Skeleton Key of Desires

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Yellow teeth spread unnaturally across his chubby face. The picture stayed embedded in her mind all night. Shivers radiated down Jewel's body as she recalled the nightmarish man. Henry seemed to pop out of the woodwork most days. Would he ever be satisfied?

As reality crept back into her focus, all the eyes were on her, waiting for the words to flow from her mouth, for the directions on what they were supposed to do next. But Jewel had no idea. She had never held a position quite like this before. Though scared should not have been a word in her vocabulary considering she knew everyone's hidden secrets that were sitting at that table.

Bill, the programmer, was obsessed with the ladies and food. Of course, he would always combine the two. Tracy, a sound engineer, had her desire, like many other women in this office, to involve the boss. She scooted closer to Ezra as Jewel recalled the way Tracy wasted no time straddling Ezra in her desired room. Jason, the artist, desired Mia, but what Jason didn't know was Mia desired him. Jewel glanced over at Jason and Mia holding a conversation between themselves like they were the only ones in the room. If they only knew. Then again, would Mia ruin her marriage to be with him? Once again, a desire for something you can't have, so once you get it, will you still want it? Jewel was lost in this thought as Ezra cleared his throat.

"Miss. Swanson, are you ready?" Ezra said.

"Yes, sir. You have all been chosen to be part of the up and coming mobile game. I will be your team leader. You have in front of you the designs and concepts," Jewel said.

"What happened to designing just one room?" Tracy asked.

"The investors liked the idea of choosing from the three," said Ezra.

"Seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me," Tracy mumbled under her breath. It didn't much matter how low Tracy mumbled, though, as Ezra heard her remark.

"Then don't be here," Ezra said.

"That's not what I meant."

"If I hear one more complaint out of you, you are off the team, Tracy," Ezra said, as the boss' aura radiated off of him.

Though Jewel was terrified of that aura, she could not help but be fascinated by it all. When silence overtakes the entire room, no one dares to utter a sound. Bodies are shrinking underneath the tension that fills the air. Ezra sits in the chair at the head of the table like a king on his throne and Jewel can not take her eyes off of him.

"If you just follow the layout in the notebook I gave you, you'll be fine. Come to me with any questions. We will meet again next week," Jewel said.

With that, she ended the meeting. She was tired of standing up front as she always had eyes on her every day. Maybe one day she could walk in a hallway without being noticed.

Rumors filled the office when Jewel had first begun her employment of Ezra and Tracy. That they had once dated. If they were true, Tracy had never gotten over him. Jewel did her best to ignore the rumors, believing what was before her time didn't matter. Though, it stung when she opened Tracy's door for the first time.

Jewel shook the thoughts away as she ignored the two of them chatting in the corner of the conference room and continued to pack her things.

"But dinner would not hurt anyone," Tracy said.

"I'll be stuck at the office tonight," Ezra said.

Jewel, now taking her time to pack up her belongings, wanted to hear the rest of their conversation.

"I miss you, Ez," Tracy said, running long fingernails down the sleeve of his coat. Ezra didn't move, not even a flinch. Jewel's fist made tiny balls so tight that the pen in her hand snapped. Black ink splashed everywhere. Tracy glanced up with the same toothy grin. For a split second, she saw an overlap of Henry's face. Not thinking, Jewel rubbed her eyes.

"Smart, Jewel. You look like a raccoon," Tracy laughed.

No other laughter filled the room. Ezra rushed to Jewel's side, knocking Tracy into the wall. Tracy, in an overly dramatic way, fell to the floor.

"Ez, Help!" Tracy shouted.

"Jewel, can you see me?" Ezra asked. He ignored the calls from the floor and grabbed hold of Jewel's elbow, looking at her face. Her eyes were shut tightly.

"No, I'm afraid to open my eyes," Jewel replied.

From the floor, Tracy watched as Ezra lifted Jewel, bridal style, to carry her out of the room. The skin on her face turned green as jealousy flowed through her veins.

"What does she have that I don't?" Tracy asked.

"Ezra," her mind answered.

Ezra had Jewel sitting on the counter beside the sink in his bathroom. With a towel, he was slowly dabbing the rest of the black ink off from underneath her eyes. Office hours ended moments ago and they were the only two left alone in the dark office building.

"I'm sorry I'm such a clutz. You seem to keep nursing me back to health lately," she laughed out.

"You're my employee. Your safety is my priority," he said.

Jewel was slightly disappointed with his reply.

"You still need a writer for your team," Ezra said.

"I have a person in mind, but she doesn't work here. You would have to hire her, at least for my team," Jewel said.

"That can be arranged."

"Great, I'll call her now and let her know!"

Excitement overtook Jewel's rational thinking. She pulled out her phone and was about to jump from the counter.

"Wait! You're not done," Ezra said, putting a hand on Jewel's thigh, stopping her from jumping off the counter.

"Oh."

Jewel turned and looked at herself in the mirror but only saw a few specks of black that were left. She rubbed those off with ease and turned back around. She glanced at Ezra's large hand that had never left her thigh that whole time, then her green eyes focused on his face, and she bit her bottom lip.

Ezra tried to hold it together, but between the feeling of her velvet skin beneath his palm and the adoring gaze she gave him as her emerald eyes looked up at him. It was difficult. As soon as her white teeth bit her plump pink bottom lip, it was over for him. All of his restraint was gone.

His lips came crashing into hers. Needy, possessive, yearning, passionate. He spread her legs, stepping between them to have closer access to her. He needed her as close as possible. She wrapped her legs around his waist, never breaking the connection between their lips, and he hoisted her up with ease. Ezra walked to the couch and gently laid her down. His coat and shirt were removed with cat-like quickness. A large hand ran up the length of her thigh, exciting her and scaring her.

"I've dreamed of this, Jewel," Ezra breathed out into the nape of her neck.

"So have I," she replied.

Jewel felt Ezra's smile against her skin as his warm lips kept messaging her neck.

"Are you okay if we do this because after this, it will never be the same." He whispered. Jewel barely heard a word he said. Here excitement was reaching anxiety levels. The brain was telling her she needed him now and she was going to take measures into her own hands if he did not set the pace a little faster.

"Absolutely,"she breathed out.

Clothes were tossed on the floor and bodies moved to their own music in a rhythmic way. Cries of ecstasy filled the empty office. In her mind, she knew this was not her reality but an illusion cursed by the skeleton key. Even so, she told herself she would still enjoy this fragment of a moment. But Jewel could not help but think,

"Now that he has gotten me, will he still want me?"