Stranger

He had visited the office briefly once before. We talked a little, mostly my asking him when he was coming back to complete his project and what he was going to need. He mentioned that he would be here for two weeks when he came back- it's very unusual for corporate folks to spend weekends away from home. I told him that not to sit around by himself, that there plenty of people who would be happy to take him out on the town. I gave him my card.

When he arrived back in town, he had a small crew with him. They took over the conference room- it was some kind of geek heaven in there. Wall to wall computers, and whenever I went to check on him, either to ask him a legitimate question about the project or just to put my hand on his shoulder and ask him if he needed anything, he was always working on three computers. At once. He was friendly and funny and we chatted here and there. I came to the realization that the conference room was a really good place to escape from my soul-sucking coworkers, and the scenery was unsurpassed.

My counterpart decided that we needed to take him out on Friday night and get him drunk. I heartily agreed. There was no reason to think that I was signing up for anything more than a late night in a local bar. I made a point of not placing too much importance on the outing. M is the president of my fan club, and he noticed my fascination with this guy. When he told me that he wasn't worried about me getting home because I would probably spend the night in the guy's room, I figured he was teasing me about my fast developing crush. I had no idea it was a comment on where the guy stood.

Friday morning I got up and threw on my favorite low cut jeans and my favorite low cut top. When I lean over in this shirt, you have a clear view of my belly button. I got into the office and puttered around with my usual morning routine. When he came out of the conference room (which is right outside my office), I asked him if he had corrected an issue he had with my laptop the day before. He came around the end of my desk and stood behind me, giving me directions. At the time, I had no idea that he was looking down my shirt. I was just frustrated because he was walking me through all this complicated crap and I was struggling to keep up, being on my first cup of coffee and all. I wouldn't realize until later on that he had found about forty excuses through the day to come stand behind me at my desk.

The day was hectic and frustrating. Five o clock couldn't come fast enough. When it did, I shut down, locked up and waited. And waited. He was in the conference room, on his cell phone, yelling. My coworker and I were hesitant to interrupt his argument, so we waited in the lobby. I couldn't hear him screaming anymore, so I peeked in the window, caught his eye, and stuck my tongue out at him. He grinned and wrapped up his phone call.

We beat him to the bar by nearing thirty minutes. My coworker had taken the best seat at the table, of course, pinning me into the corner where no one could sit next to me. We were on our second drinks when he showed up. A few other friends joined us shortly afterward, and we all drank and talked and ate and drank some more. I was beginning to think the night was a lost cause when he started ordering shots along with his beers. I took the opportunity to put his car keys in my purse. My coworker made the mistake of having a drunken, loud conversation about some boring thing with the guy on the other side of me. I made him switch chairs. He grumbled a little when I asked, so I leaned over and hissed "don't be an ass!". He let it go.

This put me right next to him, and we picked up the conversation we were having when we were rudely interrupted. I had been touching him, repeatedly, all week long. A light touch on his arm, putting my hand on his back or shoulder, maybe a little pat or a rub if he were particularly frustrated. He hadn't laid a finger on me until I switched chairs, and then suddenly everything he said was punctuated by a hand on my knee. At one point I crossed my legs and rested my foot against his leg. We continued talking about our careers, about money and life and politics. We danced in our chairs, leaning in, leaning back, touching each other for effect. We kept drinking. He went to the bathroom and I wrote my cell number on the back of a business card and put it in the back pocket of my jeans.

At some point well into the night, my coworker's friends left for the night. I turned and looked at my colleague. He was pretty trashed. His hair was mussed and he was irritated and jealous of the little chat I'd been having. He looked straight at the guy and said "Think we could get any pussy out of this bar?". I protested- heavily. He rambled on about some other thing for a few minutes, and upon enduring my pointed looks, made his exit.

The guy paid the tab and we continued our conversation. He made comments about various girls coming in and out of the bar, offering critiques of their bodies and outfits. He was pretty harsh, but nicer than I would have been. At this point, I had absolutely no idea where this guy's head was at. Talk turned to women and men, love, marriage and sex. He said he wasn't sure if he would ever get married. I told him I didn't blame him. We talked about women who invite attention and then recoil when they're approached. I told him that a woman knows what she's doing when she gets dressed in the morning, and that if it garners her some unwanted attention, she should respond with the right subtle signals, and the guy should respect that. It was at this point that he mentioned that he had looked down my shirt about forty times. He freaked out when he realized he didn't have his keys. I told him they were in my purse. He said he didn't even see me put them there, and we continued our conversation. We talked about casual sex.

I explained that women can't engage in sex without some kind of emotional connection, but that women who are realistic about it can handle that. He wasn't buying it. I told him a story from my high school days, when I had a chance to sleep with a huge crush of mine, but had no delusions that anything would come of it. I admitted that it hurt, but that it was totally worth it. He laughed heartily, a little shocked, I think. I told him that the biggest problem about the whole thing was that there was no way to tell if the sex was worth it until after you did it. He reacted with mock horror. We continued discussing relationships and monogamy until the staff started putting the chairs up on the tables.

We got up to leave and I headed towards my car. He went to walk off to his car and realized I had his keys. I told him that he'd just have to walk me to my car, and really, that's how it's done here anyway. I was a little surprised, actually, that I had to mention it. A local boy wouldn't have dreamed of not seeing me to my car.

I got the car unlocked, sat my purse down in my seat and handed him his keys. We chatted for a few minutes about the local attractions, and he said that he didn't have anyone to show him around. I said that I didn't have any way to get in touch with him- no cell number, no hotel information. He said "I could give you my cell phone number...". I leaned up against the car and slipped my card out of my pocket. "Or I could give you mine." He grinned, and said asked when I could show him around. "I have stuff to do on Saturday, but I might be able to get away on Sunday, if you give me a call." He said he would.

He thanked me for taking him out. I cocked my head. "It was my pleasure." He stepped forward and held his arms out for a hug. I stepped into his embrace and he swept me into a long, sweet kiss. He drew back to take a breath. "We should have left the bar earlier", I whispered. He leaned his forehead against mine. "Yes, we should have". He kissed me again. "Thank God you're here for another week". He murmured something, and stepped around the other side of the car. Now he was leaning up against it. He pulled me into him and kissed me. I ran my hand down his chest as he felt the curve of my waist and hip. I sucked on his lower lip a little, and his hand slid around to grab my ass and pull me harder against him. I felt his cock twitch in his pants. He said "I have to leave before I can't". I understood. He walked past my open car door and turned around to kiss me again. We touched our foreheads together again and said goodnight.

Of course, 4000 people showed up the next week, and everything went wrong, and things were crazy, and we never did get around to what we meant to........

-August 2008