Superior - Chapter 8 (Patreon)

I couldn’t sleep that night. The vistage of Jane haunted my mind like a specter as I tossed and turned. Everything I knew about her, once again flipped onto its head. Was she sleeping with Carl? Bill? Was she a robot? Was she some sort of Greek Goddess sent from the mountains to punish me for my hubris?

Every question my hyperactive mind asked merely served to branch out into infinitely more questions, all without answers. To call this nineteen year old rival of mine an enigma was putting it lightly. She was a ten thousand piece puzzle composed of one solid color—a stunning auburn—and I hadn’t even found all the edge pieces yet.

It wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t have been possible. An environment like this should have been rigged against her from the start! A teenager who was way out of her element, surrounded by men twice her age and five times her experience. But it was as if I was now the one out of my element. That promotion to SVP was rapidly approaching. I didn’t stand a chance.

Perhaps, were it not for the party, I would have continued to relentlessly pursue her. But, something changed. I saw a new side of her. A vulnerable side. Previously, I viewed her as no different to a machine, an obstacle to merely overcome, but there was humanity bubbling under the surface.

All of her dialogue shared with me up to that point was either coldly to-the-point or possessing the slightest veneer of snark. It was as if she had no clue how overwhelming every aspect of her was, even when she was mocking me. But at that party, for the briefest moment, we connected.

Where did I even go from here?

The next day, in the meeting room, I found my gaze wandering. My eyes slowly followed the red line of the massive IBD chart printed onto our wall. In the previous months leading up to the winter, the line had remained rather stagnant, deviating from its line only with mere tics and bumps, and in an overall slight downward trend. But Jane had literally turned this company around, the stock chart’s line skyrocketing upwards from just last month alone. It showed no sign of slowing, either.

Her marketing strategies had worked. Her outreach was impeccable. Everyone in the office loved her or wanted to be loved by her. Jane was alpha-dog dominant.

So then, why didn’t she look happy about it?

My gaze drifted to Jane’s motionless face. She was intently focused on Carl, who, despite singing her praises without any complaints, didn’t seem to stir any excitement within her.

I couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t gloating. She wasn’t even smiling. No one had ever done what she had in the history of Currentech and yet she didn’t seem satisfied with her accomplishments at all. Was the fearful retreat during the holiday party still lingering in her mind? Or was she simply unsatisfied that the red line wasn’t charting at a 90 degree angle?

My mind was split between the two possibilities. Half was furious at her for not seizing the opportunity to at least be appreciative for all her hard work, thoughts of nepotism being the true reason for her unparalleled rise returning to my thoughts, as if she knew she didn’t deserve the praise she was getting. But the other half couldn’t deny that this cold calculation on her perfect face was fitting.

“John, did you hear what I said?”

My attention was thrust back into focus as the CFO’s voice pushed through the fog of my focused mind. Everyone’s attention in the meeting was suddenly put onto me. When I looked back at Jane, so too was she.

“Yes, Carl. I did. I understand completely and I agree.”

I felt like I was back in highschool, forcing myself to bite the bullet as not to admit I had dug myself into a pit of hatred and confusion towards a woman who simultaneously seemed half my age and twice my age at the same time, all because I wasn’t actually listening in to what my own superior was talking about.

“So, you’re comfortable with the switch?”

Once again, I had no choice but to answer. Confidence was key in the workplace, and I had a fifty percent chance of getting a good outcome.

“Yes, sir. I say we go for it,” I responded.

The other assembled executives nodded in unison, no one offering any objections.

“Very well. We’ll move the funding accordingly.”

I arched an eyebrow in confusion, looking around for context for what I had just agreed to. Then, Carl hit me with a bombshell.

“Right, seeing as John has agreed to it, we will be cutting his team of assistants from six to five, allocating one to Jane as she’s been such a hard worker this past month!”

I had to summon all my will to prevent my jaw from dropping. Carl, that old, stupid bastard! Not wanting to make a scene, I kept my mouth shut, allowing them to proceed forward. But within my sealed lips was pure, vitriolic hatred. While I may have unconsciously given my consent to such an action, the mere fact that I of all six other VPs was singled out to lose an assistant clued me in that this was the beginning of the end.

Once, I was the most well-revered member of my status, a titan of marketing and development—headed to the coveted spot of senior vice president itself. But Jane, she had trampled me time and time again, to the point that I was trampling myself merely bothering to be curious about her next possible move.

Damn her… Damn her impossible work ethic… Damn her painfully perfect breasts and curves!... Damn her flowing, autumn hair that captivated me!... Damn her soulful, emerald eyes, ones I could just stare at for an eternity. lost in their endless complexities as if they were as coveted as the gem itself…

Fuck! I couldn’t even criticize her without complimenting her!

“Also, Jane, because you’ve been such a productive employee, we even hired another woman to be your assistant!” Carl clarified, feeling proud of himself. “We figured it’s something you’d suggest, with your rather radical feminine shift in this company, to great success!”

My eyes shot daggers at Jane, but the redheaded teen heartthrob wasn’t even looking my way. Once again, she almost seemed… nervous about the recent revelation, though she hid it well. If I hadn’t seen her nervousness just yesterday, I likely wouldn’t have picked up on it today.

Just what was she just so damn nervous about? She had everything practically handed to her on a silver platter at this point it was so effortless to her!

With a mental round of applause, Carl welcomed a new face into the firm. If I hadn’t been introduced to Jane a month earlier, I’d easily say this girl was one of the most attractive girls I’d ever seen. Like Jane, her face looked extremely young. Cute. Almost childlike. But unlike Jane’s more prominent cheekbones, this woman’s face was somewhat chubby, even more wholesome than what Jane was putting out. Her large, brown eyes scanned the room nervously behind thick, punctual glasses, likely preparing herself for a world of male-dominated hell.

That was an all-too-familiar face. She might’ve been intelligent and gorgeous, but Jane had made me almost forget that most teenage girls would be super intimidated by a room full of men, some three times their age.

She was going to be eaten alive here—Carl once again proving what a doddering old fool he was, thinking that Jane was the rule and not the fringe exception. I, for one, could not wait to watch.

“Well, what are you waiting for, then? Introduce yourself!” Carl spoke, brimming with enthusiasm that the rest of the room and especially this new assistant did not share.

“H-hello everyone,” she sputtered, not at all possessing the mechanical cadence that Jane effortlessly invoked. “M-my name is Nadia. I-I believe I’m Jane Pantariste’s new assistant?”

Her face then lightened up once her eyes locked onto her new boss. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the age, the gender or all of the above, but this was a face of pure endearment.

Jane, however, did not share such a sentiment. Her face retained that subtle nervousness to it. There was a certain dread building up behind her eyes, one that was somehow related to that new assistant of hers. I didn’t even hide the dirty smirk that grew across my face. Jane may be able to conceal herself well, but this Nadia girl was a complete mess, I could just tell. It would only be a matter of time before she cracked under pressure, all I’d have to do is make sure that Jane would take the fall alongside her.

I watched Nadia like a hawk, trying my hardest to not be seen by Jane, especially knowing that she apparently had eyes on every camera after that off-handed comment to me in the elevator a few days ago.

Nadia was exactly the bumbling bimbo everyone suspected she’d be, but Jane kept her close. Maybe she just felt bad for the silly, chubby girl? Whenever I peaked a glance at the two of them, Jane appeared to be hard at work, with Nadia left to chat her ear off about whatever interested her at that moment.

If Nadia were placed with anyone else, she likely would have slowed them down. But somehow, even though I’m pretty sure I had read it was literally impossible to do, Jane could multitask her work and talk to her assistant at the same time.

I had requested that my office be moved closer, so that I could hear the conversations between the two girls. Perhaps Jane would attempt to include Nadia within her circle of trust and that I may be able to catch some secrets exchanged between the two of them.

It proved to be a gigantic waste of time.

Nadia went on and on about literally whatever was on her mind, ranting and raving on a variety of topics from video games to makeup to women’s sports to her favorite social media posts. I couldn’t see Jane’s physical reaction to any of this, but she generally responded in an appreciative manner, albeit the usual brief sentences, only responding with what was absolutely necessary.

However, one unusual event stuck out. Jane, after working for about an hour, stood up and told Nadia that she would be taking a small coffee break. I had never seen her take a break, much less a coffee one, even as she stayed up until the wee hours of the night. Nadia offered to get the coffee for her, but Jane quickly shot the idea down, ensuring her assistant that she could use the walk.

Heh, maybe even Jane is getting tired of Nadia’s antics. I thought to myself.

Being thorough, I stood up from my own chair and followed Jane to the break room from a distance, only to find her taking a hard right turn and entering the bathroom instead.

Why would she lie to Nadia like that? Over something as innocuous as going to the bathroom instead of coffee? Perhaps she merely realized she had to use the bathroom as well.

Or…

Maybe this was her chance to do something in private that she couldn’t do when Nadia was around. That prissy bimbo probably couldn’t keep a secret to save her life with all the gossip that spewed from her mouth 24/7.

I quietly walked into the men’s bathroom, placing my ear up to the vent that connected the two separately gendered rooms. If there was some sort of secret phone call or rehearsal that needed to take place, I’d be the first to hear it and also the first to bust her ass accordingly.

But what I heard was a grand reveal in a completely different way.

It started softly, to the point where I could barely make out the noise over the sound of the bathroom fan blaring. But as I trained my ears to drown out any unnecessary audio, they slowly began to recognize a subtle heavy breathing coming from one of the stalls. The heavy breathing slowly but surely transformed into louder and louder moans, my jaw dropping wider with each sound as I realized what this meant. It was unmistakably the voice of Jane, her lovely feminine cadences echoing off of the tiles like a siren’s song in an island’s cave.

Wimpers turned into howling cries as her voice increased louder and louder, rising infinitely like a shepard’s tone. They overpowered any other ambient noise, the sound of passionate squelching joining to create a cacophony of female bliss.

It culminated in a grand finale of ecstasy, Jane letting out a long, drawn out moan as she completed her orgasm, the squelching sound coming to an abrupt stop as her heavy breathing slowly calmed itself.

I heard the shuffle of fabrics, the flushing of a toilet and the running water of a sink. I peaked out to observe her leaving, only to enter the office kitchen like she had originally planned.

For the rest of the work day, nothing even came close to something as surreal as that. I wasn’t even sure what to make of it.

By the time it was closing, I noticed that Jane was actually leaving with the rest of the crowd, Nadia in tow. I confronted her curiously, an air of smugness to my curved smile.

“Well, well, well, finally ditching the hustle culture and returning to regular Americana?” I asked.

“No, the work is simply done a day ahead of schedule,” she replied, leaving me stupefied. How had she done two days worth of work in one day, all with that annoying assistant constantly chewing her ear off?

Jane kept walking even though I had slowed to a stop, mouth agape at her claim. I couldn’t believe her, but I could just sense that she had sent me an email explaining exactly why I should be afraid of her insane work ethic.

But she didn’t get far. Jim had arrived to meet up and head to the gym together with me, except he was noticeably distracted by the two lovely ladies walking by him.

“Well, hello, ladies” He spoke with his signature deep voice, “One of you must be the pretty girl all of your coworkers tell me about, is that right?” His eyes then locked onto Jane specifically. “Bingo, there you are.”

Jim put his hand beyond them to the wall behind the two girls, trapping them socially between a wall and his large, muscular body. Jim may have been a weaker rock climber and a MMA fighter, he clearly posed more than enough of a threat with his absurd, muscular body.

“Jim, leave ‘em alone,” I asked politely, as a friend.

“Leave ‘em alone? As if! You spent that whole day hyping up these girls back at the gym and now I finally get to see them! And one certainly lives up to the standard.” He began caressing Jane’s chin. She appeared rather annoyed, but said nothing.

He then turned his attention to Nadia, who was not handling this tense situation well. She was trembling as if she were next in line to have her head chopped off. Jim cocked his head to get a better look at her eyes.

But before he could lay a finger on Nadia, Jane retaliated. Using a low jab, Jane struck Jim directly in the dick, sending pain into his screaming voice and causing him to collapse on the spot.

“I-I’ll sure your ass! Do you know who I am!?” Jim yelled furiously as he twisted about on the floor.

“You’re a Lawyer. Surely, you’d be well aware that the law would favor me in court should you pursue legal action.”

Jim had no retort to that. She was right, that was in self-defense. He continued to lay there, cradling his crotch as he slowly writhed in pain. Nadia wrapped her arms around Jane, bringing the redhead into a hug.

Jane turned completely motionless, stiff as a board, as Nadia squeezed her tightly. She didn’t attempt to reciprocate the hug in any fashion, merely staring off into space with a blank face as her assistant failed to recognize the socially accepted length of a hug. Her face was a far cry from the cold, confident one mere seconds ago. If anything, she appeared to be… blushing.

Nadia, finally freeing Jane from her prison of hugs, said her ‘thank you’s’ a few too many times and then left, skipping every third step or so.

On the contrary, Jane was approaching me. I was prepared to ignore her, but then, what she said to me caught me completely off-guard.

“Would you like to accompany me to the gym instead of Jim?”