By Friday I’d accepted that Mike was my boss and I was going to be strung out for a while. I still didn’t like either of those things, but I’d accepted them. I would find someone else to fill the gap between my legs, and I would work my ass off to get Mike’s old job and keep proving how good I was at my job.
I was in the middle of a project that needed my focus anyway. Sex didn’t need to be on my mind, but sometimes I felt like a teenaged boy. Not getting any didn’t help my focus. It seemed as though I was going to need to find a replacement for Mike sooner rather than later.
“How about this?” Luke asked when he stepped into my office.
Luke was the Maintenance Manager for the plant. He had area supervisors under him that dealt with each of the production buildings, but Luke was the guy over all of maintenance.
We’d worked together for a while, but I’d never bothered to notice the way his black hair curled over his collar, or the midnight blue shade of his eyes, or the strength of his body before. He was a guy that was hard for a woman to ignore.
Especially a woman who was practically vibrating with need.
I pushed my lust aside and looked at what Luke was holding in his hand. He’d been working with me on a schedule. I had a kaizen event scheduled for three weeks out and was trying to schedule people to help out. Since the events took place during the workday we always asked for overtime help. Luke had gotten volunteers from his departments to assist with the event since there was always a lot of maintenance work to be done.
The kaizen was going to last two days, a compromise between the three days I hoped for and the one day the T-33A building manager, Adam, wanted to give me. I always took what I could get because I knew any time to improve the work stations would make the area more productive, even if the managers sometimes fought me on the production downtime required to do the event.
Luke had three mechanics and one electrician scheduled for each four-hour slot, three each, both days. Some had signed up for more than one slot, which worked for me. The employees who worked the equipment daily would be a part of the kaizen, and paired with the maintenance guys and the managers who were required to help out, we had plenty of people for the event.
“It looks great, Luke. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support with all these events. I know it’s not easy getting your people to come in.”
“Actually, they love it. A chance to really make some improvements to the equipment they’ve been trying to get money for… it’s great for them. I never have to beg for volunteers. Usually I have more than you have available slots.”
“You can send more if you want. I’ll never turn down help, especially since I wanted this to be a three-day event. If you have more hands that can come, I’ll add in a few more projects.”
Luke nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah—”
“If you’re worried about overtime pay, don’t,” a voice said from the door. A voice I knew almost as well as I knew my own. A voice that was attached to the man I’d been carefully avoiding for the last three days.
“Overtime is always a concern,” Luke said, turning to Mike with a grin. “You haven’t been the boss long enough to have forgotten that, have you?”
Mike smiled at Luke’s teasing. “Nope, I haven’t forgotten. That’s why I’m telling you. This is an important project. I know Adam pushed back on the time for it, but if you can make the same amount of work happen in one less day, it’ll be a huge gain. Of course, it’ll probably mean other managers will push back on the downtime and ask you for more support to still get the work done on their projects, but we’ll work something out.”
Luke nodded happily, thinking through the implications of what Mike said. I knew having a blank check written for overtime was significant for anyone who managed people. Mike offering that to Luke, even for a two-day period, was giving his full support. To my project. To help me.
“I’ll talk to the others who signed up. Some could only come for certain slots, but I’ll see what I can work out. Can I take this back and work through it some more?” Luke asked me, reaching for the schedule he’d left on my desk. His mind was already on adding more people, but I couldn’t let him leave.
I didn’t want to be alone with Mike. I had nothing more to say to him.
“Sure, but I wanted to go over the projects with you. Do you have a little longer?” I asked hastily, almost panicked.
Luke looked between Mike and me as though he could figure something out. Mike’s hazel eyes didn’t betray anything. He appeared to be calm and casual. I was the opposite, a bundle of nerves on the inside.
The shitty thing was, I didn’t really know why.
“Did you need to talk to Lexi, boss?” Luke finally asked Mike.
Mike shook his head. “Just came down to see how the kaizen plans were going. I haven’t had any involvement in it so far since it’s not my building, but now I guess it is. If you two are okay with it I’d like to hang around and hear about the projects. Since we’ve done a few in X-7L I might have some suggestions. If that’s okay?” Mike was talking to Luke, but his eyes held mine. I stood there frozen as he searched me, looking at me as though he could see my secrets in my eyes. Secrets I’d worked hard to keep hidden. Secrets no one knew but me.
And that wasn’t going to change any time soon.
“Fine by me,” Luke said, watching the two of us carefully.
I finally managed to nod, knowing I couldn’t get out of it without a good excuse. One I didn’t have at the moment. Mike flashed me a victorious grin, telling me he knew exactly what he’d done, and that he’d won.
I pulled out my list of activities as the two men moved closer to me, Luke on my right, Mike on my left. The heat of the two men sent my head swirling. I could smell Mike, his expensive cologne mixed with a hint of sweat that told me he’d been working. But I could smell Luke too, and that wasn’t unpleasant, even if it didn’t turn my insides into a knot the same way Mike did.
Pushing aside the crazy thoughts in my brain I focused on the schedule. “Okay, so the first thing we need to do is clean everything. I know everyone hates that, but the press is filthy. Having dirt between the plates can introduce a gap and we all know gaps aren’t an option for a filter press. I want all the plates that we use for that press on the floor so everything can get cleaned. I’ve got a pressure washer reserved for that day along with a dry ice machine.”
“Dry ice?” Luke interrupted.
“Yes. I’ve read about the effects of dry ice on cleaning in industrial settings. Since the material on the press is fine, it’s hard to get off. Dry ice appears to work well, but you have to be careful, of course. We’re only going to use it on the press, not the screens. Those will just be pressure washed.”
Luke nodded, and Mike said, “Sounds good so far. What’s after cleaning?”
“Once everything is cleaned and all the debris is carried off, we’ll start working on the improvements. There’s a large tool board on the floor that holds most of the things the guys up there need, but not everything. I’ve ordered some new tools and a new board that will hold everything. We’re going to have the employees on the floor set up the board the way they want it. For your guys, Luke, I need some help with laying out mats, replacing one of the supports, and painting.”
Luke groaned. No one ever saw the value in painting a piece of equipment, yet everyone loved having equipment that was shiny and new and freshly painted.
“I know painting is one of those things that everyone thinks is a waste of time. Here’s what I’ve seen. In X-7L we painted one of the presses. It’s high temp, durable, high-quality paint. It isn’t the shit you buy to paint your house because that won’t stick well to metal and won’t stand up to the abuse these pieces of equipment take. It’s good paint. In X-7L the press is the best looking piece of equipment. We both know how shitty they look after a short period of time, but the guys take care of it. They like to see it cleaned at the end of the shift. I’ve got a purple color selected since that’s the color of the presscake going through here. The presscake won’t stand out so the press will look good even if it isn’t cleaned thoroughly all the time, but I’d bet these guys will want to keep it looking good.”
Luke looked like he was trying to figure out if I was crazy or just stupid when Mike jumped in. “She’s right. I fought back on painting the X-7L press, but I’m glad we did it. That one’s gray since we send everything through it, but the paint is a high gloss so not much sticks to it and it washes clean real easy. My guys loved it. It’s been a year and it still looks brand new.”
Luke’s eyes traveled from Mike to me and back again. I watched as the two men stared each other down. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on between them, but I could tell there was a little rivalry there that I didn’t know anything about before that moment.
Luke finally broke the staring contest and glanced back to me, his eyes dancing as though he’d figured out something.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what it was.
“Okay, I’ll trust you. What’s the mat for?”
“A few years ago we had a couple people go to the hospital because a vent below released when it wasn’t supposed to. If a mat had been there the vapors would have gone around the people dumping the press instead of right over them. There’s collection at the press and above that’s always on so if we divert some of the air flow around the press it’ll be safer. Not perfect, but better.”
Luke nodded. “Easy enough. What projects are my electricians going to be working on?”
“There’s some wiring we want moved and a panel we’re going to add to the site. Right now the guys have to rely on sound to tell them if the press is done. Since the people on this floor don’t usually have radios, they can’t always get in touch with the control room to find out if the flows have stopped. We have fail-safes in, but the operators asked for a panel here, not interactive, just monitoring, so they can see what’s going on inside the press.”
Luke nodded as I talked, rubbing his chin. Black hair peppered his jaw giving him a rough edge that I knew was all for show. Luke was one of the nicest guys I’d ever met. He was a fair manager and someone everyone respected and really liked.
And he was single.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he could relieve some of the pressure that’d been building inside me over the last few days.
“It sounds like you’ve got everything under control,” Mike said, breaking the silence. I’d been staring at Luke, my head cocked slightly to the side, imagining him with less clothes. I wasn’t sure if Mike knew where my thoughts had gone or if he was just trying to get rid of Luke, but either way, my face flushed when he looked at me. His eyes widened before he glanced at Luke then looked back at me with something that looked dangerously close to jealousy.
“Yeah,” I said, my eyes not leaving Mike’s. “I’m good. I’m taking care of everything. Luke’s giving me a hand when I need it too, so I’m all taken care of.”
I purposely let Mike believe he’d been replaced even though any time I’d tried to relieve any of that building pressure, Mike’s had been the only face to pop into my mind. I hated that I was so reliant on him for orgasms, but I couldn’t deny his skill.
“Good. Happy to hear it,” Mike ground out. “If everything’s in order, then I guess you don’t need anything from me.”
I smiled at him, and he turned and left.
Letting me finally breathe again.
“That was weird,” Luke said from behind me. I’d forgotten he was there.
“What was weird?” I asked, attempting innocence.
“Wasn’t he acting strange? For a second there, I thought he was going to punch me or something. Then I thought he was going to go all caveman on you and drag you out of here.”
I laughed with Luke, pretending the idea of Mike dragging me out of the office was ridiculous. If only he knew that was how our friends-with-benefits relationship had started. Sort of.
I was working late getting ready for the kaizen on the X-7L press when Mike found me in my office. He said he saw my light on and wanted to make sure I was okay. When he kissed me… I couldn’t believe he was such a good kisser. I’d been so focused on my career that I hadn’t been with anyone in a while, and just the simple touch of his lips against mine made my head spin and my core pulse with need.
When he finally pulled back from the kiss, he said he was sorry and that it wouldn’t happen again. I asked him why not, then dragged him home with me and relieved all the stress I’d been under for years.
He became like a drug for me after that. He showed me exactly how much fun sex could be when you learned each other’s bodies, something I’d never stuck around long enough for with anyone else. Mike was a passionate lover, someone who put me first and made me breathless and boneless before he even thought about taking care of his own needs. Giving him up was going to be incredibly difficult, like a junkie in need of a fix.
But I would do it. Somehow.
“Well, I’m glad he didn’t punch me. He’s never really been a big fan of mine since we’re always competing for time with the equipment. Hopefully in his position now he’ll come to see my side of things a little more.”
“I didn’t know you two didn’t like each other. He’s never said anything about that.”
Luke eyed me again. “You make it sound like you two are close.”
I shook my head and prayed my cheeks wouldn’t turn red. “No, of course not. We’ve just worked a few kaizens together. Like he mentioned. He’s a big supporter of these events. The crew in X-7L really get behind them.”
“Huh,” Luke said, watching me carefully, not buying my bullshit for a second. “Well, I think it all started when he got the X-7L job. I didn’t think he was experienced enough for it. I guess some of my comments made it back to him and he felt like I had it out for him. I was just trying to be objective.”
“It’s hard to be objective when a job is on the line. Emotions always get to people.”
“Not you though,” Luke said with a grin, working his way toward the door to my office. “You’re like a rock. I’ve never seen you lose your cool. I’m quite impressed by it.”
“Thanks,” I muttered as he waved goodbye and vanished. If he only knew I never lost my cool because I bottled my emotions up so tight they might as well not exist.
And they’d stay there, in that bottle, forever.
