6 Close Call (2/2)

Talia tells Richy a little amused, ”You deliberately scared them.”

Richy is admiring the hickey he put on her neck as he responds, ”I just didn't want them getting any ideas.”

Talia smiles into her flowers. ”Any ideas dancing through their heads occurred when they saw your hand under my blouse.”

Richy smiles nefariously as the elevator's doors slide open. He jokes as they step out of the elevator, ”My hand was cold.”

Talia leads the way to the door of her uncle's penthouse apartment. Richy admires the way her grey skirt suit fits her curves. She looks over her shoulder as she scans her hand to unlock the door and tells Richy sensually, ”It didn't feel cold to me.”

The door unlocks with an audible click. Richy follows her inside and tells her, ”Your bra just kept you from feeling how cold it was…” He looks around the penthouse. ”This is some place.”

”My uncle's,” responds Talia.

”How many bedrooms does this place have,” ask Richy curious.

”Six,” answers Talia stepping into the kitchen, ”three on each end.”

”Bathrooms?”

”Four and a half.”

”I really don't smell anybody but you and him. Does he live here all by himself?”

”Yep,” answers Talia as she places her bouquet in a vase, ”except when I'm here. He let his ex-wife have the house. He didn't have to. He had an air tight prenup. But he wanted his sons to always have a place to live. They're not exactly his pride and joy, but they're still his sons and he still loves them… I have a balcony off my room. Let's eat by it.”

She grabs two plates, two glasses and silver wear. Then leads the way. Talia's bedroom here in her uncle's penthouse is huge. Richy has never tried to imagine living like this. Yet it obviously isn't all one would hope it would be, because Talia would rather live free in the forest. So despite the opulence and luxury, Richy knows he couldn't live here either this disconnected from nature.

Richy sets the picnic basket on the table of a three piece dinette set sitting in front the glass doors of the balcony. Then he opens one of the doors and steps out onto the balcony as Talia is setting the table. Then she joins Richy on the balcony.

”I like to come out here at night,” she shares with Richy. ”You can't see the stars properly, but the lights of the city are pretty… So, what do you have for me besides your aunt's potato salad?”

”Well,” says Richy leading her back inside where he opens the picnic basket and begins pulling items out, ”besides my aunt's potato salad I have my baked three cheese macaroni and fresh fruit salad. The children picked the fruit yesterday from my fruit trees. And we have mixed nuts with dried berries, again from my trees and bushes, a bottle of fresh berry juice blended last night and chilled overnight. And what picnic lunch would be complete without deep fried rabbit?” Richy begins making their plates. ”I don't have much in my kitchen or pantry that's store bought, just stuff that's either too difficult to grow or too time consuming to make myself: whole wheat flour, corn meal, rice, whole wheat noodles, whole wheat bread and stuff like that.”

In Talia's guest house at the estate, her kitchen cabinet and pantry are basically the same. She wouldn't dream of having cabinets full of processed canned and boxed foods. And when she buys things from the grocery store, she reads the labels carefully to ensure she's buying as natural and healthy as possible.

As Richy sits next to Talia, she picks up a rabbit leg and sinks her teeth in. The crunch is the same as fried chicken. But for Talia and Richy, the flavor and texture of the meat is quite different from chicken.

Talia looks at Richy and ask, ”How dull is the domesticated pallet to think this taste just like chicken?”

Richy shrugs as he slips off his flip-flops under the table. ”Doesn't taste anything like chicken to me. Rabbit is way better than chicken. Speaking of way better…” Richy forks up a bite of his aunt's redskin potato salad and requests ”Open.”

Talia opens her mouth and Richy gently guides in the potato salad. Talia closes her eyes as she savors the flavors of the potato salad. After she swallows, she looks at Richy and says, ”That is simply divine.”

She takes a few more bites of potato salad. Then she ask Richy, ”So, what did you do with yourself yesterday?”

Richy washes down a mouth full of food with fruit juice. ”I went straight to work. The good thing about Bayberry Falls is there is very little crime since I took over as Sheriff. An occasional speeder, drunk and disorderly conduct once in a while and once in a blue moon we hold a prisoner that's being transported to another location. We patrol our routes, but I didn't feel like patrolling which means I got on Margie's nerves until she went out to patrol her route.”

What Richy doesn't tell Talia is just how badly he irritated Margie or what Margie said before she slammed the door on her way out to patrol. Margie yelled at Richy, ”Listen here! I know you been bit by the love bug, and ya got bit hard. But find a more constructive way to keep yourself busy besides hanging around here getting on my nerves.”

Richy has never been serious about a woman before in his life. The thought that what he was feeling for Talia was more than simple lust hadn't occurred to him until Margie said it. Many thoughts consumed him the rest of the day. If it was love, was it love at first sight, first scent, was there some kind of destiny at work that he had no control over? That lack of control scares Richy. He doesn't like it. Even as he prepared the food to bring to Talia, he tried to talk himself out of coming here to her today. He tried to talk himself out of it up until the moment he stepped into the accounting department and caught her scent. Then that over whelming drive to touch her, taste her and have her took over.

Now he is sitting next to her at the modest dinette and he's calm and happy. Happy to be in her presence. Happy to be guiding the meal by feeding her little bites of food. Happy to see her, smell her, touch her. And there's a satisfaction from knowing she's eating food he grew, he hunted and that he prepared for her. Satisfaction in knowing he was nourishing her body.

Her body, Richy thoughts become about Talia's body and his need of her body. No other woman's body would do. He spots the hickey he left on her neck yesterday morning and runs the back of his finger over it. He kisses it lightly. Then he locks his mouth over the mark and an involuntary moan escapes Talia's mouth.

Richy pulls Talia up with him as he stands. His chair clatters over backwards. Talia laughs at his anxiousness to have her as she pushes Richy an arm's length away toward her bed. He sees her eyes have already gone liquid black with her desire for him as she starts to unbutton his shirt.

Curious, Richy tips Talia's chin up to have a better look at her eyes. ”Is this how my eyes look when they change?”

”I don't know,” answers Talia. ”I can't see what my eyes look like. I can try to look in a mirror, but mirrors reflect images not heat.” She slips his shirt off his shoulders. Then she closes her eyes and concentrates for a moment. When she opens her eyes, they're her normal beautiful brown eyes again.

”Why did you do that,” ask Richy. ”I like the way they look like black ice.”

”I want to see you properly,” says Talia running a hand over his broad shoulder as she steps behind him. Then she frowns at the claw marks she left on him their first time together. They stretch from his right shoulder diagonally down almost all the way to his Water Tribe tattoo on his lower back.

Talia traces a finger down one of the angry pink claw marks. ”I'm sorry. I don't know why I did this.”

”Don't be sorry.” Richy tells Talia, ”It didn't really hurt. Hell, I bit you.”

Talia kisses one of the angry pink claw marks as she reaches around Richy and undoes his pants. She slides his pants and boxer shorts down to the floor and pulls his bare feet through, helping him step out of his clothing. She steps back around in front of him and takes a step back away from him to admire his physique as well as his rising interest in her. She slips off her grey suit coat, revealing the silver blouse is cut tank top style. She hangs the coat neatly over the back of her chair and pulls the silver blouse over her head revealing a crimson bra that makes Richy's eyes pop. She then hangs the blouse neatly over the chair with the coat. Then she pulls down the zipper at the back of her skirt and steps out of it revealing crimson boy-cut panties that match the bra.

Richy's verbal response is ”Good golly.” His physical response, besides his raging hard on, is a ripple through his skin from his head to his toes.

Talia places a finger in the center of his well-chiseled chest and pushes him back onto the bed. She smiles knowing Richy can't take his eyes off of her as she undoes the clasp at the front the bra slipping it off and tossing it over the back of the chair with the rest of her clothes. Then she slides the panties off and adds them with a toss to the rest of her clothes.

Talia slowly crawls over Richy. Her shoulders do a cat-like roll. She pauses to lick one of his nipples and slides her tongue up his neck, nips his chin and captures his mouth with her own. It's difficult for Richy to be patient while Talia takes the lead. He's done most of the dominating and guiding Talia. But he can't stop himself from guiding Talia down onto him. He just can't wait to be inside her. And as she slides down over him, he pushes up with his hips.

Talia sets a steady rolling pace with her hips. She smiles at Richy as she tells him, ”It's not fair the way I crave your body.”

”Unfair to you, what about me,” he responds and pulls her down by her neck for a devouring kiss. Her slow pace is driving him crazy. He rolls her over onto her back because he can't take her torturously sweet pace anymore.

Richy finds himself lying over Talia propped on one elbow looking down into her eyes. Her legs are still quivering on either side of him. There's something he wants to say, but he doesn't know what it is.

”What's the matter,” ask Talia concerned. ”You look like you want to say something.”

Richy gets to his feet and pulls her up. ”Nothing. Let's clean up. I know you need to get back to work.”

They take a quick shower together. They tuck all the left overs into her uncle's refrigerator. She won't have to decide what to have for dinner. Then she escorts Richy and his picnic basket all the way out the front entrance of Devonshire Tower. Richy sits the picnic basket on the sidewalk at his feet. As they wait for the valet to return with Richy's vehicle, he embraces Talia tightly, inhaling her scent deeply. On the way down in the elevator, he asked her when she would be heading back, and she assured him she would be on her way by lunch time tomorrow and she reminded him she will visit her brother and nephews before she makes her way to him.

Richy misses her already. He takes her face in his hands and kisses her very slowly and very deeply, savoring her flavor. The kiss makes Talia feel precious and cherished. But the look in his eyes as he straightens up from kissing her makes her heart ache.

The valet clears his throat. ”Your vehicle, sir.”

”Thank you,” says Richy to the valet without taking his eyes from Talia's eyes. Then he tells Talia, ”I'll be waiting for you.”

Talia nods. ”I never over stay my welcome with my tribe.”

Richy smiles. ”Good.” He picks up the picnic basket, takes a step toward his vehicle, then leans back and gets another quick kiss from Talia. She watches him get into his vehicle and they give each other a wave as he pulls away.

The doorman steps up next to Talia and tells her, ”That man is desperately and hopelessly in love with you.”

”Do you really think so, Mr. Shaw,” asks Talia turning earnestly to the doorman.

The doorman smiles at Talia knowingly. ”Well look at you, Ms. Devonshire. You're just as gone for him as he is for you.”

”I am,” ask Talia putting her hands over her heart.

”Don't look so scared,” the doorman tells Talia.

”Scared,” repeats Talia. ”I'm terrified.”

Mr. Shaw, the doorman, takes Talia gently by the shoulders and tells her, ”Don't be. There's nothing to be afraid of. You just follow your heart. Everything will be fine.”

Talia nods. ”Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Shaw opens the door and Talia steps inside. Mr. Shaw thinks the best part about working here is Talia. People don't censor their conversations as they walk past doorpersons and valets. He's heard all kinds of horrible things about wild folks. And he knows it's all bullshit, because he knows Ms. Talia Devonshire. She must be the most intelligent person he's ever met, and just as kind and thoughtful too. So what if she prefers to go barefooted. He likes to go barefoot himself occasionally. To him, Ms. Talia Devonshire is one of the finest people in existence.

”You don't think that guy's after her money,” the valet ask Mr. Shaw concerned as he watches Talia get on the elevator through the glass front of Devonshire Tower.

”Naw,” answers Mr. Shaw with a shake of his head. ”My hunch, kid, is he's wild too. He's like Ms. Devonshire, one foot in each world… Damn.”

”What,” ask the valet turning to see what Mr. Shaw sees.

Mr. Shaw answers, ”It's that asshole, Lance Drumpt, walking this way… …Mr. Drumpt, good to see you, sir.” He opens the door for Lance. ”Welcome to Devonshire Tower.”

”Yeah, yeah,” Lance grumbles as he enters the building not fully acknowledging Mr. Shaw.

Mr. Shaw tells the valet, ”Now that one's bad news. He comes from a good family, but he's a gold digger. Best thing Ms. Devonshire ever did was dump him.”

Lance Drumpt is in a bad mood. He's sure that he can win Talia back, but he keeps missing her when she's in the city. Someone has finally called him to inform him Talia is in the office and to rub his face in the fact that a tall dark haired man showed up with flowers, a picnic lunch and was seen sticking his tongue down Talia's throat. He slams the doors to the accounting department behind himself. No one was expecting the news that Talia had a male visitor who wasn't a client or business associate to reach him so fast. Obviously someone, somebody in the office called to gossip with felt Lance needed this information ASAP. Jude wonders if he was awake when he got the call, or if the phone woke him up.

Lance stops at Jude's desk and tells her, ”I told you to call me when she came in.”

Jude is undaunted as she replies, ”Mr. Drumpt, you seem to fail to realize that I don't work for you.” If Jude worked anyplace else, she would have just gotten herself fired. Lance Drumpt isn't an important Drumpt. He's the current bane of the family. But it doesn't bother him to go running to daddy, and his father is still holding out hope that he'll get his act together and be more like his older brother and younger sister.

Lance's face turns red with anger. He skirts Jude's desk and enters Talia's office unannounced slamming the door behind him.

”Talia!!!”

Talia leans back in her chair and unenthusiastically responds, ”Hello, Lance.”

Lance's angry scent fills the room. ”Hello, Lance… I propose, down on one knee and everything in front of all those people: my parents, your grandparents, my grandfather, and you walk away without a word. Not even a 'Can I think it over?' You don't return my calls, emails or texts. And your secretary was just rude to me.”

Talia finds it amusing that Jude was rude to Lance and a demure little Mona Lisa smile sneaks onto her face. ”I'll have a talk with my administrative assistant about her behavior. As for your proposal, I thought my answer was obvious when I walked away from you without a word and didn't come back, no. And as for not returning your messages, there was no reason for me to do so. There's nothing to discuss. It's not like we had a real relationship.”

Talia can smell Lance's anger rise as he comes toward her desk. ”What do you mean 'not a real relationship'? We'd been seeing each other for four years!”

It was actually six plus years, but Talia's not going to correct him. ”And how many other women did you see while you were seeing me? If you can't remember, I'll tell you.”

Lance is thrown off. ”Did you have me followed?”

”No.” Talia taps her nose. ”I could smell them on you, even after you showered and brushed your teeth. The smell of sex lingers for up to three days afterward.”

Lance suddenly feels stupid. He knew wild people had an acute sense of smell. But Talia's not a hundred percent wild, she's a quarter tame. Still, he had no idea her nose was that sensitive. ”If you were upset about the women, why didn't you say something? It's not like they meant anything to me. I was just sowing some wild oats.”

Lance has moved too close for comfort, so Talia gets out of her chair and steps away. ”What was I supposed to say? 'Damn, that one smells nasty. You're gonna need a shot of synthocillan behind that one.' Besides, it wasn't the sowing of your wild oats that bothered me. It was the fact that you lied about it to me, as if I can't smell a lie.”

”You can smell when someone's lying,” ask Lance shocked.

”Yes,” answers Talia rolling her eyes. ”If you had really taken the time to get to know me, you'ld know that. The only person you managed to lie to successfully was yourself. Your other mistake: all the public areas in this building are monitored by digital cameras with microphones. You weren't exactly discrete in some of your conversations in the elevators and halls. So I know exactly what you think of me, my family, my heritage, my money. My money has been the important part for you.”

Lance reaches for Talia, and she steps out of his reach. ”Listen,” insists Lance, ”maybe in the beginning it was true. And when guys get around other guys, they talk shit. Every man wants other men to respect him, to think he's The Man. All men do it.”

”You believe that.” Talia shakes her head. ”You believe all men go around lying like that all the time… You're wrong. I know too many honest men, including your own father, to be dumb enough to think something like that. And if the males you choose to hang out with are like this, you need new friends.”

Lance thinks Talia's right about him needing new friends. But about his father, ”My father is the biggest liar I know. I'll never be good enough for him.”

”That's not true,” Talia tells Lance, ”Your father loves you. He believes you have the potential to do something wonderful with your life. He's not looking for you to be like your ancestor, Dommond. But here you are, thirty-three years old and still caught up in your blind, selfish teenage rebellion. You got yourself kicked out of the best schools and universities…”

”He just wanted to get rid of me,” responds Lance upset. ”That's why he kept sending me away.”

Talia can't believe how blind Lance is to his own father's love. ”He was trying to provide you with the best education that money could buy. He was trying to set you up for a successful, happy life. It doesn't matter to him if you join the family business or whatever as long as you're not wasting your life, wasting your talents, like you've been doing for years. Now tell me, what woman in her right mind would accept a proposal from a man who drinks too much, cheats on her, lies to her and steals from his own family?”

Lance knows the answer to her question, but he's not going to answer her question. ”Okay, I have flaws. Nobody's perfect. But you just threw away four years like it was nothing. You're not perfect either. Drumpt men have been known for marrying tall gorgeous super models. You're short and when I proposed, you were fat.”

Talia was a good fourty pounds heavier when Lance proposed. Domesticated living hadn't been good for her waist line, lack of physical activity and domesticated food had made her over weight. But she wasn't obese. It wasn't a jiggly jelly kind of fat. On Talia the extra weight had been shapely. But the extra pounds had left behind some stretch marks on her upper arms by her underarms, on her hips and upper thighs, on her bottom and a few on her calves at the back of her knees.

Yet Lance calling her fat still hurts Talia's feelings and she retaliates with, ”I didn't throw away anything. We never even had sex Mister I'm Sorry I've Creamed My Jeans Again. All you were good for was to have as an escort on my arm at charity events, formal dinner, etc. You got to brag about pulling the wool over my eyes, or talked shit about me to your friends, or whatever made you feel like 'The Man,' fine. But there was never anything significant between us, not even sex. You were doing that with every female you got near except me.”

Lance finally manages to get Talia by her wrist and tells her, ”Damn it, Talia. I was hoping to get past that with you. You don't know how shitty it makes a guy feel when he has an accident like that. Half of the women I cheated with were just to prove to myself there wasn't something wrong with me.”

”So what were the other half,” asks Talia, ”practice?”

”Bad decisions,” answers Lance shaking his head as he holds on tightly to Talia's wrist. ”They were all bad decisions. I was drunk at parties with friends. So drunk I don't even remember their names if I even asked their names. You're the only woman that's ever insisted I be sober to touch you. I don't think I've ever done it sober.”

”Well, you couldn't hit the hole drunk. And my nose is sensitive. I couldn't stand to kiss you with the smell of alcohol on your breath. Now, let me go, Lance,” says Talia as she circles back toward her desk and stretches away from Lance.

”I know I wasn't satisfying you.” Lance tightens his grip on Talia's wrist and tries to pull her close. ”I'm sorry. I know you had to find someone else to take care of your needs. But I'm not mad about it or anything. I understand. At least you knew how to be discreet so I never heard anything.” He tries to touch the hickey on her neck and she shoves his hand away with her free hand.

”Is he someone new,” asks Lance. ”I always figured you were getting it on with some wild guy in the woods near your estate.”

Talia is finally back within reach of her desk. She hits the intercom button and shouts, ”Jude, call security.”

Jude obeys immediately. But this pause to communicate with Jude cost Talia. Lance grabs a hand full of her hair at the back of her head with his free hand. He lets go of her wrist to grab her waist and pull her against him. He has an erection. It's not a Richy size erection, but Talia doesn't like it any more than she did six years ago. Her dilemma is she could easily defend herself against Lance. It wouldn't even require her to alter her form in any way. Despite her petite stature, she possesses the strength and skill to easily over power Lance. She could snap his neck like a twig if she chose to. Lance has no idea exactly how much danger he is in.

Problem is, if Talia defends herself too vigorously, it could cause a lot of trouble. If the police are called, it would be bad publicity for Devonshire World Law. Hurting Lance would be bad for business because they handle nearly all of Drumpt's legal affairs. Then there's the matter of bad publicity for her people. The wrong action could cause a wild people attack panic. Talia's only option is to just barely hold Lance off until security arrives.

Talia evades Lance's attempt to kiss her and he says, ”Come on Talia, just give me a chance. I've been sober for over a year.”

”Let me go, Lance.”

Lance only tightens his grip on Talia and manages to lick her collar bone. Talia's small hands are balled into fists and she pushes against Lance's chest gaining a valuable few inches. Except Lance isn't giving up, he slides the hand round Talia's waist down and gets a good handful of her bottom.

”Talia, don't fight me,” insist Lance, ”I know we can be good together. I don't drink any more. I won't cheat on you. You can even keep your little boyfriend.”

Talia grits through her teeth, ”If my 'little boyfriend' were here, he'd rip you a new one.”

Talia's uncle rushes into her office followed by two big beefy security guards. Uncle Bob commands Lance, ”Release her this instant.”

Lance releases Talia and is pushed back several steps by Talia. Uncle Bob embraces her and she gladly clings to him. He asks Lance outraged, ”Have you lost your mind?”

”Mr. Devonshire, I…” but Lance doesn't get to finish.

”I don't want to hear your excuses for manhandling my niece,” Uncle Bob tells Lance. ”You are no longer welcome in Devonshire Tower. These two gentlemen will escort you out.”

”Talia,” Lance implores, ”I really believe we could have something special together.”

”You had your chance to establish something special with me,” Talia tells Lance. ”And just for the record, I never cheated on you.”

Lance feels like a total asshole. It was stupid of him to assume that if he was cheating, she must be cheating too. He knows Talia doesn't lie. He shakes his head defeatedly and apologizes, ”I'm sorry. I'll show myself out.”

Uncle Bob nods to the two security guards and they follow Lance out. Then he asks Talia concerned, ”Are you alright?”

Talia leans back against the edge of her desk as she answers, ”I'm fine. He didn't hurt me.” She takes a deep cleansing breath and exhales, ”What a jackass.”

Uncle Bob sits next to Talia on her desk and puts an arm around her. ”A much bigger jackass than I realized. I wonder what set him off.”

Talia shrugs and leans her head on his shoulder. ”Someone must have called him and told him I was in. He was already angry when he came through the door uninvited. He saw the hickey on my neck. So he knows I'm seeing someone… Uncle Bob, this could have been something really ugly and horrible. Richy just left less than fifteen minutes before Lance showed up.”

”Really,” says Uncle Bob surprised. ”Did you two have lunch?”

”Yeah,” answers Talia with a smile. ”He brought a picnic lunch for us. And he brought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. I can't wait for you to see them. They're in a vase in the penthouse.”

Uncle Bob is delighted to see Talia so happy. ”Do you know if your young sheriff has a tux?”

”I don't think so,” answers Talia. ”He didn't have one in his closet, but he might have one stored somewhere in his house.”

”Well,” Uncle Bob goes on not discouraged, ”tuxes are easy enough to obtain. Listen, I know you've never been fond of attending formal dinners and such, but we've been invited to a charity ball at the Dommond. It's in four weeks. Seeing you and Richy together would reinforce for Lance that you're unavailable.”

Talia sighs. She hasn't attended a formal social event since Lance's proposed. ”I'll discuss it with Richy. But I'm not promising anything.”

”You'll have to forgive my selfishness,” Uncle Bob tells Talia. ”I like having you around. If Richy will escort you, you could both come out a day or two before the event. It would give me a chance to get to know Richy better. If he doesn't have a tux, I could take him to pick one out. Jude and Sally could help you pick out a dress.”

”And shoes,” adds Talia unhappily. ”I hate shoes.”

Uncle Bob chuckles amused. ”Do you think that officer, Margie, might be available to go with me?”

Talia shrugs. ”It can't hurt for you to call and ask.”

Uncle Bob nods his head decisively. ”I'll do just that.” He stands up from the edge of her desk. ”Are you sure you're all right?”

Talia nods affirmatively as she answers, ”Yeah. I'm just glad Richy was already on his way back to Bayberry Falls. I don't think he could have kept his cool. When he first got here he growled at a couple of the guys on my staff.”

”He's a little possessive,” comments Uncle Bob concerned.

Talia smiles wryly. ”Not any more possessive than I am apparently. The misunderstanding between me and Cougar's wife, Sheila, where I mistook her for a home invasion intruder (sigh)… I didn't mistake her for a home invasion intruder exactly. When I grabbed her, I checked her for Richy's scent.”

Uncle Bob asks surprised, ”Why?”

Talia looks a bit distress as she answers, ”I'm not sure exactly. I just know it would have been bad if Richy's scent had been on her.”

Uncle Bob asks concerned and curious, ”What would you have done if Richy's scent had been on her?”

Talia looks down at the floor away from Uncle Bob as she answers guiltily, ”Something bad… Not because I wanted to, because I wouldn't have been able to stop myself… I don't know how to explain it. When I grabbed Sheila, I wasn't driving. Instinct was driving and I was just along for the ride.”

”It doesn't sound like a fun ride,” comments Uncle Bob trying to imagine what it felt like.

Talia shakes her head and shares, ”It's disturbing.”

Uncle Bob nods his understanding to that. ”So are you going to head out tonight?”

Talia shakes her head no.

”Then I'll see you at dinner tonight,” he tells her as he exits her office.