Chasing The Boss: Lesbian/Sapphic Romance

Chasing The Boss A Lesbian/Sapphic Romance Grace Parkes Contents 1. Natalie 2. Helena 3. Natalie 4. Helena 5. Natalie 6. Helena 7. Natalie 8. Helena 9. Natalie 10. Helena 11. Natalie 12. Helena 13. Natalie 14. Helena Epilogue Thank you so much for reading! 1 Natalie “Mija, have you tried checking the paper?” Natalie’s grandma held out the folded-up newspaper, her hand shaking violently with the effort. Natalie respected her grandmother’s aversion to new technology. After all, she was old and not in the best health. Still, the suggestion surprised her since her grandmother read the thin newspaper every day. Surely, she had noticed that the classifieds had been long gone with the funny pages and store ads. Natalie grabbed the paper quickly, not wanting her grandmother to strain herself. “Yeah, Grandma, I already checked,” she lied. She found when her grandmother got confused, it was best just to go with it and wait for it to pass. Things had been hard for the two of them since Natalie had lost her last job. It didn’t pay well, and she really needed to be a full-time caregiver, but they needed her medical insurance more. Natalie had started working as a professional cleaner right after she graduated high school. She had started with houses, and at 18, the 150 dollars per house seemed like a fortune, and she was able to contribute to keep the house going, while taking the brunt of the earning off of her grandmother. That all changed when her grandmother got sick and was hospitalized for a month. It had never occurred to Natalie how old she had gotten, or how strange it was that she hadn’t retired yet until she saw her looking so frail in that hospital bed. It was a miracle that she was able to survive and make the recovery that she did, but it also meant that her days of working were over. Her illness seemed to have aged her 10 years, and her mobility and memory were never the same. So far, it hadn’t progressed to the point that it couldn’t be managed, but leaving her alone for hours still made Natalie nervous. It didn’t take long to realize her earnings weren’t going to cut it, and Natalie began pushing herself to take on more and more at work. The opening at a cleaning company that focused on office spaces seemed like a dream come true, but her double dipping with the company and her personal clients had finally stretched her too thin. All it took was one bleary-eyed mistake that almost poisoned her team and cost her the job. When it came to accidentally making mustard gas, there were no second chances. True, she was appreciating the extra time at home, and her couple of clients she had kept were keeping the lights on, but she wanted even a little bit of breathing room. It was times like this she wished she had a huge family. True, her friends that came from large families often complained about how much of a pain it was, but it seemed like they took care of each other more than anything. Listening to an annoying older brother or getting unwanted advice from a nosy aunt seemed like a better option than debating on if they could afford to buy groceries this month. Her grandmother’s loud coughing fit snapped Natalie out of her pity spiral. There was no use wondering if the grass was actually greener. She is where she is, and the most important thing was figuring out her next move. She ran to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and made her way to her grandmother’s side. “Thank you, mija,” her grandmother said, after she caught her breath. “I’m okay, I just choked on my spit.” She chuckled a bit, but her brevity seemed like it was more for her granddaughter’s benefit than anything else. “I’m not completely helpless.” “I know, Grandma,” Natalie said, making her way back to her computer. The good news was she knew exactly where to look for work. The bad news was all of the job boards looked bone dry. Of course, there was a new posting at her old job. Seeing the reminder of her own mistake across the internet was doing wonders for her already low self-esteem. She was afraid she was going to have to make her way to the public job postings and hope they weren’t scams. “Honey, you know you wouldn’t have to work this hard if you just found a husband.” Natalie froze, keeping her eyes glued to the screen as much as possible. This lecture started happening when she first graduated high school, and it seemed to come up more and more frequently as she got older. Now that she turned 33, it was almost a daily topic. She had tried just about every deterrent there was: “I don’t really have time to date,” “The men around here aren’t really my type,” “I just got out of a relationship and I want to focus on myself,” etc. etc. etc. The truth was, Natalie didn’t know why it was she hadn’t found someone yet. She did date, as much as she could while still managing all of her other responsibilities, but all of the men she saw left her feeling uninterested. She had been told over and over that she just needed to find the right guy, but it hardly seemed worth it. But how do you explain to a woman in her eighties that you just don’t really feel like dating? Easier to dodge the question as long as possible. “I’ll put it at the top of my to-do list,” Natalie opted for a joke, hoping that she would let the topic drop. “I’m not saying you aren’t trying, but I’m just saying, maybe you aren’t focused on the right things.” Natalie suppressed a huff of frustration, “What things do you think I should be focused on?” “Well, maybe