Love Like a Man

Chapter 37 - Chuck. F*cking. Bass.

Friday morning Claire walked into work with a little extra pep in her step – There's nothing like being well-fucked to put you in a good mood. She knew the day was going to take forever to end. Fridays always seemed to crawl forward, the added promise of an encore presentation from Gabe that night would make it go by so slowly it would feel as if time were moving backwards. Claire sighed to herself and wished that the man were still in the building, he and his crew finished their work earlier in the week.

She wouldn't even have the opportunity to eyeball his ass in his work jeans...

Or look at his strong forearms flex as he worked...

Or see his chiseled features tense as he concentrated...

Or watch him giving orders to his crew...

Which led her to think of him ordering her... Ahhh!!

Claire decided she had to stop thinking like this. It was probably a good thing that Gabe wasn't at the office anymore. There was a real chance her horniness just might have made her bold enough to go for his offer of a quickie in a bathroom.

An email notification popped up on her screen. It was an announcement from HR. Claire hastily opened the email, taking the opportunity to think about something other than her hunk. She felt her stomach sink as she scanned the words. Piece of shit Brent had gotten the promotion Marv had told her she wasn't ready for.

Claire didn't know if she should scream, or cry. Or maybe it would be more appropriate to lift her computer monitor off her desk and throw it across the room? This was beyond unfair. It was insulting and demeaning. A total slap in the face. This was so much worse than applying and not getting the job. Her dick boss had paved the way for his Golden Boy by ensuring Claire wasn't even in the running.

Tears stinging her eyes, Claire rushed to the bathroom. She sat in one of the stalls for a good ten minutes trying to compose herself, but it was impossible. She couldn't herself from getting increasingly angry as the minutes wore on.

Claire wanted to make like an ostrich and keep her head in the sand and avoid the world, but she knew she'd have to come out of the bathroom sooner or later. The problem was that she didn't know what to do once she went back to her desk. In the past, Claire would suck it up and congratulate her co-worker that got the promotion while telling herself that they were more deserving of it anyways. But this time, the person who was promoted was someone who she could run circles around in every arena. This time she couldn't lie to herself about being less qualified and she didn't have it in her to swallow her pride and wish him well.

Realizing that it would be impossible for her to think clearly about her next move while being so upset, Claire decided to use the corporate version of a get out of jail free card and used a sick day so she could go home and wallow in private.

Within half an hour Claire was standing in the freezer aisle of the grocery store deciding between President's Choice ice cream flavours. There was no way she'd make it through the day without provisions. Now the Red Velvet looked good, but it was one of those flavours that always sounded better than it actually tasted. Birthday Cake was in the same category, she decided it was more likely it would taste like plain vanilla ice cream than gooey vanilla frosting. Her eyes roamed until she hit Loads of Chocolatey Peanut Butter Treats. Bingo. She opened the freezer door and put one into her shopping basket, then also grabbed a carton of Cookies and Mint for good measure.

Next on her short sopping list was tonic. Claire decided to treat herself to some Fever Tree, she was normally a Canada Dry girl not wanting to shell out extra cash for the premium tonic, but today she needed all the cheer she could buy herself.