Truth or Dare (Book 2) Read online

  Truth or Dare

  Book 2

  By Amanda Martinez

  © Copyright 2016 by Amanda Martinez- All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  This E-Book contains sexually explicit material and is intended for mature audiences. All characters are 18 years or older and all sex in this story is consensual. This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  Amanda Martinez

  Chapter 1

  Silence reigned in the Associates Pen. No one wanted to talk. Fear kept the four associate lawyers from discussing the pieces of paper they found in their cubicles. Instead, they worked in silence, categorizing the comments in each folder. Each time two or more associates met each other at the slowly dwindling piles of folders, they would awkwardly smile or nod. It was a stark contrast to the night before.

  Melanie blamed herself for the fear and anxiety permeating the Pen. She had come up with the competition, including how the loser would have to complete a dare. Melanie had only wanted to inspire the team to work harder. Their boss, Max Granite, had set an impossible deadline for the folders. They’d been working non-stop for weeks, and Melanie had decided the team needed motivation to finish the task. So she devised a game where the person who completed the most folders in an hour could dare the person who completed the least. It did not take long for the situation to turn sexual, thanks to a string of naked dares. They had ended the evening with a foursome on the law firm’s conference table.

  When Melanie returned to work the next morning, she found the pieces of paper. They all had the same thing typed on them, “I want to play in your next Dare game!” She had almost screamed when she read it. Melanie knew it meant that someone else at the law firm of Jenkins, Unruh, and Granite had seen them, had watched them in secret, and now was reaching out to them. It smelled like the perfect set up for extortion.

  As Dave, James, and Lucy arrived, Melanie met them at the door and walked them down to the supply closet. She showed them the pieces of paper, and explained where she found them.

  Lucy didn’t believe it, “This has to be a joke. There was no one else there. We looked. Melanie, you’re making this up.”

  “Why would I do that? I’m not lying to you, Lucy. Someone was here last night!” Melanie stage whispered.

  James said, “Ok, so someone saw us. So what? We’re all adults here. We were blowing off a little steam while working our asses off on a Sunday.”

  “Don’t be stupid!” Dave interrupted, “It’s not like we were playing Cards of Humanity! We were fucking on the conference table. I didn’t memorize the employee handbook, but I’m pretty sure that’s a fire-able offense.”

  “Quiet you two!” Melanie said, “Whoever left these notes isn’t about to fire us. He, and I’m using that pronoun generically, wants something from us. We just need to decide how to handle it. I say we get back to work and at lunch we can discuss it some more. There are only a few folders left and we can have them done by then.”

  The rest of the team nodded and got to work. The fear and anxiety proved to actually help them complete the task Granite set for them. Together, they delivered the news to their boss, who looked especially grumpy that day.

  “What do you four want?” Granite growled.

  James spoke up, “We have the folders, sir. All categorized and collated.”

  Granite looked at the piles stacked up outside his door, “About damn time! What are they doing there? Take them down to The Vault and box them up.” The four turned to leave, but Granite spoke again, “Wait! I have a question.”

  Melanie froze in fear. Could Granite be the author of the notes? Was he about to fire them? Or worse, did he want to be play?

  Granite continued, “Did you make copies of your notations and categorizations?”

  Dave said, “No sir. You didn’t ask us to do that.”

  Granite slammed his fist down onto his desk, making the disorganized mess jump three inches, “DO I HAVE TO FUCKING TELL YOU EVERYTHING!!! STUPID FUCKERS! YOU ARE ALL WORTHLESS FUCKING IDIOTS!! How else are we going to file our FUCKING exhibits?”

  Lucy said, “Yes sir, we will get it done right after lunch.”

  “WHAT?! LUNCH! FUCK THAT, YOU STUPID TWAT!! GET IT FUCKING DONE NOW!!! GO!!!” Granite yelled at the top of his lungs. The force of his voice practically knocked them out of his office.

  They hurriedly gathered the carts full of folders and made their way to the copy machines. The hum of the machines filled the silence. Anger and shame had replaced the fear and anxiety the four associates had felt all morning. Anger that Max Granite had yelled at them, and shame because everyone in the office had heard him belittling them. With two copiers in the room, all four could work together to make the copies, but they all knew it would take the rest of the work day and several hours into the night.

  Dave turned to Melanie, “While the rest of us are copying this stuff, can you go get us some food?”

  “Sure,” Melanie said, “I’ll be the gopher. What do you want?” The other three gave their requests and Melanie left for the corner deli. She stepped into the empty elevator, and as the doors closed, Melanie prepared to let herself cry about the horrible situation she found herself in. At the last second, a hand shot through the closing doors. The doors bounced back open and Melanie willed her eyes to stop watering as Jacob Unruh stepped into the elevator. When he had hired Melanie, she remembered thinking how handsome he looked, and that had not changed. His auburn hair had a touch of product in it, so it didn’t look like he spent a lot of time getting ready in the morning. Despite the current trend of bushy beards, Jacob was clean shaven. His bright blue eyes sparkled with energy and his thin lips always seemed ready to form a smile. Seeing Jacob always put Melanie in a good mood, but it couldn’t break through the cloud she currently sat in.

  “Good afternoon, Melanie!” Jacob said in his trademarked cheerful voice.

  “Afternoon, Mr. Unruh,” Melanie said back, forcing a smile on her face.

  Jacob wheeled around, as if looking for someone, “Is my dad here? Better not be! Buried him ten years ago and he would make a mess in this nice elevator. Please, Melanie, cal me Jacob.”

  “Will do, Jacob.”

  Jacob nodded and gazed on his newest associate, “So I heard Max giving you one of his Blue Flame tirades. If I’m not mistaken, this is your first one at full strength. How many f-bombs did you get?”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Melanie asked, her face turning red again from shame.

  Jacob pulled out his wallet, “Max’s favorite word. How many did he dish out? We have a tradition at Jenkins, Unruh, and Granite that we give new associates a hundred dollar bill for every use of the word ‘fuck’ in their first Granite Blue Flame Tirade.”

  Melanie was stunned, “So you’ve made a game out of his childish outbursts?”

  “Not exactly a game, think of it as a Swear Jar,” Jacob said, “It’s a way to show new associates that the firm knows Max can be hard to handle and that any complaints he makes are not taken seriously. It’s ki
nd of become a joke. The money is not an attempt to pay you off. If you want to go to Human Resources to file a complaint I highly encourage it. So how many?”

  Melanie thought for a second, “Well, he asked if he had to tell us every fucking thing,” she held up one finger, “said we were stupid fuckers,” added a second finger, “and worthless fucking idiots,” a third shot up, “then he said ‘fucking exhibits‘, ‘fuck that‘, and ‘get it fucking done now‘.” At the end Melanie had raised both hands and six fingers were sticking up.

  “So six. Got it,” Jacob said. He pulled six hundred dollar bills from his wallet and handed them to Melanie, “Here is $600. That should buy a nice lunch and dinner.” The doors of the elevator opened and Jacob strolled out. Melanie couldn’t move at first, surprise kept her rooted to the elevator floor. It wasn’t just the cash in her hand, it was the ease at which Jacob had handed it over, and the fact that he had plenty more in his wallet. The elevator doors closing snapped Melanie out of her trance. She jumped out, put the cash in her purse, and walked out of the building.

  Melanie didn’t completely buy that the firm paid for Granite’s rants as part of a joke. If so, the rest of her team would not be as downcast as they were in the copy room. No, there was something at play here, and Melanie wondered what it could be as she walked to the diner. She quickly placed her order and sat on a counter stool as the cook put it together. The sights and sounds of Chicago at its busiest cut through the haze of gloom surrounding Melanie. She loved people watching in the Windy City, noting the moth eaten fur an old woman wore in a corner booth or the man her age wearing a stylishly thin suit, who had obviously just come out of the closet and was still unsure of how he should act in public.

  “Hey Hun, here’s your order,” the waitress said, placing two paper bags in front of Melanie. She thanked the older black woman, dropped a couple of dollars, and walked out. Melanie left the cloud of gloom behind as she walked back to the office. Yes, Granite was a world class ass, but Melanie was sure he wasn’t the one who had left the notes on their desks. He did not seem like the daring type, and would have brought it up while berating them in his office. There was a chance that Jacob left the notes, and Melanie could admit to herself that she liked the idea. He obviously was not above skirting the normal rules of office behavior, and Melanie would not mind a peek at what he looked like under the ever present business suit.

  Melanie found Dave, Lucy, and James in the copy room, “Lunch is served! You guys made some progress while I was gone!”

  James took a big bite of his BLT and swallowed, “That hits the spot. I skipped breakfast because I slept late.”

  Lucy laughed as she dug into her salad, “What, did you have a busy Sunday?”

  They all laughed at the joke, but then remembered the notes at the same time and the room went quiet. Melanie spoke up, “I think we can officially rule Granite out as our possible black mailer, but I think I have a pretty good suspect.”

  Dave put down his meatball sub, “Why, did someone say something?”

  “Yes, and no,” Melanie said and then relayed her conversation in the elevator. “What do you think? That pay for Granite‘s tirade can‘t be true.”

  James said, “Oh no, it is. Matter of fact, I hold the record for getting paid the most. $1500.”

  “I only got $300,” Lucy said, “Bought a pair of Jimmy Choos on sale with the money.”

  Dave said, “I got $900. You might think it would make facing future tirades easier, but it is still embarrassing. Especially since you don’t get paid for those.”

  “So why doesn’t anyone ever go to HR?” Melanie asked.

  Lucy shrugged her shoulders, “This is a great firm otherwise, and from everything I’ve heard about other firms, they aren’t much better. As for Granite, I agree with you.” The two guys nodded their heads, as well.

  Melanie deflated, “Well, then I guess I’m glad I didn’t tell him this wasn’t the first tirade aimed at me. Does that mean we scratch Jacob off as well?”

  Dave stood up and threw his wrapper in the trash, “I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just want to get the work done and get all of this behind me.”

  “Sounds like a plan, Davy,” Lucy said, standing up and swatting his butt, “but don’t be so eager to put this all behind you, because I would rather put you behind me!” James laughed and a tired smile surfaced on Dave’s face.

  The foursome quickly got into a rhythm with the copying. Five o’clock came and the office emptied, but they stayed at it. By eight, all of the folders were copied, and the originals were boxed up in The Vault.

  “What’s next everyone?” James asked, “Shall we go help Melanie spend her $600?”

  Dave begged off, “I’m beat. It will be nice to go back to my apartment before the stroke of midnight.”

  “I agree,” Lucy said, “maybe I can actually get to the gym. I’m feeling flabby.”

  “Please! I speak from personal experience. There isn’t an ounce of flab on that body of yours,” Dave said. Lucy kissed his cheek in return for the compliment.

  James turned to Melanie, “How about you?”

  “I need to reacquaint myself with my roommate. I haven’t talked to her in ages, and I’m worried she may try to sublet my room during the day,” Melanie said, “but maybe later this week.”

  They left the office, rode the elevator down to the ground floor, and went their separate ways. Melanie snagged the L and arrived at her apartment just before nine. As she slid her key in the lock, Melanie heard loud music coming from inside, and became worried that she would again catch Shirley on the couch, sans clothing mid-coitus. As she opened the door, Melanie found out she was one-third right. Her roommate was on the couch, but fully clothed and reading a book.

  “Hey roomy!” Shirley yelled over the music, “Long time, no see!”

  Melanie smiled and dropped her bag on the table by the door, “I know, it’s been a long few weeks. I’m surprised you still recognize me.”

  “Of course I recognize you. I’ve missed you.” Shirley said, getting up off the couch and hugging Melanie.

  “You mind if I turn down the music?” Melanie said, walking over to the stereo. It was a classic set up, including a record player. Shirley considered herself an audiophile.

  Shirley smiled, “You can but you’ll be sooooooory.”

  Melanie gave her a puzzled look, but turned down Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats anyway. The old style blues rock was replaced by loud thumps coming from above her, accompanied by grunts and groans. It became obvious that their upstairs neighbors were having some fun, and were not afraid to let everyone know about it.

  “They’ve been going at it for at least three hours now,” Shirley said, “and I had only two options. Masturbate along with them or drown them out with music.”

  Melanie laughed, “And you went with music?”

  “Not at first, but I got tired way before they did, so then I went with the music,” Shirley admitted.

  Melanie shook her head, “Thanks for the visual. Please tell me that you didn’t do it on the couch again.”

  Shirley shrugged, “Sorry girl, but when I get the urge, I don’t ignore it. But I did put a blanket down.”

  “Thank God for small miracles then,” Melanie said, “I’m fixing something to eat, you want anything?”

  Shirley shook her head, “Sorry babe, I already ate. I expected you to have another late night.”

  Melanie went into the small kitchen, grabbed a Lean Cuisine from the freezer and placed it in the microwave. As it spun around, Melanie remembered the $600 in her purse and laughed to herself. Yep, fancy dinner all right. At the sound of the bell, she pulled out the container and slid it onto a plate.

  “I’m going to eat this in my room and then pass out,” Melanie said to Shirley.

  “Okay, hopefully the rabbits above us will calm down. Sleep well!” Shirley said.

  Melanie turned on the television in her room and channel surfed as she ate
her microwave dinner. The food did not fill her up and the TV did not entertain her. Her mind kept circling back to the notes and who might have sent them. With all of the possibilities, Melanie’s mind eventually wore itself out and she fell asleep in her clothes, without turning off the television.

  When her alarm went off the next morning, sunlight filled her bedroom. The morning news was blaring on the television and the meteorologist kept talking about fall finally arriving in Chicago.

  “Time to pull out a sweater,” Melanie muttered to herself as she stumbled out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. She quickly went through her morning routine and was out the door and headed for work in record time. When she arrived at the office, Dave was already in the Pen.

  “Morning Dave, anything out of the ordinary?” Melanie asked with more than a little trepidation.

  Dave said, “No, everything seems to be normal, including our work load. Granite gave us a new task via email. I asked a few questions and he was actually civil when he answered. I’ll explain everything when James and Lucy get here.”

  “Great,” Melanie said, sitting down at her desk and opening her laptop. She read Granite’s email and knew right away that it would mean at least another full week of late nights, and most of Saturday and Sunday.

  James and Lucy arrived five minutes later, together Melanie noticed, and Dave told them what Granite had said about the new task, “It seems the Steubens kept detailed files on all of their employees and clients. Sometimes they were a little too detailed, if you know what I mean. The plaintiffs already have their copies. We need to go through all of the folders and search for anything could be damaging to Shelly or Sheffield and then categorize them according to severity.”

  Melanie interrupted, “What is this case, anyway?”

  “The Steubens are accused of violating the privacy of their employees. Hiding cameras in bathrooms and changing rooms at their hotels nationwide, saying it was to stop theft, but Shelly and Sheffield would review the videos personally. They would also make mention of what the cameras captured during employee reviews. This case could become class action any time,” Dave said.