Head Above Water Pt. 03

"Yup." I could hear her breathing heavily. I didn't care. I couldn't believe I was having to explain these basic fucking things to her. She should know this.

"Okay, let's deal with billing now. Roadside Assistance, Accounting and Retention Team are all capable of charging cards. You should already know they don't run on Portal. Transfer to them for payments. I'll send out a mass email. Branches run on Portal too, but you can still send customers down there if they want to pay manually or with cash. Still keeping up?"

Seriously, another basic fucking thing. Does our department not spend all day transferring calls? Why the hell am I even having to explain this to her? I knew Lisa. I'd promoted her. She could do this job, but this morning she froze. There was no other explanation.

"Yes, Celine. Gotcha."

"Gather the senior agents, anyone who's been with the company for longer than five years, and pull an emergency meeting. Instruct them all to run the old terminal INS system for all policy amendments and have all insurance amendment calls routed to them. I'll email you my key code so you can override and have policy amendments approved as soon as possible. This is a huge deal, Lisa. Don't abuse this power. I'm giving you authorization to make these approvals on my behalf. Make sure they're all correct before you approve them."

I wished she would have called me three hours ago and asked me about this herself. I would have given her my key code. It was the obvious thing to do. But the fact of the matter was, it wasn't obvious to her at all. I was starting to question what the hell kind of farm animal circus show I'd hired.

"Got it."

"I don't want the rest of the insurance agents sitting on their asses. Have them handle the transfers and answer every single call. Make sure they're taking some of the load for those claims calls. Have the claims processed immediately, no callbacks. Offer callbacks in Customer Service and Insurance where you can and make sure you return each of those calls before the end of the workday. No discounts, just apologies. I'll handle those myself. I know I'm going to have complaints so log them and leave them on my desk. Give a three to five business day turnaround. If any complaints are regarding policy cancellation then give that precedence and give them a forty-eight-hour turnaround. Some of those cancellations will be regarding driver's records or failed home inspections. Just get those over to Underwriting. I'll email David to let him know what to expect."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Call Texas and New Mexico. They have some agents licensed to service California policy holders every other weekend. Talk to the site managers. Ask if they can lend us some of those agents, but their answer may be no if their volume is too high. That's fine too. Worth a try. I'll email them to get them up to speed, but I don't know how often they check their emails so call them. Darlene will have their numbers."

She wouldn't have known this. I would have been able to tell her if she'd called me three fucking hours ago, though.

"Call Texas and New Mexico. Got it."

"Do I need to come down there?"

"No, no," she said immediately. I'd probably make their lives a living hell in person.

"Alright, last few things. Hang up on IT, they don't understand the meaning of the word 'prompt'. Three hours on hold, Jesus Christ. Send a supervisor down there to handle this personally. And delegate, Lisa. Don't do this all by yourself. Figure out which task is best suited for which supervisor. I want you on those amendment approvals through INS. I'm not going to be repeating any of this so pull the recording of this call after you set the tasks to make sure you haven't missed anything."

"I don't think we have enough agents on the floor to handle this volume. We've been backed up for hours."

The one useful thing that's come out of her mouth. Just the one.

"Yeah, you're right. Have Scheduling call agents who have worked less than six days in the last eight to see if they'll pick up a shift. There should also be a few Customer Service agents in licensing classes for Insurance. Pull them out for the day and get them on the Customer Service lines. I'll authorize overtime. Twelve hours total for anyone that wants to stay. That's time and a half. Ignore all meal waivers today. Make sure everyone takes their breaks and keep those lunches within that five-hour mark. There are a lot of agents to keep up with. Call in every supervisor that's off. Call the evenings in early. You are all responsible for your agents. If I get hit with a single labor law violation fine, I'll hold each and every one of you personally responsible. And order pizza for the department. Put it on the company card. I don't want them eating at their desks between calls though. Have them take their lunches off the Floor."

Now this was all me talking. These were my orders. She wouldn't have been able to authorize any of this without my approval. Still, if only she'd called instead of sitting around for IT and hoping I wouldn't notice, then I might've had the opportunity to save us from that five hundred percent plummet. Fucking hell.

"I'll do that. Thank you for being so in-depth. I don't know what I would have done otherwise."

"This is why you should have called me. Lesson learned?"

"Yes."

"I think that just about covers all of it. I know you know how other departments work on other systems. I know you know which ones are capable of handling billing. I know you know that the old terminal systems are still capable of making policy amendments, and I know you know we have senior agents that know how to use it. I know you know what cancellations should be routed to Underwriting. You really need to learn to think on your feet. I take all this into consideration when reviewing promotions and transfers. Don't let me down. And delegate."

"I'm so sorry, Celine. I just didn't—"

"Don't be sorry. Fix this. Call me in half an hour with an update. Give me good news and I won't come in."

"Okay, Celine. I'll call you in half an hour."

"I'm watching these stats."

I heard her sigh.

"I know."

"I'm counting on you."

"I won't let you down."

"That's what I like to hear. Keep your head up. You can do this."

"Thanks, Celine. I'll call you soon."

I put my face in my hands and groaned. One day. I'd just like one day where I can go without being ass-deep in work. It was unbelievable how much hand-holding I had to do just to keep things running smoothly. Even after all those management courses (which was fucking generous of me considering that they could have that under their belt for advancement opportunities in the future) they were still fucking up. And what the hell was the deal with them telling Darlene not to call me? And what the hell was her deal for listening to them?

"That was a lot."

I looked up.

"What?"

"It just sounded like you knew everything there was to know. It comes naturally to you, but I don't think it's like that for other people. I heard you tell your employee that it was a 'simple fix' but none of that sounded simple to me. You should cut them some slack. You're a superhero. They're just human."

"The thing is, Lisa does know these things. She knows all about how the other departments work and what systems they run on. The fact that she didn't know where to transfer calls was mind-boggling. That's basic agent knowledge. They transfer calls all day. And the fact that she didn't even remember one of our own systems can still pick up some of the workload just—I don't know. I think I went pretty easy on her considering how massively she fucked up."

"Maybe she just froze."

"I can't ever afford to freeze and neither can she. I should have gotten a call three hours ago notifying me of the situation, asking for overtime authorizations and overrides for policy amendment changes."

"You know I don't know half these terms you're using."

I laughed.

"Sorry, this whole thing probably made no sense to you."

"That's okay. I liked listening. I had no idea how much went into your job. I can see why they pay you so much."

"You have no idea how much they pay me. It could be peanuts for all you know."

"Peanuts don't buy a Tesla Model S."

"It's a lease."

"Same thing."

"Actually—"

"Shut up, insurance lady. Eat your burrito. I went through a lot of trouble to make it for you."

"You wouldn't have had to go through any trouble if you'd just ordered a burrito to begin with."

Wes rolled his eyes.

"Unbelievable."

"I'm kidding."

I slid my legs under me on the seat and leaned over, taking Wes by his shirt, tugging him close.

"How can I ever thank you?" I asked.

Wes put his bowl on the dash, grabbed me by the hips and slid me right onto his lap.

"I can think of a couple ideas," he said.

I straddled him.

"I mean, if we get arrested for public indecency then it's all your fault."

"I don't care," he said huskily, sliding his hands under my (or his?) shirt, warming me by his touch, making me sigh and lean into him.

We were pretty lucky the shirt was so baggy on me. His hands went to all the places they definitely shouldn't in a public setting; on my breasts, his thumbs flicking, his fingers pinching, cupping and squeezing—driving me wild. My knees began to quake from the pleasure, heat pooling between my legs, making me want him so so so bad.

"Please, let's get out of here," I begged.

"Shh. I'm enjoying this."

He pulled me close, kissing my neck, his mouth wet, hot, nipping, sucking; doing all the things that made me feel faint.

"Wes," I gasped. "Wes, please."

"You get so polite when you're turned on," he said, smiling against my neck.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, shivering as he kissed down my throat.

"All the 'please this' 'please that'," he said.

"I guess I'm just a lowly beggar woman then."

"I'll give you anything you want. You don't have to beg," he said.

"And yet I do."

"Maybe you're just submissive in bed. It would make sense since you're so dominant outside of it."

"Are you trying to analyze me, Mr-Not-A-Psychiatrist?"

"Might be."

"You're under-qualified for the job."

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"Shut me up if it bothers you so much."

"I think I'll take you home first," he said, starting up the engine. "But I won't shut you up. I'll make you scream."

—

We didn't make it to his apartment.

Still in the car, parked in his dark garage, I shimmied out of his boxers and straddled him again, biting my lip when I felt his stiff erection between us, straining against the fabric of his sweatpants.

"Celine," he said, hands coming to rest on my waist. He ground his hips upwards, making me gasp from the sudden mind-numbing pleasure. I was so wet that I left a streak on his sweatpants, slick and ready for him.

"You're perfect," he said, lifting his shirt up my body, exposing my breasts. "So perfect."

I rolled my hips when he took one of my nipples in his mouth, my fingers finding their way into his dark hair, gripping him tight, bringing his head down closer. His mouth was hot and wet, his teeth sinking softly on my nipple, sending a jolt down my body, right to my pussy, making me so fucking wet that I creamed myself. He tortured me with his mouth, switching from one nipple to the other, rolling his tongue, using his teeth, sucking and licking and making me moan so suddenly and so loudly that my cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"Adorable," he said, looking up at me.

"I need you," I said, reaching for the waistband of his pants.

"I know you do," he said hoarsely, helping me roll his waistband down until his cock sprang free. He didn't say anything, didn't give me any warning whatsoever, lifting me by the hips, his big tanned hands spanning my caramel skin, lining his cock up with my pussy, his eyes burning dark as I finally sank down onto him. He was rock hard, throbbing inside of me, thick and long.

He kissed my shoulder, looking up at me with those darkened eyes, making my heart stop. It was like all the water of the last twenty-eight years was rushing inside of me, hooking me by the ankles and pulling me down, down, down into the ocean of his eyes, sinking me underwater for just one terrifying second.

"You're safe with me," Wes said softly—and my head rose above water.

He was gazing into me, into my center, into my soul, connecting with me on another level, venturing where no man had ever been before. He kissed me, rough yet slow, drawing a ragged breath whenever I moaned, biting down on my lip when my pussy fluttered. We weren't even going fast, weren't even as hurried as I thought we'd be, and yet I was close. Really close.

"You need to come, don't you?" he said, twisting one of my arms behind my back. I looked at him, confused, about to open my mouth and ask what he was doing, but then he was holding me in place, suddenly snapping his hips up, pounding into me, knocking the last of the air out of my lungs.

"Please," I begged. He punished my body, fucking me like I'd hurt him and he wanted to hurt me back. I fucking loved it, loved the pain, loved the passion, loved the way he made my pussy squeeze tighter and tighter. Close. So close.

He moved my hips back and forth, pounding into me at different angles until I stiffened.

"Oh god, please!" I cried.

"Right there, huh?" He jerked upwards, sharply hitting that sensitive spot again and again.

"YES!" I'd never been a screamer, yet here I was. I don't know what I said after that, only that whatever incoherent babbling that left my mouth was enough to inspire Wes to fuck me raw, hitting my g-spot so roughly that within just a few seconds, I cried as I came.

"Oh, fuck," Wes rasped, fucking me through my orgasm, refusing to stop. I sobbed, coming and coming and coming, my entire body trembling when Wes finally slowed. I felt his cock thicken inside of me, jerking and pulsing as he came, groaning into my ear, making my pussy flutter from the sound alone. Ugh, he was so fucking hot.

We didn't say anything for a while, just breathed heavily, our chests rising and falling. Wes's forehead touched mine, his pupils blown wide, his gaze like fire, burning my skin. We studied each other, blinking slow, like time had been paused, like all that remained in this world was the two of us, Bonnie and Clyde, two fucked-up people with crazy lives, gunning down anyone who got in our way with words, harsh words, protecting ourselves from the world.

And so I kissed him, his lips tasting like Nirvana, like happiness and euphoria and paradise and heaven all rolled into one chest-aching feeling. My eyes pricked with tears as he took my face in his hands, his fingers slipping into my hair, kissing back so tenderly that I felt it in my center, right where the little girl inside of me resided—the girl stunted by the abuse, by the pain that had been inflicted by the foster parents she should have been able to trust. That little girl was always there, in the back of my mind, crying herself to sleep every night, jumping at the tiniest unfamiliar touch, and drowning in all the feelings, so deep that sometimes it felt as if she'd died.

Wes could've asked me why tears were suddenly running down my cheeks, but there was something special about this guy. He seemed to sense my feelings, seemed to sense that I needed the sanctuary of silence, that I wanted nothing more than to be kissed until all of my worries could be forgotten.

So there we stayed, in his car in the dark garage, kissing away all of my pain.

—

"Celine, I swear I've been trying to call you for the last hour," Lisa said, sounding scared out of her goddamn mind.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault that I was busy," I said, pulling Wes's boxers back up over my hips. "Give me an update."

"Portal is back up. I'm monitoring the hold time stats. We're going back up. Still below goal, but as long as we can keep up with the volume for the rest of the month, we might get close to getting out of the red. I did the math and everything. Right now, I'm personally handling the amendment approvals and some of the urgent complaint calls. I—Honestly Celine, I don't know how you do it."

"The same way you just did," I said with a smile, hoping she'd hear it. "I think the department would have gone up in flames without you, Lisa. I'm proud of you for your hard work today."

"Thanks, Celine," Lisa said, and I could hear her smile too. "Want me to keep you updated today?"

"No need," I said. "I trust that you've got this."

"I do."

"I'll just check the stats periodically. Keep doing what you're doing."

Wes slid me back onto his lap as I ended the call. He hooked a lock of my hair behind my ear, his gaze soft and adoring, smiling at me even though I hadn't said or done anything. He was just a happy person by default. I'd never been much of a smiler, but I found myself smiling around him. A lot.

"We should go inside and finish our lunch," I said.

"Sure," he said, but neither of us moved. Instead, I found myself kissing him again, taking in the scent of his intoxicating aftershave, opening my mouth, letting him slide his tongue along mine, tasting each other. We made out like a couple of teenagers, smiling against each other's mouths when we both realized that he was hard again.

"Come on," he said, opening the car door. "Let's get out of here before I destroy your body."

I reached over, closed the door, and let him destroy it.

—

We spent the afternoon together, passing the time with laughs, genuine laughs, talking about everything and nothing, sitting cross-legged on the floor of his living room, playing chess. I'd never been very good, and I was pretty sure Wes had suspected as much because he was going extremely easy on me.

"You're cheating," I said.

"Cheating how? I'm not even winning!"

"You're doing it on purpose. That's cheating."

"You and I have very different definitions of that word, Celie."

"Ugh, don't call me that."

He moved his knight, immediately threatening my king. The knight and king had been in those positions for quite some time. I realized that he'd purposefully been holding back.

"Cheater!"

"Check," he said, chuckling.

"I fucked up," I said, looking over the board.

"Make your move, Dragon Lady."

I moved my king one square to the right.

"Checkmate," Wes said, the corners of his mouth twitching. He wanted to laugh at me. Of all the directions I could have moved, I picked the one direction that put me in his bishop's path with nowhere else to go. I was an idiot.

"You already had a checkmate," I pointed out.

"You could have gone left. Too late now."

"You could have ended this game a long time ago."

"Where's the fun in that? Plus, your concentration face is pretty cute."

"Me, cute?" I said, rolling my eyes.

Wes frowned. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

"About what?"

"I highly doubt that you think you're less than average in the looks department. I know you know, Celine. I don't understand why you're in denial."

"I'm not in denial," I said uncomfortably.

"Then what is it? Why do you always react that way when I compliment you on how you look?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Wes sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"That's not gonna work for me," he said. "We have to communicate. That's how relationships work."

"Don't try and tell me how a relationship works. I thought we were supposed to respect each other's boundaries. You're crossing mine."

"By telling you that you're cute? That you're beautiful?"

I got up, but Wes caught me by the wrist.