Plus One

Cheap Talk

The rest of the morning went by quickly as she worked on her portion of the Jiffy project. Anna realized though that men gossiped more than women. A few of her teammates were bold enough to ask her outright if she was dating the boss' son to, which she replied yes, every time. As lunch drew near, she overheard some sales women talking about Ethan and his new girlfriend.

They didn't know she was the girl in question and went on about how he deserved better than some Black gold-digger. The words hurt, but so did Jamal's. She didn't understand why people acted like they were still in the Jim Crow days. Interracial couples weren't a freak show. She knew she and Ethan were faking it, but she couldn't help but wonder what if they weren't. This would be the level of scrutiny and hatred they'd face.

Anna walked behind the sales women as they exited the bathroom and stopped abruptly at their sudden halt. "Oh, Mr. Crane," the busty blond said in an annoying voice. "Can we help you with anything?" The brunette with an ass flatter than a pancake spoke up. "It's Ethan and no. I actually just want to grab my girlfriend here and take her to lunch." The two women turned around mouths opened wide. Anna gave a shy smile before grabbing Ethan's extended hand and walking between the two.

They walked hand in hand for the entire floor to see before getting on the elevator. Thankfully they were the only ones on it. Anna waited for the doors to close before hugging him tightly. She found herself playing with the hair at the nape of his neck as he held her. "What's this for?" She pulled back and smiled at him. "Just for being you and your ability to have perfect timing."

They got in his car and made it to a quaint bistro not too far from the office. Anna filled him in on the conversation she overheard from the two women he bumped into and sighed at how irritated it made her. "Do you want me to fire them?" Anna choked on her lemonade. "No! Ethan, don't even joke like that!" He chuckled heartily before taking a bite out of his chicken salad sandwich. "You going to tell me what you and Jamal were talking about?"

Anna shook her head no before taking a bite out of her Caesar salad. "Prunes." Anna looked at him wide eyed before swallowing. She groaned before recounting everything Jamal said, but more importantly what she said. He sat back finished with his meal and thought about everything. "Please don't fire him, Ethan." He smiled at her. "I'm not going to fire him. He clearly has issues with his own race, as well as, has a hard on for my girlfriend. I'll let him be, but trust the PDA will be turned up a notch." Anna groaned as she placed her head in her hands.

They got back to the office and went their separate ways. Anna noticed that Jefferson was in his office. She wondered if he saw them holding hands on their way onto the floor. She knew he knew about her, but still. It was getting closer to 3pm when everyone pretty much felt like drones for the remainder of the day. Anna's phone buzzed, so she put it on speaker like an idiot.

"Anna, please come into my office." It was Jefferson Crane and everyone around her had heard it. She stood up slowly before heading to his office. She could see in her peripheral Ethan walking out of his office and heading towards his father's office too. Anna knocked on the door and entered once permitted. She left it open for Ethan to walk through.

Jefferson was a big man. He stood at 6'5 and had the body of a muscular bear. He had a wide smile and was always so kind to his employees. She had an inclination about what this was about, but wasn't sure. She was thankful that his blinds were drawn unlike Ethan's. "So, I hear you've gone and stolen my son's heart." Jefferson chuckled as he sat back in his desk chair. Anna smiled before looking up at Ethan.

He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her. "I'm thankful for this, because I know you're a great girl Anna. It would take an angel to make my demon of a son get on the straight and narrow." Ethan chuckled. "Okay, Dad, I'm not that bad." Anna shrugged. "I don't know. You're pretty bad." He looked at her with an amused expression before kissing her cheek. Jefferson ate up the whole exchange. "The whole family is looking forward to meeting you Wednesday night." Anna expressed her excitement as well and for a few moments they just talked about themselves.

"I hope you know this doesn't change my expectations of you as my employee," Jefferson offered sternly. "I don't want anything to change. I care for your son very much, but I don't want to be treated differently because of it." He smiled at her and nodded. "You've got a good one here, Ethan James." He smiled down at her. "I know, Dad." Jefferson grunted.

"Good. Don't fuck it up." Anna couldn't help but giggle at their exchange as Ethan squeezed her waist. They walked out of the office hand in hand and it looked like everyone was waiting on bated breath to know what was going on. By the large smiles on Ethan and Anna's face they figured all was well. Anna noticed Jamal's forlorn expression and rolled her eyes. She had to work with him for the remainder of the day and prayed it would go by fast. He didn't say anything left field or express his opinions. He behaved the way she expected him to behave like a good teammate.

"We going back to your place or mine?" Ethan asked from behind Anna snapping her out of her illustration. Jamal looked up at him earning him a tight-lipped smile from Ethan. "Mine," Anna sighed as she finished up her drawing. "You have episodes to catch up on." She smiled as she placed her digital sketchpad in her purse and locked up her desk. "See you tomorrow, Jamal."

He waved a goodbye as he watched them walk away. Ethan knew where his eyes would land so he placed his hand just above her ass, so his fingers could caress the plump orb. "You just can't help yourself, can you? You have to grab my ass all the time." She snickered in his ear before they entered the elevator. "All the time? I've only done it once." He said confused. "Right. I just meant don't make it a habit." She chuckled, but he caught her nervousness.

"I'll meet you at your place." Ethan said heading towards the executive parking area. Anna pulled him close. "You don't really have to come over, you know. I think we got our point across up there." An expression came over his face that she couldn't read. "Well I want to. Besides we got to tackle rule number 2 at some point." Anna chuckled at him before nodding her head.