Isaac Ackley glanced over to where Skyler sat with her lunch front of her, concerned when he noticed the tired expression on her face. He knew she’d been putting in long hours lately in the hopes of finishing their latest project, but he was afraid it was more than work that had her upset.
Wanting to cheer her up, he started towards her. When he reached her table, he scanned the food in front of her; he became worried, as he could tell she hadn’t touched any of it at all. “You should try to eat something.”
Skyler gasped as she looked up at him, as she hadn’t even noticed Isaac had joined her. “I know, but my stomach just won’t stop rolling.” She kept her hands on her belly hoping if she tried hard enough, she could will it to calm down so she could eat at least some of her lunch.
“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?” he asked. He wished she would say she’d broken up with that idiot boyfriend of hers, but that would never happen, as according to some of the women in the office, he was too much of a catch to throw back.
“I’ve just been under a great deal of stress lately.” As she’d been worried about getting her latest project done before the deadline. She knew Isaac was interested in her but had kept his attraction to himself because of her engagement to Jarvis. She knew that if she told him about her breaking up with him, most likely, he would ask her out on a date.
She wasn’t sure if she was ready to get back up in the saddle just yet, but if she did, it wouldn’t be with a coworker. For if the romance ended, it would be very uncomfortable for them to continue working together. And for that reason alone, she wouldn’t get involved with him.
Isaac crossed his arms. “You best start talking, as I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong. After you tell me, I promise to do my best to make you smile.”
At his comment, she did give him a weak smile. “It mostly because of work, but some of it is the fact that I broke up with Jarvis,” she said, watching his expression for his reaction.
He frowned, as he knew she had loved the man enough to marry him, so he now understood her expression. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said sincerely. “Was he unfaithful?”
“No, he wanted his mother to live with us.”
He made of face of surprise. “Ouch! Why would he want that?”
“I’m not sure really. Since she and I can’t stand each other, I refused to marry him and live in the same house with that women. When I told Jarvis, he had to pick one of us, I was quite stunned that he chose his mother over me.”
“What a dumb man,” he muttered while trying to think of a way to ask her out.
She simply nodded.
“If he’s smart, he’ll be calling soon to tell you that he’s sorry and that he wants you back.”
She shook her head. “He should have thought of that before he opted for her, as now it’s too late. His decision had consequences, so he will have to live with them.”
“In that case, would you go with me to the company party tonight?” he asked, crossing his fingers under the table in the hopes she would say yes.
She was worried that if she accepted his offer, he might think there was a chance they would become an item. “Thank you for asking, but I don’t think so.”
He was disappointed by her response. “Why not?”
“I don’t think coworkers should date as I’ve heard too many stories of what happens once they quit dating.”
“How about if we go as coworkers and nothing more,” he said, knowing very well when the evening ended, he planned to steal a kiss from her. He knew she found him attractive, as he’d seen how she’d looked at him when she first started, and if he played his cards just right, maybe he could get her in bed.
“Then I’d be happy to go with you tonight.”
Isaac wanted to dance for joy but refrained from showing his excitement of her acceptance. “You better eat up, or your stomach will be growling during our afternoon meeting,” he said as he stood. “I’ll see you in the conference room.” He waved goodbye, then took off with a happy step to his walk.
She ate what she could, then cleaned up her lunch mess, and headed back to her office to get some writing materials for their meeting. When she entered the conference room, she took a chair at the far end of the room. When Isaac entered the room, he headed straight for her.
“Do you mind if I sit next to you?”
“Not at all,” she replied, now regretting accepting his offer to the company party, but didn’t say so as he sat down next to her.
As the room filled up around them, they talked about work related items until Herb Goodman entered the room. When everyone became quiet, he told the employees that they needed a new woman’s perfume for the Adler’s Account. As an incentive, they were making it into a contest and the person with the best formula would receive a check for ten thousand dollars.
Isaac just knew he had to win, as the money would be enough to pay off his credit cards, which were all maxed out. As he sat there trying to calculate a new formula in his head, Skyler leaned over to his ear.
“I’m going to turn in the new formula I just finished working on at home for the contest. I call it Rose Petal.”
“That’s great,” he muttered. Since she had a reputation for creating exceptional scents, he knew he had to find a way to get his hands on her new formula and enter it as his. Since she’d been working on it at home, he figured that where he needed to be in order to get his hands on it. Since time was critical, if he was going to steal it, it would have to be tonight or never.
He had some Rohypnol at home, a well- known date rape drug that was odorless, colorless and tasteless. It would be perfect for what he needed tonight, as when it’s slipped into a drink, it promoted loss of inhibition, memory loss, and confusion. It would be perfect for tonight, as he didn’t want her to have any memory of him being in her home when she found out that her new formula had been stolen.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
* * *
When they reached the hotel, Isaac told her that he was going to get them some drinks. He ordered two glasses of wine, and after the bartender handed them to him, he quickly dropped a tablet into one of them. Once it had dissolved, he picked up a swizzle stick, placed it in the glass, and mixed the drug into the wine, then dropped the swizzle stick into the trash and started towards Skyler.
Skyler thanked Isaac when he brought her a glass a wine, but she just held the glass as she visited with some of her coworkers. As they stood there talking, she was confused why Isaac was staring at her the way he was.
When she realized he was waiting for her to take a sip of her drink, she didn’t know what to do, as she hated wine. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, she put the glass up to her lips and pretended to take a drink. As soon as she did that, Isaac sighed.
Skyler was confused by his reaction, as it didn’t make any sense to her why he wanted to be sure that she drank the wine he’d brought her. Then it came to her that since he hadn’t asked her what kind of drink she wanted; he’d been worried she might not like what he’d selected. It never occurred to her that it could be drugged, as she trusted him.
“If you’ll excuse me, I see Marsha Davison over by the stage. I need to talk to her before the program start, but I’ll be back in a moment,” she told him. “I’ll meet you at our table.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.”
On her way to see Marsha, Skyler stopped at the bar and ordered a Screwdriver, leaving the full glass of wine behind. By the time, she’d finished with Marsha, it almost time to find Isaac and go sit down. On the way to her table, she stopped at the bar and got a second one to have with her dinner, relieved Isaac didn’t ask anything about the wine he had brought her.
Not used to more than one drink, Skyler was tipsy by the end of the evening. So, when Isaac followed her into the house, she didn’t think to stop him from kissing her. Then one thing leaded to another, and soon they were headed toward her bedroom. She hadn’t planned to go to bed with Isaac, but he created a hot fire in her, something Jarvis hadn’t ever accomplished in all the time they’d been together. The bed activity was fast and furious, and five minutes later, she had passed out.
Isaac didn’t feel guilty for what he was about to do, which said a lot about his character. Since she was one of a greatest chemist in the country, he knew that once he had her new formula in his hands, he was going to be the winner of that ten-thousand-dollar price money.
He quickly dressed, then hurried into the living room where Skyler had her laptop. When he reached it, he quickly opened it up and pushed the power button. When the desk top screen appeared, Isaac let out a soft sigh of relief to see she didn’t have password protection on her computer.
When he opened the computer files, he swiftly found the file marked perfume formula, but before he could do anything else, he heard a noise, and his head jerked upwards. Thinking he’d been caught, his heart started pounding in his chest and his mouth suddenly went dry.
When he saw the tom cat heading his way, he relaxed, and his attention returned to the laptop in front of him. He took the flash drive out of his pocket, inserted into the computer and without even bothering to open the file, he swiftly copied it. Once that was done, he removed the flash drive and stuck it into his pocket. He turned off the power, closed the lid of the laptop, and placed it back where he found it. Once that was done, he made his way to the front door.
As he closed the door, he was grinning, as with the amount of drug he’d given her, there wasn’t any way she’d remember him ever being in her home. So, he when he presented her formula as his and she accused him of stealing her formula, and he knew she would, he would just claim he’d come up with the same formula on his own.
* * *
The next morning when Skyler woke, she was a bit embarrassed to the fact she and Isaac had slept together last night. She turned her head to see if he was awake and was surprised to see the bed was empty next to her. Being that it was still early, she assumed he must be somewhere in her home, so she threw on some clothes and went to search him out.
Finding the house empty, she decided it was for the best as it could be embarrassing for both. With that in mind, she headed for her laptop to finish working on her formula for the Adler’s Account, and so engrossed with working on her new creation, Isaac was soon forgotten.
* * *
That Monday morning meeting started with Herb Goodman saying that Isaac would be presenting first.
Isaac walked up to the front of the room, stuck his flash drive into the laptop and began clicking on the keys. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen once Skyler realized what he’d done, but with her not having any memory of him being at her place last night, it would be her words against his.
Once he was ready for his Power Point presentation, he turned to his coworkers as he brought up the screen with the stolen formula on it. “I call this simply Rose.”
When he heard a female gasp, he knew Skyler was now aware of what he’d done, but when she didn’t speak up to accuse him of stealing her formula, he assumed she had decided not to say anything, so he went on with his report. After he was finished, he asked if anyone had any questions, and Skyler stood and faced him.
When Skyler saw her partial formula up on the screen, she couldn’t believe this had happened to her a second time, but she wasn’t worried by what Isaac had stolen. “Have you even looked at your so-called formula?”
“Since I created it, of course I have,” he said bravely, then looked over at the screen, and as soon as he saw the formula, he instantly knew he’d made a huge mistake.
“If you had created it; you would have known it wasn’t a complete formula,” she replied with a wicked smile. “You stole it from me on Friday night. I bet you drugged that glass of wine you gave me, thinking that I wouldn’t have any memory of you inviting yourself into my bed.”
Skyler so angry with Isaac, she didn’t realize she’d just told all her coworker that she’d had sex with Isaac. “Since I didn’t drink any of it, my memory of that night is very clear. The whole date was just so you had an excuse be in my home to steal my formula, wasn’t it?”
Herb stood, livid for something like this had happened at his company. “I want you both in my office immediately.” Since he was aware why Skyler had left her last company, he was worried this incident may cause her to leave this one too. He dreaded the thought, as hiring her had been one of his greatest accomplishments.
Once they were in his office, he closed the door and motioned for the other two to sit down. “Isaac, can you verify that the formula is actually yours?” he asked, though he knew who had truly created the formula.
Skyler started to interrupt, but Herb held his hand up to silence her. His actions made her wonder if he thought she had lied about the incident at Logan’s Make-Up.
“Of course, it’s mine. I haven’t any reason to steal someone else’s formula,” Isaac replied hatefully.
“Isaac, you have ten thousand reasons to steal someone else’s work. Everyone in the room knew what you had up on the screen wasn’t a completed formula. You still want me to believe you created that formula?”
“In the excitement of the contest, I’d simply forgot to finish it.”
Herb doubted his words but decided to give him a chance to admit it on his own. “If that’s true, then finish it now.”
Knowing he’d blew it, as there wasn’t any way he could do that, he decided it was best just to admit the truth. “Okay, I stole her formula.”
“You know what this means don’t you?” he asked the young man before him.
“It means I just screwed myself out of a job.”
“That’s right.”
Isaac was escorted to his office where his belongings were quickly packed up. After everything was in boxes, he and his belongings were escorted to the front door, where he was told never to return.
After Isaac had been taken care of, Skyler and Herb returned to the meeting. When Skyler presented her formula to the group, she also passed out a small sample of her creation to everyone to try.
Herb was thrilled with her inventiveness of having a sample of her perfume and everyone in the room raved that she had to be the winner as her new creation was perfect for the Adler’s account.
Skyler felt bad that Isaac had lost his job, but he had done it to himself. It wasn’t going to be easy to replace him, but luckily, for her, that job wasn’t her responsibility. Of course, with his dismissal, some of his responsibilities would fall on her until they hired someone new.