What My Boss Asked of Us Two Ended Up with Three

Several weeks had passed since Ingrid left the company, and nothing in the office routine seemed to have changed. Until that morning, when Carmela, the director’s secretary, called me over the intercom and asked me to go up to Don Esteban’s office. Only five or six times a year did we go to his office, and never by chance. Something smelled off to me.

Carmela greeted me in the anteroom. Before letting me in, she straightened the collar of my blouse and, with a gesture I had never seen from her before, left two buttons undone. The lace of my bra barely showed above my chest. She is strict, serious, one of those women who never smile without reason. That is why I kept staring at her.

—Come in, he’s waiting for you —that was all she said, and she left the door ajar as she went out.

I sat in the armchair facing the empty desk and smoothed my skirt. Don Esteban came in from behind, unheard, and rested one hand on my shoulder while greeting me with the other.

—How do you feel here, Marina? —he asked, going around the desk.

—Good. As if I were important —I answered.

—You always have been. More so today, because I need you to help me with something Ingrid left me thinking about before she left.

He was using the informal tú with me for the first time. I noticed, but I kept to my formal tone. He talked about the ideas the German woman had dropped: working from home, the lack of complicity among the women coworkers, the outdated uniforms. I nodded, though my mind was elsewhere. The way he was looking at me had nothing to do with spreadsheets.

—And is there real trust between you women? —he asked, leaning over the desk—. Sometimes you seem more like rivals than colleagues.

—Over time we’ve gotten to know each other. We know each other’s weak spots.

—Does getting to know each other include knowing who’s after whom?

I held his gaze a second longer than I should have.

—Almost always. And I assure you that in my group we all like desire. The more, the better. You men ignore that because you live shut up in these offices.

—I have my doubts.

—Test us —I said, surprising myself.

***

He wanted to test my theory right away. I asked Carmela to call Lucía with a pretext, a folder that had been left on my desk. Lucía appeared a few minutes later, intrigued. When she came in, Carmela also loosened the top buttons of her blouse and brought a chair over, right in the director’s line of sight.

—Sit down, please —he told her, leaning over the desk to look at her better. He set the folder aside without opening it—. You’re one of the best put-together. Elegant, formal. Would you dare to use tú with me?

—I don’t know. I’d have to try —Lucía replied.

Don Esteban got up, went to her, and took her hand. He held her gently. Lucía leaned her cheek in and kissed him.

—Sorry, it slipped out —she murmured, blushing.

—I enjoyed that kiss. I’d like another, but this time dedicated to that new you. Will you give it to me, or should I take it?

They kissed for a long time, without pretending. I thought Lucía would take longer to break that barrier, and I was wrong. When they pulled apart, both of them were breathing differently.

The topic of the uniforms served as an excuse to stretch the afternoon out. That the skirts were too long, that the blouses looked like something from a convent. I grabbed the stapler and, half joking, folded up the hem of my skirt until it was above the knee. I gave Don Esteban a good show, and he thanked me with a look that was anything but formal.

—Your legs should be shown off more —he said.

We tried the idea with Estefanía, who still hadn’t left. She arrived running with a skirt in her hand, lowered her pants in front of everyone without the slightest shame, and slipped it on. Don Esteban made her lean over, squat, and judge the length from every angle, with a practical excuse no one believed anymore. The four of us laughed, in on it, perfectly aware of what was happening beneath the appearance of a work meeting.

—When these aren’t formal meetings —he said as he said goodbye to us—, I’m Esteban, and I’ll address you with tú.

He kissed each of us. To Lucía and me he slipped a folded note. Confirm for me today. Tonight, at the usual bar.

***

In the parking lot I showed Lucía the note. There was no need to talk it over. I answered with a message made of a single emoji, the thumbs-up, and he replied with another, hands together, as if to say “understood.”

We rushed to buy dresses. We chose almost identical ones on purpose, so we would look like sisters. Expensive, tight, both showing just the right amount of cleavage and thigh. When we walked into the bar, several heads turned. Esteban stood up and hugged the two of us at once, without protocol, happy as a little boy.

—You’re gorgeous. Even your dresses match.

—We picked them thinking about the new uniforms —Lucía teased, and the three of us laughed with our mouths almost touching.

The margaritas arrived strong. I don’t know whether he ordered them that way on purpose, but from the first one I started to warm up. Lucía began humming an old song and we sang it under our breath, toasting, forgetting the prejudices we had come in wearing along with the dresses. Esteban watched us like a man who still couldn’t quite believe his luck.

—I toast to the two I love most —he said.

—And we toast to you always being the boss —I answered, raising my glass—. Inside, you’re in charge. Outside, too.

By the time we ordered tapas, the only thing we wanted was no longer on the table. Esteban called a taxi that took us to a hotel where he had a suite booked by the company. We went up in a private elevator, the three of us laughing at nothing, our hands already searching for each other inside the lift.

***

Lucía won the race to the bathroom. Esteban and I stayed alone for a moment, caressing each other against the wall, still half-dressed. He lowered the zipper of my dress slowly, admired it, spread it carefully on the bed, as if it were worth more than we were.

When Lucía came out, I took the chance to go in, and I took my time on purpose. I spied on them from the half-open door, letting them find each other on their own. Watching them so impatient made me like it more than participating. Between the two of us we stripped him, took off his pants, his shirt, everything that was in the way.

—This time he’s yours —I told Lucía, gently pushing her toward him—. Give him everything you’ve got.

—And you?

—I’ll watch. Enjoy it and make him enjoy it.

I was insanely aroused, much more than I expected. Esteban pulled me until I was sitting with my legs open in front of his mouth while he sank into Lucía. His tongue was firm, patient, attentive to every jerk of mine. I wrapped my arms around Lucía, who had her head thrown back, and kissed her neck so I could feel each of her moans up close.

—Doesn’t it really bother you that I’m with your friend? —he panted between thrusts.

—On the contrary. It was my fantasy, and it’s coming true. Keep going, make it beautiful, and remember me.

Lucía let out a sharp cry, her usual one, the one that announces she’s coming. He followed a second later, and I, with his mouth still pressed against me, let go at the same time. The three of us were left tangled together, breathing hard, laughing without really knowing why.

***

Lucía fell asleep against his chest. Esteban looked at me with a tenderness I hadn’t expected.

—I desire you too, Marina. I want you to know this doesn’t end here.

—I know. And it pleases me even more than you think to have seen you with her.

—Can I call Gerardo? So neither of you is left half-finished.

I hesitated. Gerardo wasn’t exactly my favorite person; he had a reputation for being quick on the draw, for finishing before he even started. But the night was far from over and I was still on fire.

—Call him —I said at last—. Maybe I’ll teach him a couple of things.

Gerardo arrived quickly, flushed, as if he’d come running. He barely said hello. He gave me a slap on the ass that burned even through the dress.

—I’ve been wanting to find you free for a long time —he said.

—You’d better earn it —I told him, taking off his shirt—. Don’t leave me half-finished, like you left the others.

It worked. His tone changed, he got serious, almost vulnerable. I laid him down and started slowly, with my mouth, attentive to every signal. As soon as I felt he was too close, I stopped, held him at the base, and waited for the urgency to pass.

—I like men who can hold on —I whispered in his ear—. The ones who last. The rushed ones are no use to me.

I tormented him like that several times, stopping just at the edge, until he learned to hold back. When I finally let him in, his orgasm was long, timely, different. He looked at me as if I had revealed a secret to him.

—Keep doing it like that and you’ll be champion —I told him, and the two of us laughed.

***

We took Lucía home in the early hours of the morning and the three of us went back to mine. As soon as we crossed the door, Esteban and Gerardo took possession of me with laughter and hands everywhere. They let me go to the bathroom for a moment to get ready, and when I came out, wearing nothing but a robe, they protested.

—No, not like that. We want you in the dress.

They put it back on me and caressed me through the silky fabric before yanking it up. One entered me from behind, slowly, carefully; the other from the front. I felt both of them at once, in a rhythm we found among the three of us, without either one slipping out.

—More pressure, both of you —I begged them, my face buried in the shoulder of the one in front of me—. Deep inside.

They bit me, scratched me, hauled at my hips with a force I answered by digging my nails into them. I bit the chest of the one in front without knowing which one it was, and let the other mark my back. I spread my legs and they both gained that last inch I was missing. I held them still for a moment, and that was enough to drive them wild and make them pound into me until they emptied themselves at the same time, inside me, with a tremendous thrust that tore a cry from me.

The three of us collapsed onto the rug, wrecked, laughing at the bruises and scratches as if they were war trophies.

—Sorry about the marks —Esteban said, kissing each scratch—. Think of them as medals from the battle.

—You’ll have some to explain too —I answered, kissing the wounds on both of them.

I made coffee and we stayed talking until dawn, remembering how it had all begun in that office, with a secretary unbuttoning my blouse and a director saying he only wanted to improve the atmosphere at the company.

—Do you feel complete? —Esteban asked me before falling asleep, with my breast close to his mouth.

—For now —I told him, stroking his hair—. A woman always wants a little more.

And on Friday at the office, with my collar buttoned up and a smile Carmela looked at out of the corner of her eye without daring to ask about, I knew Ingrid’s idea was going to have a much longer future than she had ever imagined.