Anthony had his eyes on the clock in the bottom right corner of his computer. He had waited all week for that clock to read 5:00 pm on Friday, just like he does every week. And he was less than an hour from reaching that weekly milestone. This week had been especially brutal for him. His nagging boss Karen had been riding his ass even harder than usual, and he desperately needed the weekend to come, even though it only meant recharging for two days and coming back to do it all over again.
Ever since the ugly divorce Anthony has felt that he is stuck in this job he can no longer stand. He needs this job because he's just scraping by, but has no motivation to look for a better one since any additional income he makes will just get taken away in child support payments. Lately he's been in a constantly foul mood. Bitter, angry, unmotivated and desperate. Which is not a great recipe for meeting women, so he hasn't been laid in over six months, which doesn't help his mood.
The job itself isn't too bad. He knows what he's doing and does it pretty well, but all of the outside problems have taken their toll on him. Plus the fact that his boss is very demanding and pushy and places a ton of added stress and pressure on him. It's year end time and the accounting department is under heavy deadline pressure, which have clearly gotten to Karen. She's never been the friendliest person, as she runs a tight ship and is very demanding, but year end turns her from bitchy to satanic. It's too bad, because she's a fairly attractive woman for someone who dresses as professional as her. She's a tall, slender red head in her early 40's. Her body is concealed under heavy pants and skirts and business jackets, but she's at least slender and athletic looking. Of course, all of this is easily overlooked due to her personality.
Anthony has managed to work under Karen for two years, six overall with the company, without having any major problems with her. But the problems from his personal life along with the stress from work are pushing him to his limits. In the last few weeks he's had a couple of run-in's with Karen and he's not been shy to show Karen his lack of motivation for the job. He's been less productive and very surly towards Karen and the rest of his co-workers.
But all he could think about was 5:00 pm. Only 20 more minutes. As his mind wandered off to his first order at the bar, his phone rang. It was Karen's name on the screen. With his mind in weekend mode, the last thing he wanted to do was deal with her bullshit, so he ignored the call. Anthony was done for the week and began wasting the last minutes of the week on the internet. As he was deciding which article looked most interesting on espn.com, he was startled by a firm "Anthony!" As he clumsily tried to close the web browser he glanced up and saw Karen glaring at him. "Karen, how can I help you?" stuttered Anthony.
After a quiet pause, Karen demanded "I just called you, why didn't you pick up?"
"I was on the other line" Anthony fired back, his jaw tightening as his blood quickly boiled.
Karen glared at him and said in a sarcastic tone "What, where you on the phone with your wife?"
Anthony snapped at her "What the hell do you want Karen?" He had just crossed the line, and he knew it, but at this point didn't give a fuck. He looked at her defiantly. Her face blushing with anger, she ordered him into her office and marched off.
After composing himself for a few minutes, Anthony made the long walk to Karen's office. It was isolated from the rest of the staff, down the hall and around a corner. Two walls were visible from the outside. One was a glass wall which always had the blinds closed. The other was the entrance to the office. Anthony entered the open door and Karen immediately barked "Shut the door please." Anthony looked into her eyes as he tossed the door shut behind him. The other two walls had a great view of the city. Those had curtains, which were open, letting in the last rays of sunshine for the day. From her office you could see the smoking deck where Anthony let out plenty of steam, especially recently.
"Have a seat, Anthony" is what snapped him out of admiring the large office and the view. His eyes jolted over to Karen. She had taken a seat behind her desk. Looking stiff and formal and serious like always in her knee-length skirt, panty hose, closed toe heels, button down shirt and jacket. He walked over and sat down, all the while looking at her angrily. "I don't know what your problem is Anthony, but you do not disrespect me, especially in public. Your attitude and work habits have been terrible lately and I have no choice but to give you a written warning. One more and you're fired." She slammed a sheet of paper on the desk.
"What's this?" he asked incredulously.
"It's a written reprimand" she replied. "Read it over and sign it and you can go."
Anthony defiantly stated, "What if I don't want to sign this."
Karen answered, "If you refuse then you can gather your belongings and never come back".
"That's bullshit!" he angrily said in a loud voice. She stood up, trying to impose her authority, and glared at him.
"If it's bullshit, then leave" she said, challenging him. Anthony stood up and leaned forward. They were now a foot apart, face to face.
He slowly and firmly said "Fuck you Karen, I quit." He then crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it at her face.
Her instant reaction was to slap him, which she did. Her open right hand slammed violently against his left cheek. A sharp slapping sound filled the air, and his cheek turned red from the impact. His instant reaction was to reach his arm across the desk and grab her. His left hand gripped the top front of her button down shirt. Four fingers on the inside of the shirt, while his thumb pressed against the outside. She jerked back. He reacted by pulling her towards him. They both did so with force. They struggled for a few seconds and then she jerked back once more with all her might. Her buttons flew off from the top of her shirt down to just above her belly button. The shirt flung open revealing a very snug fitting white bra, lots of lightly tanned skin, and a surprisingly full looking chest, most of which was crammed into that bra.
"You asshole!" she yelled, "Get the fuck out of my office." Anthony was still filled with rage. His heart pounded in his chest and his legs slightly trembled. There was stillness in the air as they both looked at each other, trying to compose themselves. Anthony's mind quickly recapped all that had just occurred in the last few minutes. He had lost his cool, lost his job, and attacked his boss. What was he going to do now without a job. How was he going to land another good job with what he just said and did to his boss. This seemed to be the culmination to a surreal last few months. He felt desperate. He felt as though his life had just ended.
His eyes wandered to Karen's smooth looking, lightly tanned skin. He followed the curves of her bra. Her eyes followed his and she quickly closed her shirt and held it closed. "Leave now you pervert" she ordered.
