My Thirty Day Quarantine

I was sitting alone in a corner in the office Christmas party, watching everyone enjoy themselves, knowing I couldn’t be part of the crowd. I was secretary to the three tyrants of the law firm: Mr. Luke, Dwayne, and Aiden Black. The three billionaires who owned it and had me working every day and night. None of them knew the meaning of weekend, which was the main reason I was the only secretary that had lasted a whole year.

Why were they billionaires with only one secretary?

They were the modern version of Scrooge. They shared everything from their law firm to their home, secretary…and there was even a rumor that they shared the same women. I just assumed that it was office gossip. A filthy rumor.

The rest had quit as soon as their first month had come to an end. The problem was I had no life outside of the office and no reason not to do anything but work. It was the only thing that kept me busy and occupied, so I didn’t have to think about my miserable, boring life.

“Scarlett, are you going to sit there all night, watching the rest of us?” Jenna asked. She was the office manager and before tonight hadn’t said two words to me. Her dark hair, which was usually tied up in a bun, was loose, and her shirt gaped open, leaving nothing to the imagination. Her lacey red bra was on display; there was no denying she was drunk, or on her way there. Not only because her shirt was half hanging out of her pencil skirt, but because she was talking to me.

“I’m fine. I think I’m going to leave soon. It’s getting close to midnight and I don’t want to pay double for a taxi.”

2021 was coming to an end, which meant Covid had nearly disappeared, according to many news reporters. I didn’t understand how that was possible until we had a vaccine that worked; we had one at the end of 2020; but it failed and they were still trying to find one to prevent others from contracting the virus. We were allowed to have social events once again, and the Blacks decided that we deserved a party after such a tough year.

Aiden with his dark eyes and matching hair was the fun one of the three Black brothers. He danced with all the associates and even the janitor. He wasn’t stuck-up, like his brothers, but then on occasion, Dwayne could also be more cordial after he’d had his morning coffee, which was why I made sure that I was always in the office before seven to have his coffee on his desk before he walked in. There was only one bistro he insisted on having his coffee from, and luckily, they opened at six. No doubt for tyrants like him.

“Don’t worry about a taxi,” said Jenna. “The Blacks would pay. Besides, you made it a whole year, girl. I never thought that you would, none of the PAs before you have, which was why I didn’t see the point of us being friends. Now that I know that you’re going to be around for a while….Why not dance and get to know each other?”

Raising an eyebrow, she shoved a flute of champagne in my hand. I took it and gulped it in one go. I wouldn’t say I liked the way she’d treated me to date, but she was right. I had no friends, no one in or out of the office, so it made sense for me to make a little effort to be social. When I’d first arrived, I’d done that but had quickly given up when everyone had found out I was the Blacks’ secretary. They were nicknamed the firm’s Scrooges. Not wanting more than one secretary, but I heard a rumor they did everything together, including sharing women. I was intrigued to find out if it was true.

“Sure. Why not?” I took out the pin holding my blonde strands that hadn’t already broken out of the bun on my head and decided to dance with her. I hadn’t been on a dance floor in years, even if it wasn’t a real dance floor, just an oversized boardroom that had the table in the middle removed and big enough to hold thirty people we still had space for a few more. But they watched outside, or some of them were in the offices. I’d heard them sneaking off earlier, confirming that the office romances that were gossiped about in the bathroom were right about the romances.

Mariah Carey started to play, my favorite jam—like most people’s around this time of year. The boardroom became crowded as everyone started to cheer. There was something about this song that was so festive and romantic at the same time.

“All I want for Christmas is you!” I sang, even before the song got to the chorus. I threw away my heels. My feet had been killing me all day, but I wanted to remain professional at all times so I’d kept them on, even with my swollen ankles. But now, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to have fun and enjoy myself.

We started bouncing up and down, and I managed to grab another flute—or maybe it was two—as the servers passed them around on the dance floor. It’d been so long since I felt like this, free and able to enjoy being out.

“You can really jam!” Jenna said as she moved to the side, and somehow a circle formed around me. I’d taken naturally to the imaginary stage back home in South Carolina whenever there’d been a party. Everyone would do the same. That was what happened when you spend five years in funky dance classes. I loved competing and dancing too. It was a way to help me not think about what I was going through, like when Mom had found out that she’d had cancer the first time around, but she’d managed to pull through; by her selling the house and most of the proceeds went towards her medical bills. The second time, when cancer had reared its ugly head and taken her life, was when I’d stopped dancing. That was when I’d stopped doing a lot of things. I’d nursed her, helped her as much as I could until her last breath. No one in my family had wanted to help out. They’d turned their backs on us as soon as they’d found out that she needed chemo again. Simply because they’d been worried about helping out with the medical bills. I’d never asked them for a penny, but it was sad when everyone had turned their back on us and hadn’t even turned up at the funeral. I’d sold nearly everything we had before coming to New York. I’d had two bags, one with as many pictures of her as I could fit inside, and the other with clothes and shoes.

I even took out loans to help pay for her medical bills; I still owed them back home, even though it had been over three years ago. I knew that with this year’s bonus and some more, I could sit back and start thinking about my future. Right now, it was all about bills, which was why I stuck with my job. I had no choice. I didn’t have the luxury of letting it get to me. I knew that if I didn’t pay, then they would freeze my accounts, and where would I be? Working for the Blacks came with a lot of benefits, such as a high salary, and enough working hours to stop me thinking of the past, and the sadness that once shadowed my life.

“You okay?” Jenna asked as my mind drifted to Mom. I’d stopped dancing and was about to cry.

I nodded. “Fine. Sorry. I need something to eat. I drank the champagne too fast.”

She laughed. “I know the feeling. I get like that when I’m away from home. That’s what happens when you have too many kids.”

I knew she had one child, but kids, that part I never knew.

“How many do you have?” I asked.

“Three, if you include my husband.”

We both laughed as we reached the side of the boardroom where the food was being served. Sandwiches, chicken, prawn crackers—I placed them all on my plate.

“My, my, my, we have a healthy appetite,” Dwayne Black said as I reached the end of the table. I looked to the left, feeling perplexed about his observation and Jenna had disappeared. She must have spotted him and decided to run. I wanted to do the same thing, but he was holding my cutlery with a napkin in his hand.

“Yes, Mr. D. Black. I haven’t eaten since lunchtime.”

He chuckled as his oval lips widened and his dark eyes lit up making him even more handsome, than it did when he frowned which wasn’t often.

“I’ve seen the snacks you have in your bag. I see when you dig your hand into your bag and look around to make sure that no one is watching. Then when you run out of those, you take the ones from your desk.”

Holy cow! Was he spying on me?

“I see how you shove them in your mouth in between breaks. I know you have a sweet tooth. Don’t worry. I do too.”

He has been watching me!

I sighed, thinking how many times I’d heard that before. Mom would tell me, “Don’t worry about eating so much in front of others; they probably eat the same amount as you behind closed doors.”

No, they didn’t. I ate more when I was anxious in general, and that seemed to be the case since I started working for the Blacks because I’d put on at least fifteen, no closer to twenty pounds within a year.

“Really?” I said. “Is that why you have a six-pack, legs like tree trunks, and shoulders like the Rock?”

So I’d been observing him a little too much whenever he took off his jacket or when he bent down. But I wasn’t the only one. A few women took a little Pepsi break when he was in his office doing push-ups. He said sitting too long all day made him stiff and all the offices were glass offices, so the only privacy was when the shutters were drawn. Luke had his drawn whenever he was alone, and open when he had company in there. Most people that I’d temped for seemed to do it the other way around. I had a feeling Dwayne opened the shutters because he loved us watching him.

“Oh my, you’ve been studying me, Roset. Interesting. Enjoy your plate, and if it’s not enough, then don’t hesitate to get another one.” He stepped outside with a smirk on this face.

It was as if his musky scent were playing tricks with my nose, as he was no longer by my side, but I could still smell him. I closed my eyes for a second and imagined my hands all over his body. That made me even more anxious as I moved from the table, and I slowly started to eat everything on my plate. By the time I finished circling around and looking for Jenna, my plate was empty. I was just about to head to the boardroom to fill it up when Luke appeared in front of me. I ended up dropping my empty plate.

“Pick it up, and come in my office now.” His dominance shone through and I had to put aside how hot he looked in his light-gray suit and pink tie. Only he could pull it off, because his skin was naturally olive from his Italian heritage and his dark eyes didn’t seem to be so dark, whenever he wore this suit.

“Announcement!” Jenna said over the loudspeaker, and I was tempted to tell Luke I wanted to hear it. But Luke wasn’t asking me to hang around; he was telling me to get to his office.

I picked up the plate and then put it to the side, and like the good little secretary that I was, I decided to hurry along to his office on the other side of the building with no shoes. Sh*t, I forgot about my shoes. I didn’t know if I had to take something with me.

“We’ve just been…”

Those were the last of Jenna’s words that I heard over the loudspeaker before I went into Luke’s office, stepping inside without knocking on the door. Seeing all three of the brothers in there as if they’d been waiting for me made me wish that I had re-filled my plate before coming inside. Having all three of them in the room like this, was really nerve-wracking.

Dwayne sat on Luke’s desk, Aiden to the side, and Luke behind in his chair. I was even more nervous than I was usually because the dark eyes they all shared were fixed and staring at me.

“Should I close the door, Mr. L. Black?” I whispered, thinking that I needed to say it louder. Trying to save face, I tucked my shirt into my skirt and arrange my blonde hair so that it didn’t look like a lifeless mop.

“Shut it. There’s something you need to read and it’s here,” Luke blurted, and nerves took over me. I didn’t want to shut the door, I wanted to run through it.

I decided to be brave, and I closed the door. I felt as if every step I took closer to Luke’s desk was under a spotlight. I hated the way that no one was hiding the fact they were staring at me. They could have smiled to make me feel a little comfortable. I was worried that, I’d done something wrong and I had nothing to celebrate. I was about to get fired.

I sat in the chair across from Luke, and the only sound was the air escaping once I sat down. I shifted, trying to make myself more comfortable.

Aiden spoke first as he moved behind me. “We’re being quarantined, starting tomorrow. We’re only allowed out to go to the store or the doctor’s. The figures have shot up again.”

I covered my mouth. “Oh, no.”

I was upset about people being sick, but the last four weeks of being out and about had really made a difference, not only to my waist size, but my mental health too.

“We have a proposal for you. We’re being quarantined for thirty days, and we’d like you to move in with us,” Luke said coldly, emotionless, the way that he addressed nearly everyone in the office. I shook my head, confused about the question.

“We’ll look after you during those thirty days,” Dwayne said, and my gaze darted towards him.

“Do you mean…” I was stuck, unable to come out with the words. I had a feeling that they wanted me to be quarantined with them, and not just for taking notes; which meant the rumors were true. They did share everything, including women. I was excited, and tense at the same time.

Dwayne decided to fill in the sentence for me. “Yes. We’d like you to work in our home. It’s all in the contract. We’ll leave you to think about it.”

Then he stood up, with my mouth still open, shocked that they wanted me to spend thirty days with them.

They just wanted me to work from their house. They never hinted that there would be any funny business going on. This was such a disappointment, I was getting excited for nothing.

After all, they had six-packs, I had one.

They had muscles, I had love handles.

They were hot, and I could be, but only when I applied makeup like I had today.

Curiosity had me moving closer to the table to see what exactly was in this contract maybe I was jumping to the wrong conclusion. There was only one way to find out.

“Boys, fucking calm down,” I shouted as both Aiden and Dwayne started bickering like a couple of teenagers.

They both looked at me, as we sat in Aiden’s office observing what Scarlett was going to do with the contract.

Aiden blurted out, “She’ll take it to HR. Then we’ll have a fucking sexual harassment lawsuit on our hands. I told you this was a fucking bad idea.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s a fantastic idea. I said it then, and I’ll say it again. She won’t accuse us of sexual harassment because…”

“She needs the money!” Aiden said, trying to second-guess my thoughts.

I chuckled, thinking as much as my little brother thought he knew everything about women, he knew nothing. Including how Scarlett was unique. Most women would have left a long time ago, most had, when they’d been my secretary, but she hadn’t. If anything, she tried to prove herself time and time again. She didn’t belong here as a secretary; she deserved to be a paralegal or even an associat