After Work

"Hello, Bliss," Tyr said at six o'clock when he arrived.

"I'm going home now, Ms. Jenkins."

"No! I mean," she said, looking panicked.

"Goodnight," Tyr said.

"Relax, Luwanda," the older woman said with a smile. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"I just… I want you to stay," she said in a desperate undertone, blushing and looking ready to bolt.

"I don't bite," Tyr murmured, sitting in the far corner of her office and trying to look innocuous. She wasn't fooled for a second though.

"Mrs. Grady…"

"Ms. Jenkins, you are the leader of not one but two powerful companies. I think you can handle one male that means you no harm." She left at that, keeping from laughing by sheer force of will.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the male in question said in a soothing tone. "I just want to see you work, Bliss."

"I don't want you here," she said coldly, trying to mask her fear.

"Bliss…" He crossed the room to her, smoothing her hair back. "If you ever decide you do not want me around, love, I'll just have to convince you otherwise."

"I don't-" He kissed her, coaxing her to relax against him. She didn't at first, pushing against him to get away. But he was persistent and soon she was melting, moaning against his mouth. He tapered off the kiss, utterly reluctant to let her go.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Bliss," he said, stroking her cheek. "I just want you to be comfortable in my presence. You need to be comfortable around me for us to be a couple."

"I'm not sure I want to be a couple," she whispered.

He rubbed his nose along her neck, making a liar of her. "There's that head of yours talking again. What does your heart say?"

"It says-"

"The truth, Bliss," he said, wanting her to admit her attraction.

"It s-says…"

"Bliss,"

"It says to trust you," she said at last, feeling vulnerable as he continued to stroke her neck in a distracting manner.

"Good girl," he praised her, kissing her neck and growling against her skin. "I knew you had it in you, Bliss."

"I hate you," She said, trying to move away from him. Suddenly she wished her chair could roll.

"You want me," he said. "That's why you hate me so much, Bliss. You need to trust me, love."

"Stop with the endearments, Tyr," the woman said, still caught between rapture and anger. "I'm not yours to name." She pushed him away, standing up and almost tripping over herself to get away from him.

"You are mine, Luwanda. You've always been mine. I've mistreated you for years, but I'm making up for that now."

"I've never been-"

"Then why have you never had a boyfriend or a lover, Luwanda? You've loved me this whole time. I've seen through your act. You want me and you've always wanted me. I've had years to review my memories and find the parts where you loved me, and where you were disappointed in me. I've been in love with you since I realized your feelings. It was a brilliant act, but I see through you now. I see your sadness, your pain. I see your need and I'm here to quell it. I want you to believe me, Bliss. I've never been more serious about anything in my life."

"You… You can't know that," she said in shock, looking panicked. Never before had anyone seen into her heart like this. She couldn't survive in this world with someone who could read her heart so well.

"Don't worry, little one. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want you. I want you so badly," he said, moving closer to her. "It's been years and all I see is you," he assured her, moving closer still and kissing her sweetly.

"You're everything I want, Bliss. The only thing I want. And I will have you, Bliss, no matter how long it takes." He kissed her again, and she melted into the warmth of his embrace. After a long time they parted and he took a seat across from her "You should get to work."

The girl gave him a dazed look and he had to fight the urge to kiss her again. Somehow he managed to stay put, though, waiting for her to start working on the pile of paperwork on her desk. She sat down, moving to do her work without another word. He sensed when she forgot his presence, her shoulders relaxed as she went through her usual end of day business. She organized her schedule as she'd been doing for years and filed her paperwork away.

"Can I walk you to your limo?" he asked once he was sure she was done.

"Aah! What?" she jumped and turned. "Sorry, I just-"

"Thought I had left." he said in amusement. "Would you mind if I walked you to your limo?"

"No…" she said with uncertainty.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured her, taking her hand and kissing it. "I only want to see you safely home, Bliss."

"O...Okay…"

She called for her ride, stuttering her way through the request. Then she walked away, letting her would-be suitor trail behind her as she went. They met Viktor in the elevator on their way out.

"Good evening, Mr. Gunshlick."

"Good evening, Ms. Jenkins. Mr. Anasazi. Or should I say, Mrs Jenkins?" Tyr growled and slammed the man against the elevator wall.

"I had forgotten that you tend to be a physical presence rather than a mental one. Your woman and I have had the most… invigorating battles of wills within these walls."

"I'm going to-"

"Oh please. You won't do anything. Not with little Wanda holding your leash." Tyr headbutted the man with another growl.

"TYR!" Wanda yelled. "He's a chicken-shit bastard, but he's also all talk. Let him go."

"Yeah, let me go," the aggravating man said in a snide tone. "I can hurt your little princess more than she realizes." Wanda grabbed his arm when he went to punch him in the face.

"He's trying to provoke you," she said. "If you attack him unprovoked, he will sue you and insist you be removed from the company! I'll have no choice but to fire you."

The man looked torn between giving into his primal urges and playing it smart. In the end, the feel of his arm between her breasts stopped him.

"You're right. He is all talk," Tyr said, releasing Viktor violently. The man took the time to straighten his suit and tie before answering

"I must insist that this man be removed from our company at once. He is obviously-" The elevator suddenly stopped, jolting the three passengers.

"Is everyone alright? Viktor, How's your head?" she said before turning the key to start the elevator again. The elevator started up again, heading for the main floor.

"Hello? Ms. Jenkins, are you alright?"

"We're fine in here. Mr. Gunshlick has a minor head injury, but the rest of us are unhurt. What happened?"

"We're not sure. The elevator just… cut out for a moment, we're not sure why. We'll check it out. The elevator seems to be working fine now, or did you want to switch over?"

"No… we're already more than halfway down. But I think we should lock down this elevator and get it checked out once we're down." There was silence in the small room as the maintenance workers started discussing reasons and repairs and turned off the comms.

"Well played," the man said quietly. The two shared a look and Viktor lost.

"Goodnight, Mr. Gunshlick," she said once they reached the ground floor. She breezed through the crowd of concerned employees, reassuring them that she was fine and that she was unhurt. The night crew didn't seem as concerned about the men, but that stood to reason. Everyone hated Gunshlick and Anasazi was a threat to their boss. Wanda moved through the attention gracefully, heading out to her limo. Tyr followed behind, ignoring the angry stares he was getting from the security guards and cleaning staff.

"Are you okay?" her suitor asked her quietly once they exited the building.

"It's like kindergarten, honey. You have to learn to use your words."

"You called me 'honey'," he said happily, unconcerned with his show of violence. He touched her cheek.

"I…"

"Good girl," he whispered, continuing his caress. She tilted her head to rub her face against his hand. He smiled at her, a smile he never would have given anyone four years ago. It was too open and honest. He helped her into the limo, once again ignoring the glaring driver. Once he was sure she was in, he turned and headed for home, only to run into Roy and Laurel. They were laughing together, their body language saying that they were a couple.

"Hey, Tyr," the man said with a nervous twitch. "I ah… I figured you'd be shacking up with your CEO buddy. What are you-"

"I was just seeing her off from work. I-"

"That's right, you're a working man! There's a thing your old man would have killed to see."

"My father is dead. Are you mocking his memory?"

"No! No, I'd never-"

Remembering his woman's advice to him, he refrained from hitting his best friend. "Then do us both a favor and don't mention him again, Roy. Good night."

"And hello to you too, Tyr," Laurel said, slinking up to the man. He looked her over, all sex appeal and attitude, and felt nothing. "You know, I owe you a slap. You took my sister on the honeymoon cruise instead of me."

"You were getting too clingy," he shrugged, taking her hand off his neck. "I told you when we started that I didn't do clingy."

"I really cared for you, you know that? You were special to me. But now," she said, coming to stand by her new man, "Now I have a new man in my life. And he's everything you never were."

"Good for you," he said flippantly. The redhead looked him over, looking for signs of jealousy. Finding none, she slapped him, hard. He grabbed her hand before she could put it down.

"You get one. Because I hurt you and what I did was unnecessarily cruel. But you only get one, Laurel. That was it." She looked deep into his eyes and saw none of the affection she thought he still had for her. She'd been banking on Tyr trying to get her back from Roy, but apparently, that wasn't going to happen.

"You know she'll never love you," the woman sneered. "'Bitch Incarnate' doesn't have a heart to love with. She's a cold-hearted-"

"You know nothing of it," the man she was addressing said, brushing his suit off. "Good night, you two."

"What? You're not going to party with us?" Roy asked in confusion. He had a pocket full of wonders and despite Laurel's venom, he'd been hoping to get time with his best friend.

"I have to work tomorrow, son. Gotta jet to get my workout in before bed," he grinned, walking down the street away from the couple.

"Did you see that? He didn't even care that we were together," Roy said once the man turned the corner. "I'm telling you, this Wanda chick has got his head turned around."

"She's got him by the balls and she doesn't even know it from what I've been told," the woman said in jealousy. She'd once been the focus of all that gorgeous attention. He hadn't even apologized for what he did to her. He'd just moved on like it was nothing! The man had betrayed her and he was treating it like it was no big deal! Formulating a plan of revenge, she let his best friend kiss her. She'd have him back in time. She just had to get the skank out of the way.

… …

"I need to talk to you!" Laurel said, bursting in on the team meeting Wanda was holding. Security followed her in, grabbing her and apologizing to their boss.

"It's alright. Let her speak."

"Wanda-"

"Ms. Jenkins."

"I- what?"

"I am referred to as "Ms. Jenkins' in my place of business."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Well, 'Ms. Jenkins'. I'm here to tell you that Tyr is only trying to hurt you. He's going to make you love him and then he's going to crush your heart and enjoy it!" Wanda stared at her blankly, as did the rest of the members of the company.

"Are you done?" she asked.

"Well… Yeah. Aren't you worried about this?"

"No. Good day, Ms. Lance." As security dragged her out of the room, Laurel yelled.

"What's the matter with you? Didn't you hear what I said? Don't you care?"

"Nothing is the matter with me. Yes, I heard you and no, I don't care. You are intruding on a business meeting and trespassing on private property. Please leave before I have to press charges."

"You heartless bitch! Of course, you don't care, you don't have a heart to smash to pieces! I don't even know what he sees in you!" She kept it up the entire way out of the building, but Wanda immediately resumed her meeting.

"Mr. Johnson, you were saying about the Mercer proposal?"

"Um… Should we maybe do this some other time?"

"No. I would like all of your opinions on this merger before making a decision by next Tuesday. You've all had a week to study this proposal already and this is the only time I can get you all together. Please, give your thoughts."

The meeting continued as if nothing had happened, although the people who were there had no problems talking about the incident to anyone who would listen.

"Did you hear about…"

"She's so cold…"

"She didn't even…"

"Are you okay?" Tyr said when he showed up for lunch that day.

"Huh?" she said, caught in the middle of drinking her soylent. "Um… of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I heard that Laurel dropped by and made a scene."

"She did. It was no big deal."

"It is a big deal, Bliss. "I don't want you feeling-"

"I don't feel anything. I'm fine. Thank you for-" He kissed her, covering her mouth and swallowing her protests. She melted into the kiss, sighing against his mouth.

"You don't have to pretend with me, Bliss. I know she hurt you."

"She said you were trying to break my heart after gaining my trust." He smiled at her, caressing her face as she leaned into his touch. "I want to trust you, but I'm so afraid…" He kissed her again, reveling in her soft moans of pleasure. He wrapped her in his arms, holding her close as he explored her mouth. She melted against him, letting him have his way with her. She relaxed her jaw, letting him in and moaning at the resulting invasion. Her heart was calming as he claimed her mouth. He released her after a long time, dropping kisses on her cheeks and neck.

"I want to go on a date with you. Will you allow it?"

"I… O-of course…"

"Good girl," he said, tracing her arms down to her hands and holding them. "I have something special in mind for you. I'll arrange it with Mrs. Grady. Now, don't you want to prepare for your afternoon meetings?" She giggled at that, walking around her desk to do her normal paperwork. He watched her, happy that she was starting to relax around him. Her kiss had been so pure and innocent. Sometimes he had to remind himself that she was completely untouched. Even before his 'death', she hadn't been interested in boys. He used to think she was a lesbian, but then he realized that it was her pure love for him that had stayed her. She could have had fun with any number of guys. Her looks had been tolerable even as a fat chick and she had tons of money. But she hadn't been interested in anyone but him. Even when he'd treated her so badly, she'd still believed in him. That kind of faith deserved a reward! He would take her somewhere special, someplace she'd once confided to a friend that she'd always wanted to go on a date. He only had six more dates to show her they belonged together. He already had her interest, what he wanted was her trust.