File Under "L" For Love

File Under “L” For Love
Tammy Lynn Dowdal


The day started as it normally did. The phone ringing incessantly, her boss was out of the office and she was left with a folder of paperwork to be typed and filed, six inches thick with another file right beside it nearly the same height. This was always how it was on Friday. Her boss always thought that if the weekend was coming up and then she was going on vacation for a couple of days, she should have to do three weeks work until she could leave. Thank God she wasn't married or her husband would have left her a long time ago.
Cyndy Wymeth had a good life, she thought. She worked fifty to sixty hours a week, but she was paid over and above what the competition received. She had been with Cedars Construction for nearly eleven years now. She remembered her first day.
The day after graduation the call came that they needed someone to work in their office answering phone calls and faxing paperwork. They would only need her for a few days, just until they found someone who knew what the construction field was like. She came in and sat down at the desk when a handsome guy strolled in and stopped in front of her desk.
"Can I help you?" Cyndy had asked with some trepidation.
"I need to see Brian Cassnova about the building site of the new Arts Department downtown and then I need to see the rundown on cost projections and overhead, with the labor material costs and figures, and the employee breakdowns of each job. When that is done I'll need the file for the Anglon Mall and all the material cost breakdowns. When that is finished, you can call for my secretary so we can have a conference call."
Cyndy was busy writing down everything, sure she was missing something, ready to burst into tears because she had no idea what he was talking about.
"Did you get all that, miss?"
"Yes, sir. I think so. By the way, what is your secretary's name and phone number?
"Her name is Cyndy Wymeth and I think she's about ready to hit me."
Cyndy looked up from her pad of paper and slowly looked up at him. "Let me guess, you're Brian Cassnova." Seeing him nod his head, she smiled faintly. "Why did you keep on going on. You know this is my first day and yet you chose to let me keep getting confused."
"First of all, I want to say I'm sorry. This is how I weed out my employees. If they can't handle a list of what I want done, then they don't need to work here. I usually try to get professional people from the staffing agencies to come here, but no one usually wants to work one or two days. Now, if you want to learn how to do this job and you want to do it efficiently, you'll have to learn to work quickly and use the resources that I'll give you. I know that you'll only be working here for a few days, but you never know. A lot of people have come in for a job like this and ended up owning their own company, like I did, or, since I don‘t think you‘d want to own your own construction company, you‘d probably settle for being the top administrative assistant in the United States. If you want to be good, you have to know how to work fast. Are you willing to learn?"
"I'll learn anything. I also need for you to do one thing. If I mess up, you don't yell or put me down. That's when I quit."
"You got it. I just want you to understand one thing. In a business like this, sometimes it's hard for me to not yell. I have a lot of important clients and sometimes they yell at me over the phone and in turn I will get upset and take some of it out on you, but don't take it personally. When you do screw up, I will let you know personally."
That day was the first day of Cyndy's career as Cedar Construction's one and only office person. Brian had only yelled at her once. That was one week after she was hired and he filed for divorce from his wife of ten years. With no children to tie him down, he usually stayed at the office after she left and was there before she came in in the morning. Sometimes he even slept there.
It wasn't very often that she saw him go home. Many times he would often ask her to stay and have something to eat while they worked, but for some reason she always turned him down. Part of the reason, was she found him too attractive. He wasn't that tall, only five and a half feet to her own five foot four. It was the face that held her though. He had a very expressive face. Of course, she told him that once and he grew a beard. He'd kept it trimmed neatly, though. He was slim, muscular, and had a quick wit, but a sharp temper. She'd heard him yelling at shippers and manufacturer's before and a lot of their guys had quit. His hands were large and he always found an excuse to have her do the blueprints on the computer, so he wouldn't have to worry about only using one hand. He couldn't fit both of them on the small keyboard.
She remembered the first time she got her bonus. He had handed it to her and she had smiled so much that when he asked what it was, she went right up and kissed him. It was a surprise to the both of them and they clung together for a bit until she couldn't breathe. They went apart, but she never forgot the feel of his lips. The beard had tickled her face and she still fantasized about it at times when the work was all caught up. Which reminded her she better get started on her projects before she went out the door.
Five hours later, she was just finishing up with the last project when the shadow fell across her desk. "I'll be with you in a second." Cyndy didn't look up as she finished up the last letter.
"That's okay, take your time."
Cyndy looked up startled. Standing in front of her in tight blue jeans and a white pullover rolled up to his elbows, was her boss. Cyndy caught herself before she gawked like a love-struck teenager. She had been in love with him ever since he had bought her flowers her second day there. They were a peace offering for what he had done to her on her first day.
"What do you need Brian? I'm all finished with these. All you have to do is sign these so I can mail them out. I'm leaving in ten minutes."
"No you're not."
"What do you mean? I've done all the work you've asked me to do and then some. You did this on purpose and I'm not missing my vacation."
"I never said you were going to miss it. You're coming with me. You want rest and relaxation and I'm going to give it to you. I have a rustic cabin about three hours drive from here and I was fixing to drive up there to see how it is. I haven't been up there in five years. If you want to go, go home and pack. No fancy work suits, just jeans and old sweaters. It's past time for you to have a real vacation. I won't be calling every five minutes. There won't be any work this weekend, I promise you that."
Cyndy just looked at him like he had sprouted another head.
"Well, are you going or not?" Cyndy nodded her head wordlessly.
She got out of her chair and went around him. He caught at her wrist and turned her around. He bent his head and kissed her soundly on the mouth. He took her gasp in his mouth as it opened under his. She tasted so sweet. Gathering her close to him, he deepened the kiss until he was aware of her trembling in his arms. He kissed her one last time before he straightened up. He didn't want this to end. Her mouth was so warm and inviting and her tongue was satiny as it stroked his. He could feel the rising passion in him and heard the small gasp of pleasure when he pressed up against her. He slowly brought his head back up and looked at her.
"I just wanted to say thank you for all you've done for me. I don't know how I got so lucky, but whatever it was, I'm grateful. If you promise not to hit me, I'll let you go."
"I won't hit you. The only reason you like me is because I don't take any of your gruff words seriously anymore. A new secretary would walk out the first day, but I'm used to you. I'm just doing my job. If I don't do it right, we're both in trouble. You for not living up to your obligations and me, I wouldn't get paid because you'd be out of business. I like my job and I intend to keep it as long as you're in this business."
"Anyway, thank you for all you've done to help me. If it weren’t be for you, the way you keep books, file, type all my memos, and remind me of important dates and times, I would be out of this business. This trip is to thank you."

To read in it's entirety it's available on Amazon and Kindle at
http://www.amazon.com/File-Under-Love-Tammy-Lynn/dp/1479330280/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349841365&sr=1-1&keywords=file+under+l+for+love