The Elevator Pitch

On the walk back to the office, Mia surprised Jess by asking about Byron’s track record with women in the office. It was an unexpected twist this close to the office. Jess tried to act surprised but Mia seemed to not buy the act. Instead, she pushed a little more.

Jess tried her best not to slip into the gossip territory and stuck to politically neutral responses. Mia didn’t take the bait or bought the defense.

“Jess, you’re the only one Byron has not successfully pursued…” Mia said as she finished her inquiry.

This made Jess pause. How did Mia know? What did she know?

“Wait… Mia… what?” Jess wondered out loud.

Mia slipped away and seemed to glide on clouds as she entered the building and made her way to the elevator. Byron showed up nearly instantly and Jess got an intense feeling that was not by accident.

“I’d like to run a proposition by you, Jess” Byron said with his signature suave move that closed the deal with other women.

“I am not sleeping with you Byron” Jess slammed the door before the proposition was made.

“I would have been sorely disappointed if you had agreed to sex with me” Byron countered effortlessly.

Jess now felt off-balance. The blazing heat coming from Byron’s eyes was undeniable. The bass in his voice was sending tremors of worries through Jess. It was not the charm. It was the hunt. Jess did not feel she had an exit that Byron could not access and block.

“What do you want?” Jess asked with ice forming in her tone.

“An elevator ride” Byron said with a flick of his eyebrow.

“What?” a puzzled Jess asked.

Byron opened the door and led Jess to the elevator. Once in, he pushed the button for the garage. They silently rode down. Every single cell in Jess’ body was screaming “stupid stupid stupid”

The doors opened and Byron stepped out. His hand extended in invitation. Reluctantly, Jess stepped out. There was a magnetic pull to Byron. Power of some kind.

“What now?” Jess hoped she asked with strength and conviction.

“We talk, briefly” Byron answered nonchalantly.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Jess listened to Byron talk about their working career together and the fondness of being teammates. He explained how friendships often bloom and go unnoticed because of the label of friendship. Jess braced herself emotionally for an indecent proposal.

“I know you feel I want to sleep with you” Byron said as he turned to face her head on. The power pose had the desired effect too.

Jess shrank her posture. This was not the right way to handle this level of bluntness from a predator. The instinctual retreat was giving Byron all the power he had wanted. Jess cursed herself for her moment of weakness.

“It is true that you’re beautiful, but don’t get it twisted, we are professionals first and foremost” Byron chided.

Sensing an opportunity, Jess jumped into the monologue saying “don’t you forget it!”

“Indeed” Byron acknowledged before pausing and letting silence weigh heavy on them.

Breaking the awkwardness of the unbearable silence, Jess spoke up first. “What do you want from me?”

“I’d like you to help me win Mia’s affection” Byron leveled.

Stunned, Jess blurted “why would I do that?”

“A simple ‘no, thank you’ would have done just fine” Byron sternly replied as he broke his stance and headed back to the elevator.

Jess knew better to follow. Her mind was racing. What manner of games was Byron now playing? Why would she help Mia get hurt? What was Byron really trying to do?

Several months later

The office had embraced the changes Byron was showing. No more visiting dates. No more flaunting his latest conquest. The charm had died down and the charisma imbalance was gone. By imbalance, Byron used to be very charismatic about helping women in the office and showing disinterest in helping the fellas of the office. Now, there was a more uniformed friendly vibe to everyone.

Jess was not convinced that the predator she knew as Byron had changed. The feeling of being hunted was gone. The uneasy feeling of being the object of his lust was gone. Byron felt like a changed man. Women started to relax around Byron and open up to him. Friendships seemed to form and deepen.

Mia, who had not known of Byron’s ways, had flourished in the office and grown very friendly with Byron. Everyone saw that this was a very different type of connection to Byron. A big brother little sister type playful connection. Jess worked hard to keep her guard up, nevertheless. Sadly, some people started to question her method and wondered what Byron had done to her to have her remain suspicious of a changed man.

At the end of a particularly long day, Jess found herself in the parking garage alone searching for her keys. With the passing time, Jess became more intently focused on finding her keys… so much so that she didn’t hear Byron walking up to her.

Nearly startled, Jess jumped back hard when she realized that Byron was close.

“My deepest apologies for scaring you” Byron said looking very repentant.

“Don’t do that!” exclaimed Jess.

Ignoring her, Byron simply asked… “Is everything alright?” with his hands up in the air while keeping a safe distance away from Jess.

“I’m fine” Jess replied as her eyes narrowed. There was no reason to be suspicious, but her past observations made her not want to trust Byron at all.

“OK. Cool” Byron said with a smile as he turned and walked away.

Jess could not find her keys and ended up taking a cab home. Given how far she lived from the office, that was a pricey way to end the day. Thankfully, Jess had a spare key at her place.

Byron made no mention of what he had witnessed the next day. No one heard hilarious jokes about it either. Jess was growing more puzzled.