Free Moments Lost and Found by Olivia Jake

Samantha.”
     “True.” She agreed as she
slumped into her chair. She really was exhausted and tired of the TimeCap
bullshit. But then she straightened and said, “I’m sorry, Laurent. I’m also the
one who wanted us to try to keep our professional life separate from our
personal life and it’s very unprofessional of me to complain to one client
about another. Let’s pretend I never mentioned it.”
     “Ok, Samantha.” He said
tightly.
    She smiled and then added, “But you
can keep the part about you being a wonderful client.”
     “What about my enormous ego?
Does that stay too?” he smirked.
    Sam raised her eyebrows and
shrugged, then playfully said, “Enormous isn’t always a negative adjective when
used describing parts of you, Laurent.” To which he nodded his head once and
smiled. “Ok, Mr. Wonderful, let’s get started.”
    When they were wrapping up, Laurent
got up from his side of the desk and grabbed Sam, pulling her into a deep kiss,
which she returned. She never tired of his lips, his touch. But she had to get
back to the office, she had work to do, so she pulled away first, which he
clearly did not like. His hold on her arms got tighter, his look intense, on
the verge of angry. It didn’t matter that they had been together as long as
they had, he could still intimidate her. This was one of those times.
     “I’m sorry, Laurent, I have to
go. I have a ton of work to do.” Sam hated that her voice sounded like she was
pleading with him. She shouldn’t need his approval to let her go.
     “You don’t think I have work
to do, too?” He said coldly. Sam knew this was not good. She started to open
her mouth but he continued, “You know I don’t like you working on other
accounts, Samantha. But since we are past the launch, I accept that you are
pitching on TimeCap.” He took a breath, Sam knew that he still wasn’t finished,
so she held her tongue, “I do not like to be taken for granted, Samantha.
You’re the one who’s always asked for separation between work and personal, so
you can’t have it both ways. You start this meeting off telling me how
wonderful I am, talking to me like your boyfriend, and then when I act like
your boyfriend, you pull away.” He paused.
    She realized he didn’t like being
turned down. Was this just the male ego? “In the future, do not discuss other
work when you’re here.” He finally released her arms and then said, “You can go
now.” At which he turned his back and walked back to his desk, immediately
picking up his phone and barked orders at whoever was unfortunate enough to be
on the other end of the call. Sam couldn’t hear what he was saying because her
heart was beating so loudly in her ears as she collected her things and walked
out. 
     
    Laurent was upset for the rest of
the day. He had already made far more concessions with Samantha than he ever
had with anyone in his life, business or personal. Of course, he knew why. He
had never felt about anyone else the way he felt about her. Still, it didn’t
sit well with him, taking him for granted as he saw it. Changing the rules as
she went. It was disrespectful to him as a man and as a client. And he wasn’t
used to coming in second to anyone. Ever. Not in business. Not personally.
     
    Sam and Laurent didn’t argue often,
but when they did, Sam immediately thought, that’s it. It’s over. Perhaps it
was because of her lack of relationship experience. She knew it was irrational.
Maybe it was the only way she could feel in control. But even though that was
her initial reaction, she knew deep down that she wouldn’t just end it.
Thankfully, she did have plenty of work to do, so once she got in the car, she
called the office and started going over things, and by the time she got to
there, she was firmly entrenched in work which kept her busy for the rest of
the day and her mind focused on work rather than on Laurent. But being that it
was Friday, which they usually spent together at