the sexual tension between us gets any thicker, I’m afraid we’ll lose it completely.
I stretch for a few moments, trying to force my heart to calm down. This is difficult enough without my nerves giving me a near heart attack.
Dozens of thoughts fly through my mind as I try to figure out what to say. How do I approach her about this? I need to snap us back into the uneasy professional relationship that we had last week. She isn’t going to appreciate me trying to be her friend, and I don’t think I could try that approach without wanting to kiss her again.
The boss approach it is, then.
I straighten my shoulders and stride toward the door. I can do this. I can face Opal and tell her what’s going to happen if we want to be able to work as a cohesive team. And I can do it without letting on that I really just want to fuck her again.
I push the thought away. That’s definitely not going to help.
I open my door and Opal looks up from her computer. There’s a slightly glazed look in her eyes from how hard she was concentrating as she types something up, and it takes a few seconds for awareness to return. When it does, her lips curl slightly at the sight of me, almost hiding the sudden panic that crosses her expression.
“Jason,” she says stiffly with a nod, and then turns back to the computer.
I can already see, however, that her concentration is shot. Her fingers hover over the keyboard, twitching but not actually pressing any keys as she scrambles to get back her thoughts.
“Opal,” I say as evenly as possible, “could you come into my office for a moment?”
The inner office will be more comfortable for both of us. On top of that, there’s less chance of one of my other employees coming in.
Opal bites her bottom lip, and I try determinedly not to look at the accidentally seductive action. Then she sighs and nods.
“Of course,” she says.
She follows me silently back into my office, closing the door behind her. Instantly, I know I’ve made the wrong move. She and I are now shut in my office. All alone…
I clear my throat and sit behind my desk, trying to put some distance between us. Opal follows my lead by sitting in one of the hard chairs on the other side.
“Yes?” she asks.
“We need to talk about our current performance issues,” I say, doing my best to keep any emotion out of my voice, leaving my tone cold and demanding. “Due to recent circumstances, neither of us has been achieving our goals as well as we should be. We need to discuss what we’re going to do about it.”
That sounds good, I decide. Now, if I can just follow it up with an apology and a request that we concentrate as much as possible on just being co-workers, everything will be good.
But Opal speaks up before I can continue, her eyes narrowed.
“Recent circumstances. Right,” she says, pressing her lips together. “Is that what we’re calling it now? We had sex, Jason. Be an adult and admit it.”
Okay, this definitely sets the tone for how this conversation is going to go. Opal is angry and defensive immediately. She doesn’t want to talk about this any more than I do, and she doesn’t appreciate being stuck in the office with me. As such, she’s going to make this as difficult as possible for us to get through this.
For the first time, irritation begins to rise in me. I get that Opal doesn’t trust or like me, and I can’t say I don’t understand. But enough is enough. We’re both working adults, and I’ve been trying to do my best.
“Yes, we had sex,” I say, sharper than I intended. “I just thought it might be easier to avoid saying so. But, yes, we fucked each other, and now we can’t work very well when we’re together, which isn’t productive for the company.”
“Is that all you’re thinking about?” Opal snaps, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.
I give her an incredulous look.
“What else do you expect me to say about it, Opal?” I demand. “Of course that’s all I’m going to say about it right now. I have a company to run, and our issues are getting in the way of it. We fucked. Get over it.”
Instantly, I knew I had let my temper get the better of me and said the wrong thing. So