The girl was suspended in my mind all weekend. Trying to find the video lead to learning more about BDSM.

What doms and subs are, the various names for the relationship between the person who performs the action and the person who takes the action, and all the meanings for each one. For example: A 'rope bunny' is someone who enjoys being bound with ropes, while a 'rigger' is someone who enjoys binding.

I didn't find the exact video of the girl, but I learned the term 'Shibari', the art of tying someone up beautifully. None of the pictures gave me the same feeling from before, but I felt like I was close.

When I noticed, it was Monday already and I was on my way to work, I took the courage to text Cris in the morning, but as expected, they didn't answer. I also passed in The Sweet Temptation, but they weren't there either.

The images were still vivid in my mind, the skin being pushed by the ropes. The feeling was unimaginable. So distant that my mind couldn't help but long for it.

The ding from the subway came, announcing my station. Walking up to the building. The yellow mustang was in the parking lot. It was my boss' car.

"Mr. Cooly," I greeted him. "What brings you here?"

"Let's talk in your office." He answered, seeming serious.

We climbed into the elevator. He took his sunglasses off. I pondered asking him about his wife, or how he was. I couldn't bring myself to do it. And went back to the ropes. Restrained by my own thoughts, the elevator ride seemed to take hours to pass. Until finally we arrived.

In my mind, his eyes sifted through the office. Looking at Lisa's table, and the papers she left unorganized. The business cards she kept playing with, bending the tips. The stain on the carpet from when Connor spilled coffee. He might've thought about those things, but he said nothing until we got to my office.

"I have some good news and some bad news." He said.

At the same time, Jonh arrived at the company. He looked through the window into my office; seeing Mr. Cooly, he made a dreadful face. I had to hold my lips not to smile.

The thing is, when Mr. Cooly appears, it's exclusively to bring bad news. That's why we gave him the nickname 'The harbinger.' So the good news was a surprise, at least.

"Which one do you want first?" He continued.

"If I'm going to get both anyway, start with the bad ones." 'Get the beating out of the way so the good news seems even better.'

"You might need to fire someone." He punched. 

Firing someone is always hard, but it's part of the job, so I had done it before.

'Might?' Trying to seem unfazed, I asked, "Who?"

"Your choice." And he punched even harder.

Firing someone is a thing, picking who you're going to fire is completely different.

"You have some time to think, no pressure." He acted like he was already giving me the good news.

"Can't HR do that? Isn't that their job?" I asked.

"We want you to do it. You know them better than anyone."

'That's what makes it hard to fire them.'

"Alright, now for the good news." He continued. "Your branch is doing fantastic, even taking the brunt of the Maine branch closing. So, Corp will give you a gift. An extended vacation on the holidays."

It was October still, but hearing that was pretty nice.

"You'll have an entire week just for yourself, but..."

'Of course there's a but.'

"You'll need to raise the branch's earnings."

'So it's more of an encouragement rather than a gift. Like a carrot on a stick to make a horse walk faster. A week for months of extended work,'

"If you double the sales, you'll get a nice vacation." He said, grinning. "And that might be enough to keep the cost of one employee."

'It's not like I haven't been working extensively already, but still, it's better than nothing. I could go back to Texas and spend the holidays with mama.'

"You can do this right?"

"Yes, sir."