The Motivator, Part One

Peoples!

Howzit? Another Friday. They are so sneaky. I completely forget what day it is when I’m writing.

So this was Hubby’s first week at work and he is thrilled. He gets a FREE LUNCH. That’s right. A freakin’ free lunch at work. Three weeks paid vacation, thirteen holiday days off and all his coworkers are super nice. He’s feeling extremely lucky. And so am I. After fourteen years of being ten feet from the guy 24/7, I finally have alone time. It’s so weird. And so wonderful. I mean, I love my husband, but having some time to really get things done is awesome. And he comes home happy which is even better. I can’t believe it was only a few weeks ago that we were both miserable. Things sure can change fast.

So here’s a new story for you called The Motivator. And boy, is this guy motivating. You’ll never guess the tools he uses. HEEEEEE!!!!!

I hope you’re all doing well out there in Cyberland and I hope you have a great weekend. Ours is supposed to be rather soggy, so I’ll be doing lots of indoor activities. Hopefully involving sex. Lots of sex. Mostly sex.

Hugs to you all,
Michelle




“How’s class goin?” Lydia asked.

Heather groaned. “Oh, God, don’t ask.”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t pass Physics again.”

“Physics Three, thank you very much.”

“Still? How many times have you taken that course?” Lydia demanded.

Heather laughed. “God… uh, I think this is the fourth.”

“How many times do they let you take the course?”

“As many times as I want to pay for it.”

Heather sipped on her latte and took a bite of her pastry. She and four co-workers were in the break room, having coffee and chatting. Along with Heather and Lydia, there was Sherrill, the overweight, nail-biting sales manager, Jason, the young executive intern and Curt, the mysterious and handsome financial consultant.

Curt was only supposed to have been there for a month, but they’d been so impressed with him, he had work lined up there for the next year. With his sparkling blue eyes, his tall, lean frame, a quick smile and killer facial bone structure, Curt was exactly her type. Heather got a crush on the guy at first sight. But he kept his cards close to the vest and didn’t seem to be interested in any office romances.

And why would he be interested in her? She was a freakin’ disaster area.

Jason nodded Heather’s way. “What are you guys talking about? You’re in school, Heather?”

“So the school thinks,” she cracked. “No, Jason, dear, you see I’m only twenty units shy of a master’s degree, and all I have to do is to pass a few classes and bingo, more money, a new degree and the potential to get into Research and Development here.”

Jason seemed surprised. “You want to do that? It doesn’t have the income potential that Sales does.”

“No. But it actually interests me. I’m gettin’ burnt on dealing with our customer base. I want to do what I thought I’d be doing, actually getting involved with some exploration instead of just selling product.”

Sherrill nodded her way. “You need a PhD for that.”

“Don’t I know it. But I got friends in there, if I get my Masters, they can sneak me in and then I’ll have three years to get my doctorate. And of course, the company will pay for it. Well, if I actually passed a class, it would help.”

“Have you tried a tutor?” Lydia asked.

“Why does everybody suggest that? I am smart, I just…”

Jason asked, “What?”

“I hate school. I hate it. I hate, hate, hate class. And this… I’m having trouble with the subject. It got all esoteric on me. I mean, the first two Physics classes were awesome, I got it, I understood it, but it was all pretty tangible. This next crap… is not. I don’t get it and I don’t want to get it… I don’t know, I just got this block.”

Lydia turned to her. “And you’re addicted to several reality show series.”

“And there’s that.”

“Sounds like you just need some motivation,” Curt said.

Heather looked up at him. He didn’t talk to her often, but for some reason, she’d just got his attention with her conversation. And now that she had it, she was a bit uncomfortable. She couldn’t tell what the guy thought. He was super cute, but something about him scared her. There was a look in his eye that made her so nervous. She didn’t know what it was, she couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was some darkness to the guy somewhere deep within him. Maybe not a darkness, but he gave off a certain aura of power. He was certainly self-assured.

“Yeah, motivation would help. Do you know where I can buy some?” Heather cracked.

He smiled, but there was a sharpness to the look behind his eyes. He made her feet feel funny and her stomach fluttery, but it wasn’t all sexual attraction. She felt almost afraid of him. Weird.

“I might,” he said.

“What? Starbucks?” she asked.

He smiled again. But his gaze seemed to almost look through her. He was evaluating her, gauging her, it was disconcerting to say the least. But Heather never allowed people to know if they were getting to her, she put up a good, nonchalant front for the man. Not to mention the group.

“No,” Curt replied. “I’m talking about personal coaches. People who help you stay on track. Maintain schedules. Complete goals.”

Heather regarded him. “You mean, like a cheerleader?”

He smiled. “Something like that. Sometimes they try a bit of tough love if you slack off. But yes, they’ll also cheer you on, to help you accomplish your goals.”

“Tough love. Like bootcamp tough love?” Heather asked.

“So I’ve heard,” Curt said. “I have a few contacts, people who do this sort of thing.”

“Hmmm. Well, I’m not that desperate yet. But I’ll think about it. I have been a bad, bad girl lately.”

The look in his eye changed. If she wasn’t mistaken it went sort of feral, intense, predatory. What did she say? The “bad girl” line. Huh. Very interesting.

She smiled at him and realized that it was a flirty smile. She quickly let it fade. No playing with fire. Curt looked like an inferno and she was in no mood to get burned.

“So are you gonna take the class again?” Lydia asked.

Heather laughed. “I already signed up. I start next week and I’m already thinking of ways to cut class.”

The group broke up laughing.

“So number five is the charm?” Lydia said.

Heather waved a hand. “Oh, God, I don’t know. All I know is that I need to grow up. I swear, the whole thing is that I’m some big child. I’m so spoiled. I work, I go home, I do a bit of a workout, then it’s tube time. I hardly clean the house anymore; I hardly do anything on the weekends. I’ve turned into a total slug since what’s-his-face moved out.”

“He was a neat freak jerk,” Lydia said, pointing at her with a biscotti.

Heather checked her watch. “Maybe that has something to do with it—oh, Christ, I have a meeting in five minutes. See you, guys,” she said, getting up.

As she left, she caught Curt’s gaze. Intense. She’d peaked his interested for some reason. Which was both exciting and scary at the same time. She wasn’t sure what was going on with him, but she’d got his attention. Which, on second thought, couldn’t be a bad thing. He was hot!

©2009, Michelle Carlyle