Peppermint
He walks in and sees first the peppermints on my desk then me
“You sure do look pretty today.” He says while unwrapping the candy
I can tell by the way he's looking at me and not the mint that he would rather be unwrapping me
He pops the mint in his mouth and moves it from one cheek to the next over and over
letting it graze his teeth every time
“Thank you, sir.” I say hoping my formality will be a deterrent
He sits down in the chair directly across from me and the foot and a half of desk between us feels like nothing
He spreads his arms and legs and far as they will stretch
I don't look at him
I keep my focus on the screen
“Why won't you look at me, Emily?”
My name sounds like that damn mint scraping his teeth when he says it
“I'm just working.”
“That's all you ever do.”
I look away from the screen and meet his gaze
“That's why I'm here, sir.” he hates when I call him sir
“Why do you always call me sir? Do you not know that you're the best part of my day? I love seeing what you're wearing.”
I don't respond
I turn back to my desktop screen and begin rereading emails that don't matter anymore
He doesn't take the hint
He just keeps staring at me while fiddling with the candy wrapper in his left hand
He stands up and leans over the desk towards me
I flinch
“Haha!” He laughs at me
“Don't worry I'm just throwing this wrapper away, sweet girl.”
He sits back down and continues his devilish staring
I can see in his eyes what he is thinking
I shudder
He notices and looks away for just a moment
that brief moment without his eyes on my skin feels like freedom
I allow my nose to flare to show disgust and contempt
then quickly put my face back to expressionless
“Do you want me to leave?”
“It doesn't matter to me.” I say not knowing how to say yes without screaming it in his face!
He doesn't move after that
I wait for fifteen silent minutes to see if he'll take my silence as his queue to leave
He doesn't
Copyright © Emily Chisholm | Year Posted 2018
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