondering when this was going to start," she smiled. "What did you have in mind?" The two talked about dates and times, deciding on Thursday early afternoon when the lady herself walked out of her office. She had circles under her eyes, she obviously wasn't sleeping well.

"Good afternoon," he said in Italian.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Anasazi," she yawned, oblivious to his efforts to be noticed. "Was there something you needed?"

"You," he said, walking over to get her attention. "You're not sleeping well."

"I sleep well enough," she responded, covering another yawn. "What concern of yours is it how I sleep?"

"Everything about you is a concern of mine, little love." The two stared at each other, Wanda looking as embarrassed as ever.

"What are you doing here, Mr.-"

"Tyr," he said. "My name is Tyr, Wanda. And I came to see you. Esperanza said you might be missing this," he said, pulling out one of her jugs of Soylent. "She said you haven't been 'eating' right for the last few days."

"I just… Forgot it. That's all. It won't happen again."

"That's right. Because you're going to store this one in your office from now on," he said, pulling out an extra jug from his other pocket.

"How did you- These are still cold," she said in amazement.

"That's right. Drink one. You look like you could use it." She did as she was told, letting the liquid slide down her parched throat. It was true that she'd been forgetting her meals lately, too caught up in trying to fight the… interesting dreams she'd been having lately. Mostly about plush lips and a tongue that flat-out should be illegal. Or bronzed. She'd never had dreams like these before.

"Better?"

"Yes, thank you," she said, finishing her liquid lunch. She belched into her hand and went into her office to put away the rest of her soylent. She did feel better now, more clear-headed.

"How have your dreams been?" he asked, running a finger down her arm to see her shiver.

"What… What about my dreams?" she gulped, trying to move away. She was trapped between the fridge and Tyr though.

"You have circles under your eyes, lovely one. So either your dreams have been bad… or too good," he murmured against her ear. She flinched and he wrapped an arm around her waist. "My suggestion, allow the dreams to continue. Stop fighting them, and your sleep will be more restful. I can take care of you…"

"You should leave," she said abruptly, pulling away from him. She was actually starting to feel her body heating up from extreme embarrassment.

"As you wish," he said, backing away from her with a smile on his face that she wanted to smack off of him. He left without a backward glance and for that she was grateful, her body was still reacting to his proximity. God, what was she going to do?