On Her Knees by Jenika Snow
3
The following week
Karina came into work a little early and went to her desk in the back of the office. She set her bag down and saw a red envelope sitting on her keyboard. Picking it up and opening it, she saw it was an invitation for a work event being hosted by Mr. Port.
Although they had holiday parties, and had one just a few months ago, Viktor had never had another one so close to a previous one.
Port Industries invites you to a formal event of dinner and drinks.
She kept reading, seeing it was some kind of celebratory dinner because of a large merger Mr. Port had acquired within the last month. She glanced up at where Barbara was sitting and moved around her desk to speak with the woman.
“Did you get this, too?” Of course she assumed Barbara had, but Karina was basically an errand and file girl in Port Industries. Wouldn’t these kinds of parties be held for the higher-ups in the company?
Barbara glanced up, her glasses precariously low on her nose. She looked at the card, and then back at Karina. “I did.”
“Is this normal?” Karina wasn’t going to complain about a fancy party, but she found it a bit odd they’d gotten one, especially for a merger. She knew over the last year Viktor had merged with one other smaller business, and nothing had been held for that, so why now?
“He’s never had a merger party for the staff before, but I’m not one to complain, especially since I know he splurges for the holiday parties.” Barbara looked at the invitation again. “This must be a huge merger for him to want to throw a party for the office.” She shrugged. “Just go with it, honey, and don’t try to understand why Mr. Port does the things he does.” Barbara smiled and turned her attention back to the computer.
Karina moved back to her desk, staring at the invitation again and feeling a tightness in the back of her neck. She didn’t know why holding this little piece of cardstock felt strange, or why the idea that she’d be seeing Viktor out of the professional sense felt strange, too.
He might have thrown them a lavish holiday party, but he hadn’t even been present, so it wasn’t like she had to see him. This merger party made her feel like he would be there, and that had her nerves a little tight.
Opening her desk drawer and putting the invitation in there, she focused on work and tried to push away that weird feeling inside of her. But she couldn’t lie and say the very idea of seeing Viktor in a semi-informal setting, or at least a setting that wasn’t work related, didn’t have that arousal she felt for him rising.
She was delusional to even think about Viktor, but hey, a little fantasy never hurt anything, right?
