I studied Tyler’s gaze that grew more and more resolute. Though I worried for his nerves, if his decision was set on doing the presentation entirely by himself, I would support him wholeheartedly. I rounded the table and climbed on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. He scooted his chair back, making room for me.
“You will do great, I’m sure of it,” I asserted. “It’s just one product. In the grand scheme of things, it’s insignificant compared to all the incredible achievements you will accomplish in life. I’ll be here to help you through it. We’ll rehearse it together.”
“Thanks,” he muttered with a look of uncertainty. “I appreciate it. But I still have a lot left to do before we rehearse, and now I have to work on Jack’s part.”
“Doesn’t he have his part up on Google Drive?”
“Yes, but he didn’t document what he would say for those slides. I’ll have to go through and revise them.”
I combed my fingers through his hair, smoothing out the disarray. “I won’t bother you then. Go. Whenever you’re done, you can run through it with me.”
He took my hand, kissing the back of it. “I’m sorry again for being so snappy.”
“And I’m sorry for burning your tongue.”
He smiled. “I expect you to heal it.”
Pulling me in, he graced my lips with his. The tip of his tongue gently played with mine before he abruptly pulled away, wincing.
“Oh! Sorry!” I said, rubbing the sore corner of his lips. I forgot he was hurt and had kissed him with a little too much fervor. “Your beautiful face is going to be all bruised up tomorrow…”
My fussing was cut short when I felt his hand slip under my shirt, traveling up my spine. His fingers teased the bra buckle. As he tilted his head, honing in on my neck, I grabbed his shoulders and gently nudged him away. “Tyler, I have my TenYuan meeting soon.”
His face cringed with guilt. “I can attend it with you.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay. You weren’t supposed to be part of this project anyway, remember? I have Allen.”
His jaw twitched and I quickly went to correct myself. “I mean…Allen is your backup — no! Allen…Allen will be there in case… Well, just in case.” I smiled at him reassuringly.
Though he still looked disgruntled, he nodded. Coming up to a stand, he gave me a once over. “Your shirt is all ruined.”
I looked down, seeing Jack’s blood on my black and white polka-dotted blouse. “Oh. People are going to wonder about this.” I started unbuttoning before Tyler seized my hands.
“What are you doing?” he asked, alarmed.
“Taking it off.”
“And then what? What are you going to wear?”
“I’m wearing a camisole underneath. I just need to get my cardigan to wear over it.”
“Well, don’t walk out naked! I’ll grab it for you. Where is it?”
I laughed. “It’s hanging on the back of my chair. And I’m not naked.”
“That camisole is skin tight. It accentuates your…curves.”
“You mean my boobs?” I asked seductively, unbuttoning some more.
“Fuck,” he hissed under his breath, glancing out the window. Grabbing each side of my unbuttoned blouse, he quickly covered me back up. “Stay here. I’ll be back with your sweater.”
He dashed out and returned not a minute later with my cardigan. “Is this right?” he asked, appalled. “It’s tiny. What will it cover?”
“My arms.” I slipped off the bloodstained blouse and pulled on the thin cardigan. It hung off my shoulders, not having any buttons to secure the front.
Tyler pointed to my boobs. “I can still see them.”
“I know. They’re kinda a part of me.”
He gave me a blank stare, clearly not amused. Undeterred, I smiled, gathered my belongings, and walked out with him to the workspace. Once we reached his desk, I leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek before moving to my own desk.
Lauren was in her seat, waving me over energetically. “Oh my God, you missed it!” she said as I sat down. “Everyone’s talking about it! Jack came bursting from the lobby looking severely beaten up!”
“I didn’t miss it. I was there. I witnessed the whole thing.”
Her eyes bulged. “What? What happened?”
“He and Tyler got into a fight.”
“About what?”
“Well…I guess about me. But there’s more to it than that. The important thing is,” I leaned in, bringing my voice down to a whisper, “he said he’s not presenting tomorrow. Tyler’s preparing just in case Jack really decides to bail. Keep this on the DL, though. Don’t want people freaking out.”
“I actually hope Jack isn’t presenting tomorrow. His face, in that condition, should not be representing us.”
“Tyler is a little beat up too, albeit not as badly, but still a little scuffed up.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Are we dealing with teenagers?”
“No, we’re dealing with men and their egos. I have to take off to a meeting. I’ll tell you more later.”
She nodded and I left once again to the assigned conference room.
The meeting with TenYuan went smoothly as everyone updated the client on the technical progress. I listened and took notes, happy to see that they were pleased.
“Sounds like we are staying in line with the projected timeline,” said Ming Zhao cheerfully. “That is great news because our CEO will be visiting next week. Lana, I hope you remember my request to have Tyler in attendance when our CEO is here.”
“Yes, I do. Will your CEO be joining us next week?”
“Yes, he has questions he would like to ask. He speaks Mandarin and has worked with Tyler before. We would appreciate it greatly if Tyler is present for our next meeting.”
“Absolutely. I’ll be sure that he attends,” I said smiling.
“Wonderful, thank you very much.”
I closed off the meeting. As the room cleared, I finished up the minutes and sent it out to everyone, including Tyler. Not wanting to bother him in person regarding next week’s meeting, I opened up Slack and sent him a DM for him to reply at his convenience.
I went to close my laptop, but then noticed that Tyler was already typing a reply.
Smiling silly, I typed out my response.
Giggling, I sent off a meeting cancellation to the others, then made my way back to my desk.
* * *
Lauren gasped and cursed when I updated her on my meeting with Jack and the fight that ensued.
“I can’t believe it,” she said, shaking her head at her plate of quinoa and salmon. “Who would have thought Jack, the laid-back, easy going, friends-with-everyone kinda guy has a mean streak? What he said to you, with the thumb, that’s grounds for sexual harassment.”
“You think so?” I asked, doubtful. “He didn’t even do anything. It was just a thumb swipe.”
“That should be enough! There’s no reason for him to do that. In addition to what he said… No, I think you should file a complaint with HR.”
I pulled back in surprise. “Really? That extreme?”
“Yes!” she said, like it was obvious. “He may not have done anything sexual yet, but let’s not wait until he does. His words alone are enough.”
“If words alone are enough, then there’s more.”
Lauren’s eyes widened with concern. “What else did he say to you?”
I looked down, ashamed that I was only now sharing this with her. “On Monday night, when Tyler left me at the office, Jack came back and I was the only one here. We got into an argument and he claimed I wouldn’t be so loyal to Tyler if he had his dick up my pussy.”
She cupped her hand over another gasp, then leaned forward, whispering. “This is serious, Lana. File a complaint. I’ll back you up.”
“But you weren’t there. There weren’t any witnesses. Plus, I wasn’t being too nice myself.”
“Not being nice does not justify sexual advances on you. Women shouldn’t have to be nice to men just so they can feel safe around them. You being mean should have been a clear indicator that you were rejecting him. And did he listen? Imagine if you were actually nice to him. What would he do then?”
“But even if I did file a complaint, I did something to him too. I ran into the men’s bathroom thinking it was Tyler and caught him peeing.”
She pursed her lips, her face serious before snorting with laughter. “You caught him peeing?”
“Yes,” I chuckled, unable to stop myself.
“That is a problem,” she admitted. “He can definitely counter back with that. But if you admit fault and apologize—”
“I did.”
“Then there shouldn’t be a problem. We would now expect him to also, in turn, admit fault and apologize, and swear that he won’t do it again — which I assume you also promised?”
“I did promise, yes. He also forgave me.”
“There you go. That problem has already been resolved. It’s what he said to you afterwards that’s not okay. You need to file a complaint, at least have it on file, so that if anything should happen, we have evidence to support your claim. Unfortunately, that’s all we can do while it’s all hearsay. For sexual assault, he’s not guilty until the assault is already done, and even then, there needs to be like a recording or something.” Rolling her eyes, she then added, “With a formal complaint filed, it’ll at least serve as a warning, and hopefully, he’ll be more careful from now on.”
I timidly nodded. I had a sinking feeling that filing a complaint would only have me seeing the exit. Something as simple as a written document couldn’t possibly be enough to change Jack’s behavior, especially when the complaint was to be handled by his own company. With his power and influence, he would be able to manipulate things in his favor, regardless of the truth.
Lauren patted my shoulder encouragingly. “I know it’s tough having to do something that will cause conflict among the people you know, but know that you have my support, and I’m sure there will be others who will believe you. Tyler will believe you too.”
“Your support might cost you your job.”
“I’m your manager, and you’re reporting the incident to your manager like you’re supposed to. And now, as your manager, I’m encouraging you to take the next step. If I get fired for believing and supporting my subordinates, then I don’t want to work for this company anymore.”
I smiled at her, feeling deeply grateful to have her by my side. “Thanks, Lauren.”
“No need to thank me — just doing my job.”
She rose from her seat and went in search of some sweets. I remained at the lunch table, flicking my salmon as I mulled over her advice. Though I agreed that it would be in my interest to file a complaint, I felt it necessary to discuss with Tyler first. After all, it was his company as well, and I didn't want to jeopardize his business or his reputation. However, considering the upcoming unveiling that was already causing him stress, it seemed more prudent to wait until after the event, when tensions have eased. It was possible that the animosity between Jack and Tyler was a result of the high-stress situation, and they could revert to being good friends once the unveiling was over. Perhaps then, Jack would regain his composure and offer an apology, and we could all put this incident behind us.
We finished up our lunch and Lauren returned to her desk while I piled on another plate of food and brought it over to Tyler. He had his head down, his hands gripping his hair. He appeared to be in turmoil. I set the plate down on his desk and ran my hand gently down his back. He snapped his head up and looked at me with horror-stricken eyes. My heart constricted at the sight. I couldn’t imagine being put in front of a train and pretending like my mind wasn’t screaming.
“I have a suggestion,” I said quietly. “How about we take your slides to the presentation room and work it out between the two of us? I find it easier to know what to say when I’m talking out loud rather than in my head.”
“It’s not ready.”
“We’ll figure out how to finish it as we go along. You’ll discover which points you want to include and which ones you don’t as we rehearse. It’ll be just me and you, no one else. You’ll essentially be teaching me, just like you’ve been doing.”
I could see his mind switching gears. “I can do that,” he said. “I can teach you.”
“Exactly,” I said encouragingly.
He stood up and gathered his laptop, while I picked up his plate of food. Together, we walked towards the massive presentation room where the unveiling would take place. I pulled on the door handle, but it was locked. As I scanned my ID card on the scan pad next to the door, it made a dull clicking sound, flashing a red light.
“For special access only.”
Tyler, who had slowed his pace behind me, scanned his card. The red light on the scanner turned green, and the lock clicked open. Swinging the door open, he motioned for me to enter first. I made my way down the center aisle, passing rows of seats. It wasn’t until I was near the front of the room that I realized Tyler was not following me. I turned around and found him sitting in the very last row by the aisle.
“Tyler,” I called across the room. “Come sit up here with me.”
“I’m good,” he replied placidly.
I placed the plate of food on the raised platform that served as the stage and sat down next to it, letting my legs hang over the edge. “You’re not presenting now. I just want you to eat your lunch,” I said, gesturing to the food.
I waited for him to respond, but he ignored me and opened up his laptop. Narrowing my eyes, I glanced over at the doors. They were shut tight. Since the room had limited access, there shouldn’t be anyone entering at the moment.
I hopped off the platform and sauntered my way back to him, slowly peeling off my cardigan as I went. Tyler had his head down on his laptop, but his eyes were on me every step of the way. I slowly unraveled my messy high top bun, letting the curls tumble down my shoulders. Now standing in front of him, I leaned over and placed my hands on his shoulders, massaging him gently.
“I think it’s time for some de-stressing,” I whispered and lowered my face, kissing him.
His hand dove into my hair, bunching up the mass of curls, deepening our kiss. His laptop was thrown over to the chair next to him before he felt up my waist, cupping my breast. Yanking down my camisole along with my bra, he broke off our kiss, lowered his head and sucked with thirst. I gasped and wrapped my arms around his head, holding him close.
A quiet moan escaped my lips when I felt his hands moving to unclasp my slacks. Though it was near impossible, I fought back my desire and pulled my hips back, out of his grasp. He reached for me again, tugging on the waistband, and once more I backed away. Dropping my arms around him, I gently pushed his shoulders back. He looked up at me, breathless and confused.
“My mistake,” I said, pecking across his face. “I should have clarified. It’s time for you to de-stress.”
I moved my hands down, undoing the fly of his jeans. He took a sharp inhale when he felt my hand rummage down his pants. I gave him a couple pumps before setting him free. Moving down on my knees, and with my gaze locked onto his face, I took him into my mouth.
“Shit!” His hand went up into my curls again, shifting them aside for a better view.
“Just relax,” I whispered between drags.
He obliged, dropping his head back, his moans spurring me on. I could feel he was close to release when his grip on my hair grew tighter and tighter. Soon, as though he couldn’t hold back anymore, he stilled my head and thrusted into my mouth. I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing deeply through my nose, relaxing my throat. He cursed again and I knew he was there. I flicked my eyes up to catch his look of ecstasy. He sputtered out a deep growl upon seeing my eyes, then shot in my mouth. With his thrusts so deep, I couldn’t even catch a taste.
His clasped hands around my head fell away and he slumped back, his eyes closed, his chest rising rapidly. I swiped my mouth with the back of my hand, then kissed my way back up to him, landing on a spot behind his ear.
“That’s better,” I said softly and gave him one last peck. Rising to a stand, I rearranged my bra and camisole, and waited patiently for him to float back down.
“That was unbelievable,” he sighed blissfully. “I’d gladly do more presentations if I knew it came with such benefits.”
I chuckled, caressing his solid thigh. “There’s more where that came from,” I said, then leaned into his ear again. “But after the presentation,” I added, my voice filled with unspoken promises. He looked at me with wild, curious eyes, but I simply grinned and lightly smacked his thigh. “Tuck yourself away and meet me on the platform.”
I made to leave but he grabbed my hand, pulling me back. “Wait, get back here. Let me make you come. I want to feel how wet—”
“Nuh-ah!” I said, shaking my head. “Your dirty talk won’t work, mister. Come on, enough dilly dallying!” I pried his fingers off of me and went ahead to the stage.
Heaving a resigned sigh, he picked up his laptop and dragged his feet after me.
Up on the platform, I tilted my chin to his lunch. “Please, eat something.”
While Tyler nibbled at his food, I opened his laptop and shared the screen to the enormous monitors in the room. Just then, my phone, which was sitting on the platform between us, vibrated an incoming call.
We both turned our gaze down at the screen. Charles’s goofy face winked back up at us. Tyler frowned apprehensively as he watched me pick up the call.
“Hi, Charles, I’m glad you called.”
“Is that so? I’ll be sure to call more often.” I could hear him smiling when he spoke.
“I mean,” I emphasized, “it’s because I need to talk to you about your proposal — work related, you see.”
“Yes, I spoke with Jack yesterday and he said I should receive an edited version today. Been waiting all day and haven’t heard from you.”
“Yes, about that: we are keeping the original pricing. There won’t be any modified version.”
Silence fell down the line. Tyler paused his chewing, staring expectantly at me.
“I don’t understand,” Charles eventually said, sounding flummoxed.
“We reconvened today on that topic and after much deliberation, we believe the original plan is best. I’m sorry to be the breaker of bad news, but the proposal stands as is.”
“I will need to talk to Jack again,” he said, obviously frustrated now.
“I’m sorry, but this is coming straight out of Jack’s mouth. We’d like to work with you, but we do need to get paid, you see.”
More silence ensued. Soon, he begrudgingly said, “Let me take it back to my office and discuss it with my team. I’ll let you know by the end of next week.”
“Wonderful. I look forward to your response. Is there anything else?”
“Are you sure we can’t work something out?”
“I have Tyler here with me if you’d like to discuss it with him.” I glanced over at Tyler and he nodded in agreement.
“No, no, that’s okay,” Charles replied bitterly. “He already explained it to me rather clearly the other day.”
“It is a proposal after all,” I reminded him. “You are still able to shop around, although we’ll be sad to lose you—”
“No. I intend to partner with Talus. I’m not letting that go.”
“Well, I’m relieved. Then, I will look forward to your call next week. You have a nice rest of—”
“Lana, can I see you again before I leave?”
I dropped my head but kept my customer service voice. “We’re actually really busy with the product unveiling we’re having tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve heard about it.”
“Ah, yes. It must be hectic over there right now.”
“More or less.”
“Then, how about I see you at the unveiling? Jack invited me to come.”
“Did he now?” I looked at Tyler, telling him with my eyes. He shook his head, not understanding. I pointed to the phone, then to the room, mouthing “Tomorrow.” He cocked his head, frowning in question though it was clear he understood.
“Yes, he sent me an invitation. I forgot all about it until you mentioned it,” said Charles.
“How nice of him,” I responded tersely. “You know, I’m not sure if Jack will be here tomorrow, though.”
“He won’t? Isn’t he presenting?”
“Tyler is.”
“Oh,” he said, not hiding his disappointment. “Well, that’s okay. You’ll be there, right?”
“Right, but I’ll be busy—”
“That’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Have a nice evening.” He hung up, and I tossed my phone to the side.
“He’s coming here tomorrow?” Tyler asked in a raised voice.
“Yes, he wants to see the unveiling. Apparently Jack invited him.”
He groaned and fell back onto the stage floor, pressing the heels of his palms over his eyes. “Fucking perfect. I’m already dreading one thing, and now he’s going to be here with you?”
“I’m not going to be with him. I don’t care for him. So…moot point.”
“This is not a moot point. It’s debatable what he’ll do to you regardless of your opinion of him.”
“I can handle myself, thanks,” I said indignantly.
He dropped his hands and tilted his face towards me. “It doesn’t matter if you can handle yourself by words. No matter what you say, you may still find yourself in a situation where you can’t get out of.”
I drummed my fingertips on his laptop, not liking the seriousness of this discussion. “I know not to get myself into those situations anymore.”
“Anymore?” he asked, his brows scrunched.
“I mean ever.”
He shook his head, sitting up. “Unfortunately, it’s not up to you to decide. If he wants to take advantage of you, he will.” He reached over and held my hand. “Don’t go anywhere with him. Okay?”
“I won’t. Now, finish your lunch.” I pointed to his plate where he had barely taken a bite. I waited for him to consume a few more bites of salmon before I jumped off the platform, heading to the last row of seats.
“Where are you going?” he asked with apprehension.
“I’ll be in the audience, here.” I pointed to the chair that he had occupied earlier. Sitting down with his laptop, I said, “Whenever you’re ready, you can start telling me about this new product we’re unveiling. I know absolutely nothing about it.”
It was a lie, of course. I knew everything there was to know about it, having gone through the crisis project. “Let me know when you want me to change slides or edit them,” I instructed him.
“Lana, I haven’t finished those slides—”
“And we’ll finish them together. Teach me, Shifu,” I said, calling him master. The term was one of the few Mandarin words I knew because it was the same in Vietnamese. He arched a brow, a smile tugging at his lips.
I waved a hand for him to proceed. “We’ll go through the talking points, make sure we have everything, then we’ll do it again like a real presentation.”
He lingered for a moment, studying me before coming up to a stand. “Okay. One slide at a time.”
“One slide at a time,” I confirmed.
Tyler began the presentation, his gaze fixed on me as he navigated through each item, slide by slide. He actually had the entire presentation completed, but it needed some fine-tuning. His knowledge was so broad, he had trouble summarizing them into talking points. I let him know when he delved too deep into technical details that might be difficult for a non-expert like myself to understand. Not once did he take offense to my critiques. He listened carefully to all of my suggestions and made the changes accordingly. We continued our communication across the room, with him on stage and me positioned in the far back. As he spent more time speaking on stage, his comfort level visibly improved.
We had rehearsed the presentation several times when the tech crew arrived, which meant it was past five o’clock. Prisha came in with the crew along with a few other engineers who were part of the demo.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” Prisha said to Tyler. “I was just going to call you to rehearse. Seems like you’ve already been rehearsing.”
“Has Jack called you?” Tyler asked.
“No, but I heard what happened,” she replied with a disapproving tone. “Fighting? Really? Are you two in grade school?”
He ignored her reproach and asked, “Did you hear about him not coming tomorrow?”
Various types of horror flashed across her face within a split second. “What? No, I did not! He said that?”
“Yes. He’s leaving it to me to do the entire presentation.”
Prisha’s eyes widened. “You’re going to present?”
“Yes,” he answered, a little miffed. “I can do it.”
She eyed him skeptically. “We should quickly set this up so you can have as many run-throughs as possible.”
Tyler ran through his presentation with Prisha while the media team set up the microphone, cameras, and lighting. The technicians incorporated a live stream from our prototype cameras, feeding them into our new perfected slides, then set up the presentation by time so that it ran in sync with Tyler’s speech. After repeated practices, he had the presentation memorized. With his increasing confidence up on stage, he even glanced away from me from time to time. Everything was appearing to be flawless.
“All right, that’s a wrap,” said Prisha a few hours later. “Let’s go home and get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow. Be sure to be here by 8 AM so we can run through a few more times before the unveiling at noon.”
“Yes, ma’am,” everyone responded.
Satisfied, she smiled and left the room. The rest of us collected our belongings and trickled out the building.
“It feels odd,” said Tyler, wrapping an arm around my shoulders once we were outside.
“What does?” I asked.
“Support.” He pulled me close as we walked to the parking garage. “The feeling of support.”